I'm back from the computerless abyss. My options were get a new computer, or leave France. Anna, bless her soul, upon hearing this, decided that it might be a good time to get that iBook after which she's been lusting for a long while. You know, to have a nice computer and to keep the boyfriend from actually having to abandon her in France for a piece of (admittedly finicky) technology. I know, it's geeky and sad, but that's where it stands. France is great, but not so great that I could stay here and do absolutely nothing computer or music-related for four months and justify that personally or to the world at large. Voilá.
I guess that I'm going to have to catch y'all up on what's going on. Because I'm running on the assumption that you care. Because any other assumption would lead me to stop writing entirely in the blog. Duh.
Okay, so a month ago I hitchhiked to Spain. There's so much to say about that that I'm so super-daunted that I'm not going to really be able to say much, except for in random installments, as it relates to some other topic that happens to come up in my mind. Here was the itinerary: the first day, I went from Montpellier, France to San Sebastian, Spain, by way of Foix, Toulouse, some town just outside of Toulouse, Bayonne, Biarritz, St. Jean-de-Luz, and Irun. The highlight of that trip was being insulted (good-naturedly) by several drunken tri-lingual border-dwellers as they trotted me to the train station and smoked hashish and bragged about the two legs of cured ham in the back (which were admittedly quite impressive) that they'd won in a card game. Classic. Then, from San Sebastian, I (and a friend Alex Marvar) hitched to Santiago de Compostela, which is the west coast of Spain just above Portugal, by way ot Bilbao, Oviedo, Aviles, and some other random sides of highways. Much tuna fish, chocolate, tea, and peanut butter consumed. The way back was more southerly than the northernmost coast, passing just north of Madrid before heading back to San Sebastian and taking a train back to Montpellier. In all, the trip was one week, a hundred euros, and many many friends made. Send me an email, if you want to know more, in a more timely fashion than sometime indistinct within the next two months or so.
Do you follow?
Pictures on the way, but I have to set this new computer up properly, so it may be a week or so.
After Spain, I tried and failed to get a job here. Which is for the better, because it goes contrary to my visa to work. Keep an eye on my music, though, because I'll be updating that regularly. Because making music is precisely the kind of thing I should be doing here.
Then Anna and I hitchiked to Lyon, just a few days ago. You know, just because. Hitching with a girl, coincidentally, is way easier. We never waited for longer than five minutes, and got to Lyon, which is 400 km or so away, by about 4 PM. Pretty solid travelling time. Also, we got to ride in an 18-wheeler. Which is key. More on that later, too. Lyon is fucking gorgeous, and awesome to boot. By which I mean totally sweet.
Now, my sister Rebecca and her boyfriend TIm are in town for the Christmas, so we've been touring and eating and drinking. Fun.
That's the basics. I'll fill in the details in the short time to come. Gotta get the facts out of the way so I can start focusing on something more interesting. It's just the way I work. I hope that everyone is doing well and being safe and having happy holidays or whatever it is you do where you come from.
-D