My nephew, only 4 months old, is going to undergo surgery in about 6 hours. He has a large abscess in the underarm area, probably a reaction to the BCG vaccine* -- against tuberculosis, a disease which is making a come back in Brazil and because my brother is traveling there at the end of the year, they're vaccinating the baby now.
It shouldn't be serious, since it's just a superficial growth and it hasn't affected deep tissues or the lymph nodes. And we all hope it's not, but my brother and mainly my sister-in-law are devastated.The baby has been so so brave, only whimpering, not crying, and he's had to go for many hours without nursing, which is heart-breaking. Please keep my brother, SIL and the baby in your thoughts and prayer, OK?
* Please, anyone out there reading who is militantly against vaccines, don't come out of the woodwork, or out of cyberspace, right now to berate my family members (or me, I fully vaccinated by boys), OK? I'll simply delete your comment.
P.S. I'm having a wonderful time at the conference, but I'm just so shocked with these news that my mom shared last night all the way from NZ. As we say in Portuguese, "I'm with my heart in my hand" (estou com o coração na mão) thinking of them.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Health Care Overhaul: Not Looking Good...
I was listening to Talk of the Nation this afternoon and cringing as I heard the Solicitor General trying to defend the Individual Mandate before the Supreme Court.
It's not looking good for President Obama right now... I remember the night I watched the voting of the Health Care Law live and thought how the vote went right along party lines, but fortunately it passed in the end. I'm on pins and needles thinking that maybe the Supreme Court will strike the law down altogether.
I wonder what that means Barak Obama's chances of re-election. And, even most importantly, for millions of un- and under-insured people in this country.
Sigh. There are times in which living in this country is a real challenge for me. The worst part of all, I think is that the "other side" is so irrationally bound to their own beliefs that it is impossible to have a reasonable discussion (giving examples from other countries around the world, for instance) with anyone on that side.
Social Darwinism* is all that comes my to mind when I think of the "right" in this country. Isn't it funny that they're fiercely against Darwin and yet ardently espouse his principles when it comes to social issues? (of course they don't even know that...) sigh again...
* Used here in a general sense of the "survival of the fittest" concept which is surreptitiously present in savage capitalist mentality, not in the historic meaning linked to eugenics. Although, if one looks at the ethnic composition of the lower classes in capitalist societies, one can perhaps conclude that, however denied, the eugenic ideas seems to be "working." :(
It's not looking good for President Obama right now... I remember the night I watched the voting of the Health Care Law live and thought how the vote went right along party lines, but fortunately it passed in the end. I'm on pins and needles thinking that maybe the Supreme Court will strike the law down altogether.
I wonder what that means Barak Obama's chances of re-election. And, even most importantly, for millions of un- and under-insured people in this country.
Sigh. There are times in which living in this country is a real challenge for me. The worst part of all, I think is that the "other side" is so irrationally bound to their own beliefs that it is impossible to have a reasonable discussion (giving examples from other countries around the world, for instance) with anyone on that side.
Social Darwinism* is all that comes my to mind when I think of the "right" in this country. Isn't it funny that they're fiercely against Darwin and yet ardently espouse his principles when it comes to social issues? (of course they don't even know that...) sigh again...
* Used here in a general sense of the "survival of the fittest" concept which is surreptitiously present in savage capitalist mentality, not in the historic meaning linked to eugenics. Although, if one looks at the ethnic composition of the lower classes in capitalist societies, one can perhaps conclude that, however denied, the eugenic ideas seems to be "working." :(
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Africa (and Academia) on my Mind... (A Long Overdue Update)
Jet leg officially "left me" on Tuesday,* which, coincidentally, was the day in which I most decidedly got back "into the swing of things" and returned to my regular schedule of staying up way too late (2 am on). It was one of those days in which little things go wrong from the beginning... such being late for office hours because I needed to cook lunch for the kids and baby-sitter AND wash & dry my hair [silly new cut that I am yet to show you]), then, forgetting to print the handout and having to come back and do it in the middle of class (wait! that was on Thursday... whatever... it doesn't matter!). The funniest thing is that I spent all day Tuesday writing this blog post in my head and now it's coming out totally different. (!)
Because of the departmental conference yesterday and today, I had to stay after work to help my students rewrite their papers for our panel, so it was a pretty long day, but nothing compared to yesterday. I have to publicly thank my husband for taking on my responsibilities with the kids and the house this week, just to do it again next week when I travel on Thursday for yet another conference (my very first fully funded conference since 2003!).
After my long day, I came back home and FINALLY began grading my students' paper... I have 42 4 page papers to grade. I managed to grade 10 and unfortunately that was all I did this week, thanks to the conference. Wednesday was busy, but OK and I again stayed up way too late, this time working with my students' conference papers and preparing my creative writer pp slides (4 poems about being bilingual).
And now come the past two days... in which I lived more or less in a academic dream-like state. I joked with K that for the past 2 days we were pretending that I was a "real" full-time tt academic [how would we ever manage the kids + house if I were to be full time is beyond me!]. I spent 13 hours at the university yesterday and I participated in two panels at the conference (both poetry readings) and went to the banquet in the evening with my students after finalizing the reviews of their papers -- that was so much fun! (both the banquet and revising their papers and have one of them practice reading it as we drove from one side of campus to the other).
