My photo frame wall gallery - amateur

I make it a point to state that this decorative act of picture hanging is thoroughly amateur. It is my first attempt at some serious hole making in our first abode.

Hence, I shall go forth and tell on how I came up with this arrangement.

Many an afternoon I have spent googling my way into this endeavour. But the links which stuck were the following:

http://laurenconrad.com/blog/2012/05/picture-perfect-how-to-hang-a-wall-collage-gallery/ ...where I learnt about using butcher paper to make a draft of the gallery on the wall and how to ensure that nails are properly measured otherwise your measurements in between won't tally (thus making it look shabby).

http://rk.pbimgs.com/pbimgs/rk/images/i/201405/0004/images/shop/pip_pdfs/Gallery_Frames.pdf ...where I learnt about the different formats of the wall gallery.

However, when I googled my specific case in particular, that is, a wall gallery which would hang above a sofa I knew I had to look further than the above formats. And that is how I came upon: http://oakridgerevival.blogspot.com.br/2013/02/updated-gallery-wall.html#comment-form

Here I learnt about her previous mistakes, learnt about photo matting (in Portuguese it is called passepartout, well that's French, really), saw how it would look like above a sofa, and gracefully found almost the identical frames in a shop at Copacabana.

The shop is called Arte Palha and is in a shopping mall on the Siqueira Campos: http://www.artepalha.com.br/ They're a helpful lot and it is worth the time you spend going through their dusty stock getting your hands all grey and black (there is a skin at the back where you can get them washed).

Thus it started to develop.

These two little beauties I also found in their shop (which by the way is their specialty, not the ready-made frames), and with the help of my sogra (mother in law) managed to get them painted in a lovely golden hue, thus. I am pairing these two plaster frames side by side and placing in each a photo from the mid-80's where both my husband and I - on the opposite sides of the globe - are gaily surrounded by our siblings. A great remembrance of who we were, where we're coming from, and how lucky we are to be together.

The photos will not be shown here for privacy's sake. Thank you.

As to the specifics, I have kept a distance of 5cm from each frame edge to ensure consistency. And for those of you who live in Brazil, do not order your prints online: just go to a kodak kiosk and get them done yourself. You'll save yourself one hell of a nightmare on SAC, especially if you're aiming UOL Revelação Digital.

Enjoy!

Valmont

Ontem a noite assistimos este film dos anos '90, com Colin Firth na parte central de Valmont. Um filme incrível. Vale a pena assistir, está também disponível no Netflix.

Aqui alguns fotos lindas que tirei do imdb.

"Trechos de Óperas: Uma viagem no Tempo"

Ontem fui para este concerto mencionado a cima. Foi ótimo! Adorei as escolhas do Regente Cláudio Henrique Ávila (que, observe-se, é o Regente do Coro Coral cujo eu faço parte). As minhas peças preferidas eram: Il Barbiere di Siviglia interpretado por Jessé Bueno e Romeo e Julietta interpretada por Paola Soneghetti. Todos interpretaram muito bem a música selecionada, mas eu destaquei esses duas interpretes porque conseguiram obter um bom relacionamento com o público. Os dois têm uma ótima presença no palco, um certo rounded filling presence (uma presença completa/arredondada) que deixa o público pasmado, seguindo tudo pelos emoções e histórias contadas pela música. Foi fácil sentir ontem a noite todo mundo se apegar-se a cada nota da música.

Importante notar também os sotaques que interpretaram os cantores. Esses fazem uma diferencial relevante entre os diversos interpretações. Interessante foi também escutar a peça da ópera "Die Lustige Witwe" (The happy widow) que foi interpretada em português. 


Foi uma noite inesquecível! Parabéns, jovens cantores! Boa sorte!

An interesting collection: "The Four Seasons of Life"

A beautiful gift from one of our wedding guests was a set of what my mother named "wall plugs", or so I understood. With some good research online, I learnt that these beauties as figured below are called plaques. They form part of the prominent collection of Royal Copenhagen, which is a Danish porcelain manufacturer, set up no later than 1775! So yes, anything with the Royal Copenhagen mark on the back (three wavy blue lines) is truly a collectible's item, one to be treasured.

