NOTES FROM "LA MADRIGUERA"

A madriguera is a den, a cave, a hideout or it could be something like a nest, not necessarily for birds, a cuddling place where mammals, take a bear, go to hibernate.

And here is where I am, in my madriguera. Not for long, since I am moving out due to the end of my sublease and the return of my sublessor. I will miss this place, especially moments like this one, when I can look outside the crappy old, glassed-door and see the little hummingbird batting its wings, or the sun buttering up the side of the house. But c'est la vie. I will find another cool Madriguera. Promise.

Other than that, I am just loving it, and I don't need a big mac for that. Quite the contrary. There is a story brewing and it's shaping up pretty good. Things would be close to platinum grade if my neighbor conducted his phone business inside the house instead of hogging the common driveway's air space with his honky-tonk conversations. But he is who he is. Live and let live. Listen and let listen...or whatever. He's got a cool dog and he himself (neighbor, not dog) is a decent fellow, aside from his driveway over-phoning. So I'll move forward and up, and let it go.

I watched "Prisoners" the other night, with Gyllenhaal and Jackman. Great movie. One of the best picture I've seen all season, perhaps with 12 Years a Slave. Great script, characters, cinematography... Right on. The Oscars will go to Gravity (are they really making enough money to pay for all the marketing campaign? Geez) and 12 Years. Wolf will get something too (DiCap is excellent and so is Hill). I hope American Hustle doesn't run with it; it was good but not great. I know J. Lawrence is America's current darling but her NJ neglected-bitch wife performance is not convincing to me. Bale is awesome though. His does. I could say more about more, but I won't. Oh wait: I'll say that All is Lost is an excellent film and Redford is very good. It won't get Awards because the geezers and geezerettes that vote in this thing won't have seen it out of thematic fear. Yes, it is unnerving, but it's a movie. And it's good.

And one last note to customer service agents in the banking industry and others (including waitresses), in Spain and around the world. Customer service means that the agent/waitress is supposed to serve the customer, not the other way around. If that cramps your style, you should find another line of work.

That's all for now from the Madriguera.