Last night at the banquet I had the chance to meet the speaker of a distinguished lecture who was going to join our panel this morning. He researched Brazilian art for several years and I was thrilled that he would be able to join our panel!! Really late night again, this time transforming a 20 page publication of mine into a 10 page conference presentation paper and preparing the slide show.
I still had to finish the slide show this morning, which was pretty nerve-racking, but I am delighted to report that our panel was fantastic! My students presented flawlessly -- one of them for the very first time at a conference -- and everyone had lots of good things to say about our panel. Mission accomplished!!
The department chair kept exclaiming that I participated of so many panels (I also read a famous Brazilian poem in a faculty/student poetry reading panel yesterday afternoon)!
After the presentation I spent nearly an hour talking to this woman from Kenya, who is ABD and has a fellowship to teach at our university -- in my experience here, talking to someone about my scholarly interests and my dissertation is something that hardly ever happens, so I was delighted with the opportunity.
Africa has been constantly on my mind, and even though I don't/didn't have time, I began to select the photos that I will post to fb. The timing feels very serendipitous to me because thinking of Africa and my trip precisely when I am involved with a conference in which we were talking about Africa a lot!
I could go on and on, but I'm falling asleep on my keyboard here, so I will continue later, OK?
P.S. and I didn't even mention that on Monday we didn't hire the baby sitter because I had scheduled the boys' dentist appointments for that morning and I was going to left them with K afterwards. Can you believe it that the appointments were actually for a week later, 3/26 and I had never realized it? Fortunately they had a 4:30 pm opening, but that meant the boys had to stay all day in town with us. Sigh...
* which was precisely what a friend had told me: 1 day for each hour of "lag" -- 7 hours : 7 days.
Because of the departmental conference yesterday and today, I had to stay after work to help my students rewrite their papers for our panel, so it was a pretty long day, but nothing compared to yesterday. I have to publicly thank my husband for taking on my responsibilities with the kids and the house this week, just to do it again next week when I travel on Thursday for yet another conference (my very first fully funded conference since 2003!).
After my long day, I came back home and FINALLY began grading my students' paper... I have 42 4 page papers to grade. I managed to grade 10 and unfortunately that was all I did this week, thanks to the conference. Wednesday was busy, but OK and I again stayed up way too late, this time working with my students' conference papers and preparing my creative writer pp slides (4 poems about being bilingual).
And now come the past two days... in which I lived more or less in a academic dream-like state. I joked with K that for the past 2 days we were pretending that I was a "real" full-time tt academic [how would we ever manage the kids + house if I were to be full time is beyond me!]. I spent 13 hours at the university yesterday and I participated in two panels at the conference (both poetry readings) and went to the banquet in the evening with my students after finalizing the reviews of their papers -- that was so much fun! (both the banquet and revising their papers and have one of them practice reading it as we drove from one side of campus to the other).
Last night at the banquet I had the chance to meet the speaker of a distinguished lecture who was going to join our panel this morning. He researched Brazilian art for several years and I was thrilled that he would be able to join our panel!! Really late night again, this time transforming a 20 page publication of mine into a 10 page conference presentation paper and preparing the slide show.
I still had to finish the slide show this morning, which was pretty nerve-racking, but I am delighted to report that our panel was fantastic! My students presented flawlessly -- one of them for the very first time at a conference -- and everyone had lots of good things to say about our panel. Mission accomplished!!
The department chair kept exclaiming that I participated of so many panels (I also read a famous Brazilian poem in a faculty/student poetry reading panel yesterday afternoon)!
After the presentation I spent nearly an hour talking to this woman from Kenya, who is ABD and has a fellowship to teach at our university -- in my experience here, talking to someone about my scholarly interests and my dissertation is something that hardly ever happens, so I was delighted with the opportunity.
Africa has been constantly on my mind, and even though I don't/didn't have time, I began to select the photos that I will post to fb. The timing feels very serendipitous to me because thinking of Africa and my trip precisely when I am involved with a conference in which we were talking about Africa a lot!
I could go on and on, but I'm falling asleep on my keyboard here, so I will continue later, OK?
P.S. and I didn't even mention that on Monday we didn't hire the baby sitter because I had scheduled the boys' dentist appointments for that morning and I was going to left them with K afterwards. Can you believe it that the appointments were actually for a week later, 3/26 and I had never realized it? Fortunately they had a 4:30 pm opening, but that meant the boys had to stay all day in town with us. Sigh...
* which was precisely what a friend had told me: 1 day for each hour of "lag" -- 7 hours : 7 days.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
The Very Best (not for last)
I'm just thinking that I'm plain stupid, because I just went ahead and shared the very best photo (for me) of my South Africa experience. So... if it cannot get better than that, how can I even share any of the others?
It makes perfect sense, on the other hand, 'cause who knows when I'll be able to come back and post more, it's just so impossible to decide which ones to share since there are thousands of them... thousands. So I've given you the best... first. I don't save the "best for last" here at Casa in Translation! ;) (and let me just say that it was the best for me because I love felines with all my heart).
. . .
I have tons to do, but I spent the past few hours going through the Africa photos (for facebook -- if you're there, don't miss them!). I was looking at a sequence just now and I had tears rolling down my cheeks the whole time... it's just such an amazing, sacred experience... to be able to share a few minutes of a beautiful, gorgeous wild animal's life.
We stopped to see a large group of impalas and she came, this female (according to the guide) giraffe. She stopped to check us out, but eventually crossed the road. She needed to get to the water, you see? But she took her time, since there was this strange vehicle there, and she slowly made her way to the water and drank... while we watched her, for several minutes... It was magical and I hope to share the whole sequence with you someday, but for now, here's the moment I looked into her eyes thorough my camera lens:
.JPG)
And again I have no words.
