Vernal Communique of Gilespie Avunique

Image Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alphadesigner/3192055736/
Greetings on this late March in 2010. My sincerest desire is that this note finds you well on your path towards happiness. I'm writing to climb back unto the face of the planet. Doing fine for the most part. Still driving taxicabs in New York. Still trying to save enough money to travel across the ocean. This summer, if the light force of the creator wills it, I'll be exploring Europe for the first time. My itinerary is contingent on the slowly unfolding plans of my sister and those of my partner. It looks as though this trip might be split into three parts. Traveling with sis, alone, and with partner. Perhaps a couple weeks of each, between June and August.

The extent of geographical coverage also depends on my savings between now and then. The big ones on my list include Amsterdam, Paris, London, Barcelona, Casablanca, Rome, Berlin, Athens, Bucharest, Istanbul, and Tel Aviv. I know that's a lot of ground to cover, but my time isn't constrained, and my budget isn't fanciful. My cargo will be light as possible. A change of clothes. A toothbrush. A journal. A map or two. No more.

This past winter I spent large swaths of time hiding from the cold by paying old friends a long overdue visit in Florida and helping my father demolish my aunt's floor in Houston (2nd visit to TX in a month). I made new bonds with cousins and saw high-school buddies from lifetimes ago. The only person I didn't get to see, but really wanted to, is Waffle, a great inspiration of mine (and countless others). I had been promising to come down for weeks, and when I finally mustered up the gumption, he had taken off for Haiti, to help build shelters.

HERE IS THE PICTURE ALBUM OF MY SOUTHERN EXCURSIONS AND SOME NORTHERN ONES TOO.

Since I got back to NYC, I've been working 5 days a week, as a self-employed operator of yellow cruise missiles. Been leasing them out of my old old garage, the first one from nearly 4 years ago (in downtown Brooklyn). I've been through some drama with a burglar in the cab and all sorts of other scenarios, all of them blessings, whether hidden or outright.

Lastly, I leave you with a list of movies I've seen recently, that I really think you ought to watch.....

SIN NOMBRE, FOR MY FATHER, TSOTSI, UP, HURT LOCKER, and AVATAR.