Our neighbors in Stanford's graduate student housing were a married couple from Catalonia. The husband, a linguist; the wife, brilliant translator of English works into Catalan. The aura of resistance was like pheromones one could perceive via instinct and I was instantly smitten. I still have never been, although there is an open invitation. Thanks for the postcard :-) and especially the tears of holiness.
But what destiny does not do is home visits. You have to go for it.”…….. it was fate for me to wake up and as I said in my repost; bake my rule and check news but instead I got to read this and can drift off back to sleep with hope. And wonder. Not hope; something more solid. Things happen and they have meaning. Every lucky event for me was preceded by a hell of a lot of effort. Destiny does not do home visits….karma does but not destiny as poets will use the word. Thank you for interrupting my karma; about to read about submarines and nuclear self termination.
As we approached the Black Madonna my daughter saw the Catholic cross tribute followed by a touch of the Madonna. She participated by spitting on her hand and wiping it on the Madonna. My question for you, is the whole family doomed to Hell?
Welcome home, thanks for a great start to my Sunday. This time next week, all going to plan I shall start reading your work from jolly (I hope) old England.
Sinatra said it so well, "It's Nice to Go Trav'ling". Sadly thanks to the orange imbecile, the shine is off the final refrain that begins, "But it's oh so nice to come home".
Most of the world preserves history, especially the architecture, sadly in the USA after 20 years, knock it down, build new. Question, does nostalgia for things past and an embrace of history hold civilization back or make for a better tomorrow?
I hope your return is pleasant and today's woes do not take the shine off your traveling. BTW, who is the handsome dude in the picture?
Thanks, Old Man. I'd vicariously excited for your journey.
It's a good question...I think there's something to be said for history and the embrace of the past. But one of my favorite things about Rome is that there's all this incredible old ruins everywhere...and no one who lives there gives a shit.
Yes, the past is more for visitors than locals. The Empire State building and the Statue of Liberty are taken for granted by New Yorkers, they mostly exist as tourists attractions. Although in these days the latter takes on a renewed meaning to many in the US, serving a valuable purpose.
These pictures remind me of Italy in 1975, and I'd imagine all Romantic countries are similar in appearance and nature. Some places are frozen in time, as they should be. Mountains don't change in the course of anyone's lifetime, and neither do things built on them. That is something that brings some measure of peace to me. The Black Madonna in Monserrat will probably be there for ages; hence, long after all of us are gone.
It's travelogues like this that make me wish I'd known what was coming here 30 or 40 years ago, so I could have established myself in some other place. But now it's only possible to stay and fight. Yes, this too shall pass, but I also have to wonder what will be on the other side. I don't think we'll ever be going back to the way America used to be, whatever that is. The future is always unknown, even when we think we know what will come. And now, of course, I have to add "The Shadow of the Wind" to my too-long reading list. Thanks for this one, Greg!
Thanks, Steve. Maybe, optimistically, this Trump business will make us appreciate the country more, now that we're going to have to take it back from the marauders? Maybe?
Glad to hear you're an "Andor" fan, Greg. That, along with "Rogue One," is the best "Star Wars" content since Disney bought Lucasfilm. (You're spot on about "The Mandalorian": good the first two seasons, but third season even fell to the level of camp in one episode.) "Star Wars" was huge for me, a kid from a rednecked midwestern state and an uneducated family who needed something to inspire hope (so the later-added title is accurate if too bland). I'm such a big "Star Wars" geek that I teach a general education course called "Scholarly Study of Star Wars." (For anyone who thinks "Star Wars" is not worthy of scholarly study, I have 20+ books on reserve at the library for my course that prove you wrong. Many of the books and the articles in edited collections are by Ph.D's from a wide variety of fields.)
And thanks for including a link to your previous post about "Andor"; I've shared that with my son (I raised him right: he's also a huge "Star Wars" fan) and a former student with whom I'm friends (mostly based on our both being geeks).
