Just the rain

Pluviophile 

Noun; a lover of rain. 

Someone who finds joy and peace of mind during rainy days. 

It feels like fresh wet grass,

Water ponds like mirrors through the streets,

Wheels splashing everything.

It seems like blurred images through the big window

Through the light grey sky.

It seems like empty chairs at empty tables

Empty tables with empty chairs

Empty coffee houses, empty stores, empty cinemas, bookshops

Empty little streets with no asphalt

 But bricks and Christmas lights from one house to the other.

It sounds like Blue Moon and I'll Be Seeing You, like slow jazz,

 Like sweet Billie Holliday and graceful Norah Jones.

It's like English tea, Sunday mornings, cardigans and glasses

 Like Jo and Laurie, like a good-bye kiss.

Oh, magical lullaby, enchanted part of the day.

It's just like the simple tranquil rain.

The fault in our stars

Hazel Grace Lancaster - "I feel in love the way you fall asleep: slow, and then all at once."

So. Last year, around my best friend's birthday, I asked her what she would like me to get her for a present. She said I could buy her a book she was dying to read, called "The fault in our stars", by John Green. For me, it was something new, buying her a book. Of all the times I have been to a book shop, it was the first time that I actually bought her something from that place. She was the one who always bought presents for me. Anyway, I went to the book shop, bought it, and gave it to her.

Some weeks later, I asked her if the book was really good. She said she hadn't finished it yet because of test weeks. I, as a good determined and loyal reader, wanted to discover myself if the book was good. I purchased it, and practically lived in the story for the next two days. Yes, I can read much faster than my friend.

My body and soul felt everything through those 48 hours of pure John Green: I laughed, I cried, I jumped up with happiness, I was anxious, scared, I had goose bumps, I cried my heart out and fell completely, truly, deeply in love with the story and the characters. In partcular, I fell in love with Hazel Grace Lancaster and got mad with Augustus Waters. Maybe that's why I now compare every guy (or male character) I know to him. It's not my fault, blame John Green.

Then, after we both finished the book, my friend and I discovered there was going to be a movie of it. We went crazy. Seriously.

We searched for every  bit of information about the film, like cast, production, costumes... But I personally wasn't sure if it was going to be good. I mean, most adaptations of young adult books are badly made and are never true to the original novel. I was sure that this one would be just like the others.

Despite my reluctance about the script, I looked forward to the opening night. We bought our tickets the day the movie was released and waited for the big day (which was last Saturday, June 7th).

At the sound of Shailene Woodley's first line, my heart started to beat faster and faster. Yes, it turned out I was wrong about the adaptation. As soon as the room was dark, I realized something good was going to happen.

The three musketeers

Isaac – “But I will say this: When the scientists of the future show up at my house with robot eyes and they tell me to try them on, I will tell the scientists to screw off, because I do not want to see a world without Augustus Waters.”

Hazel, Isaac and Gus. Shailene, Nat and Ansel. The relation between them? The three last ones are the actors who play the three main characters of the story. What's the difference between them? For me, none.

When I read the book, I thought nobody could ever be capable of performing these characters perfectly. But I didn't know these three amazing young actors (who I now idolize), Shailene Woodley, Nat Wolff and Ansel Elgort, existed. And now that I do, I can't imagine anyone better to play such nice characters.

That's probably why I love the scenes where the three are together, or the one scene in which Isaac is alone with Hazel. The chemistry of the three is unbelievable, and being friends behind the cameras helped a lot, I guess, especially for Ansel and Nat, who are besties.

Dramatic, romantic and funny.

Hazel Grace Lancaster – “You're always such a disappointment, Augustus. Couldn't you have at least gotten orange tomatoes?”

Everything I felt while reading the book I felt watching while the movie. And I mean EVERYTHING. The romantic scenes are the cutest, the dramatic are the saddest. But there was something I didn't think the movie would be able to make us do. Laugh. I laughed a lot while reading  the book, and thought that would be lacking on the big screen. It turned out I liked the funny parts in the film better than the written ones. And the way every line is said just makes the actors' performances greater and better.

