The Inscrutable

How to raise delinquent children

2011-10-14T11:51:00.000-04:00

I was listening to a sermon by John MacArthur titled "Shade for Our Children" part of the Foundations Series (I have been listened to it before), and thought I'd share the following, which he mentions in his sermon:

How to raise delinquent children

1. Begin with infancy to give the child everything he wants. In this way he will grow up to believe the world owes him a living.

2. When he picks up bad words, laugh at him. This will make him think he's cute. It will also encourage him to pick up "cuter phrases" that will blow off the top of your head later.

3. Never give him any spiritual training. Wait until he is 21, and then let him "decide for himself."

4. Avoid the use of the word "wrong." It may develop a guilt complex. This will condition him to believe later, when he is arrested for stealing a car, that society is against him and he is being persecuted.

5. Pick up everything he leaves lying around—books, shoes, clothes. Do everything for him so that he will be experienced in throwing all responsibility on others.

6. Let him read any printed matter he can get his hands on. Be careful that the silverware and drinking glasses are sterilized, but don't worry about his mind feasting on garbage.

7. Quarrel frequently in the presence of your children. In this way they will not be too shocked when the home is broken up later.

8. Give the child all the spending money he wants. Never let him earn his. Why should he have things as tough as you did?

9. Satisfy his every craving for food, drink, and comfort. See that every sensual desire is gratified. Denial may lead to harmful frustration.

10. Take his part against neighbors, teachers, policemen. They are all prejudiced against your child.

11. When he gets into real trouble, apologize to yourself by saying, "I never could do anything with him!"

12. Prepare yourself for a life of grief. You'll surely have it.

( information about the origin of the above can be found at http://www.snopes.com/glurge/12rules.asp)

Related links:
Foundation Series Volume 1
Foundation Series Volume 2
Child-Rearind and Personality Development, book by Paul D. Meier

..:: iBelieve ::..

Luther and the shoe maker

2011-08-06T20:54:00.002-04:00

1 Corinthias 7:20-24

"Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. Were you a bondservant when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ. You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men. So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God." (ESV)
Martin Luther was once approached by a man who enthusiastically announced that he’d recently become a Christian. Wanting desperately to serve the Lord, he asked Luther, “What should I do now?” As if to say, should he become a minister or perhaps a traveling evangelist. A monk, perhaps.
Luther asked him, “What is your work now?”
“I’m a shoe maker.”
Much to the cobbler’s surprise, Luther replied, “Then make a good shoe, and sell it at a fair price.”

..:: Grace and peace to you ::..

He has made everything beautiful in its time

2009-07-27T17:35:00.003-04:00

There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven--
A time to give birth, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to uproot what is planted.
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to tear down, and a time to build up.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance.
A time to throw stones, and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace, and a time to shun embracing.
A time to search, and a time to give up as lost;
A time to keep, and a time to throw away.
A time to tear apart, and a time to sew together;
A time to be silent, and a time to speak.
A time to love, and a time to hate;
A time for war, and a time for peace.

He has made everything beautiful in its time."
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8"

"Tudo tem a sua ocasião própria, e há tempo para todo propósito debaixo do céu. Há tempo de nascer, e tempo de morrer; tempo de plantar, e tempo de arrancar o que se plantou; tempo de matar, e tempo de curar; tempo de derrubar, e tempo de edificar; tempo de chorar, e tempo de rir; tempo de prantear, e tempo de dançar; tempo de espalhar pedras, e tempo de ajuntar pedras; tempo de abraçar, e tempo de abster-se de abraçar; tempo de buscar, e tempo de perder; tempo de guardar, e tempo de deitar fora; tempo de rasgar, e tempo de coser; tempo de estar calado, e tempo de falar, tempo de amar, e tempo de odiar; tempo de guerra, e tempo de paz.
E tudo Deus fez belo no seu tempo determinado"
Eclesiastes 3:1-8

playing the wii

2009-03-29T21:53:00.000-04:00

The boys playing the wii earlier today

it's funny to hear their conversations.

I want to go back...

2009-03-08T14:49:00.000-04:00

... and never leave... never want to grow up... never forget... always feel safe and loved...

..::iReMemBeR ::..

Well worth watching

2009-02-22T16:24:00.002-05:00

..:: cya ::..

Gotta watch these! =)

2009-02-18T16:57:00.000-05:00

yes yes, unbeliveable, I am back, twice in one day! ** jaw drops **

I just had to come back and share these! They are funny, smart, and so cute! Look at the eyes of those penguins! ROTFLOL

..:: cya ::..

Slave labour in Brazil

2009-01-10T20:08:00.002-05:00

Read it off CNN's site (please copy and paste in your browser, for some reason linking didn't work):

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/01/09/brazil.slavery/index.html

I am so skeptical.
"But what may set Brazil apart are the government's attempts to wipe out the practice. One of Brazil's chief tools is a "Special Mobile Inspection Group" that consists of labor inspectors, federal police and attorneys from the federal labor prosecution branch. The group often raids workplaces, looking for abuses and laborers held against their will."

I am sure some people are making good $$$ out of this!

..:: $makes.the.world.go.around ::..

There are no "fresh starts" in life.

2009-01-02T13:05:00.000-05:00

"We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand."

Randy Pausch

The Last Lecture

..:: iC ::..

Movies, books, and more non-sense rambling...

2008-12-30T14:01:00.003-05:00

A while ago I decided to keep track of all the movies that I watch and book that I read. I thought I'd create a couple of lists here, it's more for myself than anyone else though. However, for the past 4 - 6 weeks I haven't updated anything. I've been meaning to ask the librarian whether they can get me a list of all the books I signed out, but I always forget.

Today we went to the library and lo and behold, there were 6 (!!!) books on hold for me! Gosh, how can I read them all in about 10 days? Here they are:

When You Are Engulfed In Flames, by David Sedaris

Dress Your Family In Corduroy And Denim, by David Sedaris

The Sheltering Sky, by Paul Bowles

And these 3 books by Jennifer Weiner:
In Her Shoes
Certain Girls
Little Earthquakes

I think I am going to start with one of Jennifer Weiner's, maybe In Her Shoes (I've seen the movie). I just realized Certain Girls is kinda "the second" book about Cannie Shapiro 13 years later, so I am not going to read it just now, going to wait until I can read Good In Bed first (which I have placed a request with my local library, I am second in line).

Movies... I've watched a lot of movies since the last one I added (Indiana Jones). I am updating the list today, although I can't remember them all. Last 2 movies that I saw in the theaters: Doubt, and Seven Pounds.

