Springtime!

Hello, my dear readersHow are you doing? Hope fine. I’m doing fine. As you can see, I didn’t take too long to get back, this time!But I still need to organize my ideas, to make this blog more and more interesting! I wish I could dedicate myself only to my personal blogs and also to my Flickr account. It’s looking so cute! And I always feel very happy and grateful when someone add some of my pictures as a favorite! I’ve just started to add pics to my Flickr account and it’s all about my cute universe! Something pretty unique. I avoid the cliche and don’t use softwares to improve my pictures. I just upload my favorite ones! And it’s touching when someone likes them! I don’t know if I’ll be famous someday. What matters to me is put a smile on people’s face . If you, my dear reader, feel better when you read my blog, I consider myself a winner! By the way, if you still didn’t check my Flickr account, please click the cute icon on your right! …

As I said before, I wish I could dedicate myself only to my stuff. You, who’s reading those lines, probably have hobbies and some creativity, but need to work, pay bills, worry about many things (sometimes absolutely unecessary) and, in the end, have no time to have fun or express yourself . Don’t you think this is terrible?I definitely do. As I probably said before, in this society, we’re just workers and consumers. Or “outcasts” persecuted by bias and repression. We all have some divine potential inside and I do believe we only express it through our unicity. Who can really develop this unicity, in this society? If you, my dear reader, are in your thirties, like me, how many hobbies have you left behind? Are you still creative and unique? I hope so, but nobody is educated (or indoctrinated) in this world, to be unique, creative and playful! God gave me many gifts and skills. Believe me, this is not pretension! All my gifts and skills are completely “useless” in this capitalist society!Yes, I do make money, but the way (almost) everybody does. Sometimes I just wonder how wonderful this world would be if only we could be ourselves, create and make stuff for pleasure, not profit. If our existence was not connected to money, but to all we can produce by ourselves. If we could share, instead of sell and buy. I’m sorry if I’m making you think. Actually, I’m not, this is exactly my goal!You are not here to read about celebrities, babe! At least, not today …

So, Papai do Céu (that’s the way Brazilian kids call God. It would be something like Daddy from Heaven.) created me to be an artist, connected to almost all artistic expressions. People have already called me Renaissance woman. This is really nice, flattering and appropriate, since we’re kinda living a Middle Age in Brazil . I wish I was kidding, my dear readers! Conservatives, (pseudo) progressive people and religious fanatics have turned this country into a Middle Age arena, where every balanced debate seems to be impossible . Ignorance is rising, culture is falling apart. Of course, many people are still capable to think and see everything lightly, but we are the minority. There’s too much rage in the air! I read and watch constantly news about teenagers who hurt (badly) classmates motivated by jealousy, for instance. Pretty girls are under attack at public and private schools just because they’re pretty! I have already been kinda discriminated for being sexy (yeah, I’m on fire, babe …) and my cute universe was under attack during years, so, I completely understand the poor victims! … There’s no rational explanation to such rage. But I have a theory: when people focus too much on material things and survival issues, they just give up on their best potentials and become beasts! We all are educated indoctrinated to be workers and consumers only. So it’s not surprising that the most of people only care about competition and survival! We’re all ruled by clocks and internet, with all its social networks, speeded up our lives. It means we lose ourselves in meaningless things more and more …

