"We each have within ourselves the ability to shape our own destinies. That much we understand. But, more important, each of us has an equal ability to shape the destiny of the universe. Ah, that you find more difficult to believe. But I tell you it is so. You do not have to be elven king or human monarch or the head of a dwarven clan to have a significant impact on the world around you.
In the vastness of the ocean, is any drop of water greater than another? No, you answer, and neither has a single drop the ability to cause a tidal wave.
but, I argue, if a single drop falls into the ocean, it creates ripples. And these ripples spread. And perhaps - who knows - these ripples may grow and swell and eventually break foaming upon the shores.
Like a drop in the vast ocean, each of us causes ripples as we move through our lives. The effects of whatever we do - insignificant as it may seem - spread out beyond us. We may never know what far-reaching impact even the simplest action might have on our fellow mortals. Thus we need to be conscious, all of the time, of our place in the ocean, of our place in the world, of our place among our fellow creatures.
For if enough of us join forces, we can swell the tide of events - for good or for evil."
M. Weis - T. Hickman "The seventh gate"
"We are rich, Raven, richer than we could ever hoped to be. we have woven a saga - tale that will warm men's hearts on cold nights for many years to come." He looked at me then, his blue eyes boring into mine like ship's rivets. "Is it enough?" he asked.
And now I did not answer, for i did not need to. I looked at the warrior ring on my arm, the silver ring Sigurd had given me so long ago when i had proved myself in a hard fight. Then I looked out to sea, watching a fat trading vessel wallowing on the merest ripple of wave, her crew bellowing at each other like cattle. And I smiled, lips pulling back from my teeth.
It is never enough.
G. Kristian "Odin's Wolves"
When Marco Polo came at last to Cathay, seven hundred years ago, did he not feel - and did his heart not falted as he realized - that this great and splendid capital of an empire had had its being all the years of his life and far longer, and that he had been ignorant of it? That it was in need of nothing from him, from Venice, from Europe? That it was full of wonders beyond his understanding? That his arrival was a matter of no importance whatever? We know that he felt these things, and so has many a traveller in foreign parts who did not know what he was going to find. There is nothing that cuts you down to size like coming to some strange and marvellous place where no one even stops to notice that you stare about you.
R. Adams "Watership Down"
Tenerife
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
There's gold at the end of the rainbow...
Gran Canaria and Manchester...it's like the rainbow, it happens when the sun shines through the rain.
Down there, on the small island, we have the sun. The sun shines on the shores, rooftops, streets, on the waves and on the people. And the people reflect it back, like crystals, in an incredible variety of shades. It is beautiful. People actually smile there! The sun gives colours to the world around you. Even the houses are so bright...then you have the slightly bigger island on the other side of the rainbow, Great Britain. The Rain. The main idea you get of a British city is grey. I look out of the window and the sky is grey. The streets are grey. The air is grey! People are sad, snuggling inside their coats, under black umbrellas, splashing in pools, quickly, across the road. The houses drip slowly, hiding their red skin behind lacey curtains of mist and pollution. The sky is heavy, it's always angry and tired. And it shouts down at us, with wind, slashing rain, hail and thunder. The smel is musty, fresh, forcely pushed into your nostrils by some double decker bus passing by...and you run in the rain, because you always have something to do, somewhere to go, a timetable to follow. You're always running out of time.
In Canaria you walk... sit... contemplate. You don't hear people shouting... well they do shout, but not because they're angry. Because they're latin, and that's the way we speak! You can smell the sea, that is obviously imperative. It's everywhere, you cannot run away from it! Sometimes I felt it a bit oppressive... but I still prefer to be oppressed by the ocean than by skyscrapers!
There's your pot of gold, my friend. The waves, their song. The misty skyline of volcanos in the distance... rough dark sand... walking down an empty street in the boiling sun of noon!
But we sit on the other side of the rainbow... we sit on a metal bench, endlessly waiting for a bus that never shows up, drenched to the bones, looking up at the heavy sky. We sit and pray for a ray of sun, a beam of light that will colour our long, winter days.
We sit in front of the fireplace and dream of the pot of gold at the furthest end of the rainbow...
Down there, on the small island, we have the sun. The sun shines on the shores, rooftops, streets, on the waves and on the people. And the people reflect it back, like crystals, in an incredible variety of shades. It is beautiful. People actually smile there! The sun gives colours to the world around you. Even the houses are so bright...then you have the slightly bigger island on the other side of the rainbow, Great Britain. The Rain. The main idea you get of a British city is grey. I look out of the window and the sky is grey. The streets are grey. The air is grey! People are sad, snuggling inside their coats, under black umbrellas, splashing in pools, quickly, across the road. The houses drip slowly, hiding their red skin behind lacey curtains of mist and pollution. The sky is heavy, it's always angry and tired. And it shouts down at us, with wind, slashing rain, hail and thunder. The smel is musty, fresh, forcely pushed into your nostrils by some double decker bus passing by...and you run in the rain, because you always have something to do, somewhere to go, a timetable to follow. You're always running out of time.
