I did it!! I FINALLY finished it!!

I finally finished The name of the rose by Umberto Eco!! Bid deal, right? Well... it is! It's the longest book I've ever read, and I don't mean long as in many pages, I've read longer... but the plot just takes forever to reveal!! I started it in February and just finished it this weekend. I suppose it's a great book for Filosophy and Theology lovers, and I could deffinitely hear, waaaay back in my head, my professor from Senior year in High School mentioning and explaining a whole lot about this book. In those days I had decided that Filosophy wasn't one of the "important" classes and I pretty much ignored it and studied enough for exams... now I kind of regreat not even trying to follow that class.

Anyway, you might think I'm crazy posting about being happy for finishing a book, but I think I'm one of the only people I know who has actually finished it! How about you? Did you even try?? What did you think: masterpiece or stuck-up, presumptuous literature?


Photo from here.

Anette is leaving

She carries a lot of suitcases

but all of them are empty

because she's expecting to completely fill them

with life by the end of this trip

and then she'll come home and sort everything out

and do it all again

- Story people

I saw the photo above with it's text and all and I thought it was perfect to farewell Anette, who's just about to get on a plane and fly off to the land of the Big Ben to fulfill her dream of getting out there and see what happens, and travel, and have the time of her life!

Anette, we're terribly happy for you!! You shall be missed, though, so you'd better send many many many photos from London!!



Photo and text from mainemomma2007

On the other side of the globe

There's this amazing photographic presetation at the Aliance Française of Buenos Aires going on these days, organised to celebrate Médecins du Monde's 10 years in Argentina with photos by some really good photographers depicting life in some of the harshest places in our planet.

And the serie that caught my eye is "Crisis in Congo" by Andrew McConnell. The photos are unbelievable, the kind that just take your breath away as they open a huge question mark or unleash a turmoil of thoughts in your head. The first thing I thought when I saw the first picture was: "Gosh, there's someone sleeping in those huts tonight". I know it's silly, but it's not a thought that occurs to you when you go about doing your regular stuff. It caught me by surprise as I was going to my French classes. And it made me think of the times when I wanted to work with refugees and the UN in my teen years...

There's a whole world out there, and sometimes I feel like we're completely disconnected from it, from them. And I know there's a lot of people in need right here too, but when you read about the millions of people that are being pushed out of their land into refugee camps due to the political interests of a few... it just makes you think, and not be comfortably seated in a cubicle any more.



To see more mindblowing photos by Andrew McConnell click here.

C'est ça que j'adore

Since I was a little girl I have always secretly wanted a dress like this, with a full skirt to bounce around me everytime I danced, or walked or twirled. Besides, I dare you to walk down the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, and look at yourself in one of the mirrors and not pretend that you have one!

Do you think this Dior gown is too much for a wedding?? I love it!! Oh! And in case the model's face looks kind of familiar to you but you can't quite place her... it's Emily Blunt: Emily from The Devil wears Prada!



Gorgeous Dior gown photographed by Michael Roberts for Vanity Fair (via Tweexcore)

Beautiful strangers

I  thought about posting about Slumdog Millionaire when I watched the movie, and for some reason it was left as a draft in my "to publish" posts and now it became relevant again with Rubiana Ali's (the girl in picture #3) sad news that have been floodding the media. It is so painful to think that a father would (have to) sell a daughter to support the rest of the family... and it's so ironic that an actress who took part in a movie that exposes how hard life can be in the slums of India has to go through this. I suppose I can't really judge this with an occidental point of view, but still, it's just too sad.

I totally recomend the movie, though bare in mind that there are some harsh realities exposed very matter-of-factly, but the people, the places and the colors of India are so beautifully portrayed.



Credits: Photo #1; Photo #2; Photo #3; Photo #4; Photo #5.

Petit mental schock at the cubicle...

Sorry for the absence yesterday... but I'm just now recovering from a petit mental shock that occuered yesterday morning as I checked my e-mail.

I was sitting at the office minding boring, mundane, cubicule stuff business, when I opened an invitation to a friend's wedding in the campagne française in August!!