On "Doubt" - Although Viola Davis appears briefly in the movie, she does a wonderful job and it's actually a great moment in the movie. Another moment worth to pay attention to is a conversation between the nun and the priest (played respectively by Meryl Streep and Phillip Seymour Hoffman) in the nun's office. But I think what surprised me the most in the entire movie was the very end, the last words of Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep). The question in everyone's mind: was he guilty or not? What do you think?
Here's the movie trailer, note that on the video listing on the right side you can watch interviews with the actors.
One interesting quote, Sister Aloysius talking to Sister James: "When you take a step to address wrongdoing, you are taking a step away from God, but in his service."

Seven Pounds - (trailer) I loved this movie, the story, the actors' performance, the photography! Go see it (if you haven't already). =)

Now, I so want to go see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button! (trailer and more).

Hair - I love my short haircut so much! Had no idea it had such a cute style name though: Pixie Cut!

So 2009 is approaching... couple more days and we'll have a brand new year. =) I wish you all the best of the years!

..:: iWishYouHappiness ::..

It's the day before...

2008-12-24T14:40:00.000-05:00

Christmas!

Are you excited? My kids sure are! =)

I was planning to take some new exciting shots and post for Christmas. Too much planning, too little action. I am sorry! I would like to commit myself to a "365 shots" for 2009, just to give me a little extra push for shooting anything other than school assignments... hmmm... I will try! Not sure if I want to start with a theme, or anything goes, any ideas?

We did go to check out the lights at Toronto's City Hall. Boy, it was cold! We took some pictures there, nothing fancy, P&S kinda thing. Still in my camera. I am helpless, I know.

I had a rough year. You know, one of those that you look forward to see the end of it, so you can "start fresh" in the New Year? Yup, those. Times 5. It was that bad. I am not one of those people who always find the bright side of every bad thing, the "silver linning", the "life gave you lemons, make lemonade" kinda person. I don't think I am negative either. I am just... hmmm... errr.... numb most of the time this year.

However... I'd like to express my gratitute today. For I look back and I can see how many wonderful things have happened to me, how many wonderful people I've met, regardless of every "lemon" that I got in 2008. I thank God for all my lemons this year, it was because of them that I met people that I wouldn't have met otherwise. It was because of my lemons that I learned important life lessons this year. And even though I think of myself as someone weak, I can see how these lemons made me strong and pushed me one step ahead. I am today stronger than I was in 2007. I just wonder... am I being forged like metal in fire? for the war ahead?

I only have one wish for 2009. One. Simple as that.

God, please, can I have some strawberries in 2009? And not so many lemons? Thanks!

I wish you all a wonderful Christmas! I miss having a family Christmas, grandparents, siblings, the whole thing, the huge meal on Christmas Day, "pudim de leite", wearing new clothes for the special day, the day when we celebrate being "together". I wish you all a day of being "together"!

And for 2009, I wish you all lots of strawberries! But don't forget to share them in case you meet someone who gets more lemons than strawberries! ("in case" is really just a matter of taking a closer look around).

Be safe. Be well. Smile. Make a silly face in front of the mirror. Make someone laugh. Be silly. Sing a song, loudly! Do not be afraid of trying something new!

..:: God bless you all ::..

These are the signs... [4]

2008-10-04T23:58:00.002-04:00

This church is close to my school, I pass by it everyday. They change this sign regularly, I had to stop and take a quick pic of this one.

..:: iLUVu ::..

Photo shoot

2008-10-01T17:39:00.003-04:00

** note: I had this looooong post all typed up, firefox froze up on me at the very end of it while I was uploading an image. For some obscure reason blogger wasn't saving the session as a draft, so when I terminated firefox I lost every word I had typed. Might as well. I am not typing it all over again. You get to see the photo though.

I was waiting for the sun to go down a little bit so I could take this shot for a school assignment. What you see there is a 4x5 camera loaded with transparency film.

..:: i am great at screwing up things ::..

Yummy stuff!

2008-09-21T09:16:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago Lori from the Blondie in Brazil blog she answered the "what I'd be if I were a..." and something got my attention. To the question "if I were anything liquid, I'd be..." she answered "Jamaican Rum Cream". That souded so good that I had to look for it around here. I found it and bought it yesterday. It IS good! I like Bailey's, but I think this Jamaican Rum Cream is even better! =)

So thank you Lori!

and here it is, by no means I want to make you jealous though. =)

Hope everyone is having a great Sunday!

..:: iYum ::..

A thief with a conscience

2008-09-19T21:37:00.003-04:00

note: this post is only a figment of your imagination, I am not here typing this. I am actually reading text for a school assignment that needs to be posted online tonight! =)

I could not ignore it. This is the first time that I hear such thing, and it happened in Brazil.
I tried to find websites in English with the story, but couldn't, only in Portuguese. Bear with me. =)

After taking the car, the thief realizes that there's a kid sleeping on the back seat - a 5-year-old boy. Immediately he calls the police, tells about the boy, tells them where he stole the vehicle from, that both parents (mother and stepfather) were in a bar at the time of the robbery - 1:45am. He tells them where he is going to leave the vehicle, and ask them to tell the father that if he finds the boy in the car again, he will kill him (the father, not the boy). The police goes to the address and finds the car and the kid, no sign of the thief. The department for child neglect has been notified and the parents will have to respond to proper charges.

I kinda had to smile a bit. Some criminals have a degree of what's right, what's wrong. This guy might even be a father himself. Nice to know that he would steal a vehicle but wouldn't leave his own child in the car; that is, if he has a kid.

It's also interesting to note that he had no problems calling the police; he wasn't worried about being caught.

This is how I see this. In a country where the biggest thieves wear suits and steal under everyone's noses, where impunity reigns, to be a thief with a conscience is a plus.

And for those who think that this can only happen in Brazil, here's a link to a story that happened in Montreal back in 2007.

Back to what I was doing...

..:: iKidUnot ::..

Things that kids say...

2008-09-18T23:15:00.001-04:00

Hey, I'm still here! Been really busy with school, a lot of assignments, still having fun though. Hmmm... let me refrase that. Or rather explain it better. There is this teacher that has his head up his own you-know-what. He is completely, utterly, full of himself. He looks down to all the students, and he is the subject of many conversations in the cafeteria. We have to endure this guy. I don't really know how long more I can take it without opening my mouth.

Anyway... back to more pleasant things. Today something really funny happened. Last night I was in the middle of talking to my husband about family stuff (we don't see each other often, hectic life), when Ethan asked me to staple some papers. I did that and he asked me to staple it again, so I did.

This morning we were all getting ready - you know how mornings can be - and I look and he is sitting on the sofa, with this very long face.

"Ethan, what's up?"

"It's going to take me a loooooooooong time to make another Ethan book", he says and starts sobbing.

He stands up, turns to me, open his arms, walks in my direction, crying:

"Mom, I feel really sad, can I have a hug?"

"What's going on, why are you feeling so sad?"

"Because you messed up my book, you stapled all over it, I had to throw it in the recycle bin."

