Dispatches from The Mayan Empire

"When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? Perhaps to be too practical is madness. To surrender dreams — this may be madness. Too much sanity may be madness — and maddest of all: to see life as it is, and not as it should be!" - Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote  + + + I have been absent from this blog for a good long time now. Other things have occupied my time. My novel, basic survival, crippling depression, agonizing pain and the desperate search for some relief from it, and surely more than that. Do not think I have forgotten you, my dozens of readers. Oh no. Not a day goes by that I don't think upon this little collection of personal history and attempts at witty observations. There just never seems anything to say. Not worth putting down anyway. But here I am. Once again attempting to give my audience something to chew on while I myself go over what I write again and again hoping I'm not embarrassing myself any further....

“Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race. Even before there were large numbers of Negroes on our shore, the scar of racial hatred had already disfigured colonial society. From the sixteenth century forward, blood flowed in battles over racial supremacy. We are perhaps the only nation which tried as a matter of national policy to wipe out its indigenous population. Moreover, we elevated that tragic experience into a noble crusade. Indeed, even today we have not permitted ourselves to reject or feel remorse for this shameful episode. Our literature, our films, our drama, our folklore all exalt it. Our children are still taught to respect the violence which reduced a red-skinned people of an earlier culture into a few fragmented groups herded into impoverished reservations.” ― Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  + + + [This post is reprinted and somewhat altered from its original version on my private ...

"I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots." - Hunter S. Thompson + + +                                                                            A 3:30am drive in a futile attempt to find tacos instead found a gorgeous girl that I made a passing acquaintance with shortly after I moved here. She was walking down the street with the same half sexy-half in the bag swagger that makes her strangely eas...

"All right, Popeye's here! Get your hands on your heads, get off the bar, and get on the wall"  - Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle, The French Connection + + +  Of late things around here have been less than ideal. I prefer to not go into the daily minutiae of my difficulties. Suffice to say that thus far none of them have been caused directly by living in Mexico. So far, Mexico, its people, its culture, its food, and its shockingly polite drivers  have been very good to me. In happier news when I must cross the border into the forsaken lands known as South Texas there is a recently discovered beacon of hope I can always look forward to. About 18 kilometers or so (I have my GPS set to metric as that is how they roll south of the border, and I like to avoid speeding tickets in any country) from the border amidst a never ending sea of strip malls, tire salons, car washes... the dust.. the dust gets on and into everything, auto dealerships, pawn shops, and chain ...

 "The global phenomenon of poverty tourism - or 'poorism' - has become increasingly popular during the past few years. Tourists pay to be guided through the favelas of Brazil and the shantytowns of South Africa. The recently opened Los Angeles Gang Tour carries visitors through battle-scarred territories of urban violence and deprivation." - Leslie Jamison + + + March 21st is kind of a big deal here in Nuevo Progreso. It marks the end of the winter tourism season. "Winter Texans" are the lifeblood of the local economy, mostly retirees fleeing the cold winters of their home state, or country, there are more than a few winter Texans that hail from Canada.Most of them seem to hail from the Midwestern United States. At least as far as the ones I've spoken to, and the shirts proclaiming their home state along with some slogan about being a Texan when its convenient (winter). [[And so the Day of Tourists begins...]] Dia del Turista its called...

"You bravos had better be ready to fight, or we'll never get out of East Texas tonight, but the trail is long and the river is wide, and my ride's here" - Warren Zevon, My Ride's Here + + + My day tends to start around 10:30am or so most of the time. No more early mornings on the corners barking or occasionally DJ'ing for Vampiz has allowed me to set my own schedule for work (writing, which tends to be in fits and starts throughout the day unless I'm on a roll). Which is nice, since I am not a morning person. I tend to shamble out of bed like something from the 'Legend of Boggy Creek' films, swallow my morning fistful of pills (allergy meds, the price I pay for my lovely cat, vitamins, and acetaminophen with codeine to allow me to move without wincing in pain constantly). After that its typically a lovely hot shower thanks to my miracle shower head with a built in heating unit. I admit its not the safest of showers, but it is hot, with...

"There is nothing wrong with spending a night in jail if it means getting the shot you need." - Werner Herzog + + +  It has occurred to me that in my posts here on 'Dispatches' I only occasionally share with my loyal readers my photography in small doses. Which is a bit of a crime, as there are so many interesting this to see here. Not that I am some fantastic shutterbug, I'm mediocre at best, but I never the less have always greatly enjoyed it as a hobby. One could always tell how desperate I am in life if I start selling my cameras, with my primary rig being the last to go. Letting go of my favorite camera has always been just a little bit like chewing off a limb to escape a trap. Sure, it works, but it leaves one slightly on the crippled side. Not that my loss of cameras in times of extreme financial desperation compares in any meaningful way to someone actually becoming disabled due to an accident, its just to illustrate how hard it is for me to...