I wanna goooooo!! I wanna go!!!!! After a turmoil of emotions ranging from utter happiness, dispair, anger at stupid responsibilities, and ambivalencies between being aboslutely certain that I can go and then thinking there's no possible way that I could, I've finally decided to spend my time in a more productive way by scheming ways to convince "the suits" that I deserve a little extra days of vacacion or payless days, and that I can actually do all my work on a laptop from France for a few days... Ah! La vie est très compliquèe!!

And now excuse me while I go and give myself a huge overdose of Paris, je t'aime, merci.

Vallée de la Bouzanne, Château de Chabenet photo by Phil'Ours

The ladder of success

When you walk up the ladder of success,

don't let the boys look up your dress.

A childhood friend of mine wrote this in my sign book (the 1996 paper version of Facebook) and I it's the first thing that came to mind when I saw this pic. This, and a little undercover promotion that has me extatic, anxious and happy all at once :)



Photo from Anna-Lee, via Audrey Hepburn Complex, via Sabino

Fiona la Mona is back!

For the "fans": Fiona la Mona is back! My sister and cousin are having a great home fair, recieving everyone with a tea party and lovely accessories. If you're interested just let me know and I'll mail you the address. Doors open at 1pm and they'll stay open until 9pm!

I've seen a preview and there are lovely finds along with great handmade stuff.

Hope to see you there!

Ideas of romantic love

Ever wonder how we get some ideas in our head sometimes?? Hmmm... love in the times when there was no e-mail, no sms nor instant messaging...

I know the most feminist readers of this blog will gag when listening to some parts of the lyrics, but you've got to admit this whole scene is lovely!! It's so beautifuly coreographed and it almost makes you wanna be sixteen again, sneaking out of the house and kissing your guy under the rain.

I must have watched this movie a gazillion times and still stop to watch whenever it's on on TV. It's weird, once I even watched it in Portuguese because I couldn't figure out how to turn the SAP off from the TV set!!


"Sixteen going on seventeen" clip from The Sound of Music found via Pop and Pretentious

Happy Easter!!

Hope you all have a great Easter and that you get to spend it with your families and loved ones!!

xoxo

Bowl of knitted eggs by Little cotton rabbits

U r nt tht trndy

Speaking of "the new generation" and computers and such... this is a cute little reminder of how there's nothing new under the sun. Enjoy :)

Found at Miss at la playa

Happy birthday S!!

I'm totally jaded of hearing "grown-ups" (yes, I still refuse to be one) complain about "this generation" and how we say we're so connected but we're really more disconnected than ever. This concept, or rather this way of thinking, can only come from someone who's absolutely diconnected from everything and everyone and can't quite grasp the whole 21st century concept, in my opinion.

Yesterday was S's birthday, and Anette and I went to her house for a little celebration. Miss Pez has flown back to the UK this weekend and couldn't be here, in the traditional sort of way, but she actually was! Thanks to Skype and a web cam she could even see as S opened her gift and everything in real time!! I'm constantly mesmerised by things like this, you know... when you take a step back and see things from the outside looking in... it's amazing how one of us could take part in it all sitting in a living room in London while we chatted away at the mike on S's dining room in Buenos Aires. And perhaps as you're reading this you're thinking "Well... duh! that's internet for ya!", but maybe, just maybe, you're like me, being amazed by the littlest things in life.

Note: believe it or not this is a picture of a real cake made by Louise from CakeJournal!! Isn't it amazing?? (via Audrey Hepburn Complex).

History in the making

Last week an Argentine ex-president passed away. I wasn't really planning to go to the ceremony that held place along the streets of Buenos Aires basicaly because I didn't feel a very strong connection with him, I mean, I know he was the first democratically elected President in a very long time, and that's a huge thing, but appart from that... I dunno, I'm not taking sides on something that happened when I was a one-year-old, besides the fact that I'm absolutely grateful I lived all my life in democracy.

That being said, I wound up unvoluntarily in the middle of the whole thing on my way to S's house and by fortune I had my camera with me! So you get a little glimpse of the throngs of people gathering up to see the Army escort go by. It was really thrilling to take part of it, even though I did it in my own way: seeing people's faces, reading the flags and banners and looking up at the poeple looking down on us from their valconies.

It was literaly like seeing history in the making, and I loved it.


All photos by me.