Real story

All facts in the book make the story believable, true. It didn't really happen, but the way John Green wrote the setting, characters, situation, makes us feel like it could've been real. I mean, the characters aren't perfect, and neither is the story/ ending (actually, the end is far from perfect). It's not about cliché characters, cliché facts. Flaws related to Hazel, Gus and Isaac make them seem real. And I don't mean only their visible flaws, like Gus's mechanical leg and a blind Isaac. Inside too. That's what makes the story so perfect.

Broken Heart

Augustus 'Gus' Waters - "That's the thing about pain. It demands to be felt."

Okay, it’s all John Green’s fault. Really, during the whole book (and movie) it seems like he rips your chest, takes your heart out, stabs it, twists it, smashes it, grinds it and throws the remaining pieces out of the window. It’s scientifically impossible for you to leave the cinema without shedding a single tear. Even if you’re cold hearted, you’ll at least feel your heart squeezing inside of you. It sounds terrible, but it actually feels good, to let your emotions out. Especially when you fall in love.

With a character, a book, or a whole movie.

Or with all of the above.

The power of words

Calvin Weir - Fields - “One may read this and think it's magic, but falling in love is an act of magic, so is writing. It was once said of Catcher In The Rye, "That rare miracle of fiction has again come to pass: a human being has been created out of ink, paper and the imagination." I am no J.D. Salinger, but I have witnessed a rare miracle. Any writer can attest: in the luckiest, happiest state, the words are not coming from you, but through you.” 

- Ruby Sparks, 2012

I believe words have a certain power. I don’t mean bad words or good words, cursing or praising. I mean all the words, words in general.

I think everything descends form words, everything is made of them. And all the things in this world we call ours started with an idea, or a feeling, or an experience. And these ideas, feelings and experiences wouldn’t be distinguished or even known as so, without words to name them.

Historians say the greatest invention, what separates all of our time from pre-history is writing. I must say, I agree with them. There’s not a single invention that does not use writing of any type or size.

Books, for example, are what I believe to be the second greatest invention ever (actually, they are on par with cinema, but anyway…). I guess books (and stories in general can change our lives in a way nothing else does.

To imagine, feel and then realize what’s beyond comparisons, metaphors and metonymies is something only books (or screenplays) can make us do perfectly. That’s why I think we are (I mean, our psychological characteristics) made of words.

And that’s “Ruby Sparks”‘s biggest metaphor/ theme.

Calvin (Paul Dano) is a famous young novelist, out of ideas. He suddenly dreams about a girl, and writes it on paper. The idea becomes interesting for a book and he is so deeply connected and concentrated, that this girl, named Ruby Sparks (Zöe Kazan) becomes real. And it’s not the “in of his crazy mind” real, but real real.

They fall in love, but Calvin starts to change her, by writing it down. When Ruby realizes what he is doing, they fight, and Calvin lets her go.

It’s mainly a story about the amazingly graceful power of words. But we should always remember that too much power, of any kind, is no good. 

The improbable pair of Martin and Phil

Martin Sixsmith – “Shall we go for a walk? Get rid of the jet lag? You said you wanted to visit the Lincoln Memorial.” 

Philomena – “We could go and see Mr. Lincoln or we could watch on television 'Big Momma's House.' It's about a little black man pretending to be a fat black lady. They just showed some of it on the television and they'll all chasing after him. It looked hilarious, Martin!”

- Philomena, 2013

Philomena kept a secret for fifty years. She then revealed it to her daughter, who searched nonstop for someone to help her mother.

Philomena had a child, a boy, Anthony, in 1952. As she lived with the nuns, they obliged her to work and clean the church every single day, for having that child, but, fortunately, she could see him one hour a day. Until those nuns gave him up for adoption.

Phil’s daughter looked for Martin, who was unemployed, depressed and wasn’t looking for anything like Philomena’s story. He didn’t want to write about an old Irish woman with a titanium hip and a lost child. He just wanted to return to BBC. But after going to the church where she  lived , he wanted to help her find her Anthony.

They searched, searched and searched. Martin knew something was wrong, that the nuns were lying. Phil didn’t believe him. She thought their souls were too pure to lie.

