Flan and Tapas and Toros, oh my...

The best part of Flan (custard dessert) lies beneath...a rich syrupy caramel sauce from the brown sugar on the bottom before it is baked.

I have to be careful, "foodie" that I am. Virtual Spain could make me real-time fat.  All the lovely dishes and desserts, and I have a tendency to want to try them all! Some moderation may be in order.

Reading Lorca's Sontoes del Amor Obscuro  (Sonnets of Dark Love) currently.

Pre-Translated, of course, because my high school Spanish remains limited to pleasantries, ordering a table for two at a Mexican Restaurant [Una mesa por dos, por favor], and possibly ordering another Margarita [Una mas Margarita, por favor] or a beer [cerveza]. Beyond that I am screwed.  

Beautiful work. Proving that angst is angst...whether you are gay or straight. After his obsession with Dali, led wildly on (the artist loved the devotion and attention he received but was very concerned with what a gay liaison would do to his standing in Spanish society), Fredrico had at least two other affairs. The second (and the lover that this book was written about/to) discovered nearly 70 years after Lorca's death. During his lifetime very few were "out of the closet" in Spain both for their safety and professional life.

                                                  Ramirez de Lucas

Oh secret voice of dark love!
Oh bleeting without wool! Oh wound!
Oh drooping camellia, needle of gall!
Oh current without sea, city without wall!

Oh immense night in sure focus,
celestial mount rearing up in anguish!
Oh dog in the heart! The persecuted voice,
the mature lily, the boundless silence!

Get away from me, hot voice of ice,
don’t throw me into the wilds where
fruitlessly groan the flesh and sky.

Leave alone the hard ivory of my head,
have pity on me, rip my sorrow to shreds!
For I am love, for I am nature! 

                                                       Fredrico Garcia Lorca

And my personal favourite...a single line.

To see you naked is to recall the Earth.

A movie was made in 2008 about Dali and Lorca. The Little Ashes. It is quite interesting.

https://youtu.be/AP6Er0tnUjg

 Along with the poetry I have tried my hand at Tapas. Very prominent in Spanish Life a ración or small plate of various different tapas has led to the Tapeo Crawl in early evening (tapar). Going from place to place basically drinking and grazing on Tapas. They vary from seafood, fish, chorizo, cheeses and fruits. 

 This plate is basically Spiced Choriza bundled in small pastry packets and served with sour cream, lettuce, cheese and salsa...with an accompaniment of black refried beans and cheese. 

Very satisfying.

Culturally, dinner in Spain is served at 10 to 11 o'clock. Past my bedtime. Thank goodness for Tapas or I should otherwise starve in Spain. 

Sunday, I also experienced The Running of the Bulls. A favorite of Hemingway's.  And an activity I (after watching) would have never ever ever attempted to participate in (real life) even when I was at my PRIME.  

Are you guys  NUTS???

I sort of understand. The sheer adrenaline rush must make METH look like Sanka.   Running in front of a small herd of 1500-2000 pound Bulls and Steers careening wildly through the narrow streets to the bullring. 

Um..no.
Maybe "Hell no"

An auditory experience that I did not expect was the collared cow-bells on the lead steers (trained to move in a herd toward the bullring thus the bulls follow them) Imagine six steers sporting cowbells running along with the bulls. And the noise created by the jangling cow-bells.  It was amazing. I think I want to buy one used off eBay. I know I will never hear the sound again without being able to close my eyes and see the massive rush of the bulls and crowd.

https://youtu.be/Gog4RR41sV4

Experience it yourself.

And then, because I had never in my life actually watched one; I watched a BULLFIGHT from beginning to bloody end.

Here is my disclaimer:  

For years in my life I hunted, even now as a Buddhist I still eat meat and game, I haven't and will never have any affiliation with PETA. Although I detest intentional cruelty to any animal...feel that they frequently undermine their own cause by environmental terrorism, speaking out for vermin or insects, or disrupt human studies which could wipe out human deaths or diseases to save rats, dogs or monkeys, okay? I also think it is ridiculous to release captive born ermine into the wild...no matter how much the surrounding coyotes enjoy your efforts.

But this bull-fighting stuff...

OMG!

Seriously????  What the hell is WRONG with you people???
Really.

https://youtu.be/fNW48fT4CAg

 Bullfight.

Hemingway once wrote that Bullfighting wasn't "A Sport it was a Tragedy". Although he professed to enjoy it very much.

 (Hemingway Article)

 http://ehto.thestar.com/marks/bullfighting-is-not-a-sport-it-is-a-tragedy

I agree completely...except for the enjoyment part. This (even just on Youtube) was horrific....disgusting...torturing with banderillas (the sharp barbed sticks thrust into the bulls muscular hump) blood streaming down from the barbs  and teasing...taunting...then eventually killing the majestic animal.  Way before the gruesome end I was firmly rooting for the bull. Seriously.

 Matadors?
 I hope they all end up gored.

 Absolutely Traumatizing. I can't even imagine how horrible this would be as a spectator in Plaza Del Toro live. Walking out would seem like the best course of action.

Yeah, yeah...I understand it is a huge cultural thing in Spain.

I'm sad for all of you.  I swat flies...but I don't tear wings off them before I do it.

I will never watch one again....ever.

About The Novel...

King goes into great detail on giving your fictional characters a "voice of their own"  which I am working very hard to accomplish. And I finally get how that characters "take a life of their own"

Now they are "The Voices in my Head"

So how do you get them to shut up, Steve?

Actually making progress, and found a way to steer the entire fictional account to something I am more familiar/comfortable with by creating a survivor or two (one is a deserter)...moving the whole thing into a series of psychological interviews with them and those who know them, doctors, nurses,  buddies, ex-wives and psychiatrists.  Leading it all into a what comes after scenario.  

Trust me...it's better.

Will share one of the interviews soon.  

I let Chris do a look see at the first 8 pages worth, and he was completely engaged. Even offering character development suggestions and batting around psychological profiles.

Using the initial idea shared as an opening to the story.

I'm psyched!

More anon....