insight

attitude

2009-04-01T07:13:00.003-03:00

Food for thought...
"The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want. And, if they cannot find them, make them." George Bernard Shaw

We, human beings, tend to complain about every single thing that annoys us. The problem lies in the fact that the time we waste doing so is precious and then we end up missing out on great opportunities.

Hello, Stranger!

2009-01-22T00:39:00.001-02:00

About 3 months ago I was going downtown by bus. During the "trip" I tried to sleep, but couldn't, so I started to think about everything, and remembered a text of Martha Medeiros, my idol LOL. This text was about the poetry hidden inside our ordinary days, and I began to see the poetry behind those cars, the view and I was even imagining the poetry in Campo de Sant'Ana and in the magnificence of Palácio Duque de Caxias under the sunlight filtered by the clouds of that grey day.
Close to the port, a guy stood up and walked to the front of the bus, after the turnstile, waiting for the arrival at the bustop. Suddenly,as Vinícius de Moraes said:"De repente, não mais que de repente", a man walked from the back of the bus, carring a gun and told the guy not to make a move and checked inside the guys backpack. There was nothing there and the man with the gun returned to his seat. Everyone was shocked!
The guy of the backpack started complaining, said he's just a worker and so on... A few seconds later the guy of the gun stood up once again, and to my despair, he checked the bag of the guy who was sitting in front of me.
My heart was beating sooooo fast...I had to control myself and manage the amount of adrenalin that was thrown in my blood stream.
After that, everyone standing up looked like him with his gun again.
When it was 'over', I tried to see the poetry behind the everyday scenery, but every now and then the image of the gun would flash and kill the poem. Besides the fact that I mentioned that everyone seemed like him.
Only after had he left the bus everyone could breath again. A woman said he told her he was a cop, but he haven't shown an ID to anyone.

Where he was coming from, where he was going to, his name, age, true occupation, all of them I ignore, the only thing I know is that that stranger changed my day and my poetry of that day. I never doubted how short life can be, but that stranger, that tranformed my poems, reinforced that idea...

And it happens more often than we think, strangers are always changing our lives and behaviour: a book you read, an interview you watch, a lecture...You don't know those people, maybe you'll never know them, but at a moment they said or did something that made you say to yourself:"Why haven't i thought about it before??" or "I should do this!".
For the good or the bad, the strangers are there...We just need to reckon what we can allow them to change and what is better to preserve^^

what do you make of it ?

2008-11-07T22:01:00.002-02:00

When it comes to the name "Frankenstein", what springs to your mind ?

Happy \o/

2008-09-21T16:40:00.003-03:00

"Got my dreams, got my life, got my love,/

Got my friends, got the sunshine above./

Why I'm making this hard on myself,/

When there's so many beautiful reasons I have to be happy?"

(Natasha Bedingfield - "Happy")

I've been thinking about this post, and what I want with it is to make you think about the way you face your life.
It's common to complain and get sad when bad things happen to us. Other times, we're just so "used" to saying that we're "ok", that we forget that we have a plenty of reasons to be happy. And that's what this song is all about.

What never leave us are our dreams, another thing that we keep with us no matter the situation.

Another thing that helps us facing our problems is love, and here I don't mean the love between husband and wife or between any kind of coupl. The love here is the one that parents have for their children, that the friends have one for the other. The love that lasts a lifetime.

Even when going through the worst stuff we'll always have those true friends (you know, those few but really good ones) who give us support.

And no matter what we're going through we have to remember that we have the sun above us all the time, and just as the sun, we have to learn how to shine after a cloudy day, week or month, letting all the bad stuff go and showing the world all we've got!! Because in the end we have many beautiful reasons to be happy...

ten years later...

2008-09-08T23:21:00.002-03:00

Sorry for the delay, but the mind keeps failing as we get old. And believe me: there´s nothing we can do about it. Just pray and ask God to prevent you from getting mentally ill that fast. Of course you´ve got to do your share by reading, writing, hanging around and saying useless things from time to time in order to deceive your declining brain and pretend it works perfectly.

