Universo, seu lindo!

Hiya thereHow are you doing? I’m fine, can’t wait for the weekend to begin! …

The title of this post means something like: “Universe, you beautiful thing!” Of course, I love the universe! I’m part of it! Actually, we all are parts of the universe, but I am in a special way, because my name is Luna, which means moon in Spanish and Italian! I’ve always loved to look at the sky! I love the sunrise, the sunset and starry nights! When I learned, at school, that there was an endless universe beyond the sky, full of stunning beauties, I got fascinated! Everything is so beautiful, perfect and mysterious! Huge spheres made of gas, like Jupiter, for example. It’s my favorite planet, by the way . I love it so much that I’ve written a song for it, which is also one of my favorites! Huge spheres of flames like our beloved Sun, which will expand itself one day, taking almost all the Solar System with it and becoming a light spot, like so many other stars . Some astronomers see the universe like a bunch of numbers. To me, the universe is poetry. It’s full of stories. Some planets, stars and constellations are related to mythological stories. I don’t wonder if there are extraterrestrial creatures somewhere. I prefer to leave them alone. I wouldn’t like to participate in a space trip. When I was a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut just because every kid wanted it too. I’m a contemplative. Thanks to the advance of science I can see how beautiful the universe is! … Today I honestly didn’t know what to post. But, reading the news, I found this:

Manatee Nebula:

Isn’t it BEAUTIFUL?! I found the picture in an album about galaxies and stuff on UOL (Universo Online). According to the informations I read:

Ela [W50] também é conhecida como Nebulosa Peixe-Boi por suas semelhanças com o mamífero do nosso planeta. Tanto a nebulosa quanto o animal são difíceis de serem encontrados - os astrônomos usam um telescópio que detecta a radiação emitida pela nuvem de gás e poeira; enquanto os biólogos buscam bolhas de ar nas águas turvas para rastrear o animal -, além de os dois demorarem para nascer - no espaço, a nebulosa levou mais de dez mil anos para ter esse formato; enquanto os peixes-bois têm uma gestação que leva de 12 a 14 meses.

She [W50] is also known as Manatee Nebula due to her similarities with the mammal of our planet. Both the nebula as the animal are hard to find – the astronomers use a telescope that detects the radiation emitted by the cloud of gas and dust, while the biologists look for bubbles in the dark waters to track the animal – besides, them both take time to be born – in space, the nebula took more than ten thousand years to acquire this format, while the manatees have a pregnancy of 12 to 14 months.

Link for the album: http://noticias.uol.com.br/ciencia/album/2013/01/31/galaxias-estrelas-e-nebulosas-ganham-nomes-inspirados-na-terra.htm

I’m in loveManatees are also super cute! The universe has so many beautiful things! I had to share this picture with you! I’ll also share a song, called Orion. This is originally a Metallica song, but I’ve chosen the version by the Mexican acoustic guitarists Rodrigo y Gabriela, because it’s just awesome! More than a song: a music trip! Light an incense, close your eyes and enjoy! Orion is also a constellation.

That’s all for today, folks! Stay tuned. Tomorrow I’m planning to talk about the huge depression that’s taking every student’s souls in Brazil, due to the back to school! *lol*

Luna

Money, lack of money, debt and priorities.

** Warning: This is a serious writing. So, you won’t see many gifs and blinkies! But, don’t worry! Other posts full of gifs and blinkies will come! **

