Back in NYC

I see faces and traces of home...
Back in New York City!
-Genesis

Going back to Manhattan for the first time since 2007! Taking Mum to see Glengarry Glen Ross on Broadway with Al Pacino (my Xmas gift to her.)

We'll take the train from Fairfield. Just like old times.

The past is the present is the future. 

winter is coming

I am done with the application for Teach America. I should hear from them some time around Jan. 17. So now, i guess i just play the waiting game.

1 week til Xmas. Where does the time go?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJqg_-wXnuU

Round and round

Oh, the wheel in the sky keeps on turnin'
I don't know where I'll be tomorrow 

-Journey

I am applying to Teach America, which is part of Americorps. I would work for two years in an at-risk school (most likely in Bridgeport, Waterbury or New Haven.) It would also be an alternate route to getting certified as a teacher. 

Shades of the time I spent teaching at the orphanage in Jamaica. Interesting how I wound up here again after all these years. But it's what I love to do. I would get paid, but once again, I would be with a non-profit organization.

It's comforting to learn that, at my core, I'm still the guy I was 22 years ago.

A Sad Day

Yesterday, as we all know, was a horrible day. Jim and Lisa's daughters went to that school when they were younger. Pat and Laura's two youngest children are K- 4 but go to a different school. SO everyone is okay, but as Pat told me, "I 'm going to know some of these kids, and their parents. And the kids will have known them too."

Sandy Hook is a section of Newtown. It's my favorite part of CT. It's a very nice and safe neighborhood. No one ever could have expected a thing like this would happen there. Plus, all my friends' kids were in lockdown for hours in their own schools. That must have been scary too. How do you explain what happened to your kids? I can't even explain it to you.

As a teacher, I can't even imagine that happening while i was teaching.

12.12.12.

By far, the best acts of the concert last night were Roger Waters, the Who and Paul McCartney. It was a great show.

This weekend we will go to Jersey and see Aunt Nunnie, who just turned 92. 

92?

Could you imagine? I cannot.

Looking for jobs. I sent an email to the prinicipal HS in Stamford, explaining why I had stopped going to class (cuz my company wasn't paying me) and he asked if I'd be interested in day classes next year, to which I said "Sure!" I would not have to be accredited to teach in a Catholic School.

Me being a full time teacher in a catholic school, now that's scary.

Burgers

Tis late on a Bender Tuesday and I am listening to MEDDLE by Pink Floyd. A great album. 

I hope you all are well. Last week it was 5 months back in the US of A.

I don't have a lot to say. Thing are normal... - ish. 

God rest me, merry gentleman.

One of these days i'm going to cut you into little pieces

-Pink Floyd


MMMMMmmm.... burgers!
-Homer Simpson

The Fog

It's a foggy day in CT, but luckily no zombies. I prefer the ones in Plants vs. Zombies anyway. 

Looking for jobs, chatting with a few friends in Madrid. Life goes on, time goes by. I'm looking out my window and seeing some thick freakin' fog. New England weather is insane. It's 50F on Dec 10th. I am listening to Djam Karet, a great prog band that does only instrumentals. Some eerie stuff. Goes well with the fog.

Crushed

The Seahawks beat the Cardinals 58 -0. it was an ass kicking of a lifetime!

As it ever was

All is well. Same as it ever was. Have a good weekend!

One of these doors...

Spoke to Aunt Nunnie today. She turned 92! She is awesome. We'll go down to Jersey and take her out to dinner next Sat.

I just FEEL 92. Looking for jobs is a pain in the buttocks. But the next door,  could be the door. Like THE CHAMBER OF 32 DOORS off of The Lamb by Genesis. 

Back inside
This chamber of so many doors;
I've nowhere, nowhere to hide.
I'd give you all of my dreams, if you'd help me,
Find a door
That doesn't lead me back again
- take me away.

One of these doors will be the right one. 1 down, 31 to go.

chamber of 32 doors

Power to the People

Well, twas quite the shake up where I work. After a few more lies, the owner said he will pay me, and then I'll be done with them. I threatened going to the Mass. Dept of Labor (the co. is in Mass.) and informed them yesterday I would not be going in til I was paid. Once I get paid, that'll be it. But it seems to have been quite a jolt to EduBoston. They were unprepared for someone to take a stand. So now - more job searching (O' joy, O' rupture!)