"Go get it, I will fix it for you."

He brings it to me, tells me about those papers being an "Ethan book". I grab the little stapler, with the little thingy at the end I carefully remove both staples, and staple them again along the "book spine". By then he is already smiling.

Mommy is his hero. =)

He ends the issue with a consideration on the stapler, he thinks it's a very cool thing.

I was late for school about 10 minutes. The teacher says he is going to lock the classroom door next week, no one late will be allowed in. I don't really care. I made my boy really sad and really happy this morning. =) I'm his hero for the day.

And the teacher? Guess which teacher it is. Right, Mr. Full-of-Himself. Bleh!

..:: iHero ::..

Putting my foot in my mouth

2008-09-18T23:08:00.000-04:00

I was getting out of A&P few days ago when a young girl asked me to buy some chocolate from her for her school's fund raising - which school I don't know, we get so many of those over here especially during school year that I don't even pay attention to the speech anymore. Bad, I know, and I apologize. I was in a hurry, my mind going through everything that I still needed to do before being able to go to bed.

Back to the point. The girl was accompanied by her sister and her mother. I paid for the chocolate bar, but didn't take it. The woman thanked me for the donation, and I told her I'd better not take the chocolate so I wouldn't have to fight temptation. I then told her that a few months ago I went to every McDonald's in sight looking for this toy that my son wanted. Just before getting into this one particular McDonald's a boy approached me and asked me to buy a chocolate bar to help his school fund raising.

I told him that I'd help but didn't want the bar. I added "You should offer something healthier than chocolate" and smiled. A woman standing nearby overheard the conversation and said to me "Yeah, like McDonald's, eh?"

I left with my foot in my mouth. =)

..:: ::..

School. This is going to be a fun semester. Hmmmm... almost everything is going to be shot on phase backs and 4x5's. Breath Elaine, breath. And enjoy.

I'll have to do a one-week work placement in October during reading week. After researching the field that interests me, I started contacting some of those photographers. I am both excited and anxious about it.

..:: iShoot ::..

Rainy Saturday

2008-09-13T20:19:00.008-04:00

What do you do when it's raining, your kids are off to a birthday party, and you're me? Right! You go to the movies! =)

I saw The Women, I had seen the trailer on tv and thought I'd enjoy it, plus it was the only one starting at the time I got there. There were a few other movies that I'd have liked to see as well, I decided if I had the time I'd see another one. The movie... at first it seemed like just like any other chick flick, funny, tearful, etc. But the plot got more interesting half into it. I ended up not seeing any other movie because I'd have to wait at least half a hour for the next one, I was worried about the kids.

Interesting facts about this movie, The Women. It's based on a play written in 1936 and it's been made into a movie first in 1939, also named The Women. There were no male actors on neither of the movies, all-female cast.

The other movies that I was interested in watching were: Burn After Reading, Traitor, and Righteous Kill, the latter with two of the greatest actors out there, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. I was listening to the radio while driving the other day and heard this guy comment about this movie, and how these two great actors are finally making a film together. I thought "huh? I think I've seen them together before". Indeed, it was 1995 when Heat came out, and if you like Pacino and De Niro you should watch it.

On my way home I stopped at Blockbuster, grabbed a few movies, and made another stop at the Beer Store and got me some Stella Artois - great beer! For those who don't know, in Canada alcohol can only be purchased at either the Beer Store or the Liquour Store, whereas in the US you can find it just about anywhere, much like in Brazil.

I decided to setup my camera (have you heard, the new 50D is coming out soon!) and a strobe and do a test shoot session. There was also this lens that I wanted to try, a Canon 14mm. Well, I left cases and stuff laying around and lo and behold, our dear cutest Mico found a new resting place:

The [not] so funny part was that she changed positions a couple of times, and as I was standing there trying to get some more shots of her, she stretched herself too much and they both - she and the case, tipped over and fell down. You should see this cat run!

Have a great Sunday everyone!

..:: iShoot ::..

These are the signs... {3}

2008-09-11T18:32:00.004-04:00

Well... it's getting harder and harder to shoot new and interesting signs. Mostly because I have to pay attention to my driving, and second because whenever I come upon a sign worthy of being shot, I am usually at 120K/h on the highway and I don't think I should stand on the shoulders... police will not be happy with me! =)

I was hoping someone else would post some interesting ones on their blogs. :(

Here's a cute one this time. There are so much geese around these parts, we drivers have to be aware of them crossing the roads, it's really cute. Usually what you see is the mama (or papa, who knows) walking ahead and the little ones on a single line behind her. Or sometimes the entire community decides to cross. You just have to stop and wait. =)

..:: iQuack ::..

If I were...

2008-09-09T18:58:00.005-04:00

I am so overwhelmed with school and life in general! Sometimes I am not sure if I am coming or going. And this is only the second week into the semester. Don't get the wrong idea, no no, I am enjoying it.

I saw this on Renata's blog, thought I'd give it a shot:

If I were a song, I'd be ... Learning to Fly, by Pink Floyd
If I were a month, I'd be ... June in Canada, September in Brazil
If I were a weekday, I'd be ...Saturday!
If I were a time of the day, I'd be ... 9pm
If I were a planet, I'd be ... Pluto
If I were a direction, I'd be ... North
If I were a piece of furniture, I'd be ... a mirror! and I'd stick my tongue out to everyone looking at me! LOL
If I were a sport, I'd be ... skydive
If I were a fun thing to do, I'd be ... snowboard
If I were a moment, I'd be ... the first time I looked at each of my kids when they were born
If I were anything liquid, I'd be ... Bailey's!!! on crushed ice!
If I were a precious stone, I'd be ... Lapis Lazuli
If I were a tree, I'd be ... a Sequoia
If I were a flower, I'd be ... a daisy
If I were a musical instrument, I'd be ... a harmonica
If I were a colour, I'd be ... blue
If I were an emotion, I'd be ... peace
If I were a spice, I'd be ... cumin
If I were an animal, I'd be ... an elephant
If I were a fruit, I'd be ... a guava (goiaba!)
If I were one of the elements, I'd be ... the wind
If I were a book, I'd be ... The Bridge of Madison County
If I were a character, I'd be ... Miss Marple
If I were a dish, I'd be ... Brazilian barbeque (bbq-ed steaks with potato salad, and a "estupidamente gelada" Brazilian beer)
If I were a place, I'd be ... Praia dos Naufragados, in Florianopolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
If I were an object, I'd be ... an old typewritter
If I were a movie, I'd be ... The Butterfly Effect - I love anything having to do with the chaos theory
If I were a gesture, I'd be ... a wink! ;-)

If you think it was fun and wanna do it, link me to your blog, I wanna visit it!

..:: iWink ::..

Feeding addictions

2008-09-08T20:46:00.000-04:00

Are we photographers pimps, contributing to the prostitution of consumerism, are we just one more profession that says "let's profit from that [insert product/service here]"?