"Autumn"

Unlike typical RC pieces, which are usually white and blue porcelain plates, our wall plaques are picture reliefs on white biscuit earthenware. They have a very delicate countenance about them and are to be handled with great care. I was indeed quite jittery about stuffing them onto my handluggage and travelling cross the Atlantic with them. But they made it home safely.

Well, as I was saying, some good research has led me to learn more about these plaques. Our giftor has charmed us with two of what seems to be a collection of four plaques which together make up the "Four Seasons of Life" Royal Copenhagen Collection. These plaques depict Spring as a nubile maiden attended by putti and young boys with wreaths and baskets of fruit lie in abandon. Summer is a pair of lovers, scythe in hand, amidst a field of corn, an older woman shears the sheathes. Autumn is a domestic scene: the mother with baby at her breast, man bringing home fruit and game that he has hunted and gatd with his dog at his side. Whilst winter is depicted as an old couple warming themselves at a fire while laundry hangs on a line and a cat hogs the best spot next to the warmth.

Most exquisetely, we received Spring and Summer, so fitting for a wedding gift, and now Hus. and I are willing to embark on the voyage for the rest of the plaques as the years wear on.

I also had some questions about the way these delicate plaques could decorate our home. After having exhausted some home decor forums, I concluded that the best option would be to mount them on some blue velvet material, so as to contrast the white ware, and them frame with some fitting old golden frame, as so...

Hope you liked this post as much as I did writing it out and researching the topic. Good night!

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@ Urca, Rio de Janeiro

Belezas pouco conhecidas do Brasil: A Cadeia Vítoria-Trindade

É isso que gosto quando leio artigos e faço pesquisa de lei marítima, sempre acabo descobrindo lugares novos ou cantos meio-desconhecidos desta terra incrível! Aqui um post só pra dar aquele gosto da beleza deste lugar

Hoje estamos deparando um encanto submarino: a cadeia Vitória-Trindade, em inglês, Vítoria-Trindade Chain. A CVT, como é melhor conhecida, é uma cordilheira de edifícios vulcânicos marinhos localizados em frente à cidade de Vitória, capital do estado do Espírito Santo, Brasil. A 1.160 quilômetros do continente, surge a ilha volcánica chamada, Ilha da Trindade, e que fica no extremo oriental da cadeia dessas montanhas marinhas, com uma história de aproximadamente 3 milhões de anos. Junto com um outro rochedo chamado Martim Vaz, este arquipélago mede uns 9 quilômetros quadrados.

Trindade foi ocupada por portugueses e ingleses e hoje em dia está sob domínio brasileiro desde 1910. Já recebeu visitas de piratas, pesquisadores e prisioneiros políticos, como Marescal Eduardo Gomes. Desde 1957 é guarnecida pela Marinha do Brasil, com cerca de 40 homens, que permanecem na ilha por períodos de quatro meses. 

A coleta de dados apontam ao fato que esta ilha é o maior sítio reprodutivo brasileiro da tartaruga verde (Chelonia mydas (Eng. green sea turtle)) e área  de alimentação da tartaruga de pente (Eretmochelys imbricata, (Eng., hawksbill sea turtle)).

Aqui um retrato dessas espécies: 

Chelonia mydas

Eretmochelys imbricata

Até 1850, a ilha era coberta por uma floresta de árvores Colubrina Granulosa, hoje quase inexistente. 

Aqui um vídeo da beleza marinha do lugar:

Para mais informação, veja: http://tamar.org.br/base.php?cod=38  e http://professormarcianodantas.blogspot.com.br/2013/07/a-ilha-da-trindade-e-o-arquipelago-de.html

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@ Urca, Rio de Janeiro

Big names round the corner

At least it is not just sport people and political big names which made it to Rio for the World Cup, but also gigantic musico-cultural personalities. No one less than one of the Major Three Tenors Plácido Domingo and also piano genius Lang Lang, who will be performing together tonight at the HSBC Arena, Barra da Tijuca. What a privilege to think my house is situated a few kilometres away from their hotels! 

Unfortunately, we didn't make it in time to get tickets (I heard about their concert just last Wednesday during the rehearsal of the Coro da Câmara). I must say such a great concert was shamefully given the backseat in place of football fanaticism. 