Wrong. They were perfectly able to tell the pair that a big fire had destroyed all of the adoption papers and that just the one with her signature, agreeing to all of the nun’s terms, survived in the chaos.

They flew to Washington, saw Mr. Lincoln, had an amazing breakfast, met at least ten one-in-a-million people (or one-in-a-hundred-thousand), discussed about Phil’s reading (“Do you want to read it?” “No, thanks, I feel like I’ve already read this book”) and found out Anthony changed his name to Michael.

Philomena wants to know all about him, but Martin soon discovers he died of Aids eight years earlier. She then gives up everything, and decides to go back home.

But the ex-journalist couldn’t give up on such a story. He continued his search about Michael, and discovers that he had a boyfriend and a really important job at the White House. Philomena, now back in the search for, seems very proud of her little boy, whose last wish was to be buried at the church where his mother lived. It turned out he looked for her, and the nuns said there were no records of Philomena there.

Back in the UK, Martin and Phil return to the church. He explodes of anger when talking to the nun who lied to mother and son. After that, the nun apologizes to Philomena.

Philomena then searches for Michael’s grave, and when she finds it, mother and son are finally reunited.

Apart from the adoption conflict, the movie is a beautiful friendship story, of a middle-aged man and an old lady, each of them of a particular uncommon character. It is a strange pair, you know?

“Well, I didn’t see that coming, not in a million years”

There are improbable pairs everywhere. And there’s the improbable pair of Martin and Phil.

Smile, what's the use of crying?

"Charlie Chaplin - Nothing quite like it. The feeling of film.”  

- Chaplin, 1992

I have written and unwritten this text a thousand times before I posted it. I believe that every time we write about one of our favorite things, the text never seems perfect and all the words in the world never seem to be enough to describe the subject. Since movies are one of my favorite things, you can imagine how difficult it was for me to write the text about “Atonement”, with my favorite actress.

This one was definitely much more difficult. Besides the fact the movie of this text is in my top five and it is with my favorite actor, “Chaplin”, from 1992,  is the biography of one of the most talented, intelligent and influent man of the last century.

If you ask anyone about Charlie Chaplin, you’ll surely hear something about his silent black and white movies, Modern Times, The Great Dictator and his most famous character, the Tramp.

But there’s far more beyond the British actor who became famous in America. Chaplin once said: “If you want to understand me, watch my movies.”

The thing is, it only takes us a few minutes of watching his biography to realize how difficult his childhood was: no money, no father and an ill mother. Nevertheless, we see he lived every second of his life to the fullest, fell in and out of love many times, said what he thought, made the movies the way he wanted  and kept silent and black and white, even though no one else did that anymore until FBI exiled him.

“Life is a play that does not allow testing. So, sing, cry, dance, laugh and live intensely, before the curtain closes and the piece ends with no applause.”

Sadly, Chaplin was only gained recognition with an Oscar in 1972, 20 years after his exile and four years before he died.

For me, his one masterpiece isn’t a movie, but a composition for “Modern Times”, called “Smile”, from 1936.  After all, he always made (and still makes) his public smile, one way or another.

Smile, though your heart is aching 

Smile, even though it's breaking 

When there are clouds in the sky 

You'll get by...  

If you smile 

With your fear and sorrow 

Smile and maybe tomorrow 

You'll see the sun come shining through, for you 

 Light up your face with gladness 

Hide every trace of sadness 

Although a tear may be ever so near 

That's the time you must keep on trying 

Smile, what's the use of crying? 

You'll find that life is still worthwhile 

If you'll just smile 

 That's the time you must keep on trying 

Smile, what's the use of crying? 

You'll find that life is still worthwhile 

If you'll just smile.

Halves of us

“That's the good thing about being halved. One understands the sorrow of every person and thing in the world at its own incompleteness. I was whole and did not understand, and moved about deaf and unfeeling amid the pain and sorrow all round us, in places where as a whole person one would least think to find it. It’s not only me . . . who am a split being, but you and everyone else too. Now I have a fellowship which I did not understand, did not know before, when whole, a fellowship with all the mutilated and incomplete things in the world.” 

- The Cloven Viscount, 1952

I once read a book for school, called “The Cloven Viscount”. It was written by an Italian called Italo Calvino.

