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....

 "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...

Respect is one of life's greatest treasures I mean, what does it all add up to if you don't have that? - Marilyn Monroe + + + I cannot offer you self respect, but I can offer weird shit from Mexico. A few subscribers and a few friends who are also subscribers, or have assisted in this endevour in other ways, I feel are far too underappreciated. Seeing as Tess and I are living meager paycheck to meager paycheck down here while exploring, photographing, and writing about this marvelous country it dawned on me that those who have held out their hands, and wallets, to our Patreon and PayPal.Me accounts are not as appreciated as I would like them to be. So, with what little extra cash Tess and I have managed to scrape together over the last few weeks we have assembled the 'Mexican Box of Mystery'! [[Behold its mysterious mystery!]] What could be inside? Well, that is part of the mystery. There are many things for may different people. Some friends I...

"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...

"She lives like tomorrow isn't coming and yesterday never happened." - Crystal Woods, Write Like No One Is Reading + + + Friday, Day One: Nuevo Senorial "Around the outside of the room other beautiful women wearing little or nothing at all flitted between the infatuated, intoxicated men, sometimes luring them away for a private dance. The men would follow obediently, weighed down by lust and credit cards."  - R.D. Ronald, The Zombie Room [[They have a sign on the front of the building, but I suspect this is how most random clients discover what waits beyond the privacy curtains at the end of the entrance hallway.]] There are a lot of strange places I expected to find myself in my life. Sitting in the corner of a darkened Mexican strip club in a dusty border town wasn't one of them. 2:30 in the afternoon, beer in one hand, pen in the other, making observations about the club and its clientele for my weird little travelogue. Somet...