My interest and admiration for Chinese superstar Lang Lang started some 5 years ago when I was an avid posteree on Piano Forum Italia (https://www.facebook.com/pianoforum.italia, I don't know if the forum still exists). A video I used to watch over and over was Lang Lang playing Chopin Etude with an orange...

And this is him "going mad" (or rather, feeling the music like a real pianist should):

Many people criticize him because of the show he puts on. Well, good for him, he's made one hell of a name for himself, is clearly a showman, and is passionate for music and the piano. Afterall, Franz Liszt himself was known for his flashy concert presentations, triggering interest in music lovers (women lovers too) all across Central Europe back in the mid-1800's.

Many have commented on Liszt's "manifestations" (going so far into describing him a "meretricious charlatan"). But in this letter to the editor (The Guardian), one Oxford local quotes George Eliot description of Liszt's performance in his defense:  

“Genius, benevolence, and tenderness beam from his whole countenance, and his manners were in perfect harmony with it. Then came the thing I had longed for – his playing… For the first time in my life I beheld real inspiration – for the first time I heard the true tones of the piano. He played one of his compositions, one of a series of religious fantasies. There was nothing strange or excessive about his manner. His manipulation of the instrument was quiet and easy, and his face was simply grand; the lips compressed and the head thrown backward. When the music expressed quiet rapture or devotion a smile flitted over his features; when it was triumphant the nostrils dilated. There was nothing petty or egotistic to mar the picture.”

As for me, I'd say anyone with an aquiline nose and long fingers like those should flaunt it! 

Well, coming back to Lang, in this interview to "O Globo" he admits that he loves exhibiting fiery pieces by Rachmaninoff because of the new energy he is able to incorporate in the piece, and similarly he has that special sensitivity for Chopin's pieces too. These all go to show his virtuosity at the piano. A true master indeed!

Interestingly the interviewer comments about Lang's jovial look. As was suggested in my recent post about Brazilian João Donato, musicians have a tact at keeping young. Puerile and innocent looks often come hand-in-hand with high-end musicians, who have learnt the skill of putting trivialities to the side and having the knowledge to embrace the beauty of music and life. Lang Lang goes on to admit that even in his mid-30's, his engrossment with anime cartoons inspire his hairstyle choices. Go figure!

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@ Rio de Janeiro.

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@ Ipanema, RJ.

"Um nhénhénhém agudo" -- João Donato

Mais uma vez a secção "Cultura" do Jornal O Globo se foca em um artista brasileiro bem interessante. Aqui é João Donato, que é músico dum estilo bem misturado. Como ele mesmo explica,

 — Eu não sou bossa nova, eu não sou samba, eu não sou jazz, eu não sou rumba, eu não sou forró. Na verdade eu sou isso tudo ao mesmo tempo — diz Donato 

Interessante o que ele fala sobre a música, a sua ingenuidade e o jeito pueril no qual o jornalista o descreve...

O barulho da chuva é música, a onda no mar é música, o bate bola dos moleques lá fora é música, o latido do cachorro é música, a bananeira no vento também é música. Para João Donato tudo é música.

Porém, "Coisas Tão Simples", aqui o seu canto mais famoso, "Lugar comum":

O que é mais simples do que a beira do mar? A água batendo, o fogo do sol?

Leia mais aqui: http://oglobo.globo.com/cultura/joao-donato-um-jovem-aos-80-anos-13142405#ixzz36hj8KmLJ 

Central points raised on social media and narcissism

From "Is Facebook sharing making us more vain?", The Guardian (2013)

A Facebook profile is often a carefully constructed public image: it reflects how you want others to see you, rather than who you actually are. Like some sort of grotesque, endless carousel, people are portrayed as constantly smiling, on nights out, or on holiday. Consumer culture encourages us to favour happy, affluent people, so it is little surprise people feel pressured to present themselves in their best light on their profiles. Pictures are vetted, carefully selected and sometimes even Photoshopped. Weaknesses, insecurities and imperfections are generally left out. The problem is, these are the very things that make us lovable human beings – the Facebook profile is just a vacuous, usually unrepresentative, projection of the user.