..:: iNeed [not]::..

What MacDonald's and "Os Mutantes" have in common?

2008-09-07T19:49:00.000-04:00

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Other than this tv commercial:

I grew up listening to Os Mutantes. To listen to them now brings me back wonderful memories. I hope you enjoy the video.

..:: tomoumbanhodelua ::..

These are the signs {2}...

2008-09-07T10:14:00.003-04:00

Hello world!
Today I am bring you another sign picture I took. This one is going to be funny only for those who speak Portuguese, I apologize to those who don't.

Essa foto e' de uma placa de uma rua aqui pertinho. hehehehehe

Have a great Sunday everyone!

..:: HUGS! ::..

These are the signs...

2008-09-05T20:15:00.000-04:00

I've been meaning to start a series of postings with the "signs" theme. Once in a while I come across some funny and interesting signs - road signs, street signs, etc.

If you want to participate, you can take a picture of a sign, send it to me and I will post it here (with the proper credits of course), or you can start a new post at your own blog. If you do the latter, please let me know by posting a comment here so I can go and visit you!

I will start the series with this one found in the parking lot of Sheridan College. If you can't tell what's so "interesting" about this sign, see the larger version by clicking on the picture, and read what is written right below the words "do not enter". =)

..:: life in college ::..

Remember when...

2008-08-30T00:00:00.000-04:00

Only those who have lived in Brazil and attended school in the late 70's will remember these. =)

conga & bamba

..:: those were the days ::..

The scramble is ON!

2008-08-28T22:05:00.004-04:00

Read about it!

Watch the video!

..:: iLuvEggs ::..

I.AM.CANADIAN!

2008-08-27T22:16:00.015-04:00

Who is in need of a good laugh? =) Laughter IS the best medicine. I just had this flashback... my grandpa used to buy and collect every Reader's Digest (back home called Selecoes, see RD around the world), he had them going back to 1930's. I read them all while laying down in the infinite afternoons spent at Grannie's. There was this section in each issue called Laughter is the best medicine (Rir e' o melhor remedio), that was, and still is, the first thing that I read. But I digress.

While doing my blog runs today, or, as I like to call it, blog hopping, I came across a post about the I Am Canadian Molson beer commercial. I still remember when I saw that for the first time, I got a kick out of it and I still do after all this time.

But then I remembered another video, did some searching and found it. You should watch it, it's very funny. William Shatner, a Canadian actor best known for his role as Captain Kirk on the original Start Trek tv series, did a parody of the Molson commercial on the tv show Just For Laughs. Note that he says he drinks Labatt's, Molson's competitor. Just for Laughs (in French Juste pour rire) is a comedy festival held each year in Montreal, Quebec - which is where Molson is based. =)

Here's what he says:

I'm not a Starfleet commander, or T. J. Hooker. I don't live on Starship NCC-170... [some audience members say "1", Shatner says "whatever"], or own a phaser. I don't know anybody named Bones, Sulu, or Spock [picture of Dr. Benjamin Spock is shown on screen behind him]. And no, I've never had green alien sex, but I'm sure it'd be quite an evening. [Pomp and Circumstance begins playing.] I speak English and French, not Klingon! I drink Labatt's, not Romulan Ale! And when someone says to me 'live long and prosper', I seriously mean it when I say, 'get a life'. My doctor's name is not McCoy, it's Ginsberg [nude picture of Dr. Ginsberg shown on screen]. And tribbles were puppets, not real animals. PUPPETS! And when I speak, I never, ever talk like Every. Word. Is. Its. Own. Sentence. I live in California, but I was raised in Montreal. And I believe in Priceline.com, where you never have to pay full price for airline tickets, hotels, and car rentals! I've appeared on stage at Stratford, at Carnegie Hall, Albert Hall, and the Monkland Theatre in NDG. And, yes, I've gone where no man has gone before, but... I was in Mexico and her father gave me permission! My name is William Shatner, and I am Canadian!

Yes, we Canadians are funny people, I'll admit it. But do not push us too far.

Related articles:
* The French twist on "I am Canadian"
* I am Canadian Anthem (Arrogant Worms)
* Funny commercial making fun of Canada

All this talk about being Canadian and beer made me thirsty. =) Here's what we, Brazilian-Canadians, do to get a very cold beer - estupidamente gelada - during the winter:

..:: oops, it's Brahma! ::..

* personal note to someone who I know will recognize the above photo: Eloisaaaaa! Vc se lembra desse natal? ;)

Answer this...

2008-08-27T21:31:00.004-04:00

If your friend or coworker has bad breath, do you tell them?

** Se o seu amigo(a) ou colega de trabalho tem mau halito, voce fala p/ ele(a)? **

..:: iBrush mytongue ::..

Things have been a little weird around here lately...

2008-08-26T20:40:00.001-04:00

(= ¡ʎɐʇs ɹnoʎ ʎoɾuǝ 'ǝɔuǝıuıʌuoɔuı ǝɥʇ ɹoɟ ʎɹɹos ˙ɥʇıʍ dn ǝɯɐɔ ı ʇɐɥʍ sı sıɥʇ os ˙ƃuıɥʇǝɯos ƃolq oʇ ʎɹɐssǝɔǝu sɐʍ ʇı ʇlǝɟ ı ʇsod ʇsɐl ʎɯ ǝɔuıs sʎɐp ʍǝɟ ɐ uǝǝq s,ʇı ǝɔuıs ı ʇnq 'ʎɐpoʇ ʇnoqɐ ƃolq oʇ ʇɐɥʍ ʍouʞ ʇupıp ʎllɐǝɹ ı

..:: flipped minded ::..

ETA - if anyone is interested, here's the site (click) where you can type your text and flip it. Have fun! =)

I show you mine, you show me yours!

2008-08-21T18:50:00.006-04:00

tsc tsc... people... this is a family-oriented blog... it's NOT what you're thinking! ;)

Anyway... how many people can say they don't stare at the contents of your fridge more than once a day without even realizing they are doing it, please raise your hands!

Right! I knew there were not many of you out there!

We all do it. It's like sleepwalking, you have no idea that you're doing it, why you're doing it. You just do it. It's one of those things that goes beyond age, race, nacionality, sex, you just do it - driving slowly on the passing lane is another of those things but that's not my point right now.

It all started with a "mom, I am hungry!' Anyone who has kids hear that at least a few times during the day, especially during school holidays and if you're a SHAM (stay-at-home-mom). It doesn't matter how old your kids are. Heck, you hear it from your husband over the weekend as well!