BUT, things are not completely lost, I guess. I’ve been trying to be a rebel as much as I can. Nobody will steal my right to have some pleasure and be creative! That’s why I’m still here, writing this blog. That’s why I still try to dedicate myself to my hobbies and create cuteness, the only thing I’m really able to create! And I think this is completely related to Spring (Yaaay! Finally the title of this post makes some sense! ). Primavera, in Portuguese . We, Brazilian people, actually don’t feel any relevant difference in the weather or in the landscape. Our four seasons are not similar to the North Hemisphere ones. So, we actually don’t have a severe Winter which obligate us to stay at home all the time and wear lots of heavy clothes! There is no darkness here during Winter. The sunset always happens around 6:00 PM . There are flowers everywhere here and they bloom all over the year! We, Brazilians, are not a melancholic people, as you could probably notice. We don’t wait for Spring as a renovation of life, since life happens here all the time. Anyway, Springtime is a kind of renovation of life to all of us. It seems we feel more energetic and willing to act more! And, yes, some flowers and trees bloom in Springtime, in Brazil. I feel that everything becomes more beautiful and sweet during Springtime, it’s my favorite season! Winter has this energy of stagnancy. Nature sleeps in the North Hemisphere and feels dizzy in the South Hemisphere. We’re kinda living a Wintertime in Brazil, so to speak. Stagnancy of ideas, principles, culture, creativity, affection. Of course, many things happen, especially here in São Paulo. But when it comes to mentality, the most of people are living a dark age. Springtime started yesterday night, at 11:29 PM. Let’s hope that its winds of renovation brings some freshness to my country, so we can work and consume a little less, live and love a little more and get back to the light side of the force as soon as possible! I don’t worry, because it’s always Springtime in my heart . But I hope that people here (there and everywhere) let some new ideas bloom in their hearts and let old good stuff reborn!

I see you again soon! Stay tuned and let Springtime come to your life!

Hugs,

Luna

This flower, IPÊ AMARELO (yellow ipê) is the symbol of Brazil. It’s really beautiful! It’s lovely to see yellow and purple ipês all over my city, not only in Springtime! I don’t own the right of these pictures and unfortunately don’t remember where did I get them. It was years ago! Click the images to enlarge them.

Ipê flowers:

Ipê tree:

What’s new?!

Warning: Believe it or not, my dear readers, I took a whole weekend to write this post! The Hello Kitty event I mentioned in the end, ended before I put my feet on that store! At least, I could take some nice pictures and buy some outfit . And I also watched a magic show at Avenida Paulista! There are handicraft markets and artists all over the avenue on Sundays and, sometimes, there’s a nice show to watch. I definitely love my city! Sooo ... here's the post! Enjoy!

Olá, meus queridos leitores (Hello, my dear readers!)

Yes, I'm still alive! And, yes, I'm really sorry for my absence! I've been updating my blog in Portuguese (Hidden Luna, just click the icon on the right! If you don't speak Portuguese, I'm afraid that Google Translator will give you the impression that I'm a terrible writer, who can't make sense at all! But if you're an adventurous spirit, try it! Hidden Luna is a baby and needs visits!) and just felt the need to get back to Multi Maiden. It still receives visits, despite of this long period of silence (this is so touching! Thank you so much! I would hug you, if I could!) and I feel that my dear readers miss me! I think I'm sensitive, but call me insane, if you want!

I didn't give up on Multi Maiden. I've been living a lot, lately. I'm totally in love with São Paulo! It's probably one of the best cities of this planet when it comes to entertainment! Everything happens here! I don't know the meaning of the word boredom! It's so good to be young, free to do whatever I want and have a nice group of close friends willing to go out and explore this city! Seriously, São Paulo is the love of my life! It fits completely to my personality! Of course, every place has its dark side. Temperatures rise each day, Spring is coming and it means that we, creatures of this concrete jungle, will suffer a lot in the next months, especially on Summer! We are suffering, actually. It doesn't rain and we're having problems on water distribution. The levels of the dams are very low. I still didn't face any lack of water problem. But I live in a ... kind of privileged district. By the way, it's impossible to talk (or write) about São Paulo without mentioning this huge social inequality and even a type of silent war between different social classes (sometimes not that silent ...). The elite is very powerful here and still makes the rules. So ... I enjoy the good side of this city basically because I can (don't worry, I'm a middle class woman, I definitely don't belong to the 1%!). Many things in São Paulo can be done for free. But they're still concentrated in certain districts, sometimes inaccessible to the majority of the population. Nowadays, thanks to some politics related to income distribution, people of the lower classes have more access to São Paulo (when it comes to entertainment). So, I see more and more diversity on the streets, events and tour spots, which is great, especially when there's respect! Recently, I visited the biggest book fair of the city, Bienal do Livro, which happens every two years and felt pretty happy . Not only because I could buy many books, but because I could see my people there, not only the white elite. Maybe it's necessary to repeat (for the nth time) that I have nothing against white people who made money (if they worked for it). Half of my family belongs to the white elite, many of my dearest friends too and they are great people . BUT, there is no racial democracy in Brazil. Not yet. So it's touching to see the mixed, dark skinned majority, people of the lower classes, in a book fair since those events have been completely closed to them for many many years! They couldn't be consumers in the past. Now, some of them can.

