Sem título #375

The problem with society...

Espantos #680

A begónia até com o pé só em água dá flor!

Coisas bonitas #163

E no meio do caminho... uma borboleta!

Parece que estou a ouvir #447

Até a Fé se esqueceu

Cuca Roseta & Seu Jorge

Você foi assim escapando

entre os dedos da certeza

e assim você foi levando

tudo menos a tristeza

Quando olho as minhas mãos

tão cheias de emoção numa ilusão sem fim

Eu peço à mágoa p'ra cantar 

nessa esperança que ainda possa respirar

quando só eu arregaço 

abertos os meus braços numa fé sem fim

Até a fé se esqueceu 

de acreditar em mim

Eu vou assim morrendo

como um pássaro ferido

a cantar o seu lamento

em seu último suspiro

Quanto olho as minhas mãos

repletas de emoção numa aflição sem fim

Ainda sonho a suplicar 

nessa esperança que ainda possa respirar

quando ja só embaraço 

abertos os meus braços numa fé sem fim

Até a fe se esqueceu 

de acreditar em mim

E assim você foi levando

tudo menos a tristeza

Eu peço à mágoa p'ra cantar 

essa esperança que ainda possa respirar

Até a fé se esqueceu

de acreditar em mim

Coisas que não mudam #670

Gansos que dormem pela manhã

e as crianças já são jovens adultos, que mal se destinguem dos pais!

Primavera #194

Mudança de cor com o passar dos dias

Sem título #374

Don't forget to water it!

Coisas que não mudam #669

Saddled silky cat too curious to go out!

Primavera #193

Pre- and post-prime

Palavras lidas #591

Long Island Sound
by Emma Lazarus

I see it as it looked one afternoon
In August,—by a fresh soft breeze o’erblown.
The swiftness of the tide, the light thereon,
A far-off sail, white as a crescent moon.
The shining waters with pale currents strewn,
The quiet fishing-smacks, the Eastern cove,
The semi-circle of its dark, green grove.
The luminous grasses, and the merry sun
In the grave sky; the sparkle far and wide,
Laughter of unseen children, cheerful chirp
Of crickets, and low lisp of rippling tide,
Light summer clouds fantastical as sleep
Changing unnoted while I gazed thereon.
All these fair sounds and sights I made my own.

Ditto #588

America must speak softly but carry a big stick.

--Vice President Teddy Roosevelt, 1901

Foi neste dia #388 (1944)

8 décadas de Chico Buarque

Sem título #373

Just sit down...

Parece que estou a ouvir #446

That's Life
Frank Sinatra

That's life (that's life)
That's what all the people say
You're riding high in April, shot down in May
But I know I'm gonna change that tune
When I'm back on top, back on top in June

I said that's life (that's life)
And as funny as it may seem
Some people get their kicks
Stomping on a dream
But I don't let it, let it get me down
Cause this fine old world, it keeps spinnin' around

I've been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet
A pawn and a king
I've been up and down and over and out
And I know one thing
Each time I find myself
Flat on my face
I pick myself up and get
Back in the race

That's life (that's life)
I tell you, I can't deny it
I thought of quitting, baby
But my heart just ain't gonna buy it
And if I didn't think it was worth one single try
I'd jump right on a big bird and then I'd fly

I've been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet
A pawn and a king
I've been up and down and over and out
And I know one thing
Each time I find myself layin'
Flat on my face
I just pick myself up and get
Back in the race

That's life (that's life)
That's life and I can't deny it
Many times I thought of cutting out, but my heart won't buy it
But if there's nothing shaking, come this here July
I'm gonna roll myself up
In a big ball and die

My, my

Coisas que não mudam #668

Birds in an Orchard, by James Hautman (2011)

First reading: Ezekiel 17: 22-24

The Lord says this:

‘From the top of the cedar,

from the highest branch I will take a shoot

and plant it myself on a very high mountain.

I will plant it on the high mountain of Israel.

It will sprout branches and bear fruit,

and become a noble cedar.

Every kind of bird will live beneath it,

every winged creature rest in the shade of its branches.

And every tree of the field will learn that I, the Lord, am the one

who stunts tall trees and makes the low ones grow,

who withers green trees and makes the withered green.

I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it.’

___________________

Gospel: Mark 4:26-34

Jesus said to the crowds: ‘This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man throws seed on the land. Night and day, while he sleeps, when he is awake, the seed is sprouting and growing; how, he does not know. Of its own accord the land produces first the shoot, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the crop is ready, he loses no time: he starts to reap because the harvest has come.’

He also said, ‘What can we say the kingdom of God is like? What parable can we find for it? It is like a mustard seed which at the time of its sowing in the soil is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet once it is sown it grows into the biggest shrub of them all and puts out big branches so that the birds of the air can shelter in its shade.’

Using many parables like these, he spoke the word to them, so far as they were capable of understanding it. He would not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything to his disciples when they were alone.

Numa sala perto de mim #452

The Founder (2016) tells the story of the building of the McDonald's empire, from the operational side with the birth of fast food concept, invented by Richard and Maurice McDonald, and the managerial innovation, invented by Ray Croc which boosted the company from local to national to international heights. The classic example that cut-throat business skills that achieve success are not for everyone.