So I walk to the fridge... it's time to start supper so I better get it going. At first I am perusing it, then I'm just staring at it. I think of my grandmother (God bless her!), and I smile. Everyday right after lunch was done with (in Brazil lunch is the main meal), she would say "what I am going to cook for lunch tomorrow?" I'm exactly the same. So I am there wondering what I am going to cook for supper tonight, but already thinking about tomorrow's. ARGH!

Then I took a REAL good look at the contents. Or rather at the emptiness of it. I can hear my thoughts echoing inside it. I've been refusing to go grocery shopping until I clean my fridge, I go out almost everyday and buy what I need for that day telling myself "tomorrow I'll clean it". You know what they say about tomorrow, it never comes. :)

As I was taking some stuff to the counter, the idea for this post came to me. And another one came to me as I was answering the "what are we having for supper" that came after the "mom, I am hungry" questions.

Do you have what it takes to show us the contents of your fridge?

Keep in mind you can't clean it too much (just a little, if you wish, or show us the "raw" state of your fridge). You can email me your picture and I will post it here if you wish, or post it on your blog and come back here and let me know so I can go and take a look! ;) Either way, have fun!

Here's mine:

** note: and no, I don't keep an empty Timmy's on my fridge, I just wanted to make you were paying attention! ;)

Yours truly,

..:: queen of fridge-cleaning-procrastination ::..

You want the truth, and nothing but the truth?

2008-08-19T21:12:00.004-04:00

Ask a child. They will give you the plain, simple, no-cherries-on-top truth. You've been warned.

So I had my haircut. Short. Short as in short-short. Once I told the hairdresser what I wanted to do, all of a sudden she went awfully quiet. She was washing my hair and I could tell she was taking her time to wash it, thinking "what the heck I am going to do now?"

I sat on the chair, she looks around, looks at my hair, messes with it a little, I am staring at her reflection on the mirror "someone please save me from this!". Another hairdresser comes around and says "wow, she's got some much thick hair", my hairdresser takes the cue and goes "wanna do it?"

I switch seats. At this point I am not sure I should stay, but I don't know if I can leave either. I tell the hairdresser that everytime I say I want my hair short, every hairdresser convinces me of the contrary, for they are afraid of my hair. "I am not afraid of cutting your hair short", she says.

What the heck, I think, hair grows, right? right?

She talks a little too much, I watch her scissors very closely, and my hair falling out, man, that's a lot of hair!

It's short. It's not exactly what I wanted, but it's short. It'll grow. Hopefully fast.

When I get home, my 12-year-old dd looks at me and says "it's nice". It's nice. hmmmmmm.... Few hours later she comes, hugs me, and says "mom, I am sorry, it's good but it's not great, ok? is that ok? sorry mom".

My 6-year-old ds didn't even notice it. About an hour later I say "did you notice my haircut?" He makes a face and summons it all up in this brilliant comment:

"It's so... so... so.... BOYISH!"

Does anyone know of a nice, cheap wig?

..:: ::..

The Waiting

2008-08-16T18:59:00.008-04:00

{an original short memoir by me}

It is the second week of December and the school year is finished, Catarina cannot wait to get rid of the school uniform. She knows that she will see the uniform next year early March again, she might be lucky enough to get a new shirt with a new school emblem, but she knows that she will see the same skirt. Her mother sews the school uniform herself and every couple of years she makes a new skirt, with a large hem so she can undo it the following year and make the skirt a little longer. Those were tough years, Catarina knew that most of her friends did not have to wear the same skirt two years in a row; she resented that fact although she never questioned her parents about it.

Now that the school year was over she was free to wear whatever she wanted, it was like becoming a new person in a new skin, and as long as she kept her distance from friends with well-to-do parents, she should be ok. It was hard enough having to cope with her sense of comparison, never mind having friends with new clothes, new school supplies (hers were always hand-me-downs) and all that talk about trips to their beach houses over the weekends. Among them, she always felt like a strange creature from another world.

Summer was just around the corner and that meant Christmas would soon be here. Every year she quietly but anxiously waited for Christmas, not because it was her birthday, but because her grandmother would take her and her siblings to a store and buy them a new outfit and a new pair of shoes. They would walk the short two blocks to the store and she would try to pay attention to her surroundings, birds singing on the trees, flying from place to place carrying new findings to build their nests, the sun shining brightly, its warmth giving her goose bumps, the sound of her old flip-flops on the sidewalk, her grandmother very quiet. She never talked much, and Catarina always felt she was always upset with her for some reason. She would want to run to the store, her hair flowing around her face, trying to keep her balance so she would not trip and fall, but she was sure that her grandmother would not like that, and she did not want to upset her grandma at this special time. The store was a new world for Catarina, a world where she did not belong although she was allowed to enter it once a year. She would choose a nice dress and for a moment, while looking at herself on the mirror, she would be a normal girl, and nothing else would matter, if only for a moment.

Those were the happy days of her life, but she did not see them as anything but trivial and unimportant days. Much later in life, Catarina would go back in time and think about those moments and try to understand who she was and wish that back then she knew how important those moments were. Maybe, just maybe, she would savour them more intensely, more deeply, and they would be the cornerstones of her much complicated life; they would be her life buoys, helping her to get through the rip currents.

..:: ::..

This and that.... and marmalade!

2008-08-16T18:41:00.006-04:00

I had a haircut today, went to a different place referred to me by someone who had an awesome haircut. Well, I spent $20 and I have the exact same haircut that I had before going there, only an inch shorter. Depressing. Why is it that every hairdresser is afraid when I say "I want it short?" My hair is thick and curly, I understand they are afraid of cutting it short, but am I not paying for it? So do it! Sheesh people!
Tomorrow I have another appointment, at yet a different place. Will see what happens. I also need to colour it, but after the fiasco (read: bad job!) at the Indian saloon a month or so ago, I am weary.

School. Since first semester I am taking all of my electives online. The first one was called "Personal Journey, Life Writing". We read a lot of excerpts and wrote a lot too. I loved it so much! At the end of the semester we had to write a short memoir. I am posting it today. Please let me know what you think, it's called "The Waiting", and yes, it's real, only minor things had to be made up for the sake of being a memoir. =)

oh, you want to know what marmalade has to do with my post? Nothing at all, I just thought it sounded cute! LOL

..:: Blessings ::..

The British ARE coming! and you say: "again?"

2008-08-14T17:00:00.004-04:00

Coldplay was great! That was what I (sadly) heard. :( "Sadly", for I wasn't there.
To make my state of sadness even worse, shortly after that I learned that The Who is coming too {October 22nd}! "Not fair" doesn't even begin to express what I feel.

** pause - Renata! They are going to be in Boston too!! {October 24th}

Since we are talking about Brits, it was brought today to my attention (thanks to Kenia!) that I forgot to add a very important tv show on my post Remember When. The Monkees! Who could forget them? Apparently, me!

Click here to take a trip to the 60's and watch I'm a Believer!

What happened to them?