So, yes, São Paulo is still an elitist city . The cost of living here is very high and if you want high quality products and services, you need to spend a reasonable amount of money. BUT, if I have the chance to explore this city and enjoy its good side, I think it's fair to do it. Especially because I can share my experiences with you guys! Unfortunately (or fortunately) nothing is perfect. Everything has at least two sides and we need to deal with that. São Paulo is the scenery of many nice events. But manifestations, protests and conflicts happen here as well. An extremely rich person walks on Avenida Paulista while a homeless sleeps on the same avenue. It only means that this world is full of contradictions. Big cities only highlight them. The most of people who have some money here work a lot to make it (me, for instance). Not even our privileges come easy. It doesn't give to a middle or upper class person the right to hate poor people and support politics to exclude and sometimes destroy them. I think that living in a big and elitist city, is a matter of balance. I need to deal with contradictions all the time. If I avoided to go out and have fun, I wouldn't be myself. I wouldn't take the opportunities I have. And this is wrong. But I can't forget that, for now, my right is not an universal right. Things will be great when everybody has the chance I have. Meanwhile, I will express my love for São Paulo. Because it is also a beautiful place!

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Time really flies! I started this post on Friday. It's Sunday! [No, Tuesday, but I explained myself above …] So, how was your weekend, my dear readers? Mine is going well! On Friday night I went to the movies with my brother and we watched Lucy, a film by Jean Luc Besson, featuring (starring?) Scarlet Johansson and Morgan Freeman. It's a sci-fi story about a woman who gets superpowers after the accidental absorption of a very powerful drug. Little by little, she gets able to explore 100% of her brain's capacity . Very nice movie! And also deep, to people who like to think (me, for instance). Highly recommended! Here's the trailer and I really hope to upload this video here (I had problems before ...):

I spent yesterday night at Morrison, my favorite rock bar and watched a Rock Boxx concert. They're from São Paulo and play cover songs from other bands . In my opinion, they're the best band which performs at Morrison, but it wasn't a perfect night. It's complicated when people celebrate their birthday there. Lots of people who have nothing to do with the bar and not even know what are they doing there, behave in a terrible way, embarrass everybody and, sometimes, get in trouble . But usually Morrison is a very peaceful place! And nice, too .

Today there's a Hello Kitty event at a fast fashion store, called Riachuelo, located at Avenida Paulista . A Hello Kitty outfit collection for teens and adults was released and of course I will be there and buy something! I go out every single weekend. And it's so nice!^^ My life has been busy lately so sometimes it's complicated to dedicate myself to my blogs. I know, it's a mistake. We, me and you, created a connection. I will try to be here more often! But I've been just enjoying my life. I've been working and taking care of my stuff too. Many things have happened in Brazil lately. We will have elections next month. For president, senator, governor and congressmen. This subject deserves a post! It seems that people here are more interested in politics, especially the youth! This is awesome, because we lived under dictatorships for many years. Democracy is something really recent here, but for many years, people didn't use to discuss politics like they do nowadays. Maybe some miracles are happening! And we're totally recovered from the World Cup! By the way, I would like to post a picture taken ages ago, during the World Cup! From the beginning, my intention was to post it here, but ... well. This Brazilian flag, if I remember correctly, was made with paper clovers. Really nice!

So, that's all for today! I see you again soon (I hope)! Stay tuned, anyway!

Hugs,

Luna