Reason #42975 why life in Spain isn't always all it's cracked up to be, but fortunately Woody Allen sightings make up for it:

A little corner shop called HelpMiPC is holding my laptop hostage. They sent it away to some mysterious company in Madrid to be fixed. Now they claim the company does not have a telephone and does not respond to emails. All I can do is wait. I called today to get an update, and the guy told me that they're going on vacation in a week so hopefully it will come before then, otherwise I'll just get it in September. What?! I'm going insane.

I don't think the paint fumes are helping matters.

Reason #40586 why I love my life -

Woody Allen is in town filming a new movie about a tourist (Scarlett Johansson) in Barcelona, also starring Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem. We've tried to hunt them down and have only managed to see their film crews a few times around the city. Anyways, Lee and I got wind of a concert by Woody Allen's Jazz Orchestra earlier last week. I guess Woody can't be away from his bandmates for more than a couple months. He flew them over, and they're living here performing a few concerts a week for the duration of the filming. We managed to finagle a couple free tickets hoping for some star sightings. Sadly Woody, Scar Jo, P Cruz, et al were not in attendance, but we had a wonderful night sipping champagne in the lobby of a beautiful hotel and listening to some jazz. But in chatting with the hotel manager and the guys in the band after the concert, we got an inside scoop about their Sunday afternoon practice sessions with Woody.

So yesterday we sat around for a three hour jam session listening to Woody wail on the jazz clarinet with a couple other band members. It was incredible. Us and only a handful of other people that happened upon it. Quite a way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I think we'll be back next week!

This was the best stealth shot I could get while trying to maintain my "i'm so cool. i'm just here for the jazz" profile.

Happy Birthday to me! Lee and I started painting a room in the hostel to get a feel of what the finished product will be. I had a minor breakdown at the hardware store when I thought I'd ordered the wrong paint color. In most countries, I'm pretty sure the sales guy would be understanding and make a new can, but I'm pretty sure it would've been taken as a personal affront here like I was stealing directly out of the guy's pocket. I almost broke out into hives imagining what a scene it would be. Fortunately, toasted wheat was indeed the correct color. After a half an hour filling holes and taping baseboards and stuff, I think we came to the conclusion that we'll leave the other rooms to the pros. The rest of the birthday festivities were slightly more exciting fortunately.