Weird to Be Back in SF - By B

It is really weird to be back here in San Francisco. This house is filled with mementos, little things we have collected over many years. Art, egg cups. It is strange to see all of our stuff, a lot of which i'd forgotten about (these mementos are meant to trigger a memory... but what if you don't remember the trigger?). We have been living essentially without mementos for the past two years... in apartments furnished (and art-ed) by others. Just like I have adapted my professional life for life anywhere (by moving into the so-called "cloud" -- an "office" where documents are not on paper (for the most part!) and, in fact, are not even on a local hard drive but can be accessed anywhere) i have been collecting and displaying mementos in another "house"-- the web--- where i can see them and share them ... (this blog, facebook, and flickr). I am curious whether I will collect and share fewer digital mementos now that I have a physical space again for my analog ones. Probably not... i like the cloud.. i like the freedom to know i can work anywhere... and live anywhere... because i don't think we're back here forever... our long range plan is to be able to be here and somewhere else... at the same time... i have largely figured out how to do this with documents and banks and blah blah blah ... i will need a memento strategy ...

torture and other thoughts by k

i'm still surrounded by many of the things we have accumulated over these past two years. the big things were relatively easy to get rid of. it's the little stuff...the box of pencils and pens and paints and markers that are a pain. i hate to throw perfectly good things away, but how much can one pass on. for the most part, i think i have done really well with this torturous process. last night arel, dorian and i went to my friend miguel's for dinner and we brought his 6-year-old son a bag of hand-me-downs. his joy at discovering each thing made me so happy! what had felt like excessive junk or stuff that was sad to be letting go became an object of joy for this little boy. the books would still be used, the sweatshirts would still be worn, the dice would still be thrown and stacked and lost. everything is okay.

in our taxi on the way home, i was joking with the driver...a young guy from andalucia, and he said "this country needs more people like you." i said, "i know!" spaniards, or catalans, or maybe both, don't have fun of a sense of humor or sense of fun. i will be missed on some level.

the electric guitar gets picked up today, the oyster sauce and dorian's scooter will have a new home this afternoon, two of the three bikes will be gone this weekend, and so on and so on until we're down to our suitcases again.

but first, the costa brava to celebrate arel's 13th birthday! then on to france for a few days to see anja, julian and florian at her parents' vacation house, back to the costa brava for a few days with miguel and maxim, and then the final final packing and on an airplane on saturday, july 31.

old school folders, anyone?

unfolding goodbyes by k

we had another goodbye yesterday. i wrote to my friend today to thank her for having us and saying i would miss her and she wrote back:

In the words of the great Dr. Seuss, " Don't cry because it's over - smile because it happened."

a great thought. and i am smiling.

tomorrow we start a one-week road trip to the rioja (wine region of spain), then on to bilbao for a visit to the guggenheim. from there we'll head to biarritz in france and spend a few days there before driving back to barcelona.

we're going through things, getting rid of stuff, deciding what to bring back. the refrigerator and cupboards are getting low in supplies and i just opened what should be our last mega pack of toilet paper...

vinaros - by b

we got back yesterday from a fun and relaxing time in vinaros with ian williams who invited us down to his and betsy segarra's house ... it's like 2 hours or so drive south of barcelona just across the state line in valencia. according to ian, lonely planet suggests people not even stop in vinaros --- but i like it a lot .

both times we've been there have been for the festival of san juan --- which brings together loud fireworks late at night and traditional music and a parade of gigants (giants)

plus the kids can run free as ian and betsy's place is on the plaza and a few meters from the sea. when we were there seven years ago we rode this fun ride (above) at the carnival ... which we did again this time. the goal is to stay on the bull -- not so easy as it moves somehow in a circle and side to side. more pix of vinaroz here.