It makes perfect sense, on the other hand, 'cause who knows when I'll be able to come back and post more, it's just so impossible to decide which ones to share since there are thousands of them... thousands. So I've given you the best... first. I don't save the "best for last" here at Casa in Translation! ;) (and let me just say that it was the best for me because I love felines with all my heart).
. . .
I have tons to do, but I spent the past few hours going through the Africa photos (for facebook -- if you're there, don't miss them!). I was looking at a sequence just now and I had tears rolling down my cheeks the whole time... it's just such an amazing, sacred experience... to be able to share a few minutes of a beautiful, gorgeous wild animal's life.
We stopped to see a large group of impalas and she came, this female (according to the guide) giraffe. She stopped to check us out, but eventually crossed the road. She needed to get to the water, you see? But she took her time, since there was this strange vehicle there, and she slowly made her way to the water and drank... while we watched her, for several minutes... It was magical and I hope to share the whole sequence with you someday, but for now, here's the moment I looked into her eyes thorough my camera lens:
.JPG)
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Lion
I wish I could write more, but I have to grade, grade, grade... :(
So here's just a teaser from our trip:
because I don't have enough words to talk about what it felt like...
So here's just a teaser from our trip:
Anyone can comment (for now)
Thanks for the heads up, feMOMhist!
Well... I didn't know that people with wordpress/typepad or other accounts had had trouble commenting to blogger blogs either...
In any case, I've selected that anyone can comment here and while I really don't like anonymous comments which at times can be pretty troll-ey, I want to make it easier for people to comment. Let me know if it's easier for you to comment now, OK?
I have kept the word verification, though -- sorry! In any case, Blogger is using "captcha" style ones now, which apparently help digitize works in print, so it's doing some good, I guess.
Now... the only reason I haven't moved to wordpress is INERTIA... I'm just plain lazy. I actually have a blog there with the same name, to save it if I decide to move, but I keep staying here. Sorry about that, I know I should have switched ages ago.
I still need to figure out how to comment on some of your blogs, though...
Well... I didn't know that people with wordpress/typepad or other accounts had had trouble commenting to blogger blogs either...
In any case, I've selected that anyone can comment here and while I really don't like anonymous comments which at times can be pretty troll-ey, I want to make it easier for people to comment. Let me know if it's easier for you to comment now, OK?
I have kept the word verification, though -- sorry! In any case, Blogger is using "captcha" style ones now, which apparently help digitize works in print, so it's doing some good, I guess.
Now... the only reason I haven't moved to wordpress is INERTIA... I'm just plain lazy. I actually have a blog there with the same name, to save it if I decide to move, but I keep staying here. Sorry about that, I know I should have switched ages ago.
I still need to figure out how to comment on some of your blogs, though...
PSA: Dear Wordpress blogging friends...
... I have been unable to post comments to your blogs! I get an error message saying that my email is connected to a wordpress account (even if I use various of my emails, not connected to any wordpress accounts) and that I need to login to do it. I'm sorry about that!
I will try to figure this out, but meanwhile, I really wanted to comment on Anjali and Gradmommy latest posts, but have been unable to. Maybe I'll just email you my comments instead. :(
I will try to figure this out, but meanwhile, I really wanted to comment on Anjali and Gradmommy latest posts, but have been unable to. Maybe I'll just email you my comments instead. :(
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Still Jet Lagged
I just wanted to write another "telegraphic" post... (waitaminute, people don't use the telegraph anymore, so they? do people even know what "telegraphic" mean anymore? Nowadays I think the right adjective would be a "tweet-like" post. How depressing it is to see one's world and vocabulary becoming obsolete... sigh).
In any case... I just wanted to write another "quick post" to let you know that I am still jet lagged. In fact on the first few days I felt fine, maybe because I was working, but yesterday and today that I didn't have to work, I'm feeling so tired... even after sleeping for about 10 hours last night.
There's so much to share and so much to write about, but I'm just exhausted every night. I hope to be able to blog more significantly soon, OK?
P.S. My little cousin, who was a cute flower-girl at my wedding got married this past Thursday in Brazil. I'm really happy for her and sad that I missed the wedding...
I can't believe that I missed posting on my son's 10th birthday! :( I don't know how I can make up for that...
In any case... I just wanted to write another "quick post" to let you know that I am still jet lagged. In fact on the first few days I felt fine, maybe because I was working, but yesterday and today that I didn't have to work, I'm feeling so tired... even after sleeping for about 10 hours last night.
There's so much to share and so much to write about, but I'm just exhausted every night. I hope to be able to blog more significantly soon, OK?
P.S. My little cousin, who was a cute flower-girl at my wedding got married this past Thursday in Brazil. I'm really happy for her and sad that I missed the wedding...
I can't believe that I missed posting on my son's 10th birthday! :( I don't know how I can make up for that...
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Safe Return
A telegraphic post just to let you know that we arrived back home safe and sound. And I didn't really want to come back from Africa... sigh. The trip was that good and everything here sounds bland and boring... More later. Good night.
Thursday, March 08, 2012
Out of Africa
The trip is fantastic as it should be, but I already feel like I want to come back to Africa someday and I hope I can. Too little time, obviously.