It is what it is - and whatever
-Rush

More job search music
Fly by Night
Caress of Steel
A Farewell to Kings

quitting time

time to take a stand

I quit working in Stamford today. They were always a month late paying me. And no clases at UNH this month (except subbing,) so... I am currently unemployed. It bites the big one.

So, I am in the middle of sending my CV all across the state of CT. 

I loaded every Rush studio Album, and a few live ones, and will listen to them one by one, picked randomly by itunes until the music runs out or I have found a job. It's gonna be a long day

15:34
Clockwork Angels
Snakes and Arrows Live
Hold Your Fire
Grace Under Pressure

where time used to be

It's almost December. Time, she flies. Truly. But all is well.

Listening to;
Octane Twisted - Porcupine Tree
Ghosts - Frequency Drift
Ziggy Stardust - David Bowie
Metallic Taste of Blood - Metallic Taste of Blood

Thanks to all of you who read this friggin' thing. Over 1,000 page views. Sometimes it's good be out of exile.

It's get cold. Seriously. I am not accustomed to New England winters. After all, Madrid's were pretty mild.

Another day

MARTES

Sorry for the long absence. So much going on, but all is well.

Music for a wintery day;
Oceania - The Smashing Pumpkins
Cloud Atlas Soundtrack
After the Goldrush - Neil Young


It''s snowing, so no class at Trinity.

MIERCOLES

All is well in CT. Went out to this cool Caribbean place in Ansoia with Mum for dinner. It was great.

So i go to bed and say unto ye, "buenos noches!"

Pumpkin Pie

1:22

Chillin' and listening to the new Neil Young and Crazy Horse Album; Psychedellic Pill. The first song is 27 minutes long. That's fucky crazy.

Done with work for the week. The perks of being a teaher, i suppose. 

I read DIARY OF A WIMPY KID, the first one. It was awesome! I am now reading UP A TREE IN THE PARK AT NIGHT WITH A HEDGEHOG BY P. Robert Smith, which as you might imagine, is insane. Funny and off the wall. 

I see no reason why this song is 27 minutes long. Seems a but excessive as it hasn't really changed much and we're in minute 24.

17:37

The pumpkin pie is cooked! The first one I had the broiler on instead of baking and the pie crust went up like a roman candle. So, i went to the market and got an emergency pie crust. The smoke alarm went off but it wasn't a problem. 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Thursday will be my first Thanksgiving with my family since Spanksgiving 6 years ago; Las Vegas, 2006, when Sue told me she was pregnant and that Annie may or may not be mine. Ahhh... memories. It set me off on a 5th month journy of fear and loathing that took me took Madrid, Europe, and everything after. I miss those dies like i miss having a fork, covered in Tabasco sauce, in my eye. Although i did go on an EPIC 7 day Bender when i found out she wasn't mine. 

Happy Thanksgiving to all of ye, Americans or otherwise, on both sides of the Atlantic. 

Manana i will make my first pumpkin pie ever. Then Thursday down to Mel's in Jersey. 

Jersey???? My last Thanksgiving in NJ was 2008!!!!

idiiotic

Time cruises by - it's almost Thanksgiving. It'll be my first one in the US since 2006. Damn. Six years! We'll go to Jersey by Mel and Jan. 

This General Petreus scandal is so complicated that i can't even follow it. All i know is that a few people fucked each other (who shouldn't have) and a few sent each other a few thousand emails (which they shouldn't have.) But i don't understand the how or the why.

The moral of the story? Don't stick you pecker where it doesn't belong. And don't become the director of the CIA if you don't want to be scrutinized. 

an eventful three months

I've been home for three months. Wow! Crazy. 

Outside during Athena

And there's been Hurricane Sandy, the 2nd most destructive after Katrina, A Nor'easter, Athena, and a presidential election. Holy shit! That's an eventful three months. And i'm teaching in the US for the first time since Mum had me teach CCD/Sunday School when I was in highschool and she ran the program. That's insane that i ever taught CCD.