In summary, the story is about a young Italian viscount, who just went to the Crusades to get more support and influence where he lived. He is hit by a bomb and is halved into two. Literally. Only the right side is found and gets medical help. It then returns to his town, but didn’t know, that the left side survived too. One part is the extreme opposite of the other: the right one is evilly bad (called originally as Bad), while the left one is so good it’s annoying (Good).Then, Bad and Good fall in love for the same person, Pamela, who agrees to marry both of them. She marries Good, because Bad was late, and the two halves duel, and get severely wounded. Bad and Good are stitched together, and Pamela marries the one viscount.

Must say, I became a little disappointed when the teacher told us the viscount wasn’t physically halved and asked what the author meant by ‘cloven’. For my naive brain, it was crystal clear there were two parts, and two viscounts. How come my teacher said there weren’t? It was just there, written in black ink, Times New Roman and all those white pages.

She then explained everything was a metaphor, that the viscount was only halved on the inside. And the thing is, no one is completely good or completely bad. If we were, we would be so annoying we wouldn’t stand to be in companion of others, especially if we were the extreme of one quality, like Good and Bad were. We all have wickedness and kindness in ourselves, we are all cloven, all good and bad, all divided in parts.

The lesson was learned: I got an A on the test and started to look at the world around me in a completely different way.

"Yes. I saw him. I saw him with my own eyes"

 Older Briony Tallis - “So, my sister and Robbie were never able to have the time together they both so longed for... and deserved. Which ever since I've... ever since I've always felt I prevented. But what sense of hope or satisfaction could a reader derive from an ending like that? So in the book, I wanted to give Robbie and Cecilia what they lost out on in life. I'd like to think this isn't weakness or... evasion... but a final act of kindness.

I gave them their happiness.” 

 – Atonement, 2007

You see, everyone has their favorite artist, someone they’ve got a crush on, that they think is really beautiful, or talented, or both. And so do I. Because of that, I do think I need to watch every.single.movie she is in (yup, this artist is a she), and this time wasn’t different.

The movie was loaded, the popcorn ready. And no tissues at hand, even though my mother advised me the film was sad. I was going to be bold. Yes, I was!

It turned out I needed more than a box of those, some chocolate, and a blanket to stop crying, but all of these are subjects of future texts.

Focusing on the movie and its message, I would like to highlight, how, surprisingly, a childish small emotion can have as a result such a huge, tragic ending. 

There is a story I used to hear when I was little, which was about a young shepherd, who was extremely bored (I would be too, I mean, looking the whole day after sheep doesn’t seem to be something truly exciting). Anyway, he decided to do something to pass away the time: lie.

He then walked to the nearest village, and yelled that there was a wolf attacking his sheep. Everybody ran to the field, and all the sheep were safe, with no other animal around them. Bored again, he walked down the city one more time, saying that now, there was a real wolf. All the villagers ran to the field, and no one was there. People started to get angry and annoyed, but, the next time this young boy ran to the village, something had truly happened: there was a real wolf, really attacking his sheep. By that time, nobody believed him, or saved the sheep, and the boy was alone. He lost his entire herd.

In the story (and in real life), no one believes a liar, even though it is a young liar. But what about an innocent child? A naive rich girl, who had the whole world and no reason to lie?

Well, the answer is yes. Yes, people do believe. Yes, people do believe in what they want to hear, or think they want to hear. People do believe in those who seem to be ‘believable’, who are rich, or white, or beautiful, or just children. Yes, they do.

Yes, they believed in Briony Tallis, a British  13 –year-old girl, jealous of her older half-sister, Cecilia, because they both liked the same guy, Robbie, a servant who worked in their house and loved Cecilia.

As the older Briony would say, the story “is about a young girl who thinks she knows everything, and sees something through her bedroom’s window that she thinks she understands, but she doesn’t”.

Jealous, young Briony accuses Robbie of doing something (which he didn’t), and he goes to jail. Years later, World War II begins, and he chooses to serve Britain instead of staying in prison, and sometime after returns to his country, to meet Cecilia.

The couple didn’t forgive Briony (who regrets what she said, because she was lying), and, after war ends, they both die, separated, in the same year, without saying goodbye to each other.

