On impulse, I recently stopped in for the first time at the neighborhood condom shop, Señor Goma (Mr. Rubber -- I am not making that up; see entry of April 15, 2003), to see what was what.
Turns out that Benetton is marketing a line of condoms here in Spain. Four different varieties of condoms, each in a different-colored box, decorated with the following classic prose:
"prêt à porter: Just as it says -- ready to wear, with the most natural of feels.
".com: Instead of ribbed, it's dotted! For extra feel.
"colors: Coloured, and flavoured with your favorite cocktails -- nonalcoholic, of course -- Strawberry Margarita, Banana Daiquiri and Mojito!
"xl chocolate flavour: Succulent delight!"
Succulent delight. I can't tell you how much entertainment I've gotten out of that one turn of a marketing phrase -- probably far more than my fair share.
Life -- busy bringing us silly fun in the most unexpected places.
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Two images of a sun-drenched, mid-January Madrid, taken this last Friday afternoon -- the first along el Paseo de la Castellana (with a bit of the National Library visible on the left), the other here in the barrio:
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From a recent email sent by a friend in the San Fernando Valley, CA:
So today was very interesting. It was the retirement luncheon for W, now retired from the San Bernardino Fire Department after 35 years. This was the first formal recognition of that -- a happy and emotional time. There were Fire Department people, some in uniform, and Sheriff/P.D. people. Lots of friends and relatives.
It was held in an Elks Lodge in a nice, hilly section of San Bernardino, at the foot of "The Mountain." I saw many people I'd not seen in a long time, who had been important in one way or another in my life. I especially enjoyed reconnecting with the Big Bear Librarian, a tall, lean, red-haired, fashionable woman who collects women's hats and puts on programs about their history, etc. She is such a warm, generous person. She told me that she is still trying to get the interior of her house finished in remodeling. As with many people, it seems to go on forever! When Big Bear had to evacuate for The Fire in October, she went to a town in the desert close by, and almost had to evacuate from there as well. That happened to several people I knew. The Fire seemed to unite those communities as nothing else has.
There were others I visited; W.A., a wood sculptor who does such beautiful work. The back wall of his house burned and the glass melted from the windows, but they didn't lose the house. He told me that the insurance company had canceled their insurance the week before (!!!) the fire. He is getting the place rebuilt, and now erosion and mud are the problems. He's busy building walls, channels, anything that will keep the water and mud from taking out the house. Its interesting that his was one of the houses shown on TV and the reporter kept saying it was a "goner." W. had someone call the reporter and tell him the house made it.
Most of the pine bark beetles survived the fire, it seems.
I sat next to my ex., who was busy taking photos, and next to him was J., the woman who had the local newspaper before I worked for it. Sidebar: she and the person to whom she sold the paper got into some sort of bitter feud. J. would have nothing to do with me while I was writing for that paper; part of that was her considering me guilty by association, and I think some sort of artistic resentment. Never figured it all out, and it certainly doesn't matter now. The second owner sold to someone else, changed the format entirely and none of us wrote for it! Anyway, J. is still a very odd bird. She would fit perfectly in a "Murder She Wrote" kind of setting. Short, very wide, and with a habit of lifting her head and squinting her eyes that makes her look like a little round animal sniffing the wind for whatever is coming. She was interested in finding out what I was up to and where I was doing same, but quickly became evasive about giving me her business card, etc. She busied on to something else and ignored my appeal. I just laughed to myself.
What I saw was that most people had a few more wrinkles or a little more grey hair, but for all the time that had past, didn't seem to be very different from when I last saw them. Personalitywise, I mean. I wondered if they thought the same of me.
I came away with such a mixture of feelings; sad, homesick, yet so glad I'm not there any more. So many times and memories stirred up, my head felt like a shaken snowglobe.
I knew not to take anything uncomfortable as personal -- that is, negative about me. I think some people get a bit testy and provocative in order to deal with sadness and deep emotion. I gave up on the project of keeping control and just let the tears leak out when so inclined, and carried on business as usual.
I was glad to be heading home after about 2-1/2 hours of this event. The brief moments I got to talk to W. at all, he said that this was a stressful day and we'd talk later. (Well, possibly in May when there are two more parties planned before he and wife Kelly move to Homer, Alaska.) I did learn that W. is a third-generation fireman, and that he didn't want to be a fireman. His dad harangued him into it. Wayne had been an English major in college and wanted to teach English and write.
Well, thanks for this opportunity to unload. It was a good day and experience overall. My husband had to tend to business here and deeply regretted not being able to be with me. I appreciated that... his choice, and the fact he'd rather have been with me. That's a very nice thing, you know?
rws 4:29 AM [+]