a rapariga do alfinete

Six floors Waterstones at Picadilly and Charing Cross' bookshops...? Seriously?! Someone should drag me out of here...as soon as possible!

Guess what is the only thing I bought in London: books, of course! Just found a book written by one of my favourite authors: 'Oleander, Jacaranda' by Penelope Lively. And tomorrow I'll be collecting from Picadilly Waterstones Jesse Eisenberg's works, another of my favourites. Yupppppiiiiiie!

What am I thinking of...? After reading the news, I'm thinking I feel a huge relief for having chosen London to fly to this morning. Because the other option when I booked last December was Brussels. And I'm also thinking that just twenty months ago, exactly at that time of morning, I was the person standing in a queue precisely at the place where the bombs were set off. No one is safe. Ever. Anywhere. Life is such a precious gift to be wasted this way. My thoughts go out to all in suffering, wherever they are, in Europe, in Africa, in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world. That's what I'm thinking of tonight.

Leaving on an early flight to London with my parents: it's their first time visiting London. And guess what: my packing is done...already! I'm feeling very awkward right now. Or something.

I absolutely love when people seated behind me in the cinema just sing along the chorus -and actually almost all the lyrics - of unimaginable pop songs...out loud! How the hell can I be so unlucky when it comes to choosing cinema seats?! Breathe, Sandra, just breathe. Or what.

O ramo que o meu sobrinho e afilhado Afonso me ofereceu hoje. Foi escolhido por ele.  Simples e tão bonito!  Como as alegrias que ele me dá. 

Everybody who knows me also knows I simply adore my three nephews. But today I was given a very special present. My 5 year old nephew, Afonso, had his first piano public solo performance in the music school. He played so well and he had so much fun! I couldn't help smiling when he played 'London bridge is falling down': it has been his favourite song for such a long time. And he made me the proudest of all the aunts in the world!

Back to insanely compulsive reading. German class homework not done so far. Crocheting is a lot slower (I guess it's hard to turn the pages and crochet at the same time...). Speaking on the phone has been brought down to a minimum. And even dinner - a rather quick dinner - was done with a book on my hand. I knew this would happen again. I just knew. I'd just have to find the right book.

...and the second means going south: for a festival.

Port wine and chocolate taste first. And now sushi at the first market. Most likely a Japan holiday this summer!

Absolutely in love with her work. There is a lot more to explore.

Uma conversa muito interessante, com excertos escritos  aqui  e a entrevista em formato integral aqui . Ah, e é maravilhosa a frase com que Gloria Steinem termina e que não podia ser nada menos que perfeita  “Never, never, never give up. And remember to dance a little.”

Há algum tempo que não lia um livro de fio a pavio sofregamente.  Sem parar. Nem mesmo para respirar. Fundo, pelo menos. Ou foi o que me pareceu. A leitura como a escrita: alucinante, a um ritmo que nos prende e não nos deixa ir. Mesmo que estejamos cheios de frio e não queiramos sequer abrir uma manta para colocar nas pernas. Porque isso significa perder alguns segundos. E aquelas palavras, escritas há tantos mas tantos anos, não podem esperar agora. Nem pela manta, nem pelo chá, nem sequer por despir o casaco comprido com que nos sentámos no sofá. Noventa e três páginas maravilhosas. Seguir-se-ão mais, espero eu. Porque a obra da primeira mulher a quem foi atribuído o Nobel da Literatura tem muito por onde seguir, neste caminho que hoje abri. Porque volto a ser a criança de seis anos, sentada nas escadas do sótão da casa dos meus avós, quando fecho o livro que li de uma assentada, com um sorriso nos lábios, de mão ainda pousada na contracapa...

Unreal expectations: just go and maybe see if I can find something good. The real outcome: John Updike, Tennessee Williams, Alberto Pimenta, JP Simões & André Carrilho, more John Updike, Enrique Vila-Matas and André Malraux. Oh, and some more Rudyard Kipling, Henry James, José Luís Peixoto and Selma Lagerlöf. Damn, I don't even know which one do I read first.

(retirada, tal como o texto, do artigo publicado no site The Reading Room) Harper Lee , the author  To Kill a Mockingbird  and  Go Set a Watchman , was famous for her reclusive nature. But before withdrawing entirely from media attention in the mid-60s, Lee gave a rare interview for WQXR, a New York radio station. Now, that interview is available to the public through UCLA. UCLA’s archive doesn’t allow us to embed the interview, but you can listen to it right now by clicking on  this link . In the 11-minute interview with Roy Newquist, Harper Lee discusses her surprise at the success of   To Kill a Mockingbird   and hints at a new novel, which would never arrive (Lee’s only other novel, 2015's  Go Set a Watchman , was actually written before   To Kill a Mockingbird ). This interview is one of only a few ever given by Lee. It appears in print in Newquist’s autobiography, and the print version is available in various corners of th...

SE DIZES NÃO É PORQUE TENS RAZÃO Uma sessão inspirada num pensamento do poeta Tristan Tzara, um dos iniciadores do Dadaísmo. Muita poesia, música, novo circo e a imagem de Bárbara Assis Pacheco, com seis momentos muito intensos.  Teresa Coutinho lê Antonin Artaud e Albano Jerónimo lê um fragmento de “Nojo”, um livro de Cláudia Lucas Chéu, que também estará presente na sessão. Num outro momento de leitura, o actor António Fonseca lê Miguel Cardoso. Um concerto hipnótico (poesia e taças tibetanas) protagonizado pelo performer Paulo Condessa, seguido de um inesperado momento de novo circo por António Oliveira, da companhia Radar 360º. Por fim, a música da banda “Lavoisier” composta por Patrícia Relvas (voz) e Roberto Afonso (voz e guitarra), projecto nascido em Berlim, que readapta e transforma temas conhecidos da música popular portuguesa.​