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29/09/2007
Monks protests in Myanmar
17:30 Posted in Snapshots | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
27/09/2007
The Uzupis constitution
A friend of mine has left Paris for a long journey towards Asia. She stayed a few days in Vilnius, Lituany and that's how I discovered the auto-proclamed republic of Uzupis, a village near Vilnius, mostly populated with artists. The republic exists since 1997, it has a constitution, and Franck Zappa is their mentor.
Here is the constitution:
1. Everyone has the right to live by the River Vilnelė, while the River Vilnelė has the right to flow by everyone.
2. Everyone has the right to hot water, heating in winter and a tiled roof.
3. Everyone has the right to die, but this is not an obligation.
4. Everyone has the right to make mistakes.
5. Everyone has the right to be unique.
6. Everyone has the right to love.
7. Everyone has the right to be not loved, but not necessarily.
8. Everyone has the right to be undistinguished and unknown.
9. Everyone has the right to idle.
10. Everyone has the right to love and take care of a cat.
11. Everyone has the right to look after a dog untill one of them dies.
12. A dog has the right to be a dog.
13. A cat is not obliged to love its master, but it must help him in time of need.
14. Sometimes everyone has the right to be unaware of their duties.
15. Everyone has the right to be in doubt, but this is not an obligation.
16. Everyone has the right to be happy.
17. Everyone has the right to be unhappy.
18. Everyone has the right to be silent.
19. Everyone has the right to have faith.
20. No one has the right to violence.
21. Everyone has the right to appreciate their unimportance.
22. Everyone has the right to have a design on eternity.
23. Everyone has the right to understand.
24. Everyone has the right to understand nothing.
25. Everyone has the right to be of any nationality.
26. Everyone has the right to celebrate or not celebrate their birthday.
27. Everyone shall remember their name.
28. Everyone may share what he possesses.
29. No one can share what they do not possess.
30. Everyone has the right to have brothers, sisters and parents.
31. Everyone may be independent.
32. Everyone is responsible for their freedom.
33. Everyone has the right to cry.
34. Everyone has the right to be misunderstood.
35. No one has the right to make another person guilty.
36. Everyone has the right to be individual.
37. Everyone has the right to have no rights.
38. Everyone has the right to not to be afraid.
39. Do not defeat.
40. Do not fight back.
41. Do not surrender.
09:42 Posted in Snapshots , Stories to think about | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
25/09/2007
Moon Festival
According to the Chinese calendar, today is the Moon festival, the 8th moon of the year, corresponding to the entrance in the autumn. Tonight the full moon is supposed to be the brightest and the most beautiful of the year. The full moon is also the symbol of the gathering of family and friends. It's the tradition to go out after dinner with family and friends by a lake or a river to admire the moon in the water...
Today the sky is all grey and cloudy in Paris, but still there is a picnic scheduled with friends on the bank of the river Seine, probably the most beautiful spot in Paris. With a few drinks, we might be able to see the moon...
16:55 Posted in Snapshots | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
20/09/2007
It's so precious to have a friend
Even a piece of paper is lighter if two people carry it.
Korean proverb
Thank you Marco.
17:50 Posted in Quotes & Aphorisms | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
19/09/2007
3 years
Three years ago, Sept 17, I woke up in Paris to realise that I would be living here from now on, having left Lisbon and my life in Portugal behind me. Fifteen years abroad is a long time and coming "home" is not so easy. In fact there is no home anymore and practically everything is to be started anew.
Starting with the language. Even though French is my mother tongue, I had to get used to speak it all day long, and with French speakers, to learn new expressions, trying to figure out what those new slang words mean... Even today some words come easier in English or in Portuguese, and I can't remember the French equivalent.
Then friends... that's the hard part and for the first two years I felt quite lonely. Hopefully last september a new internet site, Peuplade, was launched for the Paris area. Not a dating site, but a meeting site, where everybody can share his activities with others. I met many different persons through this site, and a good part of my weekly schedule is filled with Peuplade activities, from eating out to running in the park.
And for the rest... step by step I take my marks in Paris. I still don't have an appartment on my own, but I know it will come on time, or not. The job situation is still not what I would like it to be, but I'm working on it. And I still enjoy walking the streets of Paris, so beautiful sometimes, I still enjoy the museums, the movies theaters, the concerts and the many opportunities offered to the lucky ones living in this beautiful city.
13:21 Posted in Snapshots | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
17/09/2007
Chinese proverb
He who knows he does not know, educate him.
He who knows he knows, listen to him.
He who does not know he knows, enlighten him.
He who does not know he does not know, get away from him.
11:36 Posted in Quotes & Aphorisms | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
13/09/2007
Up and down
It's strange how simple evocations, simple images or scenes can really knock me down. It just happened this afternoon, as I went to the cinema for a movie that was supposed to be a comedy. The global atmosphere of the story, some dialogues landing deep in my memory, a few gestures I miss, the personnality of some characters, the lead actor reminding me a dear familiar face... and I came out really down, down, down... almost sick about my life. Hopefully outside the sun was chilly but comforting, and soon after friends were waiting for me to go to a Johnny Clegg concert. And I sang, and I shouted, and I danced, happy again.
Up and down...
22:50 Posted in Snapshots | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
11/09/2007
Identity
12:05 Posted in Quotes & Aphorisms | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
06/09/2007
Tribute to Rajasthan
After 2 weeks in grey Paris, I miss the cheerful colours of Rajasthan...
16:40 Posted in Beautiful India , Music of the month | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
03/09/2007
About India
India is a curious place that still preserves the past, religions, and its history. No matter how modern India becomes, it is still very much an old country.
Anita Desai, Indian novelist
16:45 Posted in Quotes & Aphorisms | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this