Thursday 27 January 2011

Countdown to Adventure

Over the past few weeks or so, I have felt that my life has become more and more routine and mundane. I get up, I go to work, I eat lunch, I go back to work, I go to bed. That is how I felt my life has been for at least a couple of months. I feel like I am lacking something.

When I was younger, I remember everyday being an adventure. There was always people to meet, things to do and laughter to be had. I had a fighter's spirit, a spirit that I thought could never be extinguished. However I have come to realise that I have slowly become the very thing I had always vowed never to become. A boring bastard. And that my friends, was a sad realisation indeed.

So I looked at myself in the mirror, sent my friend Tom Budgen an email and asked if it was OK to go to visit him in Worcester. He replied with a yes, and thus I bought my train tickets.

And so in a fortnight, I shall be reuinted with my Irish friend and brother and hopefully meet some new friends. This is the adventure that my soul and spirit have been crying out for, let the countdown to adventure begin....

Saturday 1 January 2011

Homesick


Imagine. Imagine a morning, a morning unlike another other morning ever since. And just like every other morning, up until then. And then imagine all those mornings of the world. My world gone, almost in an instant. And so begins the hunger. The hunger for memories, the hunger for family, the hunger for freedom. And everywhere I see Galicia. I taste Galicia. I feel Galicia.

And we sprout wings and take flight, with a hunger to be free. Galicia, her sons and daughters spread across the world. And we infuse the world with a fresh hot blood of a new land. Galicia is there.

Whenever food rises above mere sustenance, I smell the sweetness of a manzana. I feel the memories of caldo and family. Galicia is there.

When words fail me, I get lost in her literature. I fear to ask, will memories keep me safe? Hold me? Will they last? Will they last a lifetime? Or two or perhaps three? Letters sent a long time ago, kept alive by pure will and faith. In the images of life so loved, Galicia is there.

Liberty is a tasty dish, best served hot with courage. When I look for courage, Galicia is there.

In the halls of power, in the lonely battlefields of war, in the struggles for freedom, Galicia is there.

Her influence no longer limited by borders, her ideas transcend time and space. She infuses me with a thrill for life and a longing for freedom. It is life breathing in my chest. Every day I see Galicia. Every day I feel Galicia. Every day I taste Galicia. She has changed the world, my Galicia. She has changed my world, my Galicia. And someday, she promises on a morning unlike any other, on a morning unlike any ever in the history of the world, I will lay my head on her shoulders, once more in her arms, her arms around me, and I will feel my Galicia.

I will come home to her in freedom, because the road to liberty is a road of fate. A road of inescapable certainty, and that road leads home to Galicia and no one can stop it. I will come home. Home to my Galicia.

Mi Galicia Querida

Saturday 16 October 2010

Time spent drinking with an Irishman

As the sun is shining for what could be the last time in 2010, considering The Big Freeze we had last year, I have decided to look back over Summer 2010.

Summer 2010 was full of laughter, joy and drink. Oh yes indeed. It was especially good for I was reunited with my dear friend and Irish brother, Mr Tom Budgen.

Now then friends, that is a man who knows how to enjoy himself. A man of dignity and integrity. A man who loves life and everything in it. A much better man than me. Tom has no hatred in his heart from anyone, or anything. He believes in peace and unity for all, and as I look back, it has kind of rubbed off on me a little bit. I am truly grateful to him for this.

We spent many a evening drinking and looking back at the half a decade we have known each other. And what a crazy five years it has been. From our first day at Central Sussex College Haywards Heath, I knew I had found a friend and a brother. I remember every Monday afternoon, after our lessons at Clair Hall, we used to walk up the road and buy some Dominoe's Pizza. Then we sat on the roundabout and ate the pizzas. Good times, good times indeed.

So here is a message for my friend Tom Budgen, I miss you man and we shall share a bottle or two of wine one day soon! :-)

Thursday 7 October 2010

The Peacemaker

Well I can quite safely say that I am one hell of a peacemaker. I hope you are sat comfortably whilst you are reading this, because my dear friends, yesterday was one hell of an adventure.

Picture if you will, a sunny afternoon and I am drinking a nice refreshing pint of beer, Grosch to be precise. Sat with me in the bar are my good friends, Porno Jim and Gary Christian. We are also joined by Gary's girlfriend Jasmine. As we sit there, drinking and joking and talking about the intresting topics of the day (such as the suicide in Crawley) our table is appraoched by a man, rage burning in his eyes and whiskey in his breath. This man's name was Charlie, and he was not a happy bunny.

As it turns out in this crazy little town that I call home, nothing is ever simple. Charlie is Jasmine's ex husband, although in his drunken state, he was not liking the idea of Jasmine and Gary being together. He is also Gary's next door neighbour. He began to swear at Gary, threatening him with the usual drunk verbal abuse with some rather fruitful language. Charlie then turned to swear at myself, threatening to knock me out and the like. Now I am nice reasonable person, but I was not about to be bullied out of my local pub. So I rose to my feet, told him that I had paid money to have a beer and to be in the pub like everybody else. I mean here he was, an angry drunk guy, whom I had never met before, squaring up to me and trying to intimidate me. All of this despite the fact that he could hardly stand straight, never mind throw a punch at me.

Jasmine fled the pub quickly, she did not want to be around this guy, and quite frankly I didnt blame her. This guy was seriously pissed.

So yes, Jasmine fled and there we stayed. Charlie then started swearing at Gary again, and after he tried to headbutt him, the landlord stepped in, calling for calm. Calm came, or so I thought. Porno Jim left and then there were three. We sat together, and drank together, but I was not enjoying this newfound and uneasy peace. When Gary left to get another drink, Charlie revealed his intentions to me. He was planning to murder Gary later that evening. I talked with this would be murderer, asking him about his life and his past.

He told me about his 11 year old son, and about his own childhood. About how he lost his father at a very young age. I refered to his son, about how would he feel if his father was locked up in a cage like an animal. And to his own childhood, about how he feltwhen he lost his father, and did he really want for his son to go through the same thing. Then something amazing happened. The anger in his face disappeared. He calmed down, he realled calmed down. He thanked me and hugged me. Then Charlie and Gary shook hands, hopefully ending their bitter feud. Soon after, Charlie dropped his pint glass and was swiftly thrown out of the pub.

It just gos to show you, that in life, you should never be too busy to have a drink in a bar, because an adventure might just pass you by. God Bless and Much Love