Another thing is that I love traveling so much I wish I could just live traveling. It would be crazy and insane and that's not how life is for regular people, so I obviously can't do it, but, generally, when I'm traveling (even when I go to Brazil for a couple of months), I don't really miss home at all.
I should be in bed (we arrived at this hotel close to 11 pm and it's 2:20 am for me now), but I needed to appease my internet withdrawal symptoms which were getting out of hand (sigh). Traveling is stressful and being able to spend sometime online makes me feel sane and happy.
A few highlights of the trip so far...
We went to Sun City for a day + night and... accidentally (I'll try to share more later), K, the kids and I got to go into the Palace (some images here) and up in the "King Tower." It was close to sunset and...we didn't have a camera, obviously.
Cape Town... all of it, particularly Table Mountain and the view of the city from Robben Island & the boat.
The drive from Cape Town to Cape Point... the views, the penguins, the oceans (yes, two, though that's not accurate -- the Atlantic & the Indian), wow...
Tomorrow at 6 am (remember, it's 2:30 right now), we depart for Kruger Park for two days at a private game reserve. I hope it's as awesome as the previous 4 days!
More later!! (this is my first time online since 10 minutes on the ipad on Monday. I was unable to plug in my computer until I borrowed an adaptor from my MIL last night and in this hotel even that adaptor won't work... :(
If there's internet in the safari hotel, I promise to share a few photos since now I'm using one of the hotel's computers).
Another thing is that I love traveling so much I wish I could just live traveling. It would be crazy and insane and that's not how life is for regular people, so I obviously can't do it, but, generally, when I'm traveling (even when I go to Brazil for a couple of months), I don't really miss home at all.
I should be in bed (we arrived at this hotel close to 11 pm and it's 2:20 am for me now), but I needed to appease my internet withdrawal symptoms which were getting out of hand (sigh). Traveling is stressful and being able to spend sometime online makes me feel sane and happy.
A few highlights of the trip so far...
We went to Sun City for a day + night and... accidentally (I'll try to share more later), K, the kids and I got to go into the Palace (some images here) and up in the "King Tower." It was close to sunset and...we didn't have a camera, obviously.
Cape Town... all of it, particularly Table Mountain and the view of the city from Robben Island & the boat.
The drive from Cape Town to Cape Point... the views, the penguins, the oceans (yes, two, though that's not accurate -- the Atlantic & the Indian), wow...
Tomorrow at 6 am (remember, it's 2:30 right now), we depart for Kruger Park for two days at a private game reserve. I hope it's as awesome as the previous 4 days!
More later!! (this is my first time online since 10 minutes on the ipad on Monday. I was unable to plug in my computer until I borrowed an adaptor from my MIL last night and in this hotel even that adaptor won't work... :(
If there's internet in the safari hotel, I promise to share a few photos since now I'm using one of the hotel's computers).
Saturday, March 03, 2012
17 Hour Flight
We're about to leave for the airport. I hope we have a good flight, even though it's the 4th longest flight there is on earth.
The boys are excited because they just love flying on jet planes. :)
I'll try to blog from Africa as much as I can. Lots of people were also asking for photos on fb and I suppose I can open an exception and post there too...
P.S. I have before and after hair photos. The haircut is fantastic and goes really well with my new glasses. I couldn't post them last night because I was way too tired and today I didn't have time, but I'll do that later this week if possible.
The boys are excited because they just love flying on jet planes. :)
I'll try to blog from Africa as much as I can. Lots of people were also asking for photos on fb and I suppose I can open an exception and post there too...
P.S. I have before and after hair photos. The haircut is fantastic and goes really well with my new glasses. I couldn't post them last night because I was way too tired and today I didn't have time, but I'll do that later this week if possible.
Thursday, March 01, 2012
Because Packing for a 10 Day Trip Is Not Enough...
... I committed to bringing (home baked [vegan]) cupcakes for my sons's class tomorrow, since he won't be here on his birthday, May 9th.
... and I have to submit mid-term grades for 24 students whose papers and journals I haven't even read.
Well... at least I did piles of laundry so when we come back with 10 days of dirty clothes, I won't have to do laundry right away. Now... how am I going to find time to put away those clothes?
And the cherry on the cake? We don't leave until Saturday afternoon, but... just wait for this one. The only date the nearly 2h away clinic for vision therapy had to do my youngest son's 2h long evaluation was... you guessed it, tomorrow afternoon! At 2:30 pm!!
Because my dad is paying for the treatment and has been asking me every single time I talk to him or my mom (which is nearly every day) if I've taken L to the doctor yet and we'll meet them in Africa, I really jumped at the chance to go tomorrow.
That means that we need to be all packed and ready to leave by NOON tomorrow when we'll take the cupcakes to the boys' school and pick them up. After the doctor's visit we'll head to my brother-in-law's house in Maryland because it's 1h from the airport as opposed to 1h40 minutes from our place.
Crazy, huh? Please send positive thoughts and any free energy that you have left my way, dear friends, 'cause I'll need it!
... and I have to submit mid-term grades for 24 students whose papers and journals I haven't even read.
Well... at least I did piles of laundry so when we come back with 10 days of dirty clothes, I won't have to do laundry right away. Now... how am I going to find time to put away those clothes?
And the cherry on the cake? We don't leave until Saturday afternoon, but... just wait for this one. The only date the nearly 2h away clinic for vision therapy had to do my youngest son's 2h long evaluation was... you guessed it, tomorrow afternoon! At 2:30 pm!!