In Canaria you walk... sit... contemplate. You don't hear people shouting... well they do shout, but not because they're angry. Because they're latin, and that's the way we speak! You can smell the sea, that is obviously imperative. It's everywhere, you cannot run away from it! Sometimes I felt it a bit oppressive... but I still prefer to be oppressed by the ocean than by skyscrapers!
There's your pot of gold, my friend. The waves, their song. The misty skyline of volcanos in the distance... rough dark sand... walking down an empty street in the boiling sun of noon!
But we sit on the other side of the rainbow... we sit on a metal bench, endlessly waiting for a bus that never shows up, drenched to the bones, looking up at the heavy sky. We sit and pray for a ray of sun, a beam of light that will colour our long, winter days.
We sit in front of the fireplace and dream of the pot of gold at the furthest end of the rainbow...
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Make heaven out of hell.....
Hola amigos!
What a multilingual.... just back from sunny Spain. Sounds like a mega stereotypes, but it was actually mega sunny. 36 degrees on the dot.
Some people say that the Canary islands are more Africa than Spain, and somehow I tend to agree, but anyway that's where I went for the week end. Incredibly cool.
As you probably don't know, my dear invisible friends, I used to live in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (why such a long name, I've never really got it...) 6 years back. When I was young - er.... and full of hope for the future. Already a heavy drinker, anyway.
But let's move on.
I packed 500 different things, considering any possible kind of weather, from draught to typhoon, knowing very well that there the weather never changes.
My flight was at 2pm, so I obviously left at 10am. Why? No idea. I got to the airport at 11am and got incredibly bored drinking latte at Starbucks. The good thing is that now I possess a beautiful thing called Kindle! A thing similar to a computer that you use to read books... very clear, innit? Like an electronic reader, let's put it like that. It's super cool... you can store up to a million books. More less. But it's great, mega light and small, you can fit it in your bag and carry a whole shelf of books.
Well... the flight was obviously delayed and then I spent the next 4 hours looking at the ocean, reading and eating Jelly Babies. Not too bad. Obviously I was wearing winter clothes (in Manchester we're in the deep end of winter, now....) and the shock came when I got off the plane.
Flying to the Canary islands is quite impressive. You soar over miles and miles of ocean till you notice a small cap of clouds on the horizon, standing over the water, and you know you've arrived. Here's El Teide, in Tenerife, Spain's highest mountain.
That's cool, believe me. Even because on Ryanair flights you don't get much space to move around and 4 hours can feel like an eternity. So the doors finally open and we dash off the plane... to faint straight away!
Gosh the heat... I wasn't ready for that... even because of my very helpful winter clothes! Well, at least I took my coat off...
Sweating like a pig I got on a taxi and went straight to the hotel! How unbelievable was that! All my memories were running back and crashing against me like high tide on the cliffs.
So weird... like going back to where you grew up, after many many years... I don't know how to put it but my heart was seriously racing and I couldn't stop smiling and telling the taxi driver about all the things I did in Las Palmas. luckily he didn't fall asleep.
Quick shower, took off the winter clothes and off we go, running into the sunset.
Sunset on the beach is the best thing in the universe. With a cold beer (and more than one) and someone pretty attractive sitting beside you it can get even better! But let's leave men out of the story...
I walked along the beach almost all night, feeling the rough sand under my feet and smelling the sea, dragging it down deep into my lungs. Loved it to the bone. The same beach I used to walk on 6 years ago, and everything seems exactly the same...sigh! I'm the only one who changed... yeah got wrinkles, now!
Yeah, it is really like that.
Well, i got pissed and got to bed at 2 in the morning. It wouldn't have been too bad if the day after I didn't have Tenerife. But this is life. Got up with a humongous headache and so tired that i couldn't even open my eyes. Somehow I walked down to reception and asked the guy to call a taxi for me. He started speaking to me using some mysterious language and I could just nod without really knowing what I was agreeing to. The taxi driver insisted in speaking to me... what's wrong with these Spaniards? it's 7 in the morning, it's still dark, I'm fighting a massive hangover... leave me alone!
Finally we got to the port and the time came to pay. "It's 4 euros 40" I grumble something and I gave him a tenner "Have you got something smaller?" a part from my brain? I grumble again and I open my wallet... gosh so many coins! I start counting but it's a hard task for me so I just tell the guy "Sorry but I do not understand euros in the morning... can I pay in pounds?" he looked at me a bit puzzle so I yawn and pass him some coins... he seemed satisfied so I got off and walked to the ferry.
here comes the next big task of the day and it's not even 7:15am....the ticket checker!
