I come from a land without trains

• 2011-10-09

  “Vögelchen” by Stephan.  If I hold it in my hands like this I can feel its stone heart beating. Never knew alabaster could be so soothing.

• 2011-04-04

  Testing my Braun Nizo S560, using an Ektachrome 100D film.

• 2011-04-03

  

  a leaving feeling.

• 2011-03-27

  

  the artist’s working place or a little taster of what we’ve been up to recently

• 2011-03-24

  

  Spring arrived when she stopped walking

• 2011-03-23

  

  waking up in Paris

• 2011-03-22

  

  à espera

• 2011-03-21

  Primavera

  “a face breve

  enuncia o esplendor”

  J. Tolentino Mendonça

• 2011-02-27

  How silly I am! – by Deolinda

   This song (by the Portuguese group Deolinda) has recently been considered by the media as an intervention song, portraying the current struggling generation of qualified unemployed young people.

  On the 12^th of March young people – unemployed or working under precarious conditions – are taking to the streets in a protest entitled “the Struggling Generation” (Geração à Rasca) in Lisbon and Porto. Almost 30 000 people are already expected to attend.

  This is a (rather rushed) translation of the song by Deolinda:

  “I am from the generation without remuneration / And this condition does not even bother me…How silly I am!

  Because things are bad and it’s going to continue like that / I am lucky that I can do an internship! / How silly I am!

  And I am left thinking / What a silly world where to be a slave you need to study!

  I am from the generation “parents’ little house” / If I have everything already, why want more? / How silly I am!

  Children, husbands, I am always delaying / And I still need to pay for my car/ How silly I am!

  And I am left thinking / What a silly world where to be a slave you have to study

  I am from the generation “why complain?” /There’s someone a lot worse of than me on television! /How silly I am!

  I am from the generation “I can’t take it anymore” / This situation has been going on for too long! /And silly I am not!

  And I am left thinking / What a silly world, where to be slave you need to study / What a silly world, where to be slave you need to study”

• 2011-02-24

  In the park

  1. Little boy suddenly grabbing my legs: What are you doing??
  2. Me: Mm...I am filming with a very old camera!
  3. Little boy: Why?
  4. Me: Because I wanted to try it out to see if it still works!
  5. Little boy: Why?
  6. Me: Well, because I like filming people having fun in the park...
  7. Little boy: That's my scooter!
  8. Me: Wow! Can I film you riding your scooter?
  9. Little boy: Yeah!
  10. Little boy gets on his scooter and starts riding: What are you doing??
  11. Me: Filming you on your scooter!
  12. Little boy: Why?

• 2011-02-22

  I go back to Fernando Pessoa every time I look for the comfort of words read many times. I know their breath, I know exactly how they’ll feel and the taste they’ll leave in my mouth after reading them. I go back to them and I’m at home again after school, standing in the kitchen of my childhood, watching my mother while she makes dinner.

  To see the fields and the river

  It isn’t enough to open the window.

  To see the trees and the flowers

  It isn’t enough not to be blind.

  It is also necessary to have no philosophy.

  With philosophy there are no trees, just ideas.

  There is only each one of us, like a cave.

  There is only a shut window, and the whole world outside,

  And a dream of what could be seen if the window were opened,

  Which is never what is seen when the window is opened.

  
  Alberto Caeiro, one of the many personas by F. Pessoa

  (English translation by R. Zenith)
  

• 2011-02-20

  

  I come from a land without trains.

  photo by R.

• 2011-02-17

  I’ve decided to do something about the evident loss of my German language skills and enrolled in a course last week.

  I happily sit down to my first Hausaufgaben:

  1. Welche Pläne sollte man im Leben unbedingt verwirklichen? Which plans should one definitely achieve in life?

  2. Wie alt fühlen Sie sich? How old do you feel like?

  3. In welchem Alter fühlt man sich am attraktivsten? Which age does one feel most attractive at?

  5. Was was Ihr glücklichster Moment? What was your happiest moment?

  6. Gibt es ein Leben nach dem Tod? Is there life after death?

  Is this how they replace the good old classics nowadays? Can I write about my last holidays in the sun or my favourite hobbies instead?

  
  

• 2011-02-14

  Museum of broken relationships

  I just came across this peculiar museum and its donated collection of reminders-of-a-broken-relationship.

  Maybe not very Valentine’s Day appropriate, but definitely worth a visit.

• 2011-02-09

  Bookcase

  I bought a new bookcase yesterday. An ikea one, in fact. This means I spent the night screwing and putting pieces of cheap wooden boards together, as in a puzzle. I finally got it up today and spent a few hours selecting the books that would transit from the old bookcase to the new one.

  I also copied my sister’s brilliant idea of having a shelve of books to read, the very first  counting from the top of the bookcase. I find it a lot easier to have the books not yet read all together in one shelve instead of having to look for them amongst the books already read.

  The goal is to try to have this shelve as a transitory address for the books to read. In order to achieve this goal, I’ve established a few (two) main rules:

  1. Books should not stay in this shelve longer than a few months (I might need to be a bit more specific with this one);

  2. I am only allowed to get (buy or borrow) more books if I keep the flow in the shelve of books to read going. This means, a new acquisition is only possible after finishing reading a book not yet read and transferring it to the books already read shelves.

  Note: First book to be taken out of the books to read shelve: Doce cuentos peregrinos (English title: Strange Pilgrims) by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. A vacant place for another book to read opening soon. Applications are welcome.