Well, here are the pseudonyms for the real names given some posts ago. William Bradley is the astonishing Brad Pitt. Louise Ciccone is our star that will draw crowds to Maracanã in December, Madonna. Ramón Estévez is Martin Sheen, Martin Ann Evans, George Eliot, Neftalí Reyes the inspired Pablo Neruda and Robert Zimmerman, Bob Dylan.

A lesson from Japan

2008-08-13T22:53:00.009-03:00

It took me quite a long period to write, but keeping two blogs and a life of studying to be on a Federal University next is quite hard... BUT HERE I AM!!!

There are people that think about Japanese comics (mangás) and cartoons (animes) with the mind full of predjudice. But mangás and animes have a lot to teach us, actually. And today's lessons are from the mangá/ anime XXX Holic. In this case, the lessons are given inside an atmosphere of magic but can be brought to the "real" word.

This is all about a guy, Watanuki, who sees "bad spirits" that meets Yuko, kind of a witch who owns a shop and that can make your wishes come true (not those like "I bring your love back" or "You can get your job back", it has to do with the souls). And it's Yuko who brings the lessons to us.

The lessons I want to highlight here were given in the first episode:

When you want something, you got to give something of the same value to pay for it, nothing comes for free t(his lesson really needs to be learnt).

Other point is about our freedom to wish things for ourselves: we're free to wish whatever we want to our lives, and these wishes can bring either happiness or sadness, so we must pay attention, because our wishes can influence our life.

Inside the story of a girl who had the habit of lying, Yuko shows us that there are some in stuff in our lives that only we can change, no matter what people say to us, we got to take the plunge to make the change.

Better than judging the animes, who isn't a fan should try to less narrow minded and give the Japanese a chance!! If after watching it you don't like, ok, it's your right, but maybe you'll find a new thing to do in your free time.

2008-08-05T16:00:00.000-03:00

Hello everyone! That my last post was not me who wrote, it was my teacher. And I wanted to say also that, I won a certificate of good student (I´ve got 9 in my final grade) and I am very happy! Ah ... sorry for don`t have wrote nothing
In the holidays…

Bye-bye ;-D

unfettered imagination

2008-07-30T11:21:00.006-03:00

Lewis Carroll. whose real name was Charles Dodgson, was born in a small village and grew up playing in the family garden, constructing mazes and setting up puppet shows. Like his father before him, Carroll went to Oxford, where he excelled in Mathematics; he eventually took a master´s degree and became a rather eccentric, reclusive professor at Oxford. He remained there for the rest of his life and would not be remembered today had he not written two of the greatest of children´s books, Alice´s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.

Alice in Wonderland was born one July afternoon when the Oxford don took the three young daughters of his college dean on a boating party. To entertain the girls - one of whom was named Alice - he began to spin together a series of tales dealing with the strange adventures of a young girl who falls down a rabbit-hole and encounters a nonsense world.

When published in 1865 the book was an instant success. In 1871, Carroll published his second and last Alice book, Through the Looking Glass, which recounts Alice´s dream of passing through a mirror and entering a world which is reverse of our own.

Through the Looking Glass is full of the odd humour and puns characteristic of Alice in Wonderland, but it also contains mathematical puzzles hidden under the nonsensical surface. There is a plot, for soon after entering the mirror world Alice is transformed into a pawn in a game of chess, whose goal is to become queen and win the game. After many strange encounters with the Red and White Queens and Knights - as well as with Humpty Dumpty the talking egg and other assorted creatures of fantasy - Alice does become Queen Alice, whereupon she wakes up wondering who it was that dreamed it all.

It´s essential to point out that Carroll´s work is immersed in the Victorian Age, time in which child labour flourished under brutal conditions. That´s why literature produced especially for children began to appear. Maybe the resort to a literature of fantasy means an attempt to escape a harsh reality or even the search for the lost innocence of youth.

time to unwind and... come back !

