Coisas bonitas #252

Borboletas

Sem título #400

Priorities!

Palavras lidas #652

Outgrown
Penelope Shuttle

It is both sad and a relief to fold so carefully
her outgrown clothes and line up the little worn shoes
of childhood, so prudent, scuffed and particular.
It is both happy and horrible to send them galloping
back tappity-tap along the misty chill path into the past.

It is both a freedom and a prison, to be outgrown
by her as she towers over me as thin as a sequin
in her doc martens and her pretty skirt,
because just as I work out how to be a mother
she stops being a child.

Sem título #399

Que às vezes dá vontade...

Parece que estou a ouvir #538

Cantar de Emigração
Adriano Correia de Oliveira (música)

Rosalía de Castro (poema)

Este parte, aquele parte
e todos, todos se vão.
Galiza ficas sem homens
que possam cortar teu pão.

Tens em troca órfãos e órfãs
Tens campos de solidão.
Tens mães que não têm filhos
Filhos que não têm pai.

Coração que tens e sofre
Longas ausências mortais.
Viúvas de vivos mortos
Que ninguém consolará.

Este parte, aquele parte
E todos, todos se vão.
Galiza ficas sem homens
Que possam cortar teu pão.

Coisas bonitas #251

Black cat drinking water from black cat bowl

Palavras lidas #651

A Velhice
by Rolf Jacobsen (trad. Amadeu Baptista)

Agradam-me os mais velhos.
Sentam-se por ai e olham-nos e não nos veem
e sempre metidos em si,
como os pescadores nas ribeiras dos grandes rios, imóveis como pedras
sob a noite estival.
Agradam-me muito os pescadores nas ribeiras dos rios e os velhos e os que saem à rua após uma longa enfermidade.

Têm algo nos olhos
que o mundo já não vê,
os velhos, como convalescentes
cujos pés ainda não são suficientemente fortes e seguros
e com a face pálida e anteriormente febril.

Os velhos
que voltam a ser eles mesmos lentamente
e se dissolvem lentamente,
como o fumo, e imperceptivelmente se transformam
em sonho
e luz.

Ditto #642

In a cat's eye, all things belong to cats.

--English proverb

Numa sala perto de mim #470

A Private Life (2025) shows Jodie Foster speaking in French! She is a (control freak) psychiatrist with a recently deceased patient, turns into investigating the facts behind such sudden death and finding more than she wished to know about herself and others... some truths, some fantasised realities but in the end, some balance.

Retirado do contexto #456

Baby seagull ventures alone on campus... what to do?

The answer is: do nothing

Sem título #398

I get that too :-)

Parece que estou a ouvir #537

Another Day

Paul McCartney

Every day she takes a morning bath, she wets her hair
Wraps a towel around her as she's heading for the bedroom chair
It's just another day

Slipping into stockings, stepping into shoes
Dipping in the pocket of her raincoat
It's just another day

At the office where the papers grow she takes a break
Drinks another coffee and she finds it hard to stay awake
It's just another day
Du du du du du du, it's just another day
Du du du du du du, it's just another day, hey

So sad, so sad, sometimes she feels so sad
Alone in her apartment she'd dwell
Till the man of her dreams comes to break the spell
Ah, stay, don't stand her up
And he comes and he stays, but he leaves the next day
So sad, sometimes she feels so sad

As she posts another letter to the sound of five
People gather 'round her and she finds it hard to stay alive
It's just another day
Du du du du du du, it's just another day
Du du du du du du, it's just another day, hey

So sad, so sad, sometimes she feels so sad
Alone in her apartment she'd dwell
Till the man of her dreams comes to break the spell
Ah, stay, don't stand her up
And he comes and he stays, but he leaves the next day
So sad, sometimes she feels so sad

Every day she takes a morning bath, she wets her hair
Wraps a towel around her as she's heading for the bedroom chair
It's just another day

Slipping into stockings, stepping into shoes
Dipping in the pocket of her raincoat
Ah, it's just another day
Du du du du du du, it's just another day
Du du du du du du, it's just another day, hey

Coisas bonitas #250

I attended a beautiful British citizenship ceremony where tolerance and respect for others were proclaimed, respect for democratic values was defended, and contributions to a more prosperous, generous open nation were wished. These noble British values should be taught in schools.

Verão #32

Girassóis na onda de calor!

Espantos #723

Scorching heatwave in the Midlands... 8.01pm!!

Sem título #397

Our wonderful Exams Team... mesmerised by Rolf!

Espantos #722

Alguém está a gostar mesmo muito

desta onda de calor no reino Unido!

Palavras lidas #650

The Disappearing
by Franz Wright

There is a heartbreaking beauty
about my crummy street
tonight, at 2 o’clock
in the first snow: I stand looking out

at this window, I think
how everything seen
is something seen for the last time.
At last I turn away,

I give up. I am tired,
I can’t mourn anymore
the loss of what I never asked for
and never understood.

_______________

In the middle of the latest sweltering heatwave in the UK I caught myself thinking of snow...

Numa sala perto de mim #469

Office Romance (2026) is a fun rom-com with an unconventional power relationship in an office where relationships are strictly prohibited. Of course the situation changes and you just feel sorry for the HR guy who needs to listen to everything he didn't want to hear :-D

Jennifer Lopez does not look 55!

Caprichos #527

Cheesecake com morango