February 17, 2008

Two

Everything was two. He contemplated the world with his espresso in his hand. That world where no matter what the figures were they all added up to two. The strong scent of coffee, sweet in its peculiar way, involved him and perfectly matched the mild notes of the red roses and delicate words and gestures and smiles and knowing looks which were part of that day.

At a table next to him, two exchanged unspeakable words in whispers, while on the sidewalk to his left several other twos walked hither and thither at a slow pace, intimacy flowing between them. The sunlight of that pleasant morning reflected on the white hair of another two sitting on a bench right across the street — the two speak in silence, a gift from time only for fortunate twos who get so far and no longer need to say words.

He looks at his watch; opens his laptop on the table, hesitates.


***


The office was a whirlwind. Not only was it hot as hell, but it was also Friday. That end of the day seemed to drag on for endless hours, phones were ringing in absolutely all desks. Her cubicle neighbor was on the phone with someone who was making her smile. In the aisle to her right, one of the IT guys had approached a girl who blushed, timidly, most probably because of the content of the conversation.

Right in front of her, spreadsheets propagated on her monitor, all of them unsolved. The phone rang, but she did not answer. Her eyes were now staring outside the panoramic window on the other side of the room; someone had had the idea of opening the blinds and so she could see the horizon up from the thirtieth floor. The longer she remained in that horizon the closer it got to her, and little by little she stopped hearing the world buzzing around her. Silence at last. There was nothing else between her and that line far away but that strong scent of coffee. She closes her eyes for a moment.

When she gets back to the computer screen, that little orange window beams on the taskbar. Time stops.

February 14, 2008

Happy Googletine's!

How lovely!



Wishing you all a Happy Valentine's Day!

January 25, 2008

We should invest more in bird education

January 24, 2008

The life of the housewife-translator

January 19, 2008

What time of the day are you?


"You are 3:15 p.m.
You are the moment when the last bell rings and school lets out for the day. You are resistant to schedules and obligations, so you love feeling like you're in control of your life again. You are the very moment when the second hand hits the 12, and the halls fill with noise and motion. Even if your after-school time is packed with activities, lessons, or a job, somehow, you just feel freer in the late afternoon than you do earlier in the day. Maybe it's all that blue sky and afternoon sunshine? Nah -- even on rainy days, 3:15 is always a beautiful
time."


Let's just say that at this time of the day I'm usually sleeping my beauty nap. Got it?
HO HO HO

January 18, 2008

Benji's preschool

So yesterday Benji spent the afternoon at his likely future preschool.

Yes, dear readers, children grow up fast. When we realize it, it's time to find a school, buy materials, uniform.

I'm a devoted mother. I had stopped taking him to pet stores because all of them, with no exception, are adept to cages. Imagine you getting to a beauty salon for a complete session including manicure, pedicure, hair, Brazilian wax, and then you have to wait because their schedule is late. But you won't wait sitting on a chair, no. It will be in a cage. Got it? Impracticable for me, impracticable for my dogson.

But didn't I find, the other day while browsing the net, this neat place?

And so off to the new place he went yesterday. Proud grandma drove her doggrandson there. She said the little creature just completely forgot about her, and started playing with other dogs, and did not cry, and did not give her that sad-puppy-dog-eyes-rescue-me look. Grandma then went back home, and Ms. Jaqueline said she would drive Benji back home.

I must say one thing: The first time your baby is away from home without a family member around is painful for the mother. Several times during the afternoon I was on the brink of having a heart attack, until 8pm, when they finally arrived with my little sweet-patoody-pookey-wookey.

Ms. Jaqueline even showed me how he sits like a grownup with only a hand gesture and a doggy treat. Fantastic.

There was even a photo session!





Sigh...

It is time to pay enrollment fees, buy educational material, uniforms... And prepare my heart and soul and mind to stay without him a whole day once a week, until he is trained on the basics so we can start to practice
Agility.

A mother's life is not easy.

*****

The question I've been asking myself since yesterday is whether the trick Ms. Jaqueline uses, that one of the doggy treat and hand gesture, works on people too. It would be soooo nice to make, for instance, your boyfriend hand you the remote control with a simple hand gesture and a boyfriendy treat, wouldn't it? HO HO HO

January 12, 2008

How I killed the Grasshopper

So last night it arrived. It just got in, and started flying around. Benji was sleeping on the couch with mom, and I was praying he wouldn't wake up and start hunting the poor green thing. Well, he didn't, the little green thing was safe for the night.

It was a beautiful little green creature, too. Looked like a leaf, a very bright shade of green, something like this:




Anyways.

This afternoon, I found it on my living room's window, sitting there just looking outside. I even think I heard it saying how unhappy it was being inside and not outside where it belonged.

What would you do, Reader? Exactly. I took it very carefully, and threw it outside the window. It flew away so happily! Then it landed on the grass, where I kinda lost it, since it was the exact same color of the grass.

It took two seconds. TWO. The green thing landed on the grass, one, two, the bird arrived. I thought, no, it's not gonna happen. In fact the bird just stood there for a while, and I thought, hmm, it's tired from flying around, it's resting.

But no, the bird grabbed the grasshopper with absolutely no ceremony, and just flew away.


***

Moral of the story: A being outside its natural world is not necessarily lost, it might well be just hiding from the monsters.

Moral of the story 2: Do not interfere with other beings' lives, or in other words, mind your own damn business.

Moral of the story 3: If a fairy flies into your house, offer her a glass of wine, something to eat, and make her stay. You wouldn't want to kill a fairy.

