2024.Dream.Cream.Steam.Machine.
In other words... Stroke the Stoke; A Continuation...
Up in the air @ 36,000 ft., many things orbit my consciousness. Such an orbit traversed yesterday. All day yesterday. The penultimate sunset of 2023 started off getting off of a train. Well, first a bus. I navigated my way through typical Portuguese streets of Small-Town Portugal, in Ílhavo. I found my bus-stop, engaged in some local niceties with fellow bus-commuters, and made my way to the charming Aveiro Train Station. Yes, the old train station, decked out in classic white stucco with traditional Portuguese azul azulejos, is to basic, yet so incredible simultaneously, for my love affair with Portugal continues. Never has a country captivated me as much - only being eclipsed by Turkey. By captivating I mean ease. More specifically, feeling at ease engaging in all facets of life. Sure it's so different, challenging even, but that's what moves me- really moves me, you know?
As I often do, I digress. But, what the fuck; this is my blog, and I'm not necessarily going to be bullied into any dogmatic genre of writing, thinking, doing, etc. I mean, who the fuck ever came up with 'stream of consciousness' anyway? I don't know the answer (perhaps one of my readers will enlighten me), but I'm glad I understand the concept! Shout out to Ulysses!
Double Digress
- What's happening in Suli?
- What's happening in Iraq w/the Iraqi Dinar?
- How's the progress going in Portugal?
- Will I make it back in time for class on Tuesday, or will I miss my flight to Suli (late start in Madrid)?
- Why didn't I buy those Prada sunglasses at Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (Porto) Duty Free?
- Why did this time leaving Portugal feel so different?
- What's happening next summer?
- Why didn't I give that dude my # (he can find me on social media, I suppose, or... chalk it up simply to 2 ships passing by in the night along those exotic shipping lanes)?
- Did I bring back enough Portuguese sausage?
3.2.1 GO
Off and running, I was. Trying to escape Iraq is complicated. I mean to say that flight options are limited up here in Kurdistan. And expensive. So, I paid dearly to fly through King Hamad Airport (Qatar), and I better had enjoyed it. I think it did; I made my flight! Qatar Airways has been pretty good to me overall though. I mean, I'm not in the habit with getting bumped up to business class very often, but if so, it's been with Qatar.
So does anyone remember that commercial in the 70s (or YouTube) of Joe Namath running through the airport? That's how I felt. Okay, I just fact-checked myself; the Joe Namath commercial was of him wearing pantyhose (yes, you should remember THAT one-back when shit wasn't politicized), and the airport commercial was with O.J. Simpson for Hertz Rental Cars... That fact just defeated my point, if there was one. I made my flight after flying through Terminal A to Terminal S, and so did my luggage (with said Portuguese sausage & village-crafted cheese(s).
2024, so far
Flying at night has always captivated me. Observing the landscape illuminated by dots that make-up our existence just makes me feel so... wondrous. How did we all get to this point? What the fuck IS it about colonialism (my mind wanders- perhaps something to do with the whiskey/cokes on the Madrid flight).
Suddenly I see colored lights down below- somewhere over Saudi Arabia. I know as I was completely consumed watching Bahrain come in/out of my moving picture show minutes earlier. There was the Causeway, linking up Saudi Arabia to Bahrain- in more ways than one, I can say, from living in Bahrain and understanding the complexity of the situation on the weekends!
Fireworks exploding beneath the airplane! What a non-stop show I had following the coastline up to Kuwait. The bursts of color distracting me, soon enough we were touching down onto Sulimaniyah landscape. It was an interesting route, though Iraq, the airplane took. I suppose due to flight restrictions and politics dictated our route. We flew right over Nasirayah & Baghdad, keeping to the west instead of staying east (mountains/Iranian side), which is the usual route I am familiar with.
We followed the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. For a moment I let my thoughts wander. Soon enough I was staring down at the lands of the Marshes- a fascinating region of Iraq that I will visit later this year. It's been on my list for so long. It was a hypnopompic experience, which I have familiarity with.
Training one's mind- think Jedi Mind Tricks here. I would say, if I had to try to box 'myself', that I come from a background of stoicism. My world was pretty ordered, as far as what I noticed, growing up. As I went out 'on the road' after high school, I came into so much unfamiliar stimuli, or stimuli that I educated myself on, yet never experienced. I've run with 'it' ever since- never looking backwards with regrets. Higher consciousness turns on all my buttons.
Back on the airplane... I was reflecting on conversations with friends and family over the past few days. One friend in particular was describing about setting their intentions for 2024. I've never really been this 'type' of person, or so I thought. Pondering this, I decided that I do in fact set intentions, but I see it more as a casual type of thing; something that I would do on any given day. I guess I can sum it all up as:
Dream.Cream.Steam.Machine.
What it all means to me I cannot easily write out. I know it, though. My quest is to know it intimately. To be it endlessly. If you're following this trajectory you know I know I know it. You know that you know it as well. Last, you know I know that you know it. Reality or Absurdastan you might wonder. It's okay. I know.