Obama and Athena

Athena

Just a girl just a girl
Just a girl just a girl
Just a girl just a girl
She's just a girl

Athena, my heart felt like a shattered glass in an acid bath
It felt like one of those flattened ants you find on a crazy path
I'd have topped myself to give her time she didn't need to ask
Was I a suicidal psychopath?
She's just a girl - she's a bomb
She's just a girl - she's a bomb 

-The Who

Obama won the election! Woo hoo! Healthcare for me and civil rights for the Seester!

It is crazy snowing now. I didn't get any classes at UNH this month (which sucks) and I doubt I'll have school today in Stamford with the snow. This will be Nor'easter Athena. It's going to hit some of the areas that were hit the hardest by Sandy. 

The weather in New England is quite formidable. 

Marijuana legalized for recreational use in Washingon State and Colorado! Living in Seattle someday is always an option.

For now, i have to look for a new job.

- - - 

Got some good pics of the storm.

Terminus

9:52

spinach ice cream

Finally, it is election day. 

In Spain, it's six weeks, the same as most European countries. 

In the US, the Republican primary field began stumping in August of 2011.  Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry were dead in the water by the end of the first primary in Iowa. Rick Sanctimonium eventually lost to the Romulan. All four canidates were as appealling to me as spinach ice cream.

And now, mercifully, it will end. 

But today is a huge day for America. Obama and Romney have completely different views on how to run the country. Obama wants to preserve the middle class. Romney will privatize everything and cut loads of social programs which will be to the detriment of the middle class. So whatever happens today, it could very well go down as monumental day.

three mile

Walked three miles today. The toe and the gout are much better. It's arthritic but getting better. Walked along the Derby 'Greenway,' which is aside the Naugatuck River. It's in turn fed by Lake Zoar and the Housatonic, where i always kayak. 

The Seahawks won! They are 5-4 and play the hapless Jets next week. 

2 1/2 weeks to Thanksgiving! Holy crap! I think we'll be in Jersey at Mel and Jan's. It's early this year. Normally it is the last week in November, except if the weekend flips the calendar into December. Then it is the third Thurs. Why? Because Jefferson, Washington and Adams never would have wanted to shorten the official Xmas shopping season by even a few days, that's why! Better to add an extra 4 or 5 days! It's what Jesus would have wanted. USA! USA! USA!

Day of the Reaping

b

barely!

14:47

When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim?s warmth but finding only the rough canvas cover of the mattress. She must have had bad dreams and climbed in with our mother. Of course, she did. This is the day of the reaping. -Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games

Today is the last day of our four week cycles. Manana is Last Day (but i prefer the day of the reaping,) meaning you move on to the next level or you repeat it in the next session. Like gravity, life's a bitch.

Music to grade by;

Suzanne Vega - Close Up Vol. 4, Songs of Family
King Crimson - Live in Central Park, 1974 
Stick Men - Soup
Steven Wilson - Get All You Deserve
Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffitti (disc 2)

15:25

The grading never ends! Like some unseen monster that embodies the darkness, it is ever present. The reading exams were not bad. The writing assignments are going to be a nightmare. Time to switch from coffee to beer.

17:15

The103's are in the books.

18:12

So are the 107's. Now just to do the report cards. Ugh! The never ending story....


20:18

Sausage and peppers eaten. The final phase begins for the 107's. 8 of 15 have to repeat the level. Only 1 in 103.

21:14

Dude! It's never ending. Time to break out the emergency bourbon, the greatest thing about Kentucky.

22:59

That was a fucking nightmare. My boss is so disorganized. If there had been some organization to how i got the information it would have taken 1/8 of the time. I might start looking for sales jobs manana.

a perfect world

Twas a long night o' gradin' papers. But now i am chilling and listening to On Time, the first Grand Funk Railroad album, and it's great. 

Pants are a long gone memory. I drift off to a place were children never starve and progressive rock is wildly popular on the radio. 

Bless us, every one. 

The Senseless Slaughter of the English Language

I just graded the writing finals for the third level the University.

