Sad 2018

Well, well, well I have no idea whether this is my first blog post this year as I sometimes pre program posting things here. However, this is the first time I type a post with my smartphone horizontally and I am literally typing using my both thumbs. To make it even more especial, I am typing by with sore joints as I have not mastered yet on the art of thumbing posting. Vacation has been meh suck apart from gaining weight ( kuddos to Ms.Laila as I have been way too below my expected weight, not like that youtuber Cooney, but my shoulder blades were too sharp). Another good thing is that I have been reading, letting my hair grow, and unboxing. I am about to turn 42 and that is satisfying though as I am a sober vegan and that has made me look even younger than my baby sis ( we have a 10-year gap). I love blogging and I do wish to blog more often this year which I do not want to grow huge expectation as just before new year's, I have received a fifth job proposal. Can I cope with 5 jobs? Did I tell you that I am a rotarian now? YAY to fight against Polio. 2018 was not even a thing and I am already packed with ideas. LIFE IS CRAZY and Laila is the lifest of all. I must have that written down on a Tee. Today we have gotten a new washing machine. This is worst sign for a new year.  Peace y'all.

Vegan Christmas Feast is this...

Wording Tuesday

scaf·fold·ing

ˈskafəldiNG/

noun

a temporary structure on the outside of a building, made usually of wooden planks and metal poles, used by workers while building, repairing, or cleaning the building.

the materials used in scaffolding.

December has arrived... So many new ideas for 2018...

1. Come to class and pay attention. This one should be a no-brainer. If you must miss class, e-mail your professor in advance and explain your situation. And when you’re in class, be visibly attentive; let your professor know you’re in the room.
2. Learn to balance your studies and your job. Your job is not an end in itself but a means for you to go to university. To confuse those priorities is to defeat the very purpose of being here.
3. Be prepared in advance for all of your assignments. This is called “studying.” Get used to doing it;  it will be your primary activity for the next four years.
4. Read sitting up (not in bed), with a pencil to mark up the text. A clean text is an unread one. And whenever the professor reads a passage out loud, mark it if you haven’t done so already. It may be on the next test.
5. Find a quiet, regular place to study. This is your special sanctum, for that purpose only. Don’t eat, listen to music, or entertain your friends there.
6. Study in sessions of no more than an hour, then take a break. Three sessions of fifty minutes each week is better than three hours at one sitting. A general rule is two hours of study time for each hour of class.
7. Finish your papers several days early so you’ll have time to revise them. Go to the Writing Center if you need help.  Read your paper out loud to a friend; you‘ll be surprised how many mistakes you catch.
8. Know your professors’ office hours and take advantage of them. Talk to these people. They have an interest in helping you succeed--and get lonely during their office hours if no one comes.
9. Go regularly to the library; knowledge is in books, not on Wikipedia. Consider your college education a bibliography for the rest of your life.
10. Find an appropriate social outlet. The best students are well-rounded. A social outlet is not, however, a wild night on the town.  Join campus organizations or watch free on-campus movies.  Check the school newspaper for events happening both on campus and in the community.
11. Begin studying for an exam a week early. And learn proper test-taking skills, e.g.: write identifications in complete sentences; make sure your essays have thesis and topic sentences; if you have a choice of topics, choose the one(s) that will show the breadth (not just depth) of your knowledge; and proofread your exam papers before submitting them.

12. Enjoy yourself.  This should be, literally, the time of your life.

Heute bin ich wirklich.

Was ist wirklich?

Die Geschichte vom Holzpferd

„Das Holzpferd“, so heißt es, „lebte länger in dem Kinderzimmer als irgend jemand sonst. Es war so alt, dass sein brauner Stoffbezug ganz abgeschabt war und eine ganze Reihe Löcher zeigte. Die meisten seiner Schwanzhaare hatte man herausgezogen, um Perlschnüre auf sie aufzuziehen. Es war in Ehren alt geworden…

„Was ist wirklich“, fragte eines Tages der Stoffhase, als sie Seite an Seite in der Nähe des Laufställchens lagen, noch bevor das Mädchen hereingekommen war, um aufzuräumen. „Bedeutet es Dinge in sich zu haben, die summen und mit einem Griff ausgestattet zu sein?“ „ Wirklich“, antwortete das Holzpferd, „ ist nicht, wie man gemacht ist. Es ist etwas, was an einem geschieht. Wenn ein Kind dich liebt für eine lange, lange Zeit, nicht nur, um mit dir zu spielen, sonder dich wirklich liebt, dann wirst du wirklich.“