I don’t use to pay attention at what happens to celebrities. Actually, I don’t give a damn about celebrities. But, sometimes a news catches my attention. Yesterday, I was about to check my mailbox and read something interesting about a Brazilian pagode singer, called Belo (this is not his real name and many people make jokes about it, because belo means handsome and he is not exactly good looking … Take a look at Google Images!). Pagode is a subgenre of samba, I’ll give you proper explanations about it in the future. To be honest, I don’t know if Belo is still a pagode singer. We had a “pagode fever” in Brazil in the 90’s and he was the vocalist of a famous band, called Soweto. Then, the band broke up and he decided to go solo. He was relatively famous as a solo singer for a couple of years, but his real fame came from happenings related to his private life, which include friendships with drug traders, a brief stay in prison and his relationships with Carnival celebrities, like Viviane Araújo and Gracyane Barbosa, his current wife. So, Belo is a real Brazilian celebrity! Or what we call subcelebridade (something like undercelebrity): a person who appears in the media not thanks to his or her talents, skills or something like that, but thanks to … an eccentric life? Belo, in my opinion, is terrible as a singer and his repertory is even more terrible (yeah, I’m meanie today! …). I feel depressed when I listen to his voice … *lol* But, he’s great as a subcelebridade! People want scandals! And he has a lot to offer, babe!

Yesterday, I knew that he has so many debts that he and his wife will be probably obligated to leave their mansion. He has so many debts that he didn’t pay some people who worked for him. He has so many debts that maybe he will end up in jail. Again! Oh, c’mon Luna, is it interesting? – some of you may ask. Yes, this is very interesting, my dear reader! It’s all about human behaviour! There are two common attitudes in this case:

1. People lose their minds when they have some money. Especially if we are talking about celebrities, who live to expose a fantasy about themselves! What you see on tv, is absolutely fake in the most of cases! Celebrities don’t have exactly a job, so, if they don’t have a contract with some business people, they have no money! Many things you see on tv or magazines are rented and borrowed. Celebrities have money while they are interesting for the business people. And, well, it doesn’t happen all the time.
2. People want to be who they are not. Before all these news about Belo’s debts, he and Gracyane got married in style and had a veeery expensive party, payed with bad checks! Cool, don’t you think?! I wonder how many things did they buy without conditions just to seem who they are not! This is serious!

Are you satisfied with your life, dear reader? I don’t know all of you, but the most of you are probably middle-class people, like me (Is there a millionaire in the house? I accept donations!!!!). A lot of middle class people here in São Paulo complain about their lives, because they wanted to be rich, exactly like the celebrities (many people who appear in the media are not rich, as I told you before)! There’s even a reality show in Brazil nowadays, called Mulheres Ricas (Rich Women), about the amazing routine of a bunch of rich women who not even know the meaning of the word education and like to spend loads of money, while so many people here starve, including babies and little kids! We live in a society where deep inequalities are accepted. Rich women can spend thousands of dollars in a pair of shoes (believe me, it happens!), while thousands of people have not even food, let alone a pair of shoes! The richness of the wealthy ones not exactly means the result of hard work. If a few people are millionaire, millions of people are miserable. If a few people have much more than they need and even want to live well, it means that a lot of people live under the poverty line! Period. Almost everyday, I hear someone complaining about life, jealous of the rich ones. But, you know what? I wouldn’t like to be rich. I wouldn’t like to be obligated to have an expensive lifestyle to justify my condition. I like to be a middle-class girl. Sometimes, I take a few months to buy something I want, but I feel fine. I don’t need to wear expensive clothes and jewels to justify my condition. I can knit my clothes and accessories. I can walk on the streets without a bunch of security men behind me. I don’t need to fear the poor people because all my tresures are ridiculous in comparison with all the sign of status of the wealthy ones. I’m not a celebrity. I don’t live in a mansion. I have true friends, who were by my side when I was living hard moments. I don’t want to have a lot of expensive things. And don’t need to make debts to seem someone I am not. Belo’s attitude is actually very very common. A lot of people, who have money enough to live, are ashamed of their condition, because they are not rich and powerful. So, they lie and spend the money they don’t have. This is sad … 

We are who we are, not what we have. My priority in life is to be happy. Money comes and goes. Many people believe that money can buy everything. Nope. Wealthy people are more respected and good treated. While they have money. Everything is fake. So, I prefer my little world. I wouldn’t like to struggle for life. It’s unfair that so many people need to struggle for life, because they are exploited. I can’t buy a private plane. I can’t wear a dress made of diamonds. I can’t travel to Norway right now. But I can be sure that my brother will give me a true hug when he comes back home from work. I can be sure that we have money enough to prepare a good dinner. I can be sure that I’ll have a good time. Nobody will obligate us to leave our home, because we can pay the rent. I think I won’t be the cover of a magazine, in front of a castle, with a glass of champagne in my hand. But I can live with that …

Love,

Luna

 

Over the hills and far away.

