the cape

skipping stones into the ocean at sunset on the cape - reminds me of walking with alix along the barcaloneta at night. the nightclubs were behind us, but the sky over the ocean was completely black, save the moon. for anyone who hasn't done so, i recommend coming out to the cape to see the sun set. it's superb.

last night i had a dream that i was training with ronaldinho and frank lampard in the same stadium as in the nike golden cleats commercial (you know, crossbar). i was taking PKs and roni was in goal, and i sent it the other way twice.

this afternoon i was taking a short nap and dreamt that my blockmates and i were in a film class. on a quiz, the professor mistakenly referred to a christian bale film as "calling tall" but i said "wrong! the name of that film is actually harsh times."

i should be getting back into boston tomorrow (saturday) morning, in time to have a very urban weekend.

"drugs for them are like spices which they pay for to help them believe it's better living there in prison."
- cidade dos homens

lille

abdul kader keita's comments before the second half of lille's tie with manchester:

'It would be disrespectful to my team-mates to suggest Lille is a much better team just because I'm back, but people have said this and my task now is to prove them right.

'I watch the Premiership all the time and when you hear that clubs like United and Liverpool are interested in signing you, there can only be pride. Maybe this move will happen one day and playing on a massive stage like Old Trafford gives us all a chance to show we are not just average players.

'We know that anything is possible in Manchester and victory can be ours. When you look at the first leg, we matched United for long periods, especially in the second half and they only managed to score with a goal by breaking the spirit of the game, even if it didn't break the rules.

'The Giggs goal from the free-kick has left us all with a bitter taste. We feel the referee would not have been so accommodating had the free-kick been in our favour. It's probably the way of the world, with the big teams at an advantage, but it doesn't make things right.

'The only good thing about this episode is that we are in a position to turn our sense of injustice into a major motivating factor in the return. We didn't get what we deserved from the first leg but we will be doubly determined to make sure we don't experience the same deep disappointment again.

'There's no point hiding from the fact that the odds are very much against us in this tie. If you lose the first leg at home, life becomes severely complicated. Especially when you are talking about going to a place like Old Trafford, where Manchester United are used to winning week in and week out.

'They have wonderful players all over the pitch and an attacking-third to beat any team in Europe. They combine very well together and what makes it so difficult for the opposing team is the ease with which they swap positions. United play very fluidly and even when you think you have them backed up in their own box, they break so quickly.

'Though our game is not nearly so primitive as some would have you believe, we don't compare when it comes to individual technical ability. But we have other strengths: the heart in this team, the fantastic understanding we have, our great organisation. In Manchester we need just about everything to go right for us; to score at the right psychological time, to get the refereeing breaks and the run of the ball.

'Thankfully we don't give up easily. Challenges, however hard they may seem, are there to be grasped. We proved that when we qualified for the knock-out phase by winning at AC Milan. A repeat performance is a big ask but who says lightning can't strike twice?

'Nothing is impossible in sport. If we can press them high up the pitch and put the brakes on their normal passing game, we have a chance. We'll have a lot more space to operate in at Old Trafford and we can make the most of it.

'Naturally, it was very frustrating for me to sit out the first leg. Not being a part of the biggest game of the season was a terrible blow. Now I'm really looking forward to the return. Old Trafford is one of the great stages in world football and it's a great opportunity for me to show what I can do at the top level in Europe. I have great faith in my abilities and will not be overtaken by the atmosphere. I have the pace and skill to give the Manchester defenders a few headaches.'

mementos

today a journalist asked me:

HER: so XXXX, when you travel, do you like to take a lot of pictures?

ME: (pause)

HER: (pause) do you like to-

ME: yes. well - yes. i do. but not for me. for my family and friends. i think it's kind of an attempt to get them to feel, you know, to share the essence of a place with them. a gorgeous mosque, a moment in a festival, you know, whatever. uh, i remember once i was walking through the muslim part of granada and i got to this amazing lookout point at this ancient plaza full of pigeons and old people, uh, and it had this view of the alhambra rising from a million completely white little houses. like this sea of houses, and forest, with the alhambra sitting there like... a fucking god. i looked at my camera, and i had no film left. my film was done, i used like three rolls while i was in la alhambra itself, and the rest of it was in guadix, which is like an hour's drive away. so, this experience, which was this completely transcendent experience, where i was like, you know, jules winfield, i felt the touch of god, i had no way of sharing what that felt like with my mother or my father or my brother. do you know what i mean? i don't know. but anyway yeah, that's why i like to take pictures. i mean i honestly don't even know. my memory isn't too good, maybe it's for myself. what was the question?

forget that answer. i should have said yes, i do like to take pictures, things are beautiful and i want to have them, to own them. i guess that makes me a hypocrite.

nuts and bolts

albatross - street corner
bacon - not there
garbage truck - bball clang

let me explain what these cracked out tidbits mean.

this morning i was again walking back to quincy at the crack of dawn when i warily looked up to the skies. lo, there was the same(?) enormous seagull. i guess he just camps out on that street corner all the time like a drug dealer. what a frightening fowl.

at breakfast i waited for them to bring out bacon - i made myself some perfectly done toast with peanut butter in the meantime - but in the end they didn't bring out any bacon at all, just some "sausage patties" - in other words, those circular slices of sausage egg mcmuffin sausage. they probably buy the shipments from mafiosos who hijacked a mcdonalds truck.

i sat at my desk with the sunrise and dewolfe street in front of me. the garbage truck that drives by makes a very distinctive sound - exactly the noise a basketball makes when it clangs the rim of a hoop with a chain net. sitting at my desk in morningside heights, i hear that noise every now and then when other kids are downstairs playing basketball. it's a noise that has always gotten me excited, but especially now because we are all in college and spread across the northeast.

last night at lamont during an unproductive break i wandered through the morse media collection and rented three dvds: run lola run, todo sobre mi madre, and toy story. i haven't seen run lola run, and i really look forward to it. the other two are classics.

birds

this morning i was walking back to quincy. i walked past the art galleries that were formerly bow street flowers when i happened to glance up at the periwinkle sky and SWOOP a big fucking seagull flew by. i mean HUGE - i've seen seagulls on steroids all up and down the new south wales coast and this one was massive. to be honest it was quite possibly an albatross. or a condor. good god.

clipse - ride around shining

"all i want to do is ride around shining while i can afford it
plenty ice on my neck so i don't get nauseous
float around in the greatest of porsches
feel like a chuck wagon cause i'm on twelve horses"

health

had a thought (it was bound to happen). i hate being sick. smoking causes cancer, which is like a decades-long flu. screw that.