„Tut es weh?“, fragte der Hase.
„Manchmal“, antwortete das Holzpferd, denn es sagte immer die Wahrheit. „Wenn du wirklich bist, dann hast du nichts dagegen, dass es weh tut.“

„Geschieht es auf einmal, so wie wenn man aufgezogen wird“, fragte der Stoffhase wieder, „oder nach und nach?“

„Es geschieht nicht auf einmal“, sagte das Holzpferd. „Du wirst. Es dauert lange. Das ist der Grund, warum es nicht oft an denen geschieht, die leicht brechen oder die scharfe Kanten haben oder die schön gehalten werden müssen. Im allgemeinen sind zur Zeit, da du wirklich sein wirst, die meisten Haare verschwunden, deine Augen ausgefallen; du bist wackelig in den Gelenken und sehr hässlich. Aber diese Dinge sind überhaupt nicht wichtig; denn wenn du wirklich bist, kannst du nicht hässlich sein, ausgenommen in den Augen von Leuten, die überhaupt keine Ahnung haben.“

„Ich glaube, du bist wirklich“, meinte der Stoffhase. Und dann wünschte er, er hätte es nicht gesagt – das Holzpferd könnte empfindlich sein. Aber das Holzpferd lächelte nur.

Aus dem Kinderbuch: “The Velveteen Rabbit“, M. Williams, New York

Following through

This is a good time to take the initiative and start a new project. It will go very well, because you will have the insight as well as the energy to follow it through to the conclusion. During this time you will be most strongly motivated toward tasks that bring credit to you and express you as an individual. Greater self-confidence usually accompanies this influence, so if you have to present a project to someone, you will be able to do it much more effectively. Everything you do now will give you greater self-assurance and the extra drive and confidence that you will need in the future, when things may not run as smoothly. Probably the worst way to handle this influence is to do nothing, for you will lose an opportunity to prove your own worth to yourself.

13th or 14th blogiversary😎

2001-2002
It all started as a place to post my US college papers and whatever came about in the English language to keep up my writing skills. Back in 2000s, little did I know about paid webblogs. I was not familiar with the idea of sharing credit card info on the website just to maintain a virtual diary. Back in those days there were no laptops at home. I had no home per se. Hubby and I lived in the back of a language school and blogging was too strange for me. I had MySpace though and an Orkut profile. Messaging through MSN was  the most natural and the coolest thing to do at that moment.

2003-2005
George Orwell, Leszek Kolakowski, Voltaire, Baruch Spinoza, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, George Eliot, Leon Trotsky, Rosa Luxemburg, John Stuart Mill, Joseph Heller, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, Noam Chomsky, Gore Vidal, Edward Said, Salman Rushdie, Vladimir Nabokov, Richard Llewellyn, Aldous Huxley, PG Wodehouse, Evelyn Waugh, Richard Hofstadter, Paul Mark Scott, James Joyce, Albert Camus, Oscar Wilde, Conor Cruise O'Brien, Martin Amis, Kingsley Amis, James Fenton, Jessica Mitford, Ian McEwan, Colm Tóibín, Bertrand Russell, Wilfred Owen, Israel Shahak, Isaiah Berlin, W. H. Auden, Susan Sontag
Through the influence of thinkers, emotional turmoils, and a strong desire to get a poetry book published , I started writing like a freak. I'd carry notepads and pens everywhere I went. I got two or three digital cameras, got laptops and stablishing this blog seemed the only way out for depression, overwhelmed thoughts, and body pain. We were still living in the back of the school, but at least I had cable TV. It is a crazy thought looking back and knowing that we survived weekends and holidays without Netflix or YouTubers. Yeah. True. Youtube was a real then, but YouTube users had not figure out their potential to turn their pages into channels, with shows, edited, with promos, sponsors, and fans. If I only knew...

2007-2012

We bought our condo. We quit drinking, eating red and white meat. Years later we would become vegan and libertarian. WiFi was playing a major role in our lives. Wireless printers, wireless everything. Smartphones and  tablets were the cherry on top of these years. We traveled abrod three times, another unlikely thing that happened. We were in the midst of heaven surrounded by demons. Evil took over my unconscious and I truly believed I was insane. This blogspot was my safety harbor, my lighthouse, my anchor, whatever metaphor related to sailors... I was lost in tormented deep sea waters with lightings and stormy skies. I went after professional help: psychologists, numerologists, astrologists, psychiatrists, religion... Where, where? College. I started taking psychology and had we not had national financial crisis, I could've graduated. Love learning all about deep issues on human brains and their consequences and built-up mental disorders.