"I went home and sleeped for 9 hours."

"It taked a long time."

And the Arabic students always mix up P and B. Ugh! There's not enough whiskey in the whole of Ireland to make this less painful. They do okay with reading comp., but the writing is just scary. I'm going to have nightmares about this. But they have made progress in the past 4 weeks.

Fairfield University said all the students at the beach have been displaced and are asking for families that can house them. They said it will be at least 4 - 8 weeks. Yikes. Scary stuff. 

Music to keep the slaughter of the English language to minimum;

The Night Watch - King Crimson

Arriving Somewhere - Porcupine Tree

Isabel Revisited

Hey Izabella

Girl, I'm holding you in my dreams every night.

Yeah, but you know good well baby,

You know we got this war to fight.

Well, I'm calling you under fire

Well, I hope you're receiving me all right.

-Jimi Hendrix

September 19th, 2003 - Old Town Alexandria, VA

Hurricane Alexandria was the worst hurricane i ever experienced. I was living in Mclean, VA at the time. Sue, ironically, was in Florida (where it was 75 F and sunny!) for work. We lost power for 4 days. I had to throw out the entire contents of my refrigerator. And parts of MD, VA and DC were underwater.

New Haven schools won't have be open tomorrow, but ESL will because our session ends on Friday. 

Frankenstorm

Jersey Shore

How i miss Madrid and her predictable boring weather! Mum and i did fine here in Ansonia, CT, but my home state of NJ is barely recognizable. The boardwalks in Belmar and Point Pleasant are gone. But the Seester and Jan are fine, as are all my friends in CT, though several are without power and lost several trees. 

And me? Well i spent the evening sipping some Jameson and put a desk i bought together (75% done.)

Soundtrack for a Frankenstorm;

Genesis Revisited II - Steve Hackett
Clockwork Angels - Rush
25 years of Fleetwood Mac
Live Rust - Neil Young (contains a Like a Hurricane)

"If conditions are not safe on Wednesday for Trick or Treating, I will sign an Executive Order rescheduling #Halloween.” - NJ Governor Chris Christie


It's a lovely sentiment.

oops

Had a feew beers with Smith tonite at a bar in Newtown. Always fun. I somehow forgot my pants at the bar.

Fair Warning

I am just a dreamer,
but you are just a dream,
You could have been
anyone to me.
Before that moment
you touched my lips
That perfect feeling
when time just slips
Away between us
on our foggy trip.

You are like a hurricane
There's calm in your eye.
And I'm gettin' blown away
To somewhere safer
where the feeling stays.
I want to love you but
I'm getting blown away
-Neil Young

Crazy week at work - both academies are plagued by disorganization and I had to threaten to quit EduBoston (Stamford) because they've haven't paid me for any of Oct. yet, which is bullshit. So I told them that if I am not paid by Monday morning that I won't go to work on Monday.

But we may not even have work on Monday with Hurrican Sandy on the way. I put the glass windows in the screen house yesterday. Today will be filled with battening down the hatches and getting supplies.

16:27
Done and done. I got batteries, candles, matches - all that shit.

30 years later

First saw Rush on Dec. 2, 1982 at Madison Square Garden.

Mel and I went last night, Oct. 20, 2012.

Mel and I have been seeing them together for 29 years.

I have been seeing them for 30 years.

It's enough to melt my mind. They were backed up by the Clockwork Angels String Ensemble for the second set and the new album. Both sets were great with the second one with some particularly ferocious guitar by Alex. It was great. I was as impressed as ever by their almost three hour show (with an intermission.)

Rudderless

Days go by.... I can't wait for the Election to be over. I am so sick of it all. If someone is still undecided when the candidates are so OPPOSITE, i have to question why you are allowed to vote at all?! When Jimmy Kimmel asks Honey Boo Boo who she is endorsing, how can we not consider ourselves rudderless as a nation?

Almost Cut My Hair

11:43

The highlight of Never Ready's show last night was Todd singing Almost Cut My Hair by CSN. It was killer. And George was great on guitar. 

Seahawks play the Patriots today so I can actually watch them in my house! Mum is in NYC seeing a play with Aunt Vivian. 