Because my dad is paying for the treatment and has been asking me every single time I talk to him or my mom (which is nearly every day) if I've taken L to the doctor yet and we'll meet them in Africa, I really jumped at the chance to go tomorrow.
That means that we need to be all packed and ready to leave by NOON tomorrow when we'll take the cupcakes to the boys' school and pick them up. After the doctor's visit we'll head to my brother-in-law's house in Maryland because it's 1h from the airport as opposed to 1h40 minutes from our place.
Crazy, huh? Please send positive thoughts and any free energy that you have left my way, dear friends, 'cause I'll need it!
Expectant place
I finished teaching my classes. In fact, it was very weird because it was only one class. For the first time in a long time none of my (six) students showed up to class (this happened before to me back in Brazil when I taught English to small groups of students). There was a misunderstanding of their part -- because I won't be for the first class after the break. I was, still am a bit upset because we're really behind, but I will request that they meet on their own outside of class and catch up...
sigh...
I feel expectant a about the trip, and a bit stressed about preparing for it, but hopefully everything will work out just fine. And I hope the haircut comes out OK too. I can post photos and then "poof" them later... ;)
Gotta go!
sigh...
I feel expectant a about the trip, and a bit stressed about preparing for it, but hopefully everything will work out just fine. And I hope the haircut comes out OK too. I can post photos and then "poof" them later... ;)
Gotta go!
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Scheduled Haircut
I just thought I'd let you know, following our previous "conversation" about this (OK, It was a conversation between me and one commenter, Ink*, and I didn't even respond to her comment but whatever.)...
...that I scheduled a haircut for tomorrow! I'm excited, though I've decided not to go radically short just yet. I'll go medium short in the back and see how I like it before going even shorter.
I need to be brave, so I thought I should blot about it to help me out! ;)
I don't know if I'll post before and after photos or not. I'm thinking I have to delete all photos of me from my blog for the sake of keeping my semi-anonymity intact. I don't want to be Dooced, you know... or something. I should have known for years that Jo(e) was right not to include faces in her blog. (sigh... pout... sigh again). I LOVE photos, though and I don't mind having photos of me taken and sharing them. I'm really upset about this issue.
OK.. gotta go now, my to-do list is so despair-inducing that I'm not even writing it here, I'm just trying to remember everything I need to do and not to panic, which is really, really hard. OK... not so hard.
I'll "publish" this silly stream of consciousness post that is probably annoying enough.
* I have to add you to my blogroll, Ink, and go read your blog too! Thanks for the comment in that post, BTW, it was oh, so helpful! And encouraging! [checking your archives]: Wow... you've been blogging for as long as I have. [checking out your first post]: Oh, OK, I'm wrong, several years longer, but you archived them. Got it.
...that I scheduled a haircut for tomorrow! I'm excited, though I've decided not to go radically short just yet. I'll go medium short in the back and see how I like it before going even shorter.
I need to be brave, so I thought I should blot about it to help me out! ;)
I don't know if I'll post before and after photos or not. I'm thinking I have to delete all photos of me from my blog for the sake of keeping my semi-anonymity intact. I don't want to be Dooced, you know... or something. I should have known for years that Jo(e) was right not to include faces in her blog. (sigh... pout... sigh again). I LOVE photos, though and I don't mind having photos of me taken and sharing them. I'm really upset about this issue.
OK.. gotta go now, my to-do list is so despair-inducing that I'm not even writing it here, I'm just trying to remember everything I need to do and not to panic, which is really, really hard. OK... not so hard.
I'll "publish" this silly stream of consciousness post that is probably annoying enough.
* I have to add you to my blogroll, Ink, and go read your blog too! Thanks for the comment in that post, BTW, it was oh, so helpful! And encouraging! [checking your archives]: Wow... you've been blogging for as long as I have. [checking out your first post]: Oh, OK, I'm wrong, several years longer, but you archived them. Got it.
"The City of Samba" -- An Amazing View of Carnaval by Jarbas Agnelli
I have already featured Jarbas Agnelli's work on this blog (remember the song about birds on wires? This is well worth checking out if you haven't already).
This is his latest production, based on footage from last year (2011)'s samba-school carnaval parade in Rio de Janeiro (desfile das escolas de samba). I'm definitely sending a link of this video for all my students! I hope you enjoy it!
The City of Samba from Jarbas Agnelli on Vimeo.
Tilt shift of the Carnaval party in Rio de Janeiro.
Made by Keith Loutit and Jarbas Agnelli.
Captured during Carnaval of 2011.
Music by Jarbas Agnelli.
Special thanks to Rede Globo, Liesa and Jodele Larcher.
keithloutit.com
adstudio.com.br
This is his latest production, based on footage from last year (2011)'s samba-school carnaval parade in Rio de Janeiro (desfile das escolas de samba). I'm definitely sending a link of this video for all my students! I hope you enjoy it!
The City of Samba from Jarbas Agnelli on Vimeo.
Tilt shift of the Carnaval party in Rio de Janeiro.
Made by Keith Loutit and Jarbas Agnelli.
Captured during Carnaval of 2011.
Music by Jarbas Agnelli.
Special thanks to Rede Globo, Liesa and Jodele Larcher.
keithloutit.com
adstudio.com.br
The Grant-Writer Scientist's Wife
It's only my husband's 2nd year as in a tenure-track job and I'm already getting tired of all the grant writing. And this is because the real deal (applying for NSF & other agencies) hasn't even started yet, these are his "trial runs" with university and state sponsored grants.