Finally, about the serious point, yes, "Andor" is substantive in showing how fascism works and one way it can be fought. My religious beliefs tell me violence is not "the way," but I can't honestly say I wouldn't resort to it if I were in Ukraine or Gaza/the West Bank. And if things get really bad here, again, I can't say I wouldn't resort to violence to protect my family. That is why we live in a tragic world in the way that Hegel explained tragedy: it is the collision of equally justified ethical principles. In less abstract terms, damned if you do/don't, or choose your poison.
Glad you had a great time in Spain (thanks for the pic).
Thanks, Lincoln. The problem with ANDOR is that's it's so good that when you go to watch ROGUE ONE after, it's just not up to snuff. I think they should remake ROGUE ONE as a series, and just keep going. I can't tell you how many times I've quoted the Manifesto, which I love so much.
I would like to think we can end this Trump horror nonviolently. I'm really afraid that we, as a society, will cross that line and then things will become really really bad.
I owe a lot of the early success of this Substack to Mark Hamill retweeting one of my first posts. I love that he is one of the most public fighters for the Resistance. It's so perfectly appropriate.
Hell yeah! I read Orwell's "Homage to Catalonia" in Barcelona in February and I came home ready to fight.
Fuck to the yeah!
Tremendous. Thank you for the lift, Greg
Thanks, Sara!
Our neighbors in Stanford's graduate student housing were a married couple from Catalonia. The husband, a linguist; the wife, brilliant translator of English works into Catalan. The aura of resistance was like pheromones one could perceive via instinct and I was instantly smitten. I still have never been, although there is an open invitation. Thanks for the postcard :-) and especially the tears of holiness.
Thanks, Julie.
You can feel that in the city, too. It's a magical place.
But what destiny does not do is home visits. You have to go for it.”…….. it was fate for me to wake up and as I said in my repost; bake my rule and check news but instead I got to read this and can drift off back to sleep with hope. And wonder. Not hope; something more solid. Things happen and they have meaning. Every lucky event for me was preceded by a hell of a lot of effort. Destiny does not do home visits….karma does but not destiny as poets will use the word. Thank you for interrupting my karma; about to read about submarines and nuclear self termination.
I hope you were able to get more sleep, and had hopeful dreams!
my dreams are always pretty good; lol, I’m usually trying to fix things.
The transcendence and hope of being somewhere Trump hasn't tainted is life-affirming. Thanks for this Sunday glimmer of a more peaceful future.
It really is. Thank you!
As we approached the Black Madonna my daughter saw the Catholic cross tribute followed by a touch of the Madonna. She participated by spitting on her hand and wiping it on the Madonna. My question for you, is the whole family doomed to Hell?
Well we all may be but I suspect we'll never know until it happens. If we even do then.
I can't remember which wag said this, but: "Jesus will forgive me. That's His business."
Thanks for sharing your vacation experience with us Greg. Added a few books to reading list.
Thank you!
So good to know that there is still a world out there. A pleasure to read this piece.
Thanks, Dennis!
Welcome home, thanks for a great start to my Sunday. This time next week, all going to plan I shall start reading your work from jolly (I hope) old England.
Sinatra said it so well, "It's Nice to Go Trav'ling". Sadly thanks to the orange imbecile, the shine is off the final refrain that begins, "But it's oh so nice to come home".
Most of the world preserves history, especially the architecture, sadly in the USA after 20 years, knock it down, build new. Question, does nostalgia for things past and an embrace of history hold civilization back or make for a better tomorrow?
I hope your return is pleasant and today's woes do not take the shine off your traveling. BTW, who is the handsome dude in the picture?
Thanks, Old Man. I'd vicariously excited for your journey.
It's a good question...I think there's something to be said for history and the embrace of the past. But one of my favorite things about Rome is that there's all this incredible old ruins everywhere...and no one who lives there gives a shit.
Yes, the past is more for visitors than locals. The Empire State building and the Statue of Liberty are taken for granted by New Yorkers, they mostly exist as tourists attractions. Although in these days the latter takes on a renewed meaning to many in the US, serving a valuable purpose.
Thanks for sharing your tears of awe ~ great for the vagus nerve
A tourist
Thank you!
Wildly refreshing read, Greg. Thank you. Our chaos is temporary. But still insane.
