Pre-emptive Strike

 

So we were chillin' in the dining room last night. Doors open..no AC, commenting on how this "vacation day" involved the Wife being at work --pro bono-- for a 9 hour stretch, and in walked this fella...
We are not unfamiliar with scorpions, after all Jezebel had immaculately conceived 17 of them in my care, but this one was walking across the floor. Very healthy, medium claws which means pain not death, but as you can see no small beastie.
I thought a couple things: wife might be upset if I kill it which would mean long debate about killing things that are genetically mean and could ruin a potentially good Friday night forecast, or I could take the let the scorpion be and kill bugs that don't bother us until it stings us in our sleep..
So I killed it.

Nicaragua Contrasts

 

 

 

 

Nica Culla!

 

 

 

 

Nicaragua Pictures

Tourist Visa in Costa Rica is a flat 90 day Visa. This means one must apply for an extension or leave the country for 72 hours. Those of us staying here have 2 drivable options: Nicaragua or Panama. My main man had overstayed so I went along for the ride.
He is my partner at the Howler which is still “under construction”. We have a party of 25 booked for February 18th. I am hoping we nave been up for a week before that, but I digress...suffice to say I chalked my trip up to “research”. San Juan Del Sur is a tourist town, nice roads, running cold water and 90% uptime electricity. I'll be posting pics here and on flickr (sign up, viewing is free. Add me as a contact and see all the weirdness in macro) On to the snaps!

Nica at Night

(written in MyScene Notebook, 2am)
It is 2am in San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua. The 75cl of Queen Anne scotch is empty, if not dry.
I am reading Delillo´s Underworld. Listening to dogs bark. Deep, not low, bass music with a woman singing. Echo, reverb, wind.
The beat is a stop start throb. The voices (not the singer) are audible/overlapping but incomprehensible as I speak less than pidgeon Spanish.
It was later than this last night when I was jolted awake by the sound of sex in the next room.
The pain raised then was different than this. This is drink and existentialism and the loneliness of 4 days away from the woman I love.
I need to look up Bruegel´s "the Triumph of Death" tomorrow b4 returning to Costa Rica.

Angry Island - Hunting the English

This is a collection of essays by A.A. Gill. My wife first brought the author to my attention with a restaurant review from the London Sunday Times. You know, London, where we met ;)

His review was delicious.

This collection revolves around the conceit that the English are noted for their barely controlled rage. He makes a pretty good case. Most of the blurbs take the book as satire/humor and seem to leave it at that.

Perhaps it is my being a stranger in a strange land here in Nicaragua, separated from the aforementioned wife who is not in London but nonetheless distant, but I got a lot more than a couple of good hours in the pages from this.

Not sure if the book imprinted better by my being jolted awake at 3am by the local talent in the adjacent room, but imprint it did. Let me spoil an essay:
Voice -- is an essay that discusses class structure and upward mobility based on accents, with an emphasis on the various English accents. I learned to speak watching TV, and have been known to jibe at my Kansas friends for their pronunciation of words like "cement" -- you know "see-ment", and "lawyer".

Boy, do I feel like a jackass.

This skinny book is replete with behavior altering, cool insights, just like that. From the guy that doesn´t like comedy, I highly recommend it!

Costa Rica Color Study(s)

More pics from the back catalogue.
New new stuff coming Wednesday!
The trick to blogging from internet cafe in Nicaragua: 1 pic at a time!

Nicaragua

Internet cafe too slow for me to upload pics, so a current events instead:
Woken at 5am this morning by roosters that warned the trucks would be coming soon anyway, I might as well get up.
Used keys to open shared bathroom for the cold shower. Soap supplied by hotel = 1 sliver of a travel bar. Contacts out in borrowed case, purchased solution for 7 dollars, actually in date. For perspective: room with 2 beds = 18 dollars a night, with 2 towels.

I was surprised the fifth of "Queen Ann" scotch was only half empty, but remembered the full bottle of vino tinto I drank at the "Dolce Vita" prior to the late night Howler strategy session. Dinner for 2 with 1 scotch, 5 beers and a full bottle of house wine = 35 dollars. Food was good, service hot. After dinner drinks marred by the arrival of rude gringos arranging tables the way they like without regard to seated customers. I cringed when the table leg hit the back of the eating customer without even a half hearted Spanglish apology.

Drank the bottle of wine watching spanish dubbed low rent Hercules meets Froddo in the bar.

Bar, tables, roofing and lighting now set for the Howler.

Coffee and Hummus for breakfast at the Gato Negro, delicious. Bought the wife a copy of a fat book that I never got back from Ken, back in the day, Delillo´s "Underworld".

Walked to Spencer´s dream home designed by a dictator a couple of leaders back, took a bunch of snaps I hope to post "soon". Lunch at the Gecko. Met the owner of this themed bar after a couple mid-Sunday margs -- a Spanish major with a minor in foreign relations -- talked about the downward spiral the states are in and the sharp look to his establishment.

Another restaurant this evening for research. Walked to Pali looking for lemons and Cardamon. Looks like a stop will be in order in Pachera..

the Way to Costa Rica

Thanks to several complaints about file size, exposing everyone´s email etc, I have decided to share the "new life" pics here on the blog, pending the launch of the HowlerCafe website...
I am a few big emails behind, but wanted to get started, so ENJOY...
(yes, I will caption the new stuff)
I have chosen to not reactivate my Facebook account as the "college students" doing "homework" via Facebook has soured me to that social network. Feel free to comment on the pics as you see fit here..