The thing is, preparing for teaching at the beginning or one's career does take hours upon hours (over 10 hours [mostly at home] each week for him, not counting grading, office hours, etc.) and when you add time at the university teaching, trying to run the lab, etc.... if you add grant writing to the equation, wow... there's one busy professor! So... in anticipation of his upcoming deadline and also our trip, K is pulling an all-nighter at the university. Sigh.
Digression: Why am I still up, BTW? Well, my youngest son asked me to lay down with him and I "dozed on an off" for about 2 hours. I got up at 12:45 and then spent one whole hour cleaning the kitchen (which totally made me want to have domestic help) and one whole hour answering email, and wasting precious minutes of my life on facebook (gotta hate that, but it sure is nice to be in touch with a few people -- I should unsubscribe from a lot of others).
But back to the subject at hand, this feels very similar to what it felt to be the wife of a newly-started-in-the-lab wannabe-scientist graduate student husband (with a crazy army trained Israeli post-doc as a vice-boss). K spent many nights in the lab running experiments back in 1999. I'm glad he moved to a different lab later and then he only pulled various all-nighters right before the annual conference in his field.
All right, I should go sort the laundry and try to pack my bag for the trip a little more and... hopefully sleep.
Should I disclose that I was supposed to be grading now and pulling my own all-nighter? It goes without saying that this is the last thing I want to do in the world, so I'm procrastinating like I always do. No wonder my sons left their work on their school project that is due tomorrow for the last minute as well (hence the late bedtime, hence the exhausted parent who had to help them write their reports). A pathetic family of procrastinators, we are. Sigh.
Not my poor husband, though! He's been working on this grant literally for years... He's come a long, long way from those days as a dedicated graduate student and I'm sure all his efforts will pay off in the end, but it will take many more nights of patient wifely waiting for that to happen!
Edited to add: K got home less than 10 minutes after I posted this (3:14), yay! I get to talk to my husband! And I hope he gets this grant.
The thing is, preparing for teaching at the beginning or one's career does take hours upon hours (over 10 hours [mostly at home] each week for him, not counting grading, office hours, etc.) and when you add time at the university teaching, trying to run the lab, etc.... if you add grant writing to the equation, wow... there's one busy professor! So... in anticipation of his upcoming deadline and also our trip, K is pulling an all-nighter at the university. Sigh.
Digression: Why am I still up, BTW? Well, my youngest son asked me to lay down with him and I "dozed on an off" for about 2 hours. I got up at 12:45 and then spent one whole hour cleaning the kitchen (which totally made me want to have domestic help) and one whole hour answering email, and wasting precious minutes of my life on facebook (gotta hate that, but it sure is nice to be in touch with a few people -- I should unsubscribe from a lot of others).
But back to the subject at hand, this feels very similar to what it felt to be the wife of a newly-started-in-the-lab wannabe-scientist graduate student husband (with a crazy army trained Israeli post-doc as a vice-boss). K spent many nights in the lab running experiments back in 1999. I'm glad he moved to a different lab later and then he only pulled various all-nighters right before the annual conference in his field.
All right, I should go sort the laundry and try to pack my bag for the trip a little more and... hopefully sleep.
Should I disclose that I was supposed to be grading now and pulling my own all-nighter? It goes without saying that this is the last thing I want to do in the world, so I'm procrastinating like I always do. No wonder my sons left their work on their school project that is due tomorrow for the last minute as well (hence the late bedtime, hence the exhausted parent who had to help them write their reports). A pathetic family of procrastinators, we are. Sigh.
Not my poor husband, though! He's been working on this grant literally for years... He's come a long, long way from those days as a dedicated graduate student and I'm sure all his efforts will pay off in the end, but it will take many more nights of patient wifely waiting for that to happen!
Edited to add: K got home less than 10 minutes after I posted this (3:14), yay! I get to talk to my husband! And I hope he gets this grant.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
It's OBVIOUS that a roaring Samba wouldn't win!!!
I will say one thing about the Oscars... I thought it was ridiculous that only TWO songs were nominated for best songs -- the only "Brazilian Oscar nod" this year (Rio's "Real in Rio"), but when I googled the question, Rolling Stone magazine had the answer (two many songs initially nominated -- 39, so only two got enough votes to make the cut).
In any case, Real in Rio isn't even the best song in Rio (my sons were listening to the soundtrack in Spotify everyday two weeks ago), but it is one with pretty authentic samba drumming and rhythm. So... yeah, OF COURSE it wouldn't win!!
"Am I a Man or a Muppet?" is feels WAY more familiar and American (thus comforting, and not "the other"), so... of COURSE it was going to win...
Here's a link to a Youtube video of it (embedding disabled).
So... are you a man or a muppet? I prefer to be a Brazilian... ;)
In any case, Real in Rio isn't even the best song in Rio (my sons were listening to the soundtrack in Spotify everyday two weeks ago), but it is one with pretty authentic samba drumming and rhythm. So... yeah, OF COURSE it wouldn't win!!
"Am I a Man or a Muppet?" is feels WAY more familiar and American (thus comforting, and not "the other"), so... of COURSE it was going to win...
Here's a link to a Youtube video of it (embedding disabled).
So... are you a man or a muppet? I prefer to be a Brazilian... ;)
Utterly Frustrated: I CANNOT watch the Oscars
I guess this is the first time in many years in which I won't get to watch the Oscars. And was almost positive that I'd watched it online before in the past, but maybe I was wrong. Or maybe the rules for online live-streaming change every year. And this year is a "nay" year for Academy Awards online streaming.
