Wow, wow, wow!! Thank you soo much Bonnie and Jenny Spicola for the best Broadway experience ever. Tour of the set, backstage, special effects and of course the show. As a longtime U2 fan, I was very curious to see and listen to this show, and then, voila! here I am sitting next to one of Spiderman’s landing platforms. Listening to music that could only come from Bono and The Edge, and enjoying the show like the comic book, but even more amazing.

Aaaaand if that was not enough, we then had dinner at the delicious Veselka Ukranian deli in the East Village, followed by dessert at Veniero’s. Truly an excellent experience. Thank you so much girls, I loved it!

The start, as usual, was delayed. I decided to go to the gym, still had to pack, clean up the house, etc. So I got a late start. The weather was overcast but warm enough for a T shirt. I rode a solid two hours until past Hartford CT for my first break. My refueling stop was in beautiful Westport. Then the rain started for an hour and a half. I had to stop under as bridge to put on my rain jacket. But my average was obviously shot. When I pulled into Manhattan, the rain stopped in a sly wink from the higher ups.

After changing my soaking clothes and hanging out w Mark and his business partner The Turtle. Mark and I went to the Belgian restaurant around the corner for mussels and Belgian beer. The epilogue for the day was a fun nightcap at Ouest, discussing Garcia Lorca, Buñuel and Dalí with Seth, the best barman in the Upper West Side.

Somewhere in Connecticut (spelling?)

Enough talk, enough preparation, enough dreaming, enough dilly-dallying.

It´s time to hit the road. Leg 1 Boston to NYC to hang out with the great Mark Miller and maybe check out what is new in his gallery, then on Sunday meet the great Spicolas for Spiderman, the most talked about show on Broadway.

Vamos!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4HRP10F_Rk

A lot of you have asked what reading I will take on this trip. (Actually nobody has asked, but it did sound good, don’t you think?). Ideally of course I would take a Quijote, but space being of the essence I will revisit Vargas Llosa’s Pantaleon y las visitadoras

The plan: To visit 11 universities covering 5.000 miles and 18 states in three weeks. Visit campuses (campii?), talk to people, see towns, eat the local foods, and get a feeling for the lay of the land.

The philosophy: Minimalist, carry only the stuff I can carry in my duffle bag. Not buying any new or special equipment. I did have to purchase some safety equipment: small flashlight, glow sticks, first aid kit,and a puncture repair kit (more on that later).

The equipment: Rocinante, a five year old Harley Davidson 883, which pisses oil from the air intake.

The universities:

1. U of Maryland
2. Georgetown
3. Duke
4. UNC Chapel Hill
5. Emory
6. U Alabama
7. Tulane
8. UT Austin
9. Vanderbilt
10. U Tenn
11. U Virginia

As my brother Theo would say, I’m a bit of a late bloomer. It wasn’t until my senior year at the American School in London that Soledad Sprackling and Mr. McGovern introduced me to Borges and Hemingway respectively. My mind was blown and I haven’t stopped reading since.

Then I went to business school, but that was not a deterrent. Thanks to Silvia Velez and the afore mentioned Theo I discovered García Márquez,  Fuentes, Auster, Amis, etc. Then I spent the next fifteen years in the business world, happy to just comment my readings with Paco Navarro.

My final approach to turning pro in the world of academia and literature  came in 2004. After closing my company, my then wife, Tracy said: “Try teaching you are a natural, you’ll love it”. And I tried it, and I loved it.

I started teaching at the high school level, and after the initial jitters, I thrived in sharing my passion for language, literature and culture with my students. I wanted more so I got my masters at Simmons. That was a fantastic experience, I loved reading and writing and discussing, I felt at home, I realized I needed and wanted more of that. After five years at a prestigious arts high school (you can see some of my work on Youtube), I have decided to “crank it up a notch” and go for my PhD.

Poor Rocinante lived with this screw in the rear tire for weeks and she didn’t complain!

Rocinante is a stock 2006 Harley-Davidson 883. The only mods are the touring seat, backrest, storage rack, color matched side panels and the oil cap with the analog thermometer that my dad gave me. Like the original Rocinante, this one is grey, skinny, a little weathered and not so fast, but she has a huge heart. I bought her brand new at Boston H-D (big mistake) and for years she commuted with me to work and we went on weekend excursions. We have gone to NYC together – with a three inch construction screw imbedded in her rear tire without a single complaint.