Where Do All the Lonely People Go?

Where do lonely people go? Those who seldom know a shelter of their own. Where do lonely people go? Those who left for good one day slamming the door Where do all those homeless people go? All those forgotten by their sons Where do all those shipwrecks repose? Banished castaways on nowhere land Where do all desperate bodies rest when the mind abandons every hope? What becomes of them when all is lost but death refuses their requests? Why are there such limbos upon Earth? What kind of vicious fate can take you there? What were they? Who were they? How do you know it is not your turn? How can you tell? I see a bunch of kids playing in the park, laughing. What horrendous scheming decides who's gonna be next?

Detail of Columbus Monument, Portal de la Pau, Barcelona

Today, a close look on the column and pedestal of the Christopher Columbus monument at the end of Las Ramblas. Did you know that inside this column there is a lift, a very narrow one, that takes visitors to the top? This detail in the image which looks like a cigar ring to me can be appreciated here but if you really want to feel the place click and drag inside the embedded Google street view map of the roundabout where the monument is, facing Barcelona harbor. To get some information and take a look at the bronze lions at the base, go here.

Street view image

Taxi Drivers: A World Apart!

This is some kind of natural law, taxi drivers are a world apart. It is a very venerable profession given all the crap they have to take from us daily but...what about them?. Who hasn't lived an enriching experience after talking to a friendly cab driver? Many people have. But, who hasn't been as talkative as Buster Keaton before breakfast on the way to the airport (usually a long ride) after finding out how funny your random driver is that morning? There are many kinds of taxi drivers, they are people after all, not automatic pilots. They have their existential problems as we all have. That's quite normal. The problem is that in such small space their influence can jump at you like lice from head to head on a hippie convention. Some peculiar behaviors are already documented in Psychiatry, but many of them are still considered normal. You've got the sports fan type (normally the other team's fan),the political type (the other party's follower), the philosopher, basically nihilists (no change, not going your way, no smoking in here), the braggart (they can brag just about everything and my post is short)...and the discreet, who I certainly prefer. This fiction rant is dedicated to all taxi drivers who work around the clock and have saved our butts on many occasions. Please, don't get mad at my words today, especially my friend in the picture for obvious reasons.