Bom dia!

How are you doing? Hope fine. I’m doing fine! ^^

I always listen to heavy metal while I do my workout. It’s the best soundtrack, to me! And, a few minutes ago, I was doing my workout and listening to a song, called Over the hills and far away, of the Finnish band Nightwish. I love this song so much , that I decided to share it with you! It’s an ancient song and the great vocalist you can see in the video, Tarja Turunen, doesn’t belong to the band, anymore (unfortunately). But this song is epic, I had to put it on my blog! Enjoy!

I will return today, with another post, but I have a few things to do before. Now, it’s my turn to sing, for instance …

Stay tuned! Talk to you soon!

Luna

Parabéns São Paulo! – Part 2.

What a lovely gif to represent a cloudy day, don’t you think?! A Brazilian writer, don’t remember who, now (*lol*) wrote that, on cloudy days, the sun plays hide and seek with the clouds! ^^ Today, the sun is hidden behind the clouds, here in São Paulo. It’s +22C and I’m happy, because I had a very productive morning and could finally sleep last night, after three sleepless nights! Now, I’m having a cup of tea and thinking about something interesting to write about my city. São Paulo can’t be described by only one person … It’s a multi-faceted city. But I believe that we all (people from São Paulo), have some common impressions and experiences. The traffic jams. The crowded places. The daily stress. The pollution. The noise. The diversity. The fear of the unknown. The coldness and impersonality of the human relationships. The brief conversations or flirts in the subway (shopping center, movie theater, urban park, handicraft market, library, …) with people that we will never see again. The endless queues everywhere. Avenida Paulista, Parque do Ibirapuera, Liberdade, Praça da República, 25 de Março, Mercado Municipal. Virada Cultural, São Silvestre, the traditional Japanese parties at Liberdade, Campus Party. Pizza, pastel, bauru, misto quente, yakisoba, quibe, esfiha and dozens of dishes, from dozens of people, from all over the world. São Paulo is the most diverse city of Brazil. It received, from the beginning, many foreign immigrants, especially from Italy, Japan and Middle East. The Italians came in big groups, to work in the coffee plantations. If you read my previous post about São Paulo (if you didn’t, click here), you already know that all the richness and power of my city came from the coffee plantations . The Italians influenced deeply our culture. There are Italian districts here (Bixiga, Brás, Barra Funda), we are very familiar with Italian food and even our way to speak Portuguese is influenced by the Italians. It seems that we are singing. And we gesticulate a lot! *lol*

Avenida Paulista (a part of it, of course):

São Paulo has a very rich, diverse and intense cultural life. It’s probably the best place in Brazil for people who like to go to the movies, theaters, art galleries, art and photography exhibitions, concerts, restaurants, handicraft markets and events! A few years ago, I used to go out every single weekend and enjoy the cultural life of my city for free! Yes, a lot of nice things happen here for free! I remember that I used to go out in the morning, sometimes, and spend the whole day at CCSP - Centro Cultural São Paulo (Cultural Center São Paulo). I knew everybody there! It’s a place where you can find everything related to culture, at the same time: libraries, movies, theaters, art galleries. It’s a place for studies, too. I spent hours at the art library, improving my origami skills. Yes, I love origami and almost everything I know, I learned from the Japanese books of the art library, at CCSP! After the “origami lessons”, I watched a concert, then a play, then a movie … Me and my friends used to come back home at night! It was so nice! I don’t know how are the things going at CCSP nowadays, but a couple of years ago, that place wasn’t the same anymore. It was even dangerous! São Paulo changed a lot in the past years. It became a strange place, full of aggressive people and cops everywhere. Maybe it was only a phase … I’m honestly missing the old times and want to explore the cultural life of São Paulo, again! Of course, I’ll tell you about my experiences!