(to make it easier for the public I translate the conversation into English)"Good morning" let's put it like that....grumble. "Ticket please" I produced the ticket "ID please" I produced the passport... and then he stared at me... and I stared back... what are we doing here? "Erhm... I keep the ticket you can get on the boat!" "Oh ok... thank you!". So I climbed up and I entered the boat.... to freeze on the spot! My dear invisible friends, how mega cold it was! My jumper wasn't enough at all! I sat somewhere and became a small (relatively) ball trying to keep myself warm. What a nightmare! Together with my headache, hangover, nausea and rolling boat on the ocean... well, it wasn't a pleasant journey at all!
Somehow I managed to keep the vomit down (beautiful) and landed safely to Tenerife... after ONLY 3 hours!!!
My friend, Celina, came to pick me up! Oooooh I was so happy to see her! She actually lives in Tenerife, so she drove me all the way down to her place, El medano. And what a windy little village, my friends! So cute and small and full of kite surfers and wind surfers. Wow. What a pleasant view!
We went to a nice tapas place in front of the beach and we talked and talked and talked... great food, great view and great company! Best ever. She took me around the island, from playa to playa and we had ice creams and drinks. Gosh it was so hot and the sand so white... it killed me!
Yeah but this is not very interesting, isn't it? You insensible lot... it was a great day with a great friend. Full stop.
The trip back was almost fine, but my biggest mistake was to go out again in the evening. I was so tired that I could barely stand, but somehow I managed to walk for almost three hours... silly me! But it was just so beautiful that you couldn't go inside, you had to stare at the sea.
The day after I just went walking around Las Palmas, remembering many many things. The place where I used to live, work, where I used to have breakfast, go shopping, drinking and so on...just strange, every little corner had a story to tell about my past. It felt like time never actually passed and I'd just left yesterday.
Now the plan is find a way to move back and I'm working on it.
After spending all Monday on the beach pondering (and tanning and swimming) I think I found a few options: go back, plant a tent on the beach and leave there; pretend to be an asylum seeker; win the lottery and buy a place there; get a job there (but that's boring and possibly the most difficult of all...); get a job with ryanair (it's on route....); marry a very rich Canarian man... or just get over it.
Well that's it... not an interesting story to tell till the very end: I get to airport on Monday only 2 hours earlier (I'm improving...), get back into my winter clothes and buy some stuff. Rum Arehucas, gofio (a type of flour), mantecados (biscuits), aloe juice... and then sit down with my omni Kindle. We finally get on the plane and guess what? Delayed... what a surprise. One hour stuck on the plane waiting... ah poor Ellie. At least I had mantecados... and I promise, I didn't touch the rum!!!
And then again, after 4 hours... thermal shock! 15 degrees here... and you can guess how I spent the night!!!
O.o
What a multilingual.... just back from sunny Spain. Sounds like a mega stereotypes, but it was actually mega sunny. 36 degrees on the dot.
Some people say that the Canary islands are more Africa than Spain, and somehow I tend to agree, but anyway that's where I went for the week end. Incredibly cool.
As you probably don't know, my dear invisible friends, I used to live in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (why such a long name, I've never really got it...) 6 years back. When I was young - er.... and full of hope for the future. Already a heavy drinker, anyway.
But let's move on.
I packed 500 different things, considering any possible kind of weather, from draught to typhoon, knowing very well that there the weather never changes.
My flight was at 2pm, so I obviously left at 10am. Why? No idea. I got to the airport at 11am and got incredibly bored drinking latte at Starbucks. The good thing is that now I possess a beautiful thing called Kindle! A thing similar to a computer that you use to read books... very clear, innit? Like an electronic reader, let's put it like that. It's super cool... you can store up to a million books. More less. But it's great, mega light and small, you can fit it in your bag and carry a whole shelf of books.
Well... the flight was obviously delayed and then I spent the next 4 hours looking at the ocean, reading and eating Jelly Babies. Not too bad. Obviously I was wearing winter clothes (in Manchester we're in the deep end of winter, now....) and the shock came when I got off the plane.
Flying to the Canary islands is quite impressive. You soar over miles and miles of ocean till you notice a small cap of clouds on the horizon, standing over the water, and you know you've arrived. Here's El Teide, in Tenerife, Spain's highest mountain.
That's cool, believe me. Even because on Ryanair flights you don't get much space to move around and 4 hours can feel like an eternity. So the doors finally open and we dash off the plane... to faint straight away!
Gosh the heat... I wasn't ready for that... even because of my very helpful winter clothes! Well, at least I took my coat off...