Briony grows up, and turns into a talented novelist, and, as she discovers she is sick and going to die, she writes the story of her life. Briony puts everything on those pages, every tear, every smile, every ungiven kiss, and every unforgiven apology.

And she writes them the only thing they couldn’t have.

“I love you. I'll wait for you. Come back. Come back to me”.

 Their life together.

Do you wanna build a snowman?

Olaf - "True love is putting someone else before yourself." 

Anna - "Olaf! You’re melting! "

Olaf - "Some people are worth melting for."

- Frozen, 2013 

The Disney’s Animation Picture “Frozen” from the year of 2013 tells the story of two princesses, who need to overcome the distance and mystery between them to save their kingdom.

Elsa and Anna are sisters and princesses of Arendelle. Elsa is the older one, and was born with powers which allow her to make ice and snow. Once, playing together, Elsa accidentally hits Anna in the head with ice, what makes her pass out. From this day on, they are prohibited to see each other, and the sisters become more and more distant as time goes by.

Three years after their parents’ death, Elsa becomes queen of Arendelle, and the same day, Anna falls in love with a prince called Hans. At the night Ball, the couple asks for the queen’s blessing, who refuses to give it saying that Anna can’t marry someone she just met. The sisters start to argue and Elsa freezes the whole kingdom. The people at the ball start to fear her, and she runs away. Anna leaves the castle to find her, and asks Hans to stay and take care of the kingdom.

On the way to Elsa’s new palace, she meets Kristoff, a young man who helps her. They both find Olaf, a snowman, a recreation of one which Elsa and Anna used to play with. They all try to convince the cold queen to return, but she refuses and accidentally hits Anna in the heart. Kristoff takes her to talk to his troll friends, who think they are engaged, but help them to find the cure: an act of true love. Then, he takes her back to the castle, to get kissed by Hans, who just acted he liked Anna to be part of the Arendelle royalty.

At the end, Olaf finds Anna, almost dead, and helps her get warm , while Kristoff returns to the castle to kiss her (they both discover they are in love, thanks to Olaf and Kristoff’s reindeer). Unfortunately, he doesn’t make it, and Anna turns into ice. Elsa, realizing she caused her sister’s end, starts to cry, which is an act of true love, and makes Anna ‘return to life’. Together, they discover how to bring summer back, and Elsa is the queen again and Anna stays with Kristoff, happily and frozenly ever after. 

A duet of two soloists

One soloist: a rich journalist, poor of words. 

Another soloist: a poor homeless, rich of music. 

A duet: two soloists, poor of friendship, rich of talent.

One attends to the title of ‘exceptional journalist’. 

Another doesn’t attend to titles,because he doesn’t have any.

One and Another met at a square in sunny LA. The city was once sunny for One, a long, long time ago. For Another, it is only sunny, when there’s Beethoven for companion and a violin, of course.

Violin gave One an idea, that surprised Another. That idea was Cello.

Cello united One to Another. Cello gave One a text. To Another, better music.

A text and music gave One respect for his work. A text and music gave Another a better home, and classes with Cello.

But respect, home, a text, an instrument, Cello, Violin or Beethoven didn’t give One and Another the best thing they could have.

The best thing they could have was friendship.

And respect, home, a text, an instrument, Cello, Violin or Beethoven didn’t give them any friends.

One gave Another a friend. Another gave One a friend.

If there weren’t Beethoven, there wouldn’t be Violin, and a meeting. If there weren’t Cello, there wouldn’t be a text, and music. If there weren’t this text and music, there wouldn’t be respect and a home.

If there weren’t two soloists, there wouldn’t be a duet.

But, most important, if there wasn’t One, there wouldn’t be Another. 

A British stutter and an Australian friend

Lionel Logue - "You still stammered on the 'W'." 

King George VI - "Well I had to throw in a few so they knew it was me."

- The King's Speech, 2010 

The movie “The King’s Speech”, directed by Tom Hooper from the year of 2010, tells the story of King George VI, Queen Elizabeth’s father, who stutters while speaking.