Centro Cultural São Paulo:

http://cultura.culturamix.com/blog/wp-content/gallery/centro-cultural-de-sao-paulo/centro-cultural-de-sao-paulo-10.jpg 

This is not a good picture. The building is HUGE! But … I didn’t find a better pic, on internet. It means I need to take my own!

There’s always something to do here. If the vibe is good, of course … The urban parks are great places! I think you’ve already realized that São Paulo is a grey city, full of buildings, so, the urban parks are a little bit of nature, quietness and peace, in the middle of the chaos! The most famous is Parque do Ibirapuera. It’s a huge one, pretty and interesting! I used to bike there and spent lovely mornings and afternoons there, with my friends and boyfriends, when I was a teen! There are some museums, an artificial lake and some animals there. But my favorite urban parks are Parque da Aclimação and Parque da Água Branca. They’re smaller, more quiet and so beautiful!

Parque do Ibirapuera:

http://www.parquedoibirapuera.com/wp-content/gallery/verde/parque-ibirapuera-arte-turismo-lazer-em-sao-paulo.jpg

Beautiful, don’t you think?

São Paulo is a place of diversity, as I told you before. In every single sense. The social inequality is a type of diversity and it’s huge, here. São Paulo is still the financial center of the country, so, here, money and status count a lot! Many many people here care too much about material goods and signs of status, like diplomas and occupations. So, there’s a lot of bias and intolerance here, too. São Paulo is a place where the extremes live together. Homeless people and millionaires. Open-minded people and bigots. Left and right. São Paulo is a very modern city, an interesting place, where you can listen to Lebanese pop music, eat yakisoba, watch a Nigerian movie and talk to your friends from Sweden, at the same time. Where different and unique people (like me *lol*) are everywhere, creating fashion all the time. But there’s a lot of conservative, racist, homophobic and intolerant people here, too, who judge you by how many material goods do you expose! Diversity in every sense.

Different points of view, opinions, faces, looks, realities, priorities … this is São Paulo. A place that you can’t love completely. A place that you can’t hate completely. A city that never stops and grows in a chaotic way. Money, progress, greed walk together with simplicity. It’s hard to describe my city. This is a portrait, a point of view. I love this place! I hate this place! My roots are here, I probably have some concrete in my veins, just like the buildings. I speak and think and act very fast, like almost everybody here. I’m impatient and can’t relax. I’m part of this strange world. São Paulo says who I am, I say what São Paulo is. My homeland. A place that I miss to death every time I travel. A place I can’t stand when I’m here *lol*. A paradox made of buildings.

That’s all for today, folks! Stay tuned. Other posts will come!

Luna

P.S.: Sometimes I think that the anthem of São Paulo should be this song: (This video was released in the 80’s. The band is from São Paulo, one of the main bands of my city: Ira. The video is cheesy, but the song is absolutely beautiful!)

 

Imprevistos …

Hello

Guess what? I’m busy . Baking breads and writing a post at the same time. Weekends are complicated … But I’m not complaining. I promised to write something on the weekend and here I am!

