it’d be nice if i were in Athens
but i couldn’t bring myself to consciousness until after 10:30
i was exploring some foreign city
too many tourists
but an old broken down dark city
trevis was there…
sheridan too, but she phased out really quickly
there was love
and lovers
but not with me
and loneliness
there was loneliness in an unknown city
and being hungry
and i remember eating
and noticing that my left arm was really getting fucked up
i probably wouldn’t be able to give massages when i got home
my left forearm had holes in it
between the tibula and fibula
in three places
the muscle wasted away
and as i noticed this
i thought i should look at my right arm
which
indeed
also had a problem
the skin had opened up
and all the muscle and bone was exposed
indeed
like it had been slow-roasted after a long marinade
it was coming right off the bone
yeah
that might cause some problems
maybe i was in the city of the dead
i couldn’t make anything work
not even waking up
and when i woke up
i didn’t get much done
before Costas called me
and told me how to get to somewhere
i don’t remember
told me he’d be home at 8
but i was sore
i don’t think there will be lots of amorous fun tonight…
i want to write
so i sit and look at my computer
and i start writing
first
i finish all the days with Stelios
and edited some of the spanish days…
thinking i should be exploring Athens
but just not ready to leave the house
go out into the city
now it’s after 2
and i’ve been able to finish the days in Italy as well
and caught up today.
yeah
it’s 15hrs now
tindersticks singing me “tonight: are you trying to fall in love again?”
i guess i’m going to go out and get lost in Athens now
find out which busses go to istanbul
and how long it is
and how much it costs
if the fare is less than a €50 difference from the airplane
i might just fly
fuck all this 36 hours on the train, 22 hours on the bus
one hour on the plane
yeah.
but first:
going to go get lost in athens.
(while finishing writing this
Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer” came on my shuffle…
i grabbed this from Antonio in Malaga
and i loved this song as a child
it being on MTV
amazing
entertaining my little boy’s eyes
but now
every time i hear it
i’m very impressed by the lyrics
which i’m sure i missed as a kid..
i feel the opening stanza is appropriate to this quote from Death in Venice as well:
“you could have a steam train
if you’d just lay down your tracks
you could have an aeroplane flying
if you’d bring your blue sky back
all you do is call me:
i’ll be anything you need.”
yeah, i want a sledgehammer.
comeon, someone… comeon….)
————–
this day in athens?
i wandered down the main street
down down
kept thinking an internet cafe was around the corner:
i wanted to find a sauna
maybe a local bar to go to tonight
it was all trouble
i walked and walked and walked
and walking LOOKING for something really keeps you from seeing what’s there
so i missed a lot
until i got sick of looking
and just started seeing
that was more interesting
the old church
the people watching me
the occasional priest walking around the corner..
i kept lookin at the map Costas gave me
a map i wasn’t even on..
eventually
i found the internet cafe
and sat for an hour
the pencil she gave me didn’t work
but i got a general idea of where i was going
i walked all the way into the centre of town
but the sauna i wanted was closed
so i just continued walking..
noticed i wasn’t taking any pictures
so got out my camera
and got some
then the city fell apart
all dirty and packt and crazy
i just flowed through it
bought a gyro
funny: they put fried potato in it
don’t they know how to do it?
here we are…
lost
i saw the parthenon on a mountain somewhere over there
Whoa…
i didn’t realize the hill it was on was So Big.
it hid behind buildings again
so i tried to find the right way to get to it..
in that process
i found a video porn store
which
of course
i just walked by
… but then thought . . .
i walked in and looked at the bargain DVDs…
any greek stuff?
nothing
but strange fetishes
ah
the fetishes
still
they weren’t as good as the fetishes on the walls
“mature grannies who can’t hold their bladders”
“dick black likes em young”
“dad knows best”
there were some greek dvds…
but the quality looked terrible
and they were full price
though there was a hot daddy in one of them
lots of bearded guys
mock-emperical..
silly
but interesting enough
europe.
i walked along
still wondering where i was
not certain
on the map
no street signs down here…
a little traffic jam
a nice looking square..
oh look
it’s the metro stop Costas told me to go to:
Monesteraki
yeah.
wow
and the parthenon looming over all
and a million tourists
and a flea markert.
Jeff stood here two days ago
looking up at this
i took some pictures for Jeff
i walked around with Jeff
cruising the bears
some guy sitting on a bench
psycho look on his face
nodding furiously at me with eyecontact
did he want to sell drugs?
did he want to have sex?
pulling in those cigarettes
i followed signs to the Bath House of the Winds..
… i don’t know if i ever found it
but it led me into neighborhoods
up the hill
i wandered around
saw…. ruins… piles of stones
in fences
what was it like here in the 70s?
i walked up
i followed the stairs
i liked the stairs
i knew jeff wouldn’t
but he didn’t have weight today
today he was just with me
he didn’t need to worry about walking as fast as me
i was carrying him free
up we went
up and up
but half way up
i noticed it was 7 already
which meant i needed to get back to meet Costas soon
but also all this shit was gonna close in a half hour:
i didn’t want to go to the Parthenon today..
so i didn’t.
i took the path that didn’t go there
i stood on an outcropping with a stray dog
and japanese tourists
were they a family?
was that their dog?
all the stairs were irregular
round
outlined
were these private?
i walked down some
past beautiful flowers
back into streets
past old churchy things
where people were singing inside
when i stepped in
the long bearded guy sitting next to the candles smiled at me
all
Hello.
the greek guys singing to eachother across the congregation
i walked down
past graffiti
past long haired boys with ancient instruments
i photographed for Goat
there was that thing
some old building in the green
i wanted to see that
i needed to get back
i walked into the metro
and it was simple enough to take home
cheap
simple
there
i got off at Kato Patissia
and walked south along the main avenue:
to the street of Luck
back at the house
i came in to my little room
and quickly grabbed my lap top to war-walk..
i walked around and around
but no luck
no luck
round and around
found internet places
but there was no wi-fi
no plug in
i found some open signals but they wouldn’t get me to the net
but look at these streets
i could, almost, be anywhere.
so i went back to my little room
and i layed down
i got to rest for a while
(then went to eat dinner with Costas
television on
i took a long shower
i was very tired
lots of tv and food
then i went down to sleep
— there was a little tussle with Costas,
but he saw i was tired and let me rest)