Even with my newly-minted/renewed passport (11 days start to finish🤯), I’m still not up for intl travel just yet…
So, I needed this. Perspective. Thank you.
“But what destiny does not do is home visits. You have to go for it.” Welcome back.
Thanks!
Oh, I recommend leaving the country if you're so inclined. It really was a nice respite.
I also feel deep in my soul, this too shall pass.
Yes yes yes
These pictures remind me of Italy in 1975, and I'd imagine all Romantic countries are similar in appearance and nature. Some places are frozen in time, as they should be. Mountains don't change in the course of anyone's lifetime, and neither do things built on them. That is something that brings some measure of peace to me. The Black Madonna in Monserrat will probably be there for ages; hence, long after all of us are gone.
It's travelogues like this that make me wish I'd known what was coming here 30 or 40 years ago, so I could have established myself in some other place. But now it's only possible to stay and fight. Yes, this too shall pass, but I also have to wonder what will be on the other side. I don't think we'll ever be going back to the way America used to be, whatever that is. The future is always unknown, even when we think we know what will come. And now, of course, I have to add "The Shadow of the Wind" to my too-long reading list. Thanks for this one, Greg!
Thanks, Steve. Maybe, optimistically, this Trump business will make us appreciate the country more, now that we're going to have to take it back from the marauders? Maybe?
The novel is a great read. A lot of fun.
Glad you went. All the Ruiz Zafon books are amazing, highly recommend. I believe he passed away recently (from me that means the last decade)
Thanks, Charles. Thanks for the recs. Yes, he did, of colon cancer. He was young. It's sad.
On the subject, I just finished the last Arkady Renko book. Martin Cruz Smith also left too soon.
I read that book, oh so many years ago.
Now I want to go to Barcelona again, but I did love the Gaudi and last saw the Sagrada Familia when it was covered in scaffolding.
Oh, it's still in scaffolding. It will still take a long time to build it out. But as Gaudi said: "My client is not in a hurry."
Glad to hear you're an "Andor" fan, Greg. That, along with "Rogue One," is the best "Star Wars" content since Disney bought Lucasfilm. (You're spot on about "The Mandalorian": good the first two seasons, but third season even fell to the level of camp in one episode.) "Star Wars" was huge for me, a kid from a rednecked midwestern state and an uneducated family who needed something to inspire hope (so the later-added title is accurate if too bland). I'm such a big "Star Wars" geek that I teach a general education course called "Scholarly Study of Star Wars." (For anyone who thinks "Star Wars" is not worthy of scholarly study, I have 20+ books on reserve at the library for my course that prove you wrong. Many of the books and the articles in edited collections are by Ph.D's from a wide variety of fields.)
And thanks for including a link to your previous post about "Andor"; I've shared that with my son (I raised him right: he's also a huge "Star Wars" fan) and a former student with whom I'm friends (mostly based on our both being geeks).
Finally, about the serious point, yes, "Andor" is substantive in showing how fascism works and one way it can be fought. My religious beliefs tell me violence is not "the way," but I can't honestly say I wouldn't resort to it if I were in Ukraine or Gaza/the West Bank. And if things get really bad here, again, I can't say I wouldn't resort to violence to protect my family. That is why we live in a tragic world in the way that Hegel explained tragedy: it is the collision of equally justified ethical principles. In less abstract terms, damned if you do/don't, or choose your poison.
Glad you had a great time in Spain (thanks for the pic).
P.S. This reply was probably more to your earlier post about "Andor" than today's.
Thanks, Lincoln. The problem with ANDOR is that's it's so good that when you go to watch ROGUE ONE after, it's just not up to snuff. I think they should remake ROGUE ONE as a series, and just keep going. I can't tell you how many times I've quoted the Manifesto, which I love so much.
I would like to think we can end this Trump horror nonviolently. I'm really afraid that we, as a society, will cross that line and then things will become really really bad.
I owe a lot of the early success of this Substack to Mark Hamill retweeting one of my first posts. I love that he is one of the most public fighters for the Resistance. It's so perfectly appropriate.