2013 - 2017

5 semesters have passed and I became a college drop-out, neither a proud nor a shameful one, however dropping out of college was a reasonable decision to make. After getting married in Vegas and taking students to train English in Dublin and in Florida, we began taking baby steps to the end of the rope. Crisis, unnemployment,  high crime rates, lack of hope, and so many negativity took over Brazilians and the only thing left to do was to shut down our school and make a 180° degree move: going back home was the best solution. We moved back to São  Paulo due to my sister moving and leaving one of our family's business... That would be the end of 20 years of family strength and dedication. On March 3rd 2018 will be 2 years we are back in São Paulo state. I don't wanna seem shallow or infantile or even nonsense, but coming back home was one of the worst and the best restarts in my life. Here, I have being doing more things that I would not have probably done, had I stayed in the south: I founded a magazine, I teach high schoolers and preschoolers as well, here I have gotten pregnant and have miscarriage... I have got a car accident. I have got my own drum kit and bass guitar. I have changed my hair color 19 times in less than two years. I've broken my nose by falling from bed. Hubby has got free diabetis treatment. Unthinkable and unsinkable things have touched us and it is true... almost none of these things are being registered in this blogsphere. I have neglected my blog. I wish I had more time for it.
Happy 13th/14th.

I cross my heart that I will take better care of My Pawnshop.

The 19th Wedding Anniversary

Roberto and I have been together since I was 15 and he was 16. We have lived together, under the same ceiling for 19 years. We are both in our early 40's but we do feel we had met before. We are both Spiritsts which means we are Christians who believe in reincarnation, and that there is a purpose on being on this planet. Life is temporary however our souls never die. I know it may sound strange and even awkward but I cannot convey materialistic views. Humans and animals are inhabitants to live in harmony and bind in kindness and togetherness. It looks us years to fully believe and practice veganism, an alcohol free lifestyle and exercise more. Little actions can turn into enormous actions if they are played with love. I literally love my job, my home, my cats, my family, my writings, music, poetry, and my hubby. Roberto has supported me at all my dark moments. I miscarriage to this year. Among all the crap I had to take in 2017, this was the harshest. We even had a car accident in Santa Catarina state... It didn't beat the miscarriage. I got my set of drums (finally). We are having a real Halloween party at our school (finally again). We have air conditioned our home (that is a plus plus). I am sure I am leaving behind my best accomplishments...but hey, it has been 19 years and 3 UFCS of pure love. Happy Anniversary to us.

Is it the end of it all?

A bit of imagination

I can’t push the knife in

I can’t make the cut

I can’t turn the wheel

I can’t step off the kerb

I can’t take the pills

All I can do is imagine

I picture the knife going in

I imagine the lorry hitting

I see the wall racing towards me

I dream of drifting away

Escaping the  empty days

Not enduring the lonely nights

Not having to deal with this

Or cope with them

Or struggle with that

No more thinking

No more worry

No more envy

No more hating myself

No more anger

But there’s no coming back.

By Sudhakar Patel

October 15th - Brazilian Teachers' Day

PS: happy birthday to you who celebrate birthday on the 15th too.

from some time ago... from a certain job

I get it.

I had a student hurt my feelings last week. Words that cut deep and wounded because there is always an element of truth perceived by the one being sarcastic.

And I’ve been icing my bruises all afternoon.

The school year is winding down, and I’m tired. I know you’re tired, too. Exhaustion is seeping in. We’re wondering if we’re going to end better than we began, or if our students will be dragging our limp bodies across the finish line.

My seniors may have three weeks left, but they checked out a month ago. Some days I wonder why I even bother to have a lesson. I could just assign a reading passage and the questions to answer from the end for the next fifteen school days.

There are teachers out there who do that…

I understand why.

I spend days and weeks begging and pleading, attempting to try anything that might, just might, get my students to read the books I assign.

I craft lessons and talk about stories and show video clips in every attempt to get my teens to think outside of themselves—to see the world and its nuances. Then I spend lunch wiping the tears of the one bullied and outcast.

I stay up to grade essays and comment on ways to improve their writing. Hours spent away from my family only to wonder if it makes any sort of difference when I see those same essays in the trash.

So by this time of year, I’m ready to call it quits. Every year wondering if I can do it again.

I know you understand. I know you feel the same. I know you have nights you wonder why you chose this profession, this teaching, this pouring out of your life into hearts day after day after day.

But really? You didn’t choose teaching.

It chose you.

For me, college was spent denying the very thought of teaching. It was only a far-in-the-background safety net if the writing thing didn’t work out.