Prince Albert (the real name of the King, played by Colin Firth) is the younger son of King George V. The family often needs to speak on the radio, and Albert’s stuttering becomes a problem. He meets every good doctor in England, and gives up, believing there’s no cure to his speech issues.

One day, his wife, the Duchess of York (Helena Bonham Carter) gets him an appointment with Doctor Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), an Australian Shakespeare fan. At first, Albert is reluctant to accept Lionel’s methods, but, with time, they become good friends.

When King George V dies, Albert’s brother, David (Guy Pearce), takes over as king, but he soon abdicates the throne to marry an American divorcee, consequently, Albert becomes King George VI.

In September 1939, Britain declares war on Germany, and King George VI needs to make a speech) to the Nation. After preparing and training for it, he finally overcomes his stutter.

This movie was nominated for 12 Academy Awards, among them, Best Motion Picture, Best Actor, Supporting Actress and Supporting Actor.

I personally love this movie, for all the amazing performances (Colin Firth’s stuttering was incredibly realistic) and the actual plot, which is an interesting drama, full of light comedy (most of it made by the talented Geoffrey Rush), about a man, that overcomes his disabilities, for himself, and his country.

Now Boarding to Krakozhia

The movie “The Terminal”, directed by Steven Spielberg from the year of 2004, tells the story of a man, who cannot leave a terminal at the JFK International Airport, due to a revolution in his country and his entrance into the US being denied. Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks) is a man from a small country in Eastern Europe, called Krakozhia. He flies to New York City, to fulfill a promise he made to his father, before he dies. But, while in the air, there was a revolution in his country and a military coup. Now, he belongs to “nowhere”, and needs to stay in the International Area, until the United States government recognizes the “New Krakozhia” as a country, in order to grant Viktor a visa.

At first, Viktor doesn’t understand what is happening, because he doesn’t speak English and can’t understand what the security director (Stanley Tucci) - or anyone – says. For days, he sleeps in a bed made of chairs, cleans himself in the bathroom sink, and eats leftovers.

When a catering guy sees his situation, he offers Viktor food, in return for a favor: help him to win the immigration officer’s (Zoe Saldana) heart. The Krakozhian guy accepts the deal, and every day talks to the immigration officer, until one day, she accepts the catering guy’s proposal, and they get married.

In the meantime, Viktor meets a beautiful flight attendant (Catherine Zeta – Jones), named Amelia, and falls in love with her. After breaking up with her boyfriend, she gives Viktor a chance, but, as soon as Viktor starts making those friends, the security director tries to find a way to make him leave the airport and get arrested, which would mean Viktor wouldn’t be his problem anymore.

By the end of the movie, Amelia gets a one-day visa for Viktor, so that he can leave JFK and fulfill his dad’s promise. Unfortunately, the next day the war in Krakozhia is over, and he’s not allowed to go to New York, but has to return to his country. Then, a floor cleaner friend of Viktor somehow delays the flight, and he is able to leave the airport.

In my opinion, it would be way easier if the security director REALLY tried to solve Viktor’s problem, and not just pushed it to another department, by talking to the big mangers or to the United Nations.

The movie, mainly in its first scenes, made me reflect about how people, especially at the airports, act selfishly and don’t help  other people who have problems (like Viktor), perhaps because of their fear of security checks, or of the stressful and exhausting trips.

Small Things Can Be Bigger Things

The Story Behind a Painting

It isn’t rare that people visit art galleries. But it is absolutely amazing the number of people who stop to appreciate artwork.

Myself, as an example, don’t really imagine how, why, where or who the painter drew. I just look quickly around the pictures in the room and search for the ones which catch my attention. But I have never stopped to think what the person in the picture was doing, and what it meant to the painter.

Actually, it would be exhausting and boring if we looked at painting by painting, one by one, and tried to imagine a story for each of them. People often think they need to go through all exhibitions in the gallery, but we’re not supposed to do so. That’s why these galleries are divided into levels and rooms, according to the year and technique used in the artwork.

The fact is, that we should start trying to find out what’s behind the painting, what the painter is trying to show us, not just walk randomly through the gallery, just because you paid a lot to get in. Just make your ticket worth it.