In any case... I have been watching the Oscars live for many many years, even when it aired really late in Brazil (2 hours ahead of the U.S. right now). I think the first time I watched the whole broadcast was during my senior year of high school, 1989. I went to bed sooooo late, it was crazy! But I totally loved it.
(Slightly unrelated subject: You may not know this, but I am a night person and have always been).
More related to the subject... I have always been a big fan of movies, even though I never watched a lot of them (and when I did, it was only on video or on TV). I always read film reviews (in the São Paulo edition of the Brazilian national news magazine Veja, in the cinema section) and invariable followed which films won Academy Awards so I could watch them if they interested me. Another BIG motivator to watch the Oscars was to see clips of the nominated films and performers, so I could get a glimpse of what they were, even though I probably would never get to watch them. I felt it was part of my "getting to know what's going on in the world" strategy.
Now, the problem is that I want to watch the Oscars every year, but I do NOT watch any TV and I cannot possibly pay for a cable or satellite subscription only to watch live events a few times a year (thankfully I'll be in Brazil for the Olympic Games this year*) [side note, we would probably have the "antenna cable" of about 14 dollars if we had comcast, but this house is subjected to a HORRIBLE local company owned by Sprint, so they are totally to blame for this fiasco tonight. :(] So... yeah... frustration.
I even live blogged the Academy Awards (with LisaV) back in 2008 -- ha! I saw La Vie En Rose (LOVED it!, but still haven't seen Dream Girls, should I?).
Anyway... I don't know if abc picks up well here in this town. All I know is that the first thing I'll do when we finally buy a new TV (ours is from 1996, can you believe it?) is to get an antenna and figure out whether we can get anything over the air... Sigh.
I wish I could be happy that I'm not wasting my time, but instead of doing something useful, all I'm doing now is writing this post and moping. BLAH. I will get started with our packing for the trip right now! Promise!
Sorry for being so annoyingly frustrated!
P.S. I was equally frustrated about the Super Bowl (which this "mashable" site tells me way too late WAS available streaming online) -- and in the end I was glad I didn't watch because the Patriots lost (I lived in MA for 8 years, peeps, my first state in this country, my sons were born there... that state has my allegiance, sorry!) AND about the Grammys. BLAH!!!!! :(
* I think I may have mentioned my OUTRAGE with the Olympic Games coverage in this country in this blog before, maybe I'll write more about that later this year.
In any case... I have been watching the Oscars live for many many years, even when it aired really late in Brazil (2 hours ahead of the U.S. right now). I think the first time I watched the whole broadcast was during my senior year of high school, 1989. I went to bed sooooo late, it was crazy! But I totally loved it.
(Slightly unrelated subject: You may not know this, but I am a night person and have always been).
More related to the subject... I have always been a big fan of movies, even though I never watched a lot of them (and when I did, it was only on video or on TV). I always read film reviews (in the São Paulo edition of the Brazilian national news magazine Veja, in the cinema section) and invariable followed which films won Academy Awards so I could watch them if they interested me. Another BIG motivator to watch the Oscars was to see clips of the nominated films and performers, so I could get a glimpse of what they were, even though I probably would never get to watch them. I felt it was part of my "getting to know what's going on in the world" strategy.
Now, the problem is that I want to watch the Oscars every year, but I do NOT watch any TV and I cannot possibly pay for a cable or satellite subscription only to watch live events a few times a year (thankfully I'll be in Brazil for the Olympic Games this year*) [side note, we would probably have the "antenna cable" of about 14 dollars if we had comcast, but this house is subjected to a HORRIBLE local company owned by Sprint, so they are totally to blame for this fiasco tonight. :(] So... yeah... frustration.
I even live blogged the Academy Awards (with LisaV) back in 2008 -- ha! I saw La Vie En Rose (LOVED it!, but still haven't seen Dream Girls, should I?).
Anyway... I don't know if abc picks up well here in this town. All I know is that the first thing I'll do when we finally buy a new TV (ours is from 1996, can you believe it?) is to get an antenna and figure out whether we can get anything over the air... Sigh.
I wish I could be happy that I'm not wasting my time, but instead of doing something useful, all I'm doing now is writing this post and moping. BLAH. I will get started with our packing for the trip right now! Promise!
Sorry for being so annoyingly frustrated!
P.S. I was equally frustrated about the Super Bowl (which this "mashable" site tells me way too late WAS available streaming online) -- and in the end I was glad I didn't watch because the Patriots lost (I lived in MA for 8 years, peeps, my first state in this country, my sons were born there... that state has my allegiance, sorry!) AND about the Grammys. BLAH!!!!! :(
* I think I may have mentioned my OUTRAGE with the Olympic Games coverage in this country in this blog before, maybe I'll write more about that later this year.
A Week of Firsts, Part II (Stephen Sondheim!!!)
I discovered years and years ago... 23 years, to be more precise, that Stephen Sondheim was a brilliant musician* (I blogged about my favorite song EVER, "Send in the Clowns" here), but it took me all these years to finally see one of his musicals, isn't that crazy?
Nah... not really. I couldn't really afford it earlier, so I'm at peace with it, why regret something I cannot change? I just hope that now that I've seen my first, others will follow. Perhaps even on Broadway someday. A girl's gotta dream, right? ;)
It was this musical and it was an amazing production!! The best part of it is that I knew two of the songs really well ("Pretty Women" and "Not While I'm Around"), but I had no idea of the context in which their appeared -- AWESOME! And I didn't know the details of the plot, so I was surprised and moved at the end.
OK, I can't stop gushing about this, so I will just close with a clip of when Sondheim was interviewed by Stephen Colbert. Don't miss the "Send in the Clows" conclusion:
Fun, huh?
*He's both a lyricist and composer and in his best works he does both.
Nah... not really. I couldn't really afford it earlier, so I'm at peace with it, why regret something I cannot change? I just hope that now that I've seen my first, others will follow. Perhaps even on Broadway someday. A girl's gotta dream, right? ;)
It was this musical and it was an amazing production!! The best part of it is that I knew two of the songs really well ("Pretty Women" and "Not While I'm Around"), but I had no idea of the context in which their appeared -- AWESOME! And I didn't know the details of the plot, so I was surprised and moved at the end.
OK, I can't stop gushing about this, so I will just close with a clip of when Sondheim was interviewed by Stephen Colbert. Don't miss the "Send in the Clows" conclusion:
The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive
*He's both a lyricist and composer and in his best works he does both.
A Week of Firsts, Part I
The first "first" is so prosaic I even considered not blogging it, but... since this is a "mommy" blog, I decided to go for it in the end! ;)
This past Monday was the very first day EVER we had a "baby-sitter" (the grandmother of my son's classmate who lives in the street at the back of our house) come to our house to take care of the boys for several hours. We have left them with friends before (generally at our friends' houses), even overnight, and, of course, with my parents and in-laws both at our house and their in Brazil. However, I had never let them with an actual sitter, an acquaintance who had never been to our house. This week they had two days off from school and it was a big hassle, so we had no choice but hire a sitter! We anticipate that their Spring Break (which will be a busy week for us) will be even worse! We've already asked the "Neighbor Granny" to help again!
It felt strange, it really did, to leave and wonder what the kids would be doing and how that lady would handle being with them (and her grand-daughter) at our house for so many hours. Obviously, everything had gone smoothly, my youngest son had done his homework and they had all played games together and watched videos only after lunch as I had recommended. It seems like they all enjoyed it and the granddaughter (who lives with her mom and grandma and sees her dad and two older half-brothers every other weekend), didn't want to leave, particularly because she loved playing with the cats. I think they will all have a good time on Spring Break!
I had prepared plenty of food (rice and beans & some veggies) ahead of time and when I came back, "Neighbor Granny" had washed the dishes and said the only reason she hadn't cleaned my (dirty) stove was that she couldn't find S.O.S. pads... and I felt glad she hadn't. You see, even after having grown up with people helping my mom our household all my life, I've never had anyone help me at my own house and I've grown more and more unaccustomed to the idea, to the point that I feel strange and somewhat bothered by it when I go to Brazil.
It does make perfect sense to have help, though, particularly when I think of both of my parents working full time (or more than full time since my dad was both boarding school chaplain + church pastor [which included building a church over a period of 4 years]). Now that I'm working almost the equivalent of a full-time professor and I'm getting home so tired that I often don't have the energy to cook, let alone clean, etc. So... yeah, it would be great to have help. I don't know if we'll ever go ahead and hire it, though... (and we obviously can't afford it either! ;)
Well... I don't like this post, but I'll post it anyway... :P
This past Monday was the very first day EVER we had a "baby-sitter" (the grandmother of my son's classmate who lives in the street at the back of our house) come to our house to take care of the boys for several hours. We have left them with friends before (generally at our friends' houses), even overnight, and, of course, with my parents and in-laws both at our house and their in Brazil. However, I had never let them with an actual sitter, an acquaintance who had never been to our house. This week they had two days off from school and it was a big hassle, so we had no choice but hire a sitter! We anticipate that their Spring Break (which will be a busy week for us) will be even worse! We've already asked the "Neighbor Granny" to help again!
It felt strange, it really did, to leave and wonder what the kids would be doing and how that lady would handle being with them (and her grand-daughter) at our house for so many hours. Obviously, everything had gone smoothly, my youngest son had done his homework and they had all played games together and watched videos only after lunch as I had recommended. It seems like they all enjoyed it and the granddaughter (who lives with her mom and grandma and sees her dad and two older half-brothers every other weekend), didn't want to leave, particularly because she loved playing with the cats. I think they will all have a good time on Spring Break!
I had prepared plenty of food (rice and beans & some veggies) ahead of time and when I came back, "Neighbor Granny" had washed the dishes and said the only reason she hadn't cleaned my (dirty) stove was that she couldn't find S.O.S. pads... and I felt glad she hadn't. You see, even after having grown up with people helping my mom our household all my life, I've never had anyone help me at my own house and I've grown more and more unaccustomed to the idea, to the point that I feel strange and somewhat bothered by it when I go to Brazil.
It does make perfect sense to have help, though, particularly when I think of both of my parents working full time (or more than full time since my dad was both boarding school chaplain + church pastor [which included building a church over a period of 4 years]). Now that I'm working almost the equivalent of a full-time professor and I'm getting home so tired that I often don't have the energy to cook, let alone clean, etc. So... yeah, it would be great to have help. I don't know if we'll ever go ahead and hire it, though... (and we obviously can't afford it either! ;)
Well... I don't like this post, but I'll post it anyway... :P
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