From online debate "You Like Me! You really like me!", The New York Times (2013)

As one paper concluded, narcissists use Twitter “as a kind of technologically augmented megaphone: A means of amplifying one’s own perceived superiority to others.” They use Facebook as “a technologically enhanced mirror, reflecting a preoccupation with one’s own image, others’ reactions to this image, and a desire to update the image as frequently as possible.” - Jean Twenge

[...] don't hate the player -- hate the game. It's just what we've been trained to do. [...] Anonymous or pseudonymous posting can relieve us of the burdens of social media, and the resulting narcissistic behavior. [...] Many of us have become so concerned with maintaining our carefully crafted online presence that expressing our true feelings and ideas often takes a back seat. Anonymous posting enables honest expression, unencumbered by identity. - Chris Poole

To be fair, it isn’t easy to know the best way to promote one’s self in a brand-driven and competitive business where style seems to trump substance. But I have a simple rule of thumb for actors: If what you’re posting can, in some way, be "shared" by "friends," post it. This includes plays, performances, openings, or television premieres. It is part of your job as an artist and entrepreneur to let us know about your work. If it’s simply good news for you, then pick up a phone, call the folks close to you, and keep in mind that most likely your 675 actor friends on Facebook are not “On Set!" like you; they are probably "At the unemployment office!" or "Counting Tips!" In other words, don’t tell us how “blessed” you are, show it … by having some grace, taste and humility. Facebook isn’t the problem. Our need to validate ourselves with outside approval is. Please share this on Facebook… - Joe Holt

Facebook will probably be passé as well as Twitter, though I cringe to think what will replace them. In the meantime I will be content to use my landline and email in private. Perhaps I am the narcissist. - Bruce McKinney

Once we understand the actual issues involved in narcissistic disturbance, we can be on the lookout for how we, and others, use and rely on social media platforms. We can even become more expert at discerning what is a healthy degree of sharing versus what is merely a compulsive pursuit for attention. - Eleanor Payson

From "Is Facebook making us Lonelier?", The Atlantic (2012)

Vickers’s web of connections had grown broader but shallower, as has happened for many of us. We are living in an isolation that would have been unimaginable to our ancestors, and yet we have never been more accessible.  

What Facebook has revealed about human nature—and this is not a minor revelation—is that a connection is not the same thing as a bond, and that instant and total connection is no salvation, no ticket to a happier, better world or a more liberated version of humanity. Solitude used to be good for self-reflection and self-reinvention. But now we are left thinking about who we are all the time, without ever really thinking about who we are. Facebook denies us a pleasure whose profundity we had underestimated: the chance to forget about ourselves for a while, the chance to disconnect. 

Those were just a few of my favourite of the best out there...  'bye!

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@Santa Teresa, Rio de Janeiro

I'll hold on to anything which gives me hope

It's been over a week since the cotyledons have lifted their pretty heads out of the soil, and I check on them everyday hoping I will get to see some new real life, a real stalk, something I know I can count on.

And here they are, deep in the heart of the cotylies are the beginnings of hope...

I thought it wouldn't take so long, but slowly and steadily we'll make it there.

Actually this post is not just about my reflections on botanical facts, but a reflection on my situation at the moment. The cotyledons are a temporary stage of being, just like my temporary stay in Brazil. I am pining to find that steady stalk of life to continue with the life I had before. Indeed, it is a big chance considering I was a minuscule seed in an envelope and now I am green and breathing life, but knowing that my potential is deep within and as yet locked in leaves me waiting for more, hoping for more...

The beauty of all this is that the stalk of life, the aromatic leaves which will sprout out will not be need to be planted: they come from within.

Entendendo o Brasil com Domenico de Masi

Deparei essa entrevista do programa do Roberto D'Avila por acaso. Me chamou a atenção o fato que D'Avila e o seu entrevistado do dia, o sociólogo italiano Domenico de Masi, estavam se entendendo em duas idiomas sem problema algum: português e italiano. Nem chegaram a fazer frases portu-ianos, como costuma acontecer.

Mas salvo essa curiosidade, adorei essa entrevista porque me ajudou a entender um pouco mais a vida dos brasileiros do ponto de vista de um europeu, como mim.