Numa sala perto de mim #451

Unfrosted (2024) tells the 1960s story of the fierce competition between Kellogg's and Post in the breakfast cereal market. Good to see Jerry Seinfeld in the movies!

Coisas que não mudam #667

I'm here you know, I deserve some attention...

Coisas que não mudam #666

A natureza está sempre certa, mas é por vezes cruel...

a familia de 6 pequenos gansos no início de Maio passou pouco depois a 5

e esta semana já são só 4.

Palavras lidas #590

Invisible Visitors
by David Budbill

All through August and September
thousands, maybe
tens of thousands, of feathered
creatures pass through
this place and I almost never see
a single one. The fall
wood warbler migration goes by here
every year, all of them,
myriad species, all looking sort of like
each other, yellow, brown, gray,
all muted versions of their summer selves,
almost indistinguishable
from each other, at least to me, although
definitely not to each other,
all flying by, mostly at night, calling to each
other as they go to keep
the flock together, saying: chip, zeet,
buzz, smack, zip, squeak—
those
sounds reassuring that we are
all here together and
heading south, all of us just passing
through, just passing
through, just passing through, just
passing through.

Ditto #587

Power and cruelty are the strengths of our lives, and only in their weakness is there love.

--Stevie Smith

Foi neste dia #387 (1815)

Há 198 anos chegava ao fim o Congresso de Viena, da qual saiu o Tratado que pôs fim às guerras napoleónicas que entre 1803 e 1815 tiveram a Europa em polvorosa.

Caprichos #444

Natas santas :-)

Parece que estou a ouvir #445

Make You Feel My Love
Bob Dylan

When the rain is blowing in your face
And the whole world is on your case
I could offer you a warm embrace
To make you feel my love

When the evening shadows and the stars appear
And there is no one there to dry your tears
I could hold you for a million years
To make you feel my love

I know you haven't made your mind up yet
But I will never do you wrong
I've known it from the moment that we met
No doubt in my mind where you belong

I'd go hungry, I'd go black and blue
I'd go crawling down the avenue
No, there's nothing that I wouldn't do
To make you feel my love

The storms are raging on the rolling sea
And on the highway of regret
The winds of change are blowing wild and free
You ain't seen nothing like me yet

I could make you happy, make your dreams come true
Nothing that I wouldn't do
Go to the ends of the Earth for you
To make you feel my love
To make you feel my love

Foi neste dia #386 (1801)

Há 223 anos assinava-se em Badajoz o tratado que punha fim à Guerra das Laranjas. Entre clausulas várias relativas a territórios na America do Sul, o tratado estabelecia o Guadiana como fronteira entre Portugal e Espanha reconhecendo a ocupação de Olivença pelos os Espanhóis. Alegadamente Portugal terá assinado o tratado sob coacção uma vez que as tropas francesas se encontravam estacionadas em Ciudad Rodrigo prontas a invadir se os termos do contrato não fossem aceites. A invasão francesa veio a concretizar-se em Novembro de 1807 precipitando a fuga da familia real para o Brasil. Já em Maio de 1808 o rei declara nulo o Tratado de Badajoz, deixando de reconhecer Olivença como espanhola. Em 1814-15 a Conferência de Viena pôs fim às guerras napoleónicas com a assinatura do Acto Final que no Artigo 105º reconhecia o direito Português a Olivença e urgia à sua imediata restituição*. O Tratado de Viena só foi rectificado por Espanha em 1817, mas até à data ainda não se cumpriu o Artigo 105º.

_______

* "viewing the restitution of the same as a measure necessary to insure that perfect and constant harmony between the two kingdoms of the Peninsula, the preservation of which in all parts of Europe, has been the constant object of their arrangements, formally engage to use their utmost endeavours, by amicable means, to procure the retrocession of the said territories, in favour of Portugal. And the Powers declare, as far as depends upon them, that this arrangement shall take place as soon as possible."

Caprichos #443

Pic-nic outside

open fire for hotdogs, peppers

and marshmallows!

Coisas bonitas #162

Observar dia a dia a evolução das plantas

Coisas que não mudam #665

Sleepy loafy kitties...

Palavras lidas #589

The Sound of It
Annie Lighthart

Just a piano playing plainly, not even for long,
and yet I suddenly think of fields of timothy
and how a cow and I once studied each other over a fence
while the car ticked and cooled behind me.
When I turned around I was surprised that it had not
sprouted tall grass from its hood, I had been gone
so long. Time passes in crooked ways in some tales,
and though the cow and I were relatively young
when we started our watching, we looked
a bit younger when I left. The cow had downed a good
steady meal and was full of milk for the barn.
I drove away convinced of nothing I had been
so sure of before, with arms full of splinters
from leaning on the fence. There was no music—
I was not even humming—but just now the piano
played the exact sound of that drive.

Ditto #586

Three months seems to me to be quite reasonable to finish a book, if you can get right down to it.

-- Agatha Christie