2008-07-27T23:08:00.004-03:00

I do agree that it´s time to unwind for a while and forget our hectic routines, but let me tell you that a while is more than enough. Taking some rest is paramount, but being lazy is another kettle of fish for living at a snail´s pace is not healthy at all. It´s like flogging a dead horse and then ending up in a dog house. I know that we constantly look forward for a break, but putting our brains to work is also having a whale of a time, it allows us to get a move on and stay alive and kicking. It´s like being as free as a bird by letting our ideas flow. No, I´m not at a zoo, I just want you to be aware that I haven´t passed away, and I hope Alyne and Thay haven´t either. See you soon!!

new talents showing up...

2008-07-10T17:28:00.003-03:00

as you probably know, we´ve got two new authors : Alyne and Thay. I already knew that they were great students, but it was a rewarding surprise to learn they are also incredible writers. I can even foresee their brilliant future. welcome, girls !!! You´ll rock the world!!!

The disillusion of an almost.

2008-07-08T14:36:00.002-03:00

Even worse than the certainty of no and the uncertain possibilities of maybe, is the disillusion of an "almost". It’s the almost that bothers me, that makes me sad, that shows me everything which could be, but isn’t.
Somebody who almost won had loose, somebody who almost passed didn’t make the grade on the test, somebody who almost died still alive, and somebody who almost loved didn’t love yet!
The passion burns and the love drive us crazy. Perhaps these were good reasons to decide between joys and pain, but how can you decide between a good and a bad thing and choose the one which is not good but is not bad? You prefer to don’t feel anything? Or it’s good or it’s bad! Something that’s positive is good, something that’s negative is bad and the impartial thing, what it is? Is it nothing? Is it anything?
If virtue was impartial, the sea wouldn’t have waves, the days would be cloudy and the rainbow of different tones of gray. The nothing doesn’t illuminates, doesn’t inhales, doesn’t afflicts or calms, it just extend the emptiness that each one brings inside of itself.
I’m not saying that faith can move a mountain or that we can reach the stars, only the patience remain to us for the things that we cannot modify, however, to prefer the previous defeat to the doubt of the victory is to waste the chance to deserve it.
Don’t let the destiny guiding, believe in yourself. Spend more hours achieving than dreaming, making than planning, living than waiting because, although who almost dies still alive, who is almost alive is already dead!!!

Window to the world

2008-07-07T13:50:00.002-03:00

Hi everybody!
Sorry for the delay...
My first post is a translation and adaptation of a text written by Martha Medeiros that has been published in "O Globo" sometime ago.
Sarah was a teenager who, as usual, couldn't neither understand nor be understood by her father. One thing that pissed her off was to travel to a neighbor city, cuz during the ride he insisted on praising the river beside the road, but when she looked through her window, she could only see a string of sewage. For her, her father was being ironic and fooling her…Oh God, she really hated that!!… Well, the years passed, Sarah’s father passed away before they could solve their issues.
One day Sarah was driving in the same road she used to hate while travelling with her father, but now she was not sitting in the passenger’s seat, she was the driver. When she looked through the window, she was able to see a gorgeous river and its pure water. In that moment she realized that her father has never lied to her, he was just telling what he was seeing through his window…and that, maybe, he didn’t even know about the dirty river on the right side of road.
It happens in our lives more often than we think. Many times we judge people cuz they don’t see the world as we do, or cuz they don’t agree with us and cuz we can’t understand why the act like they do, when the only difference is the window they use to look at the world. Instead of judging or pushing away those who think in a different way, we should try to look through the same window they use.

New Girl In The Area!!

2008-07-03T09:51:00.002-03:00

Hey guys!! Took me quite long to show up,nut here I am!!
I promiss to post before sunday and hope you'll like what I've got for you...
xxxx

guess who we are...

2008-06-30T19:38:00.003-03:00

there's no doubt that you know us. We are famous for our talent as singers, actors, writers and so on ...
give it a try and guess who we are !!!

William Bradley, Louise Ciccone, Ramón Estévez, Mary Ann Evans, Neftalí Reyes, Robert Zimmerman

I'm a new partner...