December 30, 2007

In 2008...



I wish you don't stop so early in life, for every age brings pleasure and fear. And with those who make huge mistakes, a lot of them, I wish you can be tolerant. And when you're unhappy, I wish it lasts just one day and not one whole year. And I wish you find out that laughing is great, but laughing at everything is despair.

I wish you have someone to love, and when you're fairly tired there is still love left to start all over again.

I wish you have a lot of friends but that you can trust at least one of them. And that you even have enemies, so you won't stop disbelieving. And when you're unhappy, I wish it lasts just one day and not one whole year. And I wish you find out that laughing is great, but laughing at everything is despair.

I wish you have someone to love, and when you're fairly tired there is still love left to start all over again.

I wish you make good money, for one's gotta make a living as well. And that you're able to tell it at least oncewho owns who.

I wish you have someone to love, and when you're fairly tired there is still love left to start all over again.


(Love to Start Over - Amor pra recomeçar - Frejat - a free translation by Dekka)

December 26, 2007

Testing 115%

Testing 115% Testing 115% Testing 115% Testing 115% Testing 115% Testing 115% Testing 115% Testing 115% Testing 115% Testing 115% Testing 115% Testing 115% Testing 115% Testing 115% Testing 115% Testing 115% Testing 115% Testing 115% Testing 115% Testing 115% Testing 115% Testing 115% Testing 115% Testing 115% Testing 115% Testing 115% Testing 115% Testing 115% Testing 115% Testing 115%

December 17, 2007

A Prayer for Harold

Ok, Dekkafans, Harold and I need your help (and your guardian angels' too).

Say a prayer for Our Lady of the Laptops! Gyro Gearloose has just informed Harold breathes. Yes, Dekkafans, Harold has booted up :D !!!!!!!

We will now see if Harold still recognizes family members, starting with the HD.

Life plan

- Quit smoking (I’ve heard Chantix does wonders, or almost gets there);
- Work out;
- Have breakfast (preferably made by him and brought to me in bed) every day;
- Get up early (that is, between 8 and 8:30) every day – except for Sundays – and walk Benji;
- Be more productive, both work- and life-wise;
- Read more;
- Write more;
- Sunbathe more frequently (after all this is a tropical country, people!);
- Care a bit more for my looks (this category includes regular mani-pedi and waxing rituals, in addition to wearing some makeup – eyeliner and lipstick –, and using moisturizers every day, as well as resuming L'Oréal’s facial treatment);
- Save some money, so as to spend it all later, obviously;
- Learn more new things.

Amen.

(this post is open to updates)

December 16, 2007

Benji's cologne

Benji has a weird habit.

Every time I let the little creature out to the jungle, he will find something stinky on the ground. Not poop, not pee. But some little animal corpse, some fetid bug, anything really really stinky. You're thinking that's all, hun? Asking yourself "so what?"

So he will RUB HIMSELF on the stinky thingy. He will ROLL OVER the stinky thingy until he's as fetid as his target. As if that was not enough, HE WILL BE HAPPY!

What the hell, people?

December 13, 2007

And so Harold dies



Unless Super-Martin, our local Gyro Gearloose, manages to fix it tomorrow, Harold is most probably dead.
Sad. Sad, people. S-A-D.

Oh, well, but let's look at the bright side of things: now i'll HAVE to buy me a new toy... A MUCH BETTER toy too :D

And so i'm back online. Sit tight!

December 10, 2007

Harold in a Coma

Mental Note: Do NOT drink Coke closer than 1,000 feet from Harold.

(8:20PM - GMT -3:00) UPDATE: Surgery still ongoing. We cannot monitor vitals right now, for safety reasons, but apparently heart, lungs and brain are OK. All parts disassembled, practically all of them free from the disease after deep asepsis work. We will be starting the resuscitation process in a few minutes.













(picture of the first hour of surgery)

Warming up the tamborins

And so it happened that time passed. During all this time, almost every single day i would tell myself I should go back to writing. That I needed to. But the spark lacked, I even believed nothing was going on worth of a post. But hey, I was looking for it the wrong way, in the wrong place. Seems I have found the thread again.

During all this time:

- I moved to another house, another town. Went far away. I enjoyed every moment, I learned what it is to have a house to take care of, and alone (with mother-Dirce giving me a hand, of course!).
- I felt huge saudades. Of so many things! Of mom, brother, grandma, grandma’s cooking, of grandma’s house’s scent. But then I found out my house has my scent and only mine, and now if I spend more than one day away from my house, I miss it too. I also missed the nestle, but I learned how to make my own, on my own. I missed all my friends, all of them so far away.
- I gained Benji-mommy’s-cute-thingy:





















- I bought my car, Clovis.
- Replaced my desktop for a laptop, Harold (who’s recently made a new best friend, XPTO, a wireless access point).
- I’ve worked a lot.
- I lived a breathtaking, thought-hindering e-love, but it is over, like a can of doce de leite, which you will eat it all, knowing you’ll get fat, but you won’t regret a single moment.
- I’ve engaged in a new love, still far away, but it seems to be going somewhere.
- I came back to Itap City, São Paulo. Once again close to mom, but in my little house, a dollhouse as my uncle says.
- I started a new job, left it three months later.
- I started believing in Oficina do Texto once again.
- Met old friends, made new ones.
- Learned many, infinite new things. Especially about me. I’m great!

And there might be a bunch of things I’m forgetting right now.

It’s a mental avalanche now that I’m writing again. Be patient, forgive the nonsense here and there, enjoy this regress with me! There is a lot more to come ;-)