Alguns pontos que gostei da tese do sociólogo, eram quando ele falou sobre o otimismo e o carinho do povo brasileiro. Ele remonta essa cultura à origem da população brasileira - os índios - que tinham a tradição de enfeitar o corpo deles, fazendo jóias a mão, se pintando e arrumando para gostar a si mesmos e aos amados deles. Isso, ele fala, ajudou a fazer o povo mais criativo, mais altruísta e porém mais carinhoso. Eu acho que essa característica destaca este povo, distinguindo-o do povo europeu, e do meu ponto de vista, também daquele toque meio árabe.

Mas D'Avila objeta -- pode De Masi falar de um povo generoso e cuidadoso em frente a violência, a corrupção e o desespero de quem mora em cidades grandes como no Rio e São Paulo? Sim, responde De Masi, aqui não se pode confundir os corações do povo com as inclinações pecaminosas do homem. Quem não se sente magoado vivendo numa comunidade sem esgoto, sem água limpa, quando a 100 metros de casa tem quem tem dinheiro pra torrar? Isso, sem dúvida e como aconteceria em qualquer lugar do mundo, gera ódio, gera violência e porém gera um círculo de vida criminosa.

Com certeza isso me lembrou o que o policial tinha me falado aquele dia quando foi assaltada: "Apesar do seu sofrimento e o sofrimento que sentem esses moleques, só Ele é mais forte da gente", apontando pelo Cristo Redentor no Corcovado, lá em cima de nós.

E finalmente, aqui o vídeo da entrevista na integra.

Lembrando uma mulher impossível: Rose Marie Muraro

O que que acontece? Infelizmente muitas vezes acaba que as notícias mais "bobas" ficam na primeira página, deixando atrás artigos mais importantes e relevantes pela sociedade. Hoje o jornal O Globo (aí já menos fofoca do que o portal do globo.com) reportou a morte da intelectual Rose Marie Muraro, ainda se no final da página inicial. Li o artigo ainda se não sabia quem era a senhora mencionada.

Aprendi que Muraro foi uma revolucionaria da sua época, escritora de mais de 40 livros (lembre-se que falei que ela nasceu cega e recuperou a vista só aos 66 anos!!), também editora da Editora Vozes. Ela estudou física e economia mas deixou os estudos quando se casou, dando assim inspiração para ela entender qual eram as escolhas que ela fez na vida dela. Entre os livros mais polêmicos que ela escreveu temos "Por uma erótica cristã", sobre a teologia da libertação e o feminismo, mas que custou a expulsão dela da Editora Vozes, por expresso ordem do Vaticano.

Fui pôr fogo no mundo, fui ser editora. E eu vi que eram os livros que punham fogo no mundo.

O jornal também citou um vídeo que despertou ainda mais o meu interesse...

Neste pequeno vídeo ela fala da importância da mulher se conhecer, de se amar, ainda mais quando essa escolha de se casar.

Ou eu volto por dentro ou eu morro.

De viver a vida dela próprio, do que se perder na vida de "mulher-casada", perdida numa mistura de duas pessoas porque sim, muitas vezes acaba que o marido tem um papel mais importante na vida de casal. (Isso eu vejo muito na vida dos brasileiros.)

Ela fala que quando começa um casamento acaba o relacionamento homem-mulher: em vez entram dinheiro, filhos, a vida cotidiana -- muitas vezes uma parte sempre acaba sendo a parte masoquista do casal, porém deixa de ser uma relação do profundo, uma verdadeira relação de homem-mulher.

Por isso, ela fala da importância da mulher casada viver uma vida dupla, conhecendo assim a vida dela, descobrindo o prazer e o sentido da vida.

É uma pena que sempre as pessoas que nos inspiram mais são deixadas na sombra da vida. Quando a vida está saindo dos nossos dedos não é um gol que vai nos salvar, mas a esperança e o sabedoria de pessoas como da Sra. Muraro. Que a alma dela descansa em paz - e que ela continue a nos inspirar mais!

Cotyledons

This is what my basil seedling pot is looking like at the moment:

Pretty awesome, right?

I have read that these are not actually leaves but cotyledons, that is leaf-like structures which serve as food sources for the leaves as yet to grow. Indeed, their stalks are white and semi-transparent and look very delicate.

From what I am reading it seems that these cotlies need lots of light (min 12hours per day) so I have moved them towards the balcony. Weather is very mild here so I'm sure they can handle it.