The only job I could get right out of college?

Yep. Teaching.

By Christmas that first year I said never again.

I’ve been teaching thirteen of the last seventeen years, and now there’s no other job I’d enjoy more. _{(Unless being a travel writer for Condé Nast was an option…Are they hiring? Tahiti sounds like heaven right now.)}

It is my calling. It is my purpose.

But here’s the thing about calling. God doesn’t call us to the easy. He invites us to the hard. The get-your-hands-dirty difficult. We are not promised perfect just because we are fulfilling our life’s purpose.

Because that kid with the bitter sarcasm? He or she may still need your smile that you might not want to give.

And your class after lunch with 20 big teenage boys and only five girls, all hyped-up with sugar, dyes, and processed foods and IEPs and 504s? They need to know they’re worth the effort even when they themselves show none.

And those children from broken homes with parents who shatter each other with words or fists? They need a quiet heart to stand beside them, even though you know politicians only see their test scores and not their homes.

And those students with apathy so thick you fear they will never feel anything? For anyone? They need to see that transparency breathes a beautiful life. They need to see it in you, even when the see-through heart leaves you an easy target.

Teaching was never about us. If this profession has called your name, you’re only ever in it for the students.

That’s why it hurts so much when they act like they don’t care or when the disrespect slaps us hard across the face, and the sting burns for days.

I know you’re tired. You’re battle weary with wounds seeping and scarring. But they still need you.

They need to see your fight.

Don’t give up, my friend. You can’t. I can’t. The stakes are too high. This calling, this profession, this teaching—it changes the future.

Our students are worth starting new tomorrow. They are worth giving it all we have one more day again and again and again.

Because there are students listening. There are students learning. There are students caring. We must refuse to allow the loud voices of a few to drown out the soft voices of teachable spirits.

Let’s fight together, friends. Let’s end this year better than we began. Let’s cheer each other on tomorrow and the next day and the next until we hear that final bell ring.

This is our calling. These are our students.

They deserve our fight.

Wording Sunday

Word/Expression of the Day:

A slippery slope argument (SSA), in logic, critical thinking, political rhetoric, and caselaw, is a consequentialist logical device in which a party asserts that a relatively small first step leads to a chain of related events culminating in some significant (usually negative) effect.

PS: Every Sunday I will pick an expression or word in any language, and I will help my blog readers break it to you. It is going to bring discipline to my blogging activities and it will for sure add to our vocabulary background. Quoting a controversial documentary I saw many years ago: "It is time to get wise".

The docudrama is entitled:
"What the "bleep" do we know?".

No drive, no ambition... Just the way it should be

Intense feelings

This influence normally indicates a few hours of unusually intense feelings. This morning you will have a strong desire to know yourself and to experience life largely through the emotion.

This is probably not the best time for work that requires a completely clear and dispassionate state of consciousness, but you will not feel like doing that kind of work anyway.

You will want to engage your emotions in whatever you do, and you will experience a richness of feeling and inner life that is satisfying in itself.

This influence is good for any business matters concerning the general public or for any situation in which you have to appear before the public or a large group.

Otherwise it is not an influence that stimulates drive and ambition.

Highly Sensitive

Want to go back to the theater again

Well, well, well

I've played with death way too much this year. 2017 has got to end. To me, it is already over. I've had a few suicidal attempts, I had a miscarriage, and then, a few weeks ago, we had a bad, a very bad car accident up on the hills in the south of Brazil. Our car almost fell off a super high rocky cliff. Seriously, my guard angels are there for me, with no jokes. 

No doubts about it, but wishing to die is not on my list anylonger. As simple as that: the end was too close and I am not in the mood to say that I am scared of dying, because I am not. Never been. Never will. I even have a eulogy already written and published on the my side screen posts here on this blog... However, it is not fair to wish to pass away. I am just way overwhelmed on this messy life of mine, but it has always been messy, so who cares?
Dunno where I belong to. 

Dunno if I am doing a good job in life. I just know that in a country where there are more than 14 Million unemployed, I find myself holding five jobs, and apparently I have to consider that as a blessing. In the world where you pray to die and let the psychological pain disappear, God sends you the chance to go, but you actually stay, that is another kind of signal. Dunno.

I am getting closer to have my poetry book manuscript getting done and I will soon (not so soon) be able to have it for real, that is another signal that things are walking straight and head for the right place, wherever there might be. 

Cheers,
L.C.B.

Mario Quintana's Hotel Room

Gotta love this holiday: Students' Day in Brazil