My idea was to keep writing about my beloved city. I need to write another post about São Paulo. But unexpected things happened. I would like to say a few words about something bad that happened in my country today. More than two hundred people died in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul (a southern state), at a disco called Kiss, due to a fire that could be avoided. It was something so terrible that even our president, Dilma Rousseff, went to Santa Maria, to visit the families of the victims! According to the news I read, the fire started while a band were performing a pyrotechnic show. A witness said that the vocalist of the band tried to stop the fire with the fire extinguisher, but the fire extinguisher didn’t work. The disco had only one emergency exit, next to the VIP area (it means that the VIP people could save their lives) and one front door. The club could hold two thousand people. The club didn’t have a business licence since August, 2012. More than two hundred people died due to the lack of responsibility of the owner (or owners) of the disco! They died due to something called neglect. Hundreds of survivors are at the local hospitals and many of them will have lung complications, because they breathed smoke for a long time! … How long will I live in a world (it doesn’t happen only in Brazil), where hundreds of lives mean nothing?! Sorry, it wasn’t an accident! Today, while I’m writing this post, baking breads and enjoying the company of my brother and friends, families are crying, because they have lost their beloved ones due to the irresponsability of a few people. Everybody is talking about the tragedy and I’m sure that many people (including politicians) will try to promote themselves thanks to the death of innocent people. As ever. Of course I’m not feeling completely fine, today! Is it possible? Maybe, if I was selfish. That’s what selfish people say about people like me: “You’re hypocrite and demagog!” No, I’m not. I really care about life! I’m vegetarian because I care about life. I’m a type of environmentalist because I care about life. Yes, I am sad! And angry. Sadness doesn’t change reality! How long will I live in a world where people don’t protect life and avoid accidents, tragedies, wars and stuff? “The fire extinguished didn’t work?!”, oh give me a fucking break! …

More than two hundred lives are lost. The survivors tell creepy stories about people being pushed, trampled, because in extreme situations, the most of people show their worst side, unfortunately. My brother has just told me that some of his classmates are making jokes about what happened, by WhatsApp. They say that the media is talking about what happened just because it was a “fancy disco”. I know that the readers of this blog are nice people. So, you know that it’s disgusting to make jokes and say bullshit about the death of innocent people, right?! I really hope so! You know, I don’t care if the tragedy happened at a fancy disco or in a favela, if the victims are white, black, asian, mixed! More than two hundred human beings died due to neglect! This is enough! What a lack of empathy! Yes, many people will explore the situation. The media will look for creepy stories. The politicians will pretend that they are super sad and concern. So what?! Does it change what happened? But I think that those jokes show how life means nothing, to so many people! It’s a pity! People accept tragedies like this. Sorry, this is unacceptable! I know I can’t change what happened. But, I’m sharing this with you. I hope you do what you can, if you have the chance to protect or save a life! Just care! Just understand that we should be unite, no matter how do we look like, where are we from, what do we do, how money do we have! If the owners of that club cared about life (sorry, they cared about money), they would build up a decent building, with more that one emergency exit and more than one fire extinguisher. Some tragedies can be avoided. But, in this selfish world, who cares about the others? I hope you care, dear reader! Life is something sacred! If you have the chance to protect life, do it! And, please, open your mind and heart to the others! The pain of the families who have lost their beloved ones, could be mine. I have a brother, I have a family and friends and I would feel destroyed if something happened to them! But I don’t need to think about it, to feel empathy. Life is life. Life is a miracle. I’m tired to see people treating life as rubbish!

Listen to this song carefully! Sorry if I wasn’t funny today. Sometimes I can’t. Stay tuned. Have a nice week!

Queen – The Miracle:

That time will come

One day you’ll see

When we can all be friends

 

Luna

Parabéns, São Paulo! – Part 1.

A little late to write a new post, but meglio tardi che mai (before late than never), say the Italians. Today it’s holiday in São Paulo, the 459th anniversary of the biggest city of Latin America!  Was I outside, celebrating? – some of you may ask. No, I was actually sleeping! *lol* I spent the whole afternoon replying emails and decided to take a nap, to recover myself, but I slept a little too much … It’s soon yet in Brazil, 09:33 PM, anyway. My brother and friends are here and soon I’ll leave you (No … people, don’t cry! ;p), to join the boys at the kitchen and prepare our snack. We’re all starving!