Sweating like a pig I got on a taxi and went straight to the hotel! How unbelievable was that! All my memories were running back and crashing against me like high tide on the cliffs.
So weird... like going back to where you grew up, after many many years... I don't know how to put it but my heart was seriously racing and I couldn't stop smiling and telling the taxi driver about all the things I did in Las Palmas. luckily he didn't fall asleep.
Quick shower, took off the winter clothes and off we go, running into the sunset.
Sunset on the beach is the best thing in the universe. With a cold beer (and more than one) and someone pretty attractive sitting beside you it can get even better! But let's leave men out of the story...
I walked along the beach almost all night, feeling the rough sand under my feet and smelling the sea, dragging it down deep into my lungs. Loved it to the bone. The same beach I used to walk on 6 years ago, and everything seems exactly the same...sigh! I'm the only one who changed... yeah got wrinkles, now!
Yeah, it is really like that.
Well, i got pissed and got to bed at 2 in the morning. It wouldn't have been too bad if the day after I didn't have Tenerife. But this is life. Got up with a humongous headache and so tired that i couldn't even open my eyes. Somehow I walked down to reception and asked the guy to call a taxi for me. He started speaking to me using some mysterious language and I could just nod without really knowing what I was agreeing to. The taxi driver insisted in speaking to me... what's wrong with these Spaniards? it's 7 in the morning, it's still dark, I'm fighting a massive hangover... leave me alone!
Finally we got to the port and the time came to pay. "It's 4 euros 40" I grumble something and I gave him a tenner "Have you got something smaller?" a part from my brain? I grumble again and I open my wallet... gosh so many coins! I start counting but it's a hard task for me so I just tell the guy "Sorry but I do not understand euros in the morning... can I pay in pounds?" he looked at me a bit puzzle so I yawn and pass him some coins... he seemed satisfied so I got off and walked to the ferry.
here comes the next big task of the day and it's not even 7:15am....the ticket checker!
(to make it easier for the public I translate the conversation into English)"Good morning" let's put it like that....grumble. "Ticket please" I produced the ticket "ID please" I produced the passport... and then he stared at me... and I stared back... what are we doing here? "Erhm... I keep the ticket you can get on the boat!" "Oh ok... thank you!". So I climbed up and I entered the boat.... to freeze on the spot! My dear invisible friends, how mega cold it was! My jumper wasn't enough at all! I sat somewhere and became a small (relatively) ball trying to keep myself warm. What a nightmare! Together with my headache, hangover, nausea and rolling boat on the ocean... well, it wasn't a pleasant journey at all!
Somehow I managed to keep the vomit down (beautiful) and landed safely to Tenerife... after ONLY 3 hours!!!
My friend, Celina, came to pick me up! Oooooh I was so happy to see her! She actually lives in Tenerife, so she drove me all the way down to her place, El medano. And what a windy little village, my friends! So cute and small and full of kite surfers and wind surfers. Wow. What a pleasant view!
We went to a nice tapas place in front of the beach and we talked and talked and talked... great food, great view and great company! Best ever. She took me around the island, from playa to playa and we had ice creams and drinks. Gosh it was so hot and the sand so white... it killed me!
Yeah but this is not very interesting, isn't it? You insensible lot... it was a great day with a great friend. Full stop.
The trip back was almost fine, but my biggest mistake was to go out again in the evening. I was so tired that I could barely stand, but somehow I managed to walk for almost three hours... silly me! But it was just so beautiful that you couldn't go inside, you had to stare at the sea.
The day after I just went walking around Las Palmas, remembering many many things. The place where I used to live, work, where I used to have breakfast, go shopping, drinking and so on...just strange, every little corner had a story to tell about my past. It felt like time never actually passed and I'd just left yesterday.
Now the plan is find a way to move back and I'm working on it.
After spending all Monday on the beach pondering (and tanning and swimming) I think I found a few options: go back, plant a tent on the beach and leave there; pretend to be an asylum seeker; win the lottery and buy a place there; get a job there (but that's boring and possibly the most difficult of all...); get a job with ryanair (it's on route....); marry a very rich Canarian man... or just get over it.
Well that's it... not an interesting story to tell till the very end: I get to airport on Monday only 2 hours earlier (I'm improving...), get back into my winter clothes and buy some stuff. Rum Arehucas, gofio (a type of flour), mantecados (biscuits), aloe juice... and then sit down with my omni Kindle. We finally get on the plane and guess what? Delayed... what a surprise. One hour stuck on the plane waiting... ah poor Ellie. At least I had mantecados... and I promise, I didn't touch the rum!!!
And then again, after 4 hours... thermal shock! 15 degrees here... and you can guess how I spent the night!!!
O.o
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