My favourite The Monkees' song has to be Last Train to Clarksville!

Here's their theme song, if you are interested! ;)

catchy eh? but somehow what's stuck in my head is this: "who are you, who who who who, who are you, who who who who, I really wanna know!"

..:: Peace Out ::..
pst! I am really saying "goodbye",
don't get carried away with the other
meanings of the expression. ;)

The Miniature Earth

2008-08-14T11:24:00.009-04:00

A few weeks ago I saw this youtube video in another blog and wanted to share with my readers here as well.

To kill two birds with one stone (or as we say in Brazil: matar dois coelhos com uma paulada soh), I've decided to explain a little how to add a youtube video to your blogger. Make sure you watch the video at the end though! ;) And check out their site at The Miniature Earth.

1. Go to the youtube site and find the video you want to publish on your blog;

2. On the right hand side you'll see a box like this one below:

3. Click once inside the white box that says "Embed:", the html there will highlight;

4. Copy that entire line by typing CRTL+C on your keyboard;

5. Now go to your blog new (or edit) posting.

6. Switch the view from "compose" to "Edit Html":

7. Paste what you copied where you want it to be displayed - Crtl+V on your keyboard;

8. Do NOT switch back to the "compose" view just yet. First you need to publish your post;

9. Enjoy your video!

** NOTE - if for whatever reason you need to edit your post, you can use the "compose" view if you need to, just make sure you ONLY publish the post while on the "Edit Html" view. :)

..:: ::..

Wanna play? Things you need to know! {not really!} =)

2008-08-13T21:14:00.006-04:00

Got this from my friend Renata (In the meantime in Boston...). I warn you though... it's boring. I am boring, living a boring life. The information below is rated "family". LOL

** note: my answers are in no particular order of preference or chronological.

Four jobs that I've had:
1. Computer programmer
2. Nanny
3. School Bus Driver
4. Graphic Designer

Four movies that I can watch over and over again:
1. The Lord of the Rings (all of them!)
2. The Shawshank Redemption
3. Nothing to Loose
4. Lost in Translation

Four places that I've lived:
1. Itajai, SC, Brazil - map
2. Florianopolis, SC, Brazil - map
3. Waterloo, Ontario, Canada - map
4. Toronto, Ontario, Canada - map

Four tv shows that I love:
1. Lost
2. CSI (all of them!)
3. Any crime related tv shows (like Law&Order, Criminal Minds, etc)
4. House

Four people who email me regularly:
1. Dad
2. blogger notifying me that there are comments on my blog (I know, lame)
3. Sis
4. Dad (did I say that already?)

Four things that I do everyday:
1. Read books
2. Have a Tim Hortons
3. Worry too much
4. Internet

Four favourite foods:
1. Salads and veggies
2. Indian food (but no spicy please!)
3. Pears, lots of pears
4. Coffee (what? it's not food???)

Four places that I'd like to be now:
1. School
2. Beach
3. Paris (why not?!)
4. with my sister

Four people that I'd like to know better through this questionaire:
1. Patricia, do Scrap a Dream
2. Claudia, do Scrap a Memory
3. Elkeane
4. Andrea, do Relicario do Amor

If you want to play and your name is not in the above list, go ahead and post it on your blog anyway. Let me know so I can go and read your answers (I am nosey!). If you don't read English, you can refer back to Renata's blog to get the Portuguese version of this game. Now, if you are on the list above but doesn't wanna play, that's cool too! ;)

Have fun!

..:: Peace ::..

YAY! Got my timetable!

2008-08-12T23:31:00.005-04:00

About 10 days ago I got an email from the College saying that the timetable would be available on their site on August 13th. I've been checking my account since then, every single day! LOL
So this evening I check it again and it's there! YAY! I am happy! I don't have one single course starting at 8am! hehehe ok, all my morning classes start at 9am, but at least I will have some time to get the kids more or less ready to school before I leave - it takes me at least 30min. to get to school, but their schools are just around the corner.

** Note: for Brazilians who speak English and are reading this. "Around the corner" doesn't necessarily means what it says. hehehe It's one of those expressions that make a newcomer go "huh?", just like when you measure something and say "a couple of..." it doesn't always mean "two".

I picked my elective already (another online course, as I did last year), couldn't sign up for whatever reason. I choose "Cybernation", it seems very interesting, here's the description:

"This online course introduces students to developments in technology and to what motivates and drives these developments. It discusses how new technologies influence the way in which we work and live, and how we can understand and manage current technological change."

If I can switch one of my classes to another day/time, I will have Fridays off! ;)

..:: ::..

Chicken Fricasse

2008-08-12T15:04:00.006-04:00

I need to get back to some of the things I enjoyed doing. Cooking is NOT one of them, I mean, "everyday cooking". However, once in a while I remember I enjoyed making some special things, specially on the weekends.
I was doing some blog hopping today and came upon this post by Jane from The Art of Teaching and Living {A Art the Educar e de Viver}. I remember I used to make that, so I went and did some googling and found several sites with the recipe. I am including some links below, but here's 2 recipes, in English and in Portuguese. If you ever make the Fricasse, let me know what you think.

Fast Chicken Fricasse - from the site Recipe Land

Fricasse de Frango - no blog da Manu

Fricasse de Frango - no site Tudo Gostoso

BTW, recipeland.com is a very cool site. If you sign up you can add the recipes you like to your virtual "recipe box". Cool! If you want more Fricasse recipes, just type the word fricasse in their search box, there are lots, even a low fat recipe! ;)

I was wondering about this French word, so I paid a visit to my dear Webster and found this:

¹fric·as·see
Variant(s):also fric·as·sée \ˈfri-kə-ˌsē, ˌfri-kə-ˈ\
Function: noun
Etymology:Middle French, from feminine of fricassé, past participle of fricasser to fricassee
Date:1568

: a dish of cut-up pieces of meat (as chicken) or vegetables stewed in stock and served in a white sauce

So, do tell, what's your favourite chicken recipe?

Edited To Add - I took a closer look at the chicken fricasse recipes. The Brazilian recipe is wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy better than the English ones. Nothing can beat "requeijao cremoso" I think this is the one that I am going to make, my problem is where will I find the "requeijao"? Any ideas as to what I can substitute it for? And the "batata palha"?

..:: ::..

Monday

2008-08-11T12:28:00.003-04:00

You know how depressing most Mondays can be, right? Well, mine started well, look what I got in the mail from my friend Renata (Enquanto isso em Boston...). Thank you Renata!

Needless to say, if you want to find me, look for my tv! :)

..:: Have a blessed week! ::..