2008-06-30T14:48:00.002-03:00

Hi guys, I'm here... wait for me... I'll be back !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the end begins...

how to stay cool even when panicking...

2008-06-21T20:44:00.002-03:00

We all carry round a baggage of attitudes and beliefs that colours our response to new situations. If you´re lucky, these will be "can-do" messages, but many of us are programmed for failure. Perhaps every time you stepped out of the door when you were little, your parents cried "be careful!", as if doom and disaster lurked at every turn, or friends say "I wouldn´t attempt that if I were you!". If you hear negative statements often enough, you learn to expect the worst. The immediate reaction to a new or daunting situation is "I cannot handle it".

Most people´s confidence is a level or two below their competence, "says clinical psychologist Averil Leimon, director of a company which helps personnel transform their behaviour.

" People need to understand that they really are better than they believe."

Everybody feels fearful in unfamiliar situations. That doesn´t mean we should avoid them. Taking risks, even tiny ones like picking up a telephone to make a complaint, is a necessary part of accepting adult responsibility. The best strategy you can adopt is to understand why you feel so fearful and learn how to deal with it. Then, when you succeed in a difficult situation, you´ll feel more confident about approaching it next time around.

The people you admire for their apparent confidence and ability to cope with any situation are probably feeling just as daunted as you would be, but they don´t let it stand in their way.

Don´t bother, just let it be...

2008-06-07T21:13:00.005-03:00

The widely known Beatles were a band from Liverpool, England, formed in 1960. They were made up of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Star. Their clothes, style and statements made the group trend-setter, not to mention the extensive influence on the youngsters, who played active roles in the cultural revolution of the 1960´s. Although they broke up in 1970, they remain alive in people´s minds and hearts, being their songs soundtracks of remarkable moments. The Beatles have sold more albums than any other band in the USA. And to top it off, they were ranked number one on a list that includes the 100 greatest Rock and Roll artists of all times.

And to keep our brains working, let´s take a look at the lyrics to one of those masterpieces the Beatles left...

let it be
when I find myself in times of trouble
mother Mary comes to me,
speaking words of wisdom, let it be

and in my hour of darkness
she is standing right in front of me,
speaking words of wisdom, let it be

let it be, let it be
whisper words of wisdom, let it be

and when the broken hearted people
living in the world agree
there will be an answer, let it be

for though they may be parted
there is still a chance that they will see
there will be an answer, let it be

let it be, let it be
let it be, let it be
there will be an answer, let it be

and when the night is cloudy
there is still a light that shines on me
shines until tomorrow, let it be

I wake up to the sound of music
mother Mary comes to me
speaking words of wisdom, let it be

let it be, let it be
there will be an answer, let it be

Harley Davidson

2008-05-26T22:46:00.004-03:00

And here is an interesting poem that Harley Davidson chose to advertise their bikes...

What do you make of it ?

Age

if I had my life to live over,

I´d try to make more mistakes next time

I would relax,

I would be sillier than I have been this trip.

I know of very few things I would take seriously.

I would take more chances.

I would take more trips.

I would climb more mountains, swim more rivers and watch more sunsets.

I would eat more ice cream and less beans.

I would have more actual troubles and fewer imaginary ones.

You see, I am one of those people who live prophylactically

and sanely and sensibly,

hour after hour, day after day.

Oh, I have had my moments and, if I had to do

it all over again, I´d have more of them.

In fact, I´d try to have nothing else, just

moments, one after another.

If I had my life to live over,

I´d start bare-footed earlier in the spring and stay that way

later in the fall.

I would play hooky more,

I would ride on more marry-go-rounds.

I´d pick more daisies.

it´s all up to you !

2008-05-23T21:47:00.000-03:00

No one is to be blamed for your failures since you pave the way. You may look up to someone. You may even follow in someone´s footsteps. But what happens to you or is left behind is in your hands. Just stop and think: Who makes your decisions ? Who is responsible for the knowledge you acquire or discard ? It´s all up to you !!!

And here is a poem for your reflexion...

The Road Not Taken

by Robert Frost

" Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear (was not worn);

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day !

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference. "