New Years Eve

Like many, I've spent the day reviewing my year. For the first time in many years I'm reviewing my year with a clear, booze free mind! I brought my New Years resolution forwards to Boxing Day.

Reading back through my blog I barely remember the last Five months. Somewhere, in the cloud and the fog I lost an entire Five weeks. I can't even remember writing it never mind living it!

So, I'm cutting it all out and preparing my fitness levels for hikes in Africa and a full on tackle with new projects (Art in Hiding will hopefully fullfill much time), and finishing uncompleted projects now I have a new base.

Back in Spain, but a long way from Granada. 2011 promises much. Hope everyone reading here makes the most of what may be a finacially tight year. Money is by no means everything.

Yeah - it helps, I know :D

An All New Blog...

Art in Hiding is a project I am involved with.

http://www.artinhiding.blogspot.com

I will continue to blog here also. A new website will be viewable soon.

Sunday Evening Curry...

An open invitation...

Anyone reading here who happens to be in Granada is more than welcome to join me and some good people for an evening of spicieness to warm a cold, November night.

Meeting from 6PM in Plaza de Gracia. Restaurant Muglia from 7PM (very close by). This Sunday, 28th. Bring friends. Bring music. Bring smiles.

It's all on me!!!


I leave for Berlin on Monday. Finally moving again. Looking forward to it, but I am going to miss some people a great deal.

Passport!

New passport. New bank account. Cheques banked.

And, I know it works because I was controlled leaving the bank this morning. Just hours and I've already used it.

Just a few days of grim weather to get through somehow, then onwards and upwards again...

Short break. Berlin, Estinia, Slovakia. Quick return to Granada, then onto Senegal.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

It's changed. Someone has flicked that big switch!

DHL. Let me talk about DHL for just a minute. Promise all - deliver fuck-all. Cunts. What the fuck am I paying for?

Not a good day. Tough few weeks TBH, but friends are fucking valuable at times like these. Shit weather. No cash. Can't work. Yet, Granada still delivers. Good friends. Thank you. And, if you ever read here...

One day I will explain to you what a very valuable thing female company and friendship is. Nice bread ;)

Mission Accomplished!

Fuck yeah!

It only took me 9 weeks. I have no idea why I am so shit at this stuff.

Very tempted to stay in Madrid. I like it here, and I will return with all my furniture soon. But, I'm getting out whilst the going is still good. One last hour on my best pitch to cover bus fare back to Granada.

Almost!

Right. Remind myself.

I have all documents. I have the cash. I have paid for my bed for 3 nights (in an interesting part of town I haven't explored before).

Monday - get to the fucking embassy :)

To the Mum and Daughter I spoke to by the ticket office in front of the palaces today...;

You cheered me up loads. No need to do more! I could ask for more, but I'm rarely that cheeky! Nice chat :)

Some Policia Local Are Actually OK.

My erm... 'relationship' with police has proved to be only 2nd most influencial hazzard to the weather on this adventure (an adventure which may well end soon!).

On the whole, generally, blah, blah, blah... they've been OK. One horrible experience in Granada that shook me up big time. I've got used to the attitude of most - they're only really there to impress rich tourists. It's the truth. They're employed to protect business interests above all else and tourism is THE business in Spain.

However, occassionally you meet good guys in uniform. Today was one of those days. Good advice. Good information. Friendly approach. Extremely diplomatic.

I'm just €10 short of a new passport. IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN! Possibly.

We'll see. I've been this close before.

Meh...

Policia Local - booooh!

Hopefully they will be off duty for the weekend.

At least I'm having fun. Meeting some loverlly people :) Nice to talk to you 'fantasy'! And, I hope to spend more time talking to the beautiful Industrial Engineer from Harrow before I leave. I have absolutely no idea what industrial engineers are supposed to look like, so no need to tell me you don't look like one ;)

These guys are fucking good entertainment...

http://www.myspace.com/alwaysdrinkingmarchingban

Seems I am only allowed to work evenings ATM. Maybe, just maybe I will have cash for passport by Monday. Must stop spending/partying!!!

Madrid.

I like it here :)

I'm off to find out who's still about and spunk all me cash.

I may stay a few days!

Light is Appearing!

Despite the rain and wine spillage that was a good weekend. I am just €20 shy. I can see the goal! Work in Granada this evening. Get night bus to Madrid. Go cry in the embassy :)

I am actually getting there!

The Hazzards of Being a Street Artist Nº 119

Sigh!

The weather has gone shit. Expected, so I stocked up on sketches to sell. Sketching on the street until the rains came, I ran to a bar to treat myself to a tapa I can't really afford. Found a quiet corner at the bar. After 2 minutes I was swamped by a bunch of ignorant cunts who pretended they couldn't see me - it is the Spanish way.

Clumsy fucking clot knocked not 1, not 2, but 3 glasses of wine all over me, my sketches, and my coat. Fucking bitch just smiled expecting an 'excuse me' to excuse her. 10 hours of work fucked. Nothing to sell this weekend. I'm stuffed again :(

Perhaps I should just get a bus to Madrid now and finally say 'fuck off' to Granada once and for all? Too many selfish cunts here.

Spent €20 on new materials. €18 for a bus to Madrid. Possibly the best option.

The Hazzards of Being a Street Artist Nº 106

In a pedestrianised plaza some twat ran over my sketches and bags before stopping to reverse over them. Sketch fucked. Paints in bags spurted all over the shop. I was a little bit angry. With hindsight, I'm glad Guardia Civil were around to step in.

Down to just 80 Cents and a single roll of paper. Thankfully yesterday evening was good. A recovery to €60. Today it looks like rain :( But, at least I have enough to get to Madrid on Monday.

Sloooooooow...

Right. I have all the documents I need and I have signed photo. Mission for the weekend: make enough cash to get to Madrid and pay for a new passport.

This is going painfully slowly :(

I am still a minimum of 3 weeks away from releasing cash and moving forward. The rains will be arriving soon. Oh noes!

I actually saved €160 at one point. Then 5 very poor days and I'm back down to fuck all. Whatever I have in pocket on Monday I take to Madrid and try to make the difference there.

A guy here just applied for his Spanish passport. 48 Hours and €22 got him passport + digital ID card. Rip-off Britain? I could moan for days, no weeks about this privatised system. It is shit. And, my original passport is still floating around perfectly valid. Twats.

Erm... onwards and upwards.

New Boots!

Yay! Whoever you are; thank you very, very much.

An almighty confidence boost. Difficult to explain the psychological effect of new boots after wearing totally worn out shoes for weeks. From trying to hide my feet to kicking proudly in an instance. I'm already fighting back :)

I have all the forms, documents, papers etc. I have my passport photographs - I look like a criminal, but who doesn't? I think it's the norm. All I have to do now is get them signed by some professional type who's known me for Two years. Erm... not exactly the type of company I've been keeping for the past Two years!

Oh. I still need more cash than I can currently imagine to get get to Madrid and pay for new passport.

Edgeing closer. I can see the light now.

Where was I?

Oh yeah. Quest for new passport. I am still no closer :D

Bit of a shit few days for many reasons. Two lumps on the head and a strained thumb for free from Policia Local also. Nice of them. Too much sadness around ATM.

New boots have become a priority. Then, Madrid to simply ask WTF I am supposed to do?

Onwards and upwards!

Too Many Dead Ends.

Fuck! I hate this shit. How many weeks later?

I am getting there very slowly. I've given up trying to use the seamlessly integrated digital payment system on the internet for ordering a new birth certificate, so I'm back to a search for my original. I think it might be under the utilities tray of the top drawer of my big, posh, curvey office desk which has been 'in storage' for the past 4 years. A trip into the hills to rediscover my furniture and just for the sake of taking a break. I am seriously losing the plot in frustration.

I need (just to remind myself what I have to do next)...

Birth certificate
Signed passport photo's
About another €300 to cover costs

Then get to Madrid.

Apply for new passport.
Wait about 2 weeks.
Apply for residencia thingy.
Open bank account.
Wait about 2 weeks.

Find appartment, or just a room for a year.
Move everything from current storage locations to new appartment/room.

Then, I can finally move forwards.

Lots of expense. Lots of time. It's fucking shit.

Deep sigh. If my birth certificate is where I think it is, I'm expecting to be on the move again in about 2 months. If it isn't??? Fuck knows where I go from there :(

I hate this shit. I am very close to superglueing every ATM and bank door lock in Spain. That'll fucking teach them!

I just want MY FUCKING MONEY BACK you cunts.

Less sighing :)

OK. Things are progressing much more quickly than I expected. All I have to do is get myself to Madrid with my police report, application forms, photos, €160 and my birth certificate.

Birth certificate!

Erm...

I think I know where I left that...

This could all happen within 3 weeks.

Sigh. I am sinking.

I hate this stuff. It's just depressing.

I need a new passport. I need a new passport to travel and to open a bank account to reclaim MY FUCKING MONEY!

I am faced with a huge mountain of form filling, queueing, beuracratic shit, and the very thought is depressing me. I tried to start today. Go to the police station to report the stolen passport. I'm given an expensive telephone number to call. "But, can't I just make the report here now?". Here is an expensive telephone number to call.

I think I've given up already. Difficult to explain why I am so shit at all this stuff. It just depresses me. Seriously depresses me.

I am stuck. I don't know what to do next. Call the expensive telephone number to be told to go back to the police station and make a report?

Back to sketching on the street waiting for a miracle. Useless me - I know. I just don't know why I can't deal with this???

Reasons to Love Granada, Reasons to Love Life...

Granada. I'm 'stuck' here again. According to the bits of paper that arrived in the post I am actually quite wealthy. In reality, I'm surviving day to day selling sketches in the street. That is both frustrating and liberating.

Why I love Granada...

Last night I couldn't find much going on and sat on a bench in a small plaza drinking, smoking, watching the World go by. Happy in my own company. Texting bad jokes to people who probably didn't appreciate it. Not bored, or lonely - just content. Then Two people who barely know me invited me back to their house. This happens in Granada, and Andalucia as a whole. Summer culture is all about living outdoors. People talk. People leave their front doors open. Always an open invitation to join any congregation, or anyone alone.

Talking with my hosts about universal stuff. Sharing the joy young parents get from watching their children learn. Eating, drinking, laughing a common laugh. All good. But, what is better is talking more deeply. Learning what essentially makes their own culture, their own life and way of thinking different to your own. Talking about what is actually happening on the streets as opposed to what is happening on the TV. Talking about the issues that are actually affecting Gitano culture.

It was a very nice evening. And, this morning I met someone who I first met in Sitges about 18 months ago. Apparently I inspired him to continue travelling around Spain and Europe. After talking today I think he got pretty much the same sort of value from this way of living as myself.

Despite being skint, and frustrated that I should actually have enough in my pocket to go and buy a menu del dia, I wonder if I wasn't so skint how much I would miss out on?

I will often tell people "it's all relative". Perhaps it is, perhaps money makes very little difference. On the other hand; I have to get to Seville, then back to Granada, then back into 'the system' to reclaim my cash. I am shit at this stuff. Totally shit. I need a manager. All applications here please. Now!