Imaginary Gardens

You may be acquanted with one of the major tourist attractions in Barcelona. It's architectural, as most such sites are, and by Gaudi, obviously: Parc Güell. At the entrance is the instantly recognizable mosaic-lizard fountain. I still have a picture of my brother and I sitting on the lizard when we were little, back when you could still touch it without getting whistles blown at you by guards.

Yesterday Some Idiot took a crowbar to it resulting in the destruction of its mouth.



Some things should be beyond vandalism.

I just can't fathom why someone would do this. It's like taking The Little Mermaid Denmark's head (which they've done twice). How can people do this? I mean, they can't even claim political reasons. It's a tourist mecca, an innocent little fountain...

I do not get it.


After hearing that news yesterday afternoon, I went to pick the kids up and chatted with their gran a bit before being left to our own devices. The kids were having cookies in the kitchen, playing around with "guns" (a bendy-ruler and a plastic calper), when, after creaping out into the living room (there were beasties lying in hiding), one kid rushes in and closes the kitchen door.

So what?, you say.

Oh, nothing, except that the parents forgot to mention that there's no bloody doorhandle. ( Read more... )


Add to that my dream about getting a call that mom's dead and grieving over it, then going to my brother in the TV room to complain that he ate all 3 pairs mocassin slippers only to find him munching one, and you can see how these past few days have gone.

ETA: As a side-effect of my trying to transfer files from the office computer to a CD, you can now download William Blake's "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell", read by Johnny Depp. Enjoy**. (Limited to 100 downloads or 7 days.)


* Carolyn Battaglia
** I've yet to listen to it.

I just got an email from Bristol, saying how they were really sorry and distressed and it was a really terrible thing etc. but alas, they didn't want me within 5 feet of their univeristy. While being rejected isn't cool in any case, I wasn't planning on going there anyway because it's a) a 2-year program and b) focused on British organisms. But still.

After this I'm going to surf around, maybe even on the ever-useless CAPS page, to figure out how to make a decent resume for my TESL course. It's slightly depressing that after 4 years of undergraduate, my hopes of employment rest on my taking yet another course on how to teach English. Have I just totally wasted 4 years here? With the acceptance letter, universities should also give a warning letter, on red paper, saying something like: "This degree will have no benefits in the employment industry. We just want your money and youthful energy, and will suck you dry of both." Am not bitter.

I also want to learn how to make links on this journal, so I can point to better blogs than these, and my most favorite webpages. And now that I remember, there's two message boards I have to check up on. Not that the new BtVS Season 8 ep will be up yet, but there may be some new interesting comments. Have I mentioned I love the internet? And the fans and fics you can find through it?

Ok, I'll do my research and then fiddle around with this some more.

PS: I can't believe I'm going to spend my summer in courses and relearning German. [insert wail of terror/exhaustion here]