Jamie Wakefield

Today (meaning, the day we started this trip last tuesday) we are doing something I have always wanted to do. Inspired by two movies, North by Northwest and Risky Business, I am eagerly anticipating our overnight train ride to Santiago. Wendy told me the sleeping compartments were small, but I literally laughed when I opened the door and stepped inside. I have closets bigger than this! Luckily the ceilings are high and there’s space up top for the bags. I folded one of the beds away (which you need a key from one of the train attendants to open again) and that gave us a little more upper body space. “You’re going to sleep with me?” “I always sleep with you.” “Beds are kind of small.” “They were small in college too, did that stop you?” “Just saying.” “Dinner?” “Sure.” Sadly there wasn’t much to see out the train. It was just getting dark as we got there and the windows showed nothing but blackness. But we found the dining car (it was in a straight line, imagine that) ordered a...

It’s been a crazy two weeks. Whenever Wendy and I go on a trip, I bring along a little voice recorder I bought for the staggering price of thirty nine dollars before I came here. The thing has been invaluable. It is a little scary though. If I go too long leaving notes on the recorder, I’m deathly afraid of losing it and all the great material I dictated. Yesterday I finished a two week stretch of transcribing seventy-one notes from voice to text. Thirty-seven pages of single spaced prose is now safely ensconced on my computer. Just in time to make more. This weekend Wendy and I are heading to Santiago de Compostela for the July 25 Festival, Día de la Patria Galega y Día del Apóstol Santiago (Galicia Day and the Apostle St. James’s Day). Santiago is in the very north-west corner of Spain, right on the coast. The best seafood in Spain is on this corner of the map. And we do love our seafood. Even the seafood in Spain is different, and one more reason I love the variety of living on ...

My friend Doug came down with Cancer a few months back. Luckily, he had a good job with full health insurance. He’s been on leave while he battles Cancer and the treatment is going well. What follows is why I feel we need National Public Health Care. Colin the business manager, called me on Monday and we set up an appointment for Wednesday morning so "we could talk business." I suspected it was about the upcoming end of my short-term disability (STD--not to be confused with STD=Sexually Transmitted Disease!). Long story short: Colin basically said, "Your STD runs out on July 23rd (ironically, this is the date of my last treatment) and you must then go onto long-term disability. At this point, your employment is terminated and, should you wish to return to work here, you must reapply and your job IS NOT guaranteed." Needless to say, I was pissed. First of all, Frank told me my job was secure and I had nothing to worry about. I was led to believe that Frank was t...

Also known as mad misc rambles. Let’s start off with the crap so we can get it out of the way and then move on to the other things that will hopefully be more amusing. The human body is the most poorly designed piece of shit on the planet. I want a refund. 1. Last week sucked for me, hence no update. Anxiety hit me like a freight train. Wendy was amazing. 2. Doug, a friend who is taking care of my house got cancer a few months ago. 3. Fellow Magic writer/friend Dave’s wife got cancer. 4. Former girlfriend’s partner suffering from depression/anxiety. 5. Other former girlfriend ’s husband suffering from depression/anxiety unable to work. 6. Went to class yesterday spoke with Pilar. Pilar is a former teacher who seems to like me as much as I like her. Always cheerful, always asks how I am, hugs me, etc. Yesterday – “How are you Pilar?” “Bad. Many problems in my head. Sad. “ “Really? Me to.” “Getting better. Little by little.” “Me too.” Hugs. What the fuck? And I’m sure I’m forgetting peop...