Got a surprise today! =)

2008-08-08T20:07:00.006-04:00

I've met some amazing women in the last couple months. They are mostly Brazilians and live outside of the country, all around the world. Renata, from the "Enquanto isso em Boston..." (In the meantime in Boston...) and Bell, from "Quiet Things", gave me this award:

This award if for bloggers who distinguish themselves for showing cultural values, ethics, great and fun writing skills, as well individual values, through their creative writing. (I just hope I did a good job translating the meaning of the award! LOL)

I am supposed to pass it on to 15 more amazing bloggers. It's very hard to pick, especially because she already picked some of the ones I'd pick - including herself! LOL

So, this is what I did. I went to my long infinite list of blogs that I *try* to read regularly. There are too many that I love to pick only 15, so if you are not on the list below, please don't take it personaly. I HEART you all!

1. Andrea, from Relicario do Amor

2. Claudia from Scrap a Memory

3. Janet Phillips

4. Kimberley, living in China

5. Lisa Leonard

6. Amy Pearson

7. Para Francisco
If you don't understand Portuguese, find an online translator and read at least some of this blog's entries. Christina is writing to her son, Francisco, about his father and the love of her life, Guilherme.

8. Alexandra, do Building Bridges

9. Camila, do Folha do Canada

10. Laura, married to a Brazilian

11. Lucia Cintra

12. Mirella, in Toronto

13. As invasoes barbaras

14. Cissa na Alemanha

15. Elaine Meyers

Have a great weekend everyone!

..:: ::..

C'mon Elaine!

2008-08-07T22:20:00.004-04:00

How many books can a person read at the same time before they start mixing up the stories?
Not sure.
I am reading three. Or rather, I was. One of them I stopped because after the first few chapters I did what I sometimes do: flipped to the last chapter and read it! Yes, I admit, I do that sometimes. Bad, I know. I guess I am a "little" impatient.

Anyway, the two that I am reading... they are both by Sue Monk Kidd, a new author to me -- there's a list on the column on the right where you can get the names and links to the books: "The Secret Life of Bees", and "The Mermaid Chair". I love them, and I will make sure to read more of her books.

Now... the news to me is that The Secret Life of Bees was made into a movie! I am so looking forward to that one!

Other than that, life has been quite hectic. Today we are not selling the house anymore. Tomorrow... well, tomorrow only the Lord knows.

School is almost back! I can't wait! My timetable will be available online next week, I am very excited to be starting my second (and last) year in College!

..:: May God bless you abundantly! ::..

Minnie and Moo

2008-07-24T11:24:00.005-04:00

I read to my son Ethan e.v.e.r.y. n.i.g.h.t. We come to the library often and get lots of books. Brenda always loved reading, but I don't really read to her anymore, at 12 she doesn't read "little kids" books anymore, unless she reads to Ethan.

Anyway... we got a lot of books at the library last week, and one of them is Minnie and Moo Meet Frankenswine by Denys Cazet.

This gotta be the funniest book I have ever read to Ethan! If you read to your kids, make sure you get any of Denys Cazet books, they will love it! I've read it a few times to Ethan, and everytime we read it we laugh.

We are at the library right now looking for some others (gosh, looks at some of these titles! LOL), but they don't have any available, however we put a few on hold for us.

We are going to be away for a few days, and when we come back we are going to put our house on the market for sale. My husband needs to fix some minor things before that, and put the new ceramic floors as well. I will be very busy packing our stuff and getting the house ready for showing. The positive side of all this is that I don't have to deal with the kids or myself going to school right now.

My dd wants a blog too! :) So I need to start working on setting that up, plus the graphics. She is very excited in sharing a little bit of her world!

Wishing y'all a great weekend!

..:: Blessings ::..

THE BRITISH ARE COMING!!!

2008-07-17T16:49:00.006-04:00

I always wanted to say that! And guess what?, they ARE coming, it's true!

Of course I am talking about some nice British, none other than... {insert drumroll here}...

I so wish I could go :( But $omething $o mundane as $money$ is preventing me to. So if you go, let me know how do you like it, ok? Just do not rub it in too much, alright? ;)

But wait, there's more! :( Eagles are coming too!!! My heart can't take anymore...

Movies movies movies... There's so much going on, so many that I wanna go see... hmmm... Let's start with this 3D movie that everyone is talking about, Journey to the centre of the Earth. It's 3D people, 3D!!! I saw the preview a few months ago at the theaters... wow, it's great! We might go this weekend, kids have been asking me ;) click here to watch the trailer.

Now tell, who remembers The X-Files? Well, the movie is coming out next week! Mulder and Scully are back! Click for the trailer.

What else? After the The Mummy, The Mummy Returns, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is coming out August 1st! Brendan Fraser, Jet Li, and John Hannah.

And last, but not least, Batman The Dark Knight is coming out tomorrow! Click here for oficial site.

That's it for now, I have much more to say but it'll have to wait. You have no idea how hot and humid is tonight!

Until then, God bless!

..:: ::..

This would never work...

2008-07-11T16:29:00.016-04:00

back home! 4-way stop signs? never!

I was just getting out of Tim Horton's and stopped at the stop sign, and as I was looking to the other drivers and paying attention to who got there first, I smiled and said to myself "this would never work in Brazil" LOL I can almost picture in my head all the accidents, all the yelling, all the "I got here first" LOL. I did a search on youtube to see what if I could find some interesting videos on how driving is in the biggest city in Brazil, Sao Paulo, click here for the search results.

Ok, Canada is not paradise, but so it's not Brazil. There's not the perfect place, the perfect place is what we make out of where we live. There's always 2 sides for everything, pros and cons. If I have to point out one thing that I really dislike about Canada, I don't even hesitate: winters are just too long! I mean, 'cmon, Spring officially starts in March, why does it have to snow until April? They say "Spring is just around the corner", and I blink and there she is, in all her glory, Spring, turning the corner and already waving goodbye! Argh! Then comes Summer, and if you think you'll now enjoy the warm weather, think twice: it comes with a price, humidity. So what you do? Stay inside and turn the AC on, especially on those days when humidity is a real problem and a warning has been issued. Ok, ok, you might have noticed that I pointed out 2 things! ;)

The last time I went visit my family I couldn't get in a car without having to unconsciously brace myself and hold the seat. LOL Traffic is just crazy down there, and my mom lives in a small city! Bikes (motorcycles) and bicycles everywhere! There's a somewhat new type of bike drivers down there called Motoboys <-- click to read a little about it.
They are everywhere, and I mean, everywhere. I don't think there's a place in the country where there isn't at least one Motoboy. The concept is interesting, and it comes straight from plain and simple survival, which we, Brazilians, are one of the world's experts, along with any other 3rd world country. When you have to "make do" to survive, you develop creative ways of using resources, recycling, and starting new and unique business.

Which brings me back to Canada. I have noticed a change in the last few years, but generally speaking, you cannot make a living in Canada fixing appliances and eletronics. It's cheaper to just go and buy a new dvd player, tv, or whatever, than getting it fixed. Reason is labour fees are just too high. I was really surprised, when I lived here for the first time (1990) to see all the "waste".