So... I am finally attcking the office. It's a wreck. It's looks like Fred Sanford's house.

15:28

I was supposed to Skype with Sue Annie, but Annie took an early nap, so i'll catch them this week. But i saw Maria was on Skype, so i got to talk with her. She is teaching English and doing well.

I can't wait for the elections to be over. I have been innudated with commercials for the CT Senate. Linda McMahon, wife of WWE's Vince McMahon, is running. Bitch is driving me nuts. She's a crazy billionare Republican. And judging from the amount of ads, she has spent most of his money. She tried to run in 2010 and lost. If she wins i am going to Portland. I cannot have that witch as my Senator. 

MIA

Apologies for being MIA. I started teaching three classes this month a UNH and it's going well. And then the Nationals choking in Game 5 to St. Louis last night took years off of my life. Tonight I went and saw George's band, Never Ready, and they were great.  They played in Bridgeport, which is quite close. 

...Shit together

All of the companies I work for have their heads so far up their asses that slip on their own tongues. I now have 3 classes at UNH, but my boss forgot to include me on the email last night. Luckily, another teacher had asked me to sub for her and I said I couldn't until I found out what my hours were. And she was like "..didn't you get the group email? I saw your name on it." Luckily I found out from her. 

And I'm supposed to have 6 kids in Stamford and I have 11. It's be 3 weeks and the other kids haven't signed up. So i said, "If they aren't in the class let's get them OUT of the class or pay me more $$$." That's just good business sense. 

It's madness, really. The lunatics run the assylum. I really don't mind being a lunatic or running the assylum, but if that's the case, i'm ransacking the treasury before i go!

Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.

-Mark Twain

Today is not Yeterday

The Washington Nationals won their first playoff game since the franchise moved from Montreal in 2005. Woo hoo!

The Yankees also won, which is cool as I hate all things Baltimore and I have to live with my mother if they lose. 

Went to Boxborough, Mass. for an Octoberfest at Kathy and Dave's on Sat. It was a great time. Beer and brats!

I will find out tonight if I'll have my own classes at UNH in Oct.  I worked today, testing new students for First Monday. Then 4 weeks of classes start manana. 

Friday was 80 F and sunny, but it is starting to get cool. It's been rainy too.

Nats are getting punked, 5-1 in the 4th. Zimmerman lasted only 3 innings. It's St Louis' day.

They got shellacked 12 - 4. Today is not yesterday. Nor is tomorrow today. See you on Wednesday you Cardinal MF's. 

I will be teaching three classes at UNH this cycle. Woo hoo!

Ansonia Day

Today is Ansonia Day - oh joy, oh rapture! I got up at 8:00 to help Mum set up the booth for friends of the library. Small town America is an acid trip.

And then around 13:00 it's up to Boxborough (seriously?) MA to Dave and Kathy's for Ocktoberfest. Mass. 2 weekends in a row? What has happened to my life?

The Baseball playoffs have begun. It's really rough to tell who will come out on top, but I'm going to say it'll be a Washington / Oakland World Series with The Nats coming out on top.

Acid Rain

11:18

MUSICA:

The Sky Moves Sideways - Porcupine Tree
Live in NYC 2003 - King Crimson
The Great Deceiver (disc 2) - King Crimson
Satchurated - Joe Satriani
Reflections From the Firepool - Djam Karet






It's here I sit and rust amid this ruin and rancor like tire irons 
Toothy grills and car parts before me...the acid rain floods my 
Floorboard, burns my pores, and rots my upholstry.. once I was 
Worshipped, polished magnificently, now I lay in decay by the dirty Angry bay... 

-King Crimson

It's been rainy as hell. The streets have flooded and the pool cover will need to be siphoned off as soon as the rain stops. Didn't stop me from barbecuing salmon, though. The secret ingredient is acid rain.

20:25

The A's won the AL West. The Texas Rangers are the Choke Master Generals. 

Yankees up 5-1. O's down 2-0. And the Washington Nationals are the top seed in the NL. Oh, how many klunkers i sat thru in '05 and '06 in RFK when they had just come to DC.