Rising Marigolds

Everybody has a story. And her story's scenery is a Yorkshire's house. In her garden you can count thousands of flower types, such as tulips, roses, edelweisses and daisies. And marigolds. Marigolds which shone during summer, had illnesses in autumn, died in winter. But they always blossomed again in spring.

 And so they kept living, year after year, until last winter. Last winter these flowers died, but didn't blossom in springtime. They didn't. Neither did she.

Nobody knew anything about her, about her life. And when she passed away, nobody looked after the garden. Nobody.

Today  the house is there, intact, just the way it looked  when she was alive. But there aren't any flowers anymore, just a vast meadow. And, in the middle of this meadow, there is a small, little, lonely and yellow flower. The last of the last flowers.

 It's a young marigold, trying to live, not to die, on this cold, white winter day.

Landmarks and Landscapes

“Can you hear me? I’m talking to you. Across the water, across the deep blue ocean, under  the open sky…”- Jason Mraz

Landmarks.

Empire State, Central Park.

The British Parliament, Thames River.

Sydney Opera House.

Christ the Redeemer.

Landscapes.

The ocean, the beach.

The river, the trees.

You can see them with your eyes opened

But those who get it with theirs closed

Can see beyond.

Beyond the earth, beyond the air.

They can see through walls, by memory, with their hearts.

They can be artistic

Or autistic.

But their hands reproduce much more than you can see.

They draw what you feel.

Beyond.

Beyond landmarks and landscapes.

Between Blackeberries an' Apples

Boy: “Hey Nono, look at the Xbox father gave me!”

Grandpa: “Don’t you have enough money to buy a dozen eggs? They’re truly cheap!”

Boy: “No, Nono! It’s an Xbox, not an ‘Eggs box’! Do you want to play with me?”

Grandpa: "Of course! Let's get some spoons and race who will arrive at the backyard first without letting the spoon with the egg fall from our mouths!”

Boy: “Uh, Grandpa, I’ve already said it’s an Xbox, not an eggs box. We play it with a sensor and with the TV.”

Grandpa: “Well, in my time TVs didn’t use to carry a spoon, but if yours can do it, it’s ok, it can take part of the race too.”

Boy: “Noooo, Nono, forget it, I’ll show you something in my MacBook from Apple.”

Grandpa: “How did an apple do a book about McDonald’s?”

Boy: “It’s a laptop from Apple, you know, Steve Jobs, Macintosh system?”

Grandpa: “Oh boy, you really don’t know A THING about apples! Let’s go to the market, I’ll show you what it is!”

Boy: “Nono, I know what an apple is. I’m talking about the BRAND Apple, whose creator was Steve Jobs!”

Grandpa: “Oh my god, what are children learning in school today? They don’t even know what an apple is! Have you ever heard the quote ‘an apple a day, keeps the doctor away?’”

Boy: “Yes, sir, mom always tells me that. That type of apple grows in trees, but my laptop comes from an Apple factory.”

Grandpa: “Son, I can certainly tell you people still produce apples in trees not in factories!”

Boy:”Uh! Ok, whatever, I’ll get my Blackberry.”

Grandpa: “Do you have only one? As I remember, we buy thousands of them in the market.”

Boy: “It’s my cell phone, Grandpa!”

Grandpa: “Do you call your mobile Blackberry? What a strange name for such a thing!”

Boy: “No, it’s the cell phone’s brand. Like, the mobile comes from a Blackberry factory.”

Grandpa: “Oh my, you and this story again! Fruits DO NOT come from factories!”

Boy: “Uh, just forget it Nono, I’ll talk to Sarah about our date.”

Grandpa: “What’s wrong with it? Did you have to divide it with her? Such a small thing? I’ll go and talk to your father, you really need more pocket money! You can’t even buy some eggs and some dates!”

Boy: “There’s nothing wrong with my pocket money Nono, Sarah and I, we'll go to the cinema, have a date."

Grandpa: “Wait, you’ll go to the cinema and then to the market, to buy a date? Can you please get me some bananas too? I’ll ask your mother to bake a pie!”

Boy: “Whatever, don’t worry, I’ll buy some bananas. Bye Nono!”

Grandpa: “Bye! And don’t forget your date! We’re in season now!”