I got these facts below from this blog, Our Green Year:

40 percent of all solid waste generated in Canada is from household garbage.
Each person in Canada generates 383 kilograms of waste. In other words, that is 30 garbage bags per person in Canada.
12 million tonnes of waste is generated by residential homes each year.
Only 2.5 million tonnes is recycled.

'nough said for today. On a good mother's-heart-relief-note, my kids came back home shortly after I posted earlier today. Ethan hugged me for a long time and said that he was sad and missed me. Awwww....

I added some cool weather thingies on the right side, lookie, weather forecast widgets for both here and in Florianopolis, Brazil (the closest city to where my mom lives). I also added a translation tool. If you know of any other translation widgets, please let me know. I checked this one out and it does a pretty good job, but you know how funny and without meaning some translations can be, right?

Ok, now I am reaaaaaaaaaaaaaly gone!

Until I am back, God bless!

..:: ::..

Time for sleep overs already?

2008-07-11T11:54:00.003-04:00

It's here. And it's frightening. My son, my 6-year-old, asked me to have a sleep over at his friend's last night! I still remember how it was with my 12-year-old daughter, I had to go out in the middle of the night and bring her home, she would cry and say "I missed you so much!". Oh, a mother's heart, how confused that can be! I'd feel bad for her, of course, but inside of me something was happy to hear those words. I know, I know... I can only be human, and on top of it all, a mother!

Anyway... Ethan... he comes home and he is all excited about it, asks if it's ok with me, "it's ok with her mom!", their house is just across the street. Are you sure, I ask. Oh yes, he is sure. Then Brenda goes upstairs to help him "pack". heehehe so cute. Then they all come downstairs and ask me if Brenda can sleep over as well. Yes, if it's ok with Katherine's mom. They go ask, come back "it's ok!", go back to packing, I walk them to the neighbour's. I am convinced that I will have to come and get Ethan in the middle of the night.

Well... it's noon next day, and they haven't come back yet! I am sure he only stayed all night because Brenda was with him. hmmmm.... hmmm.... yes, I am sure.... hmmmmm

..:: ::..

This and that and more...

2008-07-07T19:05:00.007-04:00

Good grief, it's hot! Hot and humid! And the AC is not working properly, it's been running for several hours and the only place that's really comfortable is in the basement. How I wish it was a finished basement! I'd move myself and the kids down there for the summer! LOL

On a positive note, we are finally putting up the tiles in the kitchen, eating area, powder room, entrance. Well, I actually should wait until is really down under my feet to say anything eh? Having a husband that has a business in construction/renovation is not exactly the best thing. How does that saying about the shoemaker kids go? Exactly!

I am not working at the moment, just home with the kids for the school summer holiday. September is just around the corner, I can see it coming already. Time just flies too fast for my taste. The brighter side of it (there's always a bright side to any situation, believe me!) is that I will be going into my second (and last!) year of College. What the future has for me? I have no idea, but there better be something there! LOL I do have some plans, but plans can change depending of the circumstances, right?

I decided that I need to blog more often. I don't really blog about anything that has to do with my life besides my love for movies, books, and whatever digi products I am putting out. That's so lame!

Lately I've been reading several blogs by Brazilian women who live abroad. Very interesting. If you speak Portuguese you can check the links on the right. There are two blogs included in the list that are actually by 2 Americans: one who is married to a Brazilian, and another one who lived in Rio de Janeiro.

I haven't been feeling the best lately. Very emotional with a lot of crap going around my personal life. I don't like talking about my life to anyone though. But that's the reason that I pretty much am quiet for the past few weeks. Somedays I look at Photoshop, blink twice, and close it. Other days I hear it calling my name... "elaine... elaine..." but I ignore it. I should go out for walks. Walking did me a lot of good a few years ago, not only to my body, but to my mind as well.

I miss photography so much! I am looking forward to school coming back in September, I need a camera so bad. Whenever I go out I see all these things and moments that I need to shoot! I guess they will only stay in my mind...

Heard about this new tv series, Flashpoint? If you live in the Toronto area, you can catch the first episode this Friday, July 11th, at 10pm. Something to look forward in the tellie, I haven't watched much tv this summer, which is a good thing. I have lots of books to read though.

Well... that's it for now. I was going to post a picture to finish off the post... but I'd need to open Photoshop and edit it... and you know how it is, my ears can't hear the Photoshop call right now.

..:: Be well, have a great week, God bless you! ::..

July Desktop Wallpaper

2008-06-30T18:22:00.014-04:00

I have some new products (a few of them were part of my Build-Your-Own-Grab-Bag Event, so make sure you read the description). Here are a few of them:

And here's the free monthly desktop wallpaper. The zip file contains 3 different sizes, and each size has a different version: with and without the actual calendar for the month of July, click either the image or the link below to download it:

Elaine's July 2008 Desktop Wallpaper

Enjoy!

..:: Happy Canada Day! ::..

June 2008 wallpaper

2008-05-23T15:52:00.005-04:00

I have several new products at PDW, some of them are part of PDW's Friday's Favourites, check them out {images clickable}:

Some alphas:

My monthly wallpaper has been uploaded. It's one zip file with 3 different sizes. I went over the download logs at 4shared and it gave me a pretty good idea of what sizes are the most popular downloads, so those are the ones I am offering: 1024x768 - 1280x1024 - 1440x900 The wallpaper was created with my collab for PDW March Team Project.

“Spring being a tough act to follow, God created June.”

..:: Enjoy! ::..

Before Saturday is over...

2008-05-17T22:27:00.002-04:00

... I wanted to show you these:

This mini-kit is my collaboration to PDW collab monthly projects, March 2008:

*** pst, it's going to be a wallpaper soon, watch for it! ;)

This one is part of the May 2008 PDW Collab project:

And here's a peek of my collab for the June 2008 PDW project, watch the store for it's coming out very soon!

Have a great long weekend, for all the Canadians out there! =)

..:: ::..

Remember when..

2008-05-17T13:46:00.006-04:00

I've been doing some googling today, I wanted to find info about some tv shows I used to watch when I was a kid. I was born in the early 60's, but we didn't get to see these on tv until much later, I lived overseas and everything had to be doubled first. I think it was the late 60's or early 70's when I got to watch them. I know that by 1969 we had a tv set, because I remember watching the Apollo 11 landing on the moon. However, I never watched any of these shows at home, my grandma used to babysit us, and that's where I'd watch them (she got a tv set long before we did).

Here's a list of some of the shows. The more I searched, the more I remembered about other shows. There are still a few that I cannot remember their names, sometimes it's hard because the name got changed in Brazil. You will notice that most of them are American shows. I am including a youtube link whenever I find it relevant. Hope you enjoy going back in time! =)