Next step is to wait for these to grow taller and eventually whither away transforming themselves into the real basil stalk and real basil fragrant leaves. Or so I hope. Last I had read for transplantation to take place is when the real leaves would be at least 10 cm long and strong enough.

We'll wait...

On the other hand the rooting of mint leaves in the kitchen is going strong. I have read that I should wait until the roots are at least 1/2 inch long. So we'll wait another couple of days, perhaps I could transplant the basil and mint to their permanent pots together and thus save some more time.

Bye for now! Have a good start to your week wherever you are!

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@Santa Teresa, Rio de Janeiro

Doubts overcome

What I feared were mould clumps in my mini greenhouse basil seedling pot where actually the embryos of weening basil sprouts. These cute little green heads are yes, the seedlings, which the soil gave birth to this lovely morning.

So, conformant to what I had read elsewhere it is:
1. advisable to make a greenhouse effect for sprouting;
2. despite point 1, air circulation must be ensured, otherwise mould will be an enemy;
3. keep away from drought;
4. soil must be damp and sufficiently watered - but not waterclogged;
5. keep the pot in a relatively warm location, direct sunlight is not as yet necessary.

This slideshow teaches us more about the process: click here.

And the same scepticism which was overtaking me in the recent week regarding the rooting of the mint stalks were also shooed away today as these little white hairs stuck their heads in the water:

And finally, since I have self-diagnosed myself as a greenfinger wacko after a week of paranoic gardening research I allowed myself a pinch of a plant which made it's way through the window at the restaurant where H and I had lunch yesterday. I have no clue what the plant is but it looked like an easy plant to propagate, and it had nice leaves, stood in the outdoors unafraid and was blossoming little white flowers. We'll see what will come out of this...

Bring it on guys!!

Soup goody goodness week

It is Thursday and a holiday and it is pouring outside. It isn't what you might call "cold weather" but it surely is fresh for this side of the planet. This week I challenged myself to prepare a soup per day. I'm amazed with what I managed to fix together. These are my favourite:

Lentil soup: click here for best recipe

Minestrone: click here for best recipe

Chicken, potato and spinach soup: click here for best recipe

And a twist on the usual pumpkin soup: add a lil' curry; click here for best recipe.

And since I live in Rio and black beans are never amiss, black bean soup: click here for best recipe.

They're practically all the same method but they're all unique in taste.

I like chunks when it's a bean soup, but I always give it a quick whizz with the immersion blender. All other soups I totally purée and they come out smooth and velvety.

An important accompaniment to any soup are: crunchy croutons. This is the best recipe I've tried until now: click here.

Hope you enjoyed my picks. Have a fuzzy snuzzly soupy droopy week!

PS: When preparing the broth I always recommend a good broth. If you don't make it yourself, use Knorr it's by far the best quality of broth cubes - may I say, around the globe!

Propagating mint in water

I was somewhat sceptic when I was told that if simply stuff in the mint stalks you buy at the farmer's market into soil it would grow and invade the pot: I googled on and I read that it would be safer to root the stalks using the water method to make sure it would survive in the soil.

I followed instructions here and also drew analogies from here, it is day 3 for my mint stalks and to be honest I'm getting dubious about this method, though everyone claims it to be foolproof. Indeed, at the bottom leaf armpits which I had diligently removed before putting into water there seems to be a sign of new life, but it is not a root!!

We'll wait and see. My cut off date is in a week's time...

Heightening hues

I'll admit, I have been reading too much about plants recently, but I think I'm kindling a passion about the subject. I will start this blog with a short post, something I recently read on the web and which has been very rewarding: getting the best out of your indoor plants. Indeed, I have learnt that a great way to make plant leaves shine brilliantly in their awesome green beauty a great home remedy is not the random damp cloth. The latter does nothing but give a volatile shine to the leave which upon drying turns into a foggy white grime on the plant. However, following the advice here I learnt that applying a piece of cotton wool in a cooled down remaining coffee from your kitchen counter will heighten the hue of your greens. I tried this this week and so has H noted the beauty of these living creatures under our roof. This home trick has worked wonders and our Peace lilly (lírio da paz) is looking as gorgeous as ever.

Green has always been my favourite colour, and it's so nice having it grown in your own house.

Boa noite galera!