Anyway, we’re having several celebrations, special events and concerts all over the city, today. So … I think I shall say a few words about São Paulo, right?! It won’t be a encyclopedia entry (I’m not in a wiki mood, today). I’ll always prefer to paint my own portraits . First of all, some basic informations:

This is the city of São Paulo:

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxNL9_2VlRd_ZkeGEB1gULSi7gR3Wwpl-BsO4L_INF4gSWiLg53geSDS7Wr2ion_9fHQp_-_I2zm4qBk9YUDbrPwAPOLncAmo8__11mHtG_uNhGE-2lF3f2FVqHv_3JrNFPeOa9L6veSc/s1600/Mapa-da-cidade-de-Sao-Paulo.png

This map doesn’t show all the districts of the city!

This is the state of São Paulo:

To see the map at its real size, click here.

The city is the capital of the state! They have the same name, but are not the same thing! When a person says that she or he was born in São Paulo, it not exactly means that she or he was born in the capital (I was born in the capital, for example). So, we have two words to distinguish who was born in the state from who was born in the capital:

Paulista – is a person born in the state of São Paulo, no matter the city.

Paulistana (woman) or paulistano (man) – is a person born in the capital.

I am paulistana and paulista at the same time. A person from Minas Gerais, for instance, will always call me paulista, because we were born in different states. But, if I talk to someone from São José dos Campos (São Paulo’s countryside), he (or she) is paulista and I am paulistana. You, my foreign reader, can call me paulista, if you want. I prefer Luna, anyway.

This is the flag of the state:

http://www.saopaulo.sp.gov.br/bancoImagens/albuns/7015/_d30126.jpg

When I was younger, I was extremely proud to be from São Paulo. Seriously. Many people here, especially in the capital, have this silly and childish pride. So, I wanted to tattoo this flag on my arm.. Fortunately, I’ve changed my mind. Similar prouds are responsible for useless and unecessary hate, conflicts and wars. Don’t be proud of your city or origins, dear reader! Just love who you are and where you’re from. Love is much better than pride!

This is the flag of the city:

http://www.estadosecapitaisdobrasil.com/imagens/bandeiras/capitais/medio/bandeira-sao-paulo.png

This flag is not very popular, here. There’s a sentence in Latin on the coat of arms: Non ducor duco. It means: I am not led, I lead. Only if you live in São Paulo, you understand this sentence deeply! We are independent, brave and … arrogant *lol*. Anyway, I’m sure that a lot of people here not even know that this is the flag of the city and that there’s a Latin sentence on it!

The History of São Paulo (the city) started at Pátio do Colégio, here:

It was a Jesuit school for native indians and also a fortress. This is one of the main tour spots of the city, located at the Centro Velho (Old Downtown). In the beginning (I’m talking about the 16th century), São Paulo wasn’t important at all to the Portuguese colonizers (or to the Portuguese monarchy, to be more precise), even if our story started at São Vicente (São Paulo’s coast). The region couldn’t produce sugar, the Brazilian main export product back then. So, São Paulo was kind of abandoned for centuries, until become a coffee producer. From that time, the story of the city changed completely and São Paulo became the main Brazilian city and the financial center of the country.

I would like to keep writing, but I need to join my friends . So, this it the PART ONE of the post. I’ll do my best to write the PART TWO tomorrow! I’ll end this post with a video (one minute video), which shows some flashes of São Paulo. I found it on a great Brazilian internet portal, called IG.

http://tvig.ig.com.br/id/8a4980263360dd2801350fdf88993108.html

Unfortunately, I couldn’t upload the video itself, but you can click the link above!

That’s it, folks! Thank you so much for your attention (my “newborn baby” is receiving a lot of visits, thanks! Yay! My newborn baby is this blog, ok?! …), stay tuned and see you!

Have a nice weekend

Luna