Jamie Wakefield

My father is terrified of flying. Much like I was a lifetime ago. He conquered that fear for us. We have desperately wanted them to come to Madrid to experience what we have lived for the past four years, and this week, they finally did. And they got it. They really, really, GOT it. Do you know how that feels to us? "Let us introduce you to all these things that we love. If you don't love them, that's okay, but we want you to experience it." They were in awe. Just like I was when I first came here (book link on the side, hint, hint.) They loved the people, the architecture, the food, the history, the living statues, all of it. We wanted to take them to a seafood restaurant and order a cold seafood platter and a hot seafood platter but it's so different than American seafood. Percebes, and crab guts and cigala and shrimp and all cold with no cocktail sauce. Also a hot seafood plate with shrimp and cigala grilled with salt and olive oil. Clean and natural and delici...

I’ve heard about Mallorca since I’ve been in Spain. Almost as famous as Ibeza, it is one of the nearby Spanish islands in the Mediterranean and a popular vacation spot for Germans, British and Spaniards. Pictures of Mallorca show the sandy beaches, the resort towns and the towering cliffs. One guidebook I read described tourism as so popular that agriculture was becoming a nuisance. I did a lot of research on this place and got the mental picture of it being much like Lanzarote turned out to be. Sure, there is a long Coney Island like strip with bad tourist food, but good, possibly crowded beaches that stretch forever into the distance. I pictured bike paths, a long sidewalk for walking above but next to the beach and then the hidden gems, the little known coves, the special old style restaurants that don’t cater to the hordes of tourists but serve authentic island food. From the descriptions I’ve read, lots of towns fit this description on the island, the most prominent one being Pa...

Well, I showed up at the Evolution Magic shop yesterday to draft. Considering Spain is on holiday I expected thirty people eager to play Magic on a Thursday. Sadly, we had four and one of them was one of those guys who seems to think since he is in a Magic shop the owner is actually paid to listen to him. When he finally took a pause for breath I asked (in Spanish): “Tournament today?” “Yes, draft this morning and Legacy this afternoon.” “I know, but… is it going to happen?” He turns to his partner (as in, business partner, not lover) and gives a questioning look. He clearly doesn’t understand what I am asking. I blame my Spanish. I like this guy. Hell, I like both of them immensely. “I don’t know. It depends.” He smiles and shrugs. It is a motion of “We could do a draft if you want, but I am hoping more people show up.” I couldn’t agree more. Twenty minutes later I am on the phone with Wendy asking “Can you look up Forbidden Isle? I saw good reviews for it and we nee...

The Dog of Thunder warns you to stay away from his teddy monkey! . It is fifty degrees and sunny today in Madrid. Madrid has received about one inch of snow that melted the second it hit the ground this year resulting in zero accumulation. In the abstract, Wendy and I miss snow. It will be nice to come back to Vermont and have a real Vermont winter next year. In reality, we miss snow but I know I’ll be plenty sick of it soon enough if snowfall next year is anything like this year. In Vermont, people have literally had to shovel snow every day for weeks on end this year in a record breaking snowfall winter. The second eye surgery went well, adjusting the left eye and putting the new lens in the right eye without complications. It is now two weeks and a day later and I am experiencing everything I was told I would experience. Peripheral vision is a little weird, still sensitive to sunlight, lights in the dark have a halo around them, but the eyes are improving every day by minor amounts...

1. If I had the power to enter and control dreams there would be a lot more oiled up and bi-curious women. 2. Some guy rudimentarily trained in psychic self defense shouldn’t able to hold off six guys who are ninjas in this particular art. 3. If I could shape reality, I wouldn’t bend architecture, I would be the Hulk, Superman or God. 4. What a waste of Ellen Page’s talent. One of the best actresses ever- reduced to a bit part. 5. Any movie involving Leonardo Decaprio should end with him dying a horrible death. I just hate that guy. Sorry. 6. The one cool thing about that film was Marion Cotillard playing Leonardo’s wife and when she appeared, they played the music from Édith Piaf in “La vida en rosa” (2007), Cotillard was able to gain both critical appraisal as well as commercial success. For her powerful performance she has won numerous awards, including Oscar, Cèsar, Bafta and Golden Globe as best leading actress. That was very clever. 7. I tried to accept their premise of how dream...

We watched “How to Train Your Dragon” last night. It has a rating of 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, one of the highest I have ever seen. The animation is spectacular, the storyline interesting and as the end approaches you have that feeling of “What the hell are they going to do now?” This is a good thing. The last fifteen minutes of the movie needs work. The “What the hell they did do now” didn’t make sense on any number of levels. I won’t spoil the movie for you since it just came out on video but I give it a 7.5 out of 10. It’s very kid friendly; it’s worth the rental, but certainly not worth 98% on RT. America’s Next Top Model (ANTM) has become a show we enjoy almost as much as Top Chef. Like any good competition reality show, the main cast is excellent; the host is stunning, funny, kind and wise. You grow to love and hate certain competitors as the weeks progress. It has inspired spin-offs as well as being broadcast in a hundred and fifty countries. There is a Canada’s Next Top Model, an...

