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September 28, 2006
I realized Mother's Day was just two days
away, so I went into the florist and said, "I'd
like to send my mother a dozen long-stern red
roses." The guy looked at me and said, "My mother's
dead" I thought this was slightly unprofessional
of him, so I said, "How much would that be?"
--The Florist
Justine called on Christmas Day to say she
was thinking of killing herself. I said "We're
in the middle of opening presents, Justine. Could
you possibly call back later, that is, if you're
still alive?"
-- Making the Best of the Holidays
From "Return to the City of White Donkeys" by James Tate, a curious little book I've been reading at a slow pace, one poem every night before going to sleep.
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September 26, 2006
Luz de Luna
Lune by Bruno Peinado, an installation for Luzboa - the Lisboa's Art of Light International Biennale.
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September 25, 2006
I was reading on Spiked how ballet is slowly dying in the UK because of political correctness and general mass hysteria about child molesting:
"One problem is the virtual ban on teachers touching students. Child protection policies now mean that male tutors touching female dancers is ‘virtually prohibited’; students need a letter from parents in order to permit limited touching in certain circumstances; and classes must be observed ‘to make sure that there’s no indiscretion"
And suddenly all the corrective pushes & turns & smacks in the bottom I got from the now director of the Portuguese National Ballet Company Ana Caldas ("Have you ever seen a ballerina with her tush sticking out?!?!?!") when I was younger came back to my memory. I wonder if I can still sue? :D
(this was all a lame excuse to go dig for my old ballet shoes and take a photo, of course)
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September 21, 2006
"The astonishing reality of things
Is my discovery every day.
Each thing is what it is,
And it’s hard to explain to someone how much this makes me happy,
How much it’s enough for me.
It’s enough to exist to be whole."
From "Poemas Inconjuntos" by Alberto Caeiro (one of Pessoa's heteronyms), taken from a wonderful online project at the Portuguese National Library
(translation stolen from this wonderful blog which owes its existence to the fact that Pessoa's writings are now in the public domain)
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September 20, 2006
Peristil
Peristil at Diocletian's Palace, Split, Croacia
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September 19, 2006
My grandmother moved and I realized that I am not as attached to the home where I spent so much of my childhood as I am to worthless, random objects with which I used to play. Old eyeglasses of every shape; a 60's record player and a ventriloquist's 45 rpm in which he engages on a dialogue with Donald Duck (how silly is it to listen to a puppet on a record?); old necklaces, some made of coffee beans and plastic beads; colourful buttons which I used to pick up on the streets (what happened? are clothes more resistant today and no one loses buttons anymore?); my grandfather's diaries and notebooks where he obsessively scribbled words and their definitions.
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September 18, 2006
Metaposting
I was resisting temptation....
On the hydrofoil from Split to Hvar - after attempting to translate a sign in croatian, dictionary in hand:
The American: So, is "HIJK" the croatian for row?
The Portuguese:...no, it's H-I-J-K for identifying the seats.....
(laughter)
The American: Oh no! You're going to blog this aren't you?
The Portuguese: Maybe not.
The American: I can foresee the post on your blog: the american said... and then the portuguese said...
If it's any excuse, croatians do use a lot of silent j's in words :D
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September 13, 2006
El Bosco
The Mimara Museum in Zagreb, Croatia has a painting by Bosch which seems to be either a cropped replica or study for the central panel of the triptych held at the MNAA in Lisbon, Portugal: "The temptations of St. Anthony". I had never heard of it before and never saw it mentioned here, where this Bosch painting is one of the most emblematic paintings of our museum.
Mimara Museum, Zagreb
MNAA, Lisbon
The Mimara version looks like a fake to me :)
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September 10, 2006
"There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness is the true method."
--Chapter lxxxii, Moby Dick (Melville)
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September 06, 2006
me, me, me
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Playing with this fun, fun, fun face transformer thingie (through fellow flickrite Striatic)
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My hotel in Zagreb featured a quirky decoration: pillows, bed covers and curtains all had an interesting pattern of faces of famous/genial people in arts & science.
I particularly like the set on this pillow:
Clockwise: Matisse, Einstein, Stravinski, Manu Chao. Yes. Manu Chao. Croatian humor?
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September 05, 2006
Hadn't studied enough croatian grammar and already was getting suspicious about the large number of streets that seemed to be named after women. Until I saw this.
Zagreb, Croatia
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September 04, 2006
Library Thing
Having fun lately with Library Thing: "LibraryThing is an online service to help people catalog their books easily. You can access your catalog from anywhere—even on your mobile phone. Because everyone catalogs together, LibraryThing also connects people with the same books, comes up with suggestions for what to read next, and so forth."
Author cloud
That's what I call a social network! Just added the few books on my tiny bookshelf and some others piling around. I miss my stored-in-the-basement-of-a-friend books. Now I'm starting my own online library. Great!
(found it through misteraitch whose blog is such a source of many delights - which lately includes a post with my favourite Xul Solar painting and a mention to Javier Marías - the cause of my sunday El País newspaper obsession.
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September 01, 2006
Hrvatska
Hvar, Croatia
+++++
Beautiful and - now- peaceful country. Didn't find a place to eat where I can truly say I had a great meal, though. The Croatian people I met were not even slightly customer-oriented and I got the "Oh no, here comes a tourist" facial expression in almost every bar/cafe/restaurant I went to.
Rent-a-Car in Split:
C: There's a road map in the car, right?
Employee: Road Map? There's only one road from here to Dubrovnik! What do you need a map for? The sea will be on your right all the way down there, you can't miss it.
C:....
At a bar:
After finally getting the attention of the waitress behind the counter - who was writing something that seemed to be as lengthy as War and Peace :
- A beer and a bottle of water, please.
- We don't have bottled water.
And promptly gets back to her unfisnished masterpiece oblivious of my existence.
-....can I have a glass of tap water then?
(pause)
- Ok (shrugging shoulders)
And I could swear she rolled her eyes as I got back to the terrace.
Very strange, considering 40% of their GDP comes from tourism.
+++++
Dubrovnik, Croatia
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