macondo mama goes urban

Okay. I mentioned that something was up. I've been hoping to get a bit of time to sit down and write this properly. You know, go out with a bang. Reflect on stuff.

But I should have known that was never going to happen.

So here's the deal. We've been here in Macondo for over a year. We've loved it, been frustrated with it, struggled to figure it out, and laughed and cried and shrugged our shoulders at it. And now we're leaving.

We had always planned to move away from here, but we thought we would give it another two years or so and get the most out of our time with the whole 'small children frolicking on the beach' thing. Then two things happened:

• We never found enough work to make ends meet
• We got jobs in a pretty cool city that we're excited to live in

Sooooooo, the Macondo family is going urban!

Once we finish packing, cleaning, selling, shipping, house-hunting, school-scouting, job-training, unpacking and settling in, I will breathe again and look around and realize that I have bookstores, theatres, kids' activities, public transportation, veggie empanadas, fast internet and maybe even potential FRIENDS all around me. And, I will not have to commute anywhere to finally get my hair cut.

I'm excited.

I am also really, really busy. In addition to all the packing, moving, settling and so on, there is the tiny little detail that I have two small kids. One that deals TERRIBLY with change, and the other that demands BOOBY several hundred times a day. Oh, and I have to hand in the first half of the book that I'm translating next week.

Oh! And try getting anything done in Argentina the first week of the World Cup! UTTER MADNESS.

[UPDATED TO ADD: It should be no surprise, really, that telos are offering super discount rates during Argentina's games, along with complimentary champagne and an Argentina jersey. I doubt they're finding many takers, though. World Cup soccer trumps even sex, don't you know.]

Anyways, all this to say that I am, sadly, going to leave my beloved Mama in Macondo blog right here in Macondo. Realistically, I won't be able to keep up with blogging for quite some time, and I need all the energy and focus I can muster for everything else going on in my life.

I have so loved creating this space and filling it with little pieces of me. Maybe I'll still go through my days composing snippets of blog posts in my head, but if not, I'll miss that. And I will really miss looking forward to and receiving your comments and emails. This has been such an important part of my Macondo adventure. Really.

I have also discovered many others who write so much better and more honestly and creatively than I ever could, and from whom I learn and take comfort and find inspiration (see my list of links in the sidebar). So I take that with me, and I'll continue to read along, probably with a huge case of blog envy.

Thanks so much to all of you for joining me here in Macondo!

And, I can't resist. Here are two more recent articles about Argentina you might be interested in:

A second independence for Argentina

Argentina's Bicentennial: Indigenous Tell Another History

Some unrelated, really cool stuff online

Things have been quiet here on the Macondo blog because lots is happening in the Macondo household. Big changes are coming, I'll share the details soon (no, I am NOT pregnant!).

In the meantime, though, here is some random great stuff I've come across recently:

An online library of Canadian documentary films. There are some great films here!
http://www.hotdocslibrary.ca

A really, really cool site called Storybird, for writing and illustrating stories.
http://storybird.com/create/

A 'computational knowledge engine', for quickly calculating or converting or consulting about just about anything.
http://www.wolframalpha.com/

A great tool for making any article you're reading online way more readable.
http://lab.arc90.com/experiments/readability/readability

And here is an English language article about the recent bicentennial celebrations in Argentina. They totally blew me away. There were more than three and a half million people on the streets in Buenos Aires on the 25th, and another few million on the days leading up to it.

The highlights:

The inauguration of the stunning, restored Teatro Colón, one of the world's greatest opera houses.

A light show on the Cabildo building illustrating 200 years of Argentinian history. This was so incredibly well done. I had no idea technology had advanced so significantly since those Pink Floyd laser shows I remember from high school. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

The best 'parade' I have ever seen, featuring 19 art/dance/theatre installations representing different aspects and moments of Argentinian history, carried out by the fabulous performance group Fuerza Bruta.

THIS WAS AMAZING. I can't get over how cool it is for a country to celebrate and commemorate in this way, with millions in the street, with innovative and mind-blowing street theatre and art, with this penetrating representation of political, popular, artistic, social and economic life.

Here is an overview of the parade.

And here are links to see the whole thing.