Wendy and I are sitting on the porch, sipping wine and people watching at the end of another long and busy day. Five Harley’s go by, each mounted by ginormous, tattooed, unshaven people. Some of them women. Wendy watches them round the bend and roar off. “Man, someone decided to put ugly on parade, attach some wheels to it and add a flag on the back.” So funny that girl. This weekend there was a Maine PTQ that I wanted to attend and our plan for these PTQ’s is to make them into a business and pleasure trip. The business side would be my articles on Star City Games about trying to qualify again, and the pleasure side would be whole belly clams, a nice B&B, some beach time and maybe some lobster. We are reserving late so everything in Kennebunkport is massively expensive, everything in Old Orchard Beach is sold out, and everything in Portland that isn’t sold out isn’t on the water. I start researching towns that are between the PTQ and various spots we want to visit on the Maine coa...

As you can tell from the lack of updates – we are in Vermont, continuing to plan the wedding, meet with carpenters, landscapers, electricians and whatever you call a guy who redoes the stones in your driveway. For those regular readers, you will know that I am going to have an operation on my eyes to replace the lenses and put in artificial lens that will never wear out and my vision will never deteriorate with age. I am very excited. In the meantime, my eyesight continues to deteriorate and I continue to 1) bitch about it and 2) need stronger and stronger reading glasses. Except they’re not reading glasses because I wear them from dawn to dusk. Wendy suggests I get contacts. “Those are like six hundred dollars. At least, they used to be.” “Why don’t you look into it?” I am surprised by what I find. I make an appointment at the nearest Lenscrafters. Guess how much an eye exam and disposable contacts that last 2-4 weeks costs? Go ahead. Guess. Wrong. $93.45. It takes me ten minutes to ...

I am sorry for the formatting, Blogger is ignoring carriage returns on some paragraphs again. I wanted to tell you what high school was like for me, because I feel it might help students doing poorly, or parents struggling with a child in this instance. . I received horrible grades. I failed classes and the classes I did pass I did less than average in. Like all parents in this situation, they weren't happy. My father was a teacher at the school and was embarrassed in front of the other teachers who I had classes with. My parents tried everything. Rewards. Punishment. Private tutors. Nothing helped. Eventually they tested my I.Q and found I was slightly above average. I was on a schedule and every day I was sent to my room to study and do homework. Usually in that time I would close my door and read comics, or work on my dungeons and dragons game or other things I found fun. . The next day at school, I would look like a fool when the teacher called on me and I didn’t know the answe...

I have a new book out. Some people can't see the above picture link to Amazon because of ad-blocking software so here's a text link. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1450513190/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1RYC8TDT4M1PDPTGXSGG&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846 Wendy wisely suggested a couple of things. 1. A better description might help. I get complacent thinking that I don't need to advertise myself, forgetting that some people who visit this site might not have any idea who I am or what my writing style is. In fact, my very sophisticated little counter tells me almost 40% of page views are new to the site. So, that said, here's a better description of the book. "Jamie Wakefield had achieved everything he always wanted. He was happy. He was bored. Then he met Wendy, a woman from his past, now living in Spain. Though he had never even wanted to leave Vermont, Jamie followed his new love to a n...

Yes, it is finally here. I hope you enjoy it. I have spent years on this book, and it is finally available. It details meeting Wendy, discovering Madrid, the growing romance, having to be with her, then the wonder of Spain and other parts of Europe. Also available in the Kindle store.

Ow. Please stop. No, seriously. That’s my arms' reaction as I try to type this. Despite my snoring all night and keeping her awake (which rarely, but does occasionally happen) the very determined Wendy still wanted to go to the gym. I rode the bike for ten minutes and then went to do free weights. Turned out I timed my caffeine intact perfectly and had a lot of energy. So, I just kept going. I did five sets of bench press, four sets of curls, four sets of shoulder presses, four tricep rope pushdowns, and three sets of lat pulldowns. Just as I was starting to wonder if she left without me, Wendy comes out and smiles at me. “Almost done?” “One more set of these.” “I got done my run and thought I would just walk until you came in to get me. Ten minutes later I had to come out and see what was going on.” Good workout today. I just kept going. And now I can barely lift my arms to type. Go me. So, as I sat here recovering I looked over some web comics and The Ferret’s blog which he updat...

I would love to tell you the book of the month is Roger Zelazny’s - “Changling” that I picked up at the used-book store. (God! I hate Grammar! Is it “Zelazny’s: Changling,” Zelazny’s Changling” or Zelazny’s – Changling”?) For one thing, It has one of the most fascinating premises ever. A child born of technology is swapped for a child from a world of magic. Both grow up with an ability that is feared in their new world. Sadly, from there, the book goes to shit. Which is odd because Zelazny is one of my favorite authors. I cannot recommend highly enough the audio tape “The Last Defender of Camelot.” I’ve written about it before. A long time ago I wrote a column about “Beautiful Things.” If I remember correctly, the premier item was “The Last Defender of Camelot” audio book by Roger Zelazny and read by “Odo” from “Deep Space Nine.” Or maybe you remember him better as the snide Butler on “Benson.” Regardless of how you remember him, Rene Auberjonois had the best reading voice I have ever ...