Author: ana

about me

framboise mint choc

500

currently browsing the colors and patterns on colourlovers.com, and falling in love with their names. somehow “vintage mount dew”, “vampire dribble”, “Ursus horribilis”, “tomato sneaking out” or “tummy ache” all make sense as colors, at least as soon as you see them. :)

also on the subject, how cool is this collection of 500 coloring pencils?
aurora_4

and of course, impossibly expensive at $33/batch of 25 crayons/month. also, who would have the courage to actually use such a perfect collection? sigh.

just life traveling

could you act human? i got neighbors.

well, crazy july is behind us, all the pinkness of building a website for young teenage girls fading with it. i css’d while listening to hannah montana, the jonas brothers and taylor swift, corrupting whatever poor sense of musical taste i had before (and dragging down those around me too!). i saw twilight, and then read (practically devoured) the 4 books and a half that stephenie meyer wrote on the series – all in the same week. i’m up to speed on all the cute idols for <16, their schedules and mischiefs. for a whole month, i was a giddy teenager all over again, but i actually had a lot of fun doing the site, and the last 2 weeks were pretty intense. i wish i could slip into this sort of focused working mode more often.

the website is a sort of portal, so it required a big infrastructure: drupal was our “community plumbing” system of choice. drupal can be quite messy and scary, with its panoply of modules, options and versions and it took me some time (months, actually) to get used to it, to motivate myself to learn it. right now, i can say i got over most of my grudges with it… and i even like it, a little. that stuff might not be straightforward, but sure as hell is powerful and i will probably use it again someday, if another big project comes along. for the small stuff, wordpress has my undying loyalty.

on other news, our dealer found us a nice focus station wagon that we’ll officially purchase soon, as soon as we figure out insurances and other details. it’s pretty, and i’m already used to it since my family currently owns 2 of these. we weren’t pushing for a third one, but i think i’m secretly happy it turned out that way :)

it’s a nice car and though it is a little big for us, the size of the trunk comforts me, and i find myself making mental lists of the things we’ll be able to fit there. things like foldable bikes to use in the cities we’ll see, and ski/snowboard equipment. i’ve tried snowboarding once before, in a indoors place in shanghai and loved the feeling of it, so i’m looking forward for new tries (and falls). i think we’ll pick a nice country for that. :)

Post author By ana
Post date August 4, 2009
5 Comments on could you act human? i got neighbors.

just life rants

looking for plan b

currently floating in a sea of drupal modules and dreaming of winning the jackpot and building a spacious loft, with minimalist decoration and lots of windows. also, of doing some sort of masters in online journalism/documentary. and a website about quirky european roadtrip stops (why should americans have all the fun?!).

i daydream way too often.

in portugal just life

june family gathering

once a year, around my grandpa’s birthday, the family gets together to celebrate. my mom has 7 brothers and sisters, all married and with kids, and some of my cousins now have kids as well… more people than we can sit at a table :)

it was the first time in 3 years that i was actually around to attend the party, so there were 3 new additions to the family that i had yet to meet, the smallest of which was just 1 week old :)

in typical portuguese fashion, there’s enough food to feast a full orchestra and plenty of house wine. the party drags itself into the night when we end up singing happy birthday to a sleepy grandpa :)

it’s a recent tradition, put in place by my mother, who by the way is the most unstoppable creature on earth. she has been holding on 2 jobs ever since she graduated, and all this while raising 2 kids and doing a second masters. she’s just been assigned to coordinate the nurses in the infectious & contagious diseases ward of the hospital (smack in the middle of the h1n1 crisis, no less). i cannot tell in words how immensely proud i am of this little stubborn creature and all she has accomplished :)

in portugal photography traveling

s. leonardo da galafura

À proa dum navio de penedos,
A navegar num doce mar de mosto,
Capitão no seu posto
De comando,
S. Leonardo vai sulcando
As ondas
Da eternidade,
Sem pressa de chegar ao seu destino.
Ancorado e feliz no cais humano,
É num antecipado desengano
Que ruma em direcção ao cais divino.

Lá não terá socalcos
Nem vinhedos
Na menina dos olhos deslumbrados;
Doiros desaguados
Serão charcos de luz
Envelhecida;
Rasos, todos os montes
Deixarão prolongar os horizontes
Até onde se extinga a cor da vida.

Por isso, é devagar que se aproxima
Da bem-aventurança.
É lentamente que o rabelo avança
Debaixo dos seus pés de marinheiro.
E cada hora a mais que gasta no caminho
É um sorvo a mais de cheiro
A terra e a rosmaninho!

Miguel Torga

At the bow of a ship of cliffs,
Sailing in a sea of sweet wort,
Captain in his place
Of command,
S. Leonardo plows
The waves
Of eternity,
No hurry to get to his destination.
Anchored and happy at the human port,
It is in an early disillusion
That he sails towards the divine port.

There will not be terraces
Nor vineyards
In the girls’ dazzled eyes;
Rivers flowing
Will be ponds of light
Aged;
Shallow, all the mountains
Will let the horizons extend
Until where the color of life is extinguished.

Therefore, it slowly approaches
Bliss.
It is slowly that the boat moves
Under his sailor feet.
And every extra hour it spends on the way
It’s an extra sip of scent
Of earth and rosemary!

Miguel Torga

hard task for me, almost impossible to translate this poem of Torga, without using all the twists the portuguese language offers. it’s about a specific peek on a hill in the margins of the douro river, called s. leonardo, or, the ‘terrace of the douro’.

compulsory high school portuguese literature, the meaning of the poem is much better captured when you’re up there, surrounded with vineyards on hills that resemble waves. this is the landscape of the “alto douro vinhateiro”, the region where porto wine is produced.

a truly magic (non-planned) roadtrip stop :)