Halloween Night

Halloween has always been the start of my new year as far back as I can remember. As a kid I always believed that I could travel through the gates that seperate the mortal world from the immortal, and everything seemed to be half-in half-out. It is a terribly pagan way of looking at it but I still feel the same electrical feeling and re-alignment of the world every Halloween. I can imagine the vine-wrapped gates emerge from the swathes of mist, the creak and smell of rust as they edge open, the glimmer of darker light on the other side calling me through...

I have just had the last four days off and now finally I am working. I must admit to being a bit disappointed that the only holiday I have to work is my favourite, but I guess I can do with the extra money. But I feel really charged, like I imagine full moon must be for other folk, like it is dark moon, and the beginning of my life is right here right now and I can grasp anything I want and travel at night through people´s dreams. It´s at times like these that I find it difficult to distinguish between real life and dream life. So many stories, the smells and colours and sounds and feelings all somehow more real than Barcelona is to me now.

On Thursday and Friday I didn´t do a great deal. I stayed at home with Nathalie and drank and smoked a huge amount and on Friday Darren came over too with his collection of Father Ted videos and beer, and I laughed harder than I have in a long time. We stayed up for most of the night, and when the end of the night came I felt strangely alert and sober, yet slightly as though I have been here before and it is not quite the beginning of this new circle in my life. We discussed tampons, childbearing and football (we thought Darren should take advantage of the female company...and not in a lewd sense), and discovered that our new neighbour is also the new employee at our work. That night I dreamt the prison dream, and a dream in which I was going out with Darren. The dream was all nice and normal but I woke up sweating and freaking out a bit, probably because I don´t want to even think of something so complex.

On Saturday I went out to little Poble Nou, and drank many beers, and listened to the Ozric Tentacles, a fantastic band from the 80s from round Oxford way. Gordon lives in Poble Sec and he´s a great character. He has a shaved head and the limp crinkled smile of a baby, but a rather ugly baby who is missing teeth. He is relaxed to the max, and possesses a fine and very sharp wit. He is also just a very nice man. The only thing I don´t like about him is the book he lent me on Saturday. Wilbur Smith. Lads, don´t bother. It´s crap. My gran says all intelligent women need to read crap sometimes, and I agree(not that I think Gordon is a woman, mind). But I think crap like Robert Ludlum is great. But this book is full of one-dimensional unbelievable characters, and really crass sex, and stupid female characters. And many of the simple descriptions of things are badly written. Muck.

Anyway, back in the land of the living, we finally got going properly with our music that night. We got some stuff together for some of the tunes Gordon has, and we started on rehearsing some of mine that we had already recorded. I never realised how difficult my songs can be, as I have always assumed that cos I hate playing guitar that anything I play must be ridiculously easy. Apparently not. I also had a long chat with Darren regarding what we were going to do and how, in order to conquer the world. I feel like we are on top of it for now. If this lasts I will not be returning to Ireland in the New Year, but it´s early days yet.

On Sunday I was going to take it easy, as going to bed at 6am and rising at 11am takes its toll after a bit. But Barcelona were playing Real Sociedad, and well, I had to go! I had seen the stadium from the outside before, but being inside was incredible. We were right on the top at the southern end, and looking down, everything was so steeply inclined, that I could see the pitch perfectly and I also had a great view of the mountains. The game started without warning and there were a surprising lack of announcements during the match. We noticed purely by chance that a player had been sent off while we watched the little yellow stretcher wagon come on. I just happened to count the players cos it looked suddenly like there were less, and lo! it was so! The Basque fans made a huge amount of noise and sang beautifully while the Catalans sat in eerie silence, occasionally clapping or sending paper aeroplanes down the stadium. I felt sorry for the Basques that they got crushed 5-0.

My mam is arriving Friday week (the 11th) for a flying visit. 2 days, but I am looking forward to it. Unfortunately, my flatmate has arrived home a full 3 weeks early. Apparently he had split off from the two other lads to go visit his ex-girlfriend. His current girlfriend was very good about it, but I think she is unaware of how totally Tato is unable to be alone, and how he gets around. I don´t know her, but I have given out to him about this but anyhow. Apparently, the ex-girlfriend has been on anti-depressants this last year and has grown quite fat. So upon seeing this, Tato upped and left! Decided he didn´t want to have her in his bed after all and just went home! I am annoyed not only cos I think it´s mean, but because now instead of just me and my mam in the house, or me and Nathalie, Tato is thrown in too. And while I do like him, he is the type of person I would rather my mam didn´t have to deal with because he seems to be getting wasted, and not just on drink, pretty much all the time now. I know that sounds good coming from me, but i don´t cart home the world and its mother and have parties til 9am every morning that would raise the dead. He does. I will have to ask him if he minds staying with his girlfriend next weekend.

I also got a call from Dani this evening. Just telling me he was going to the shop to buy beer. I could here the fireworks and screaming in the background, and the siren sounds that seem to permanently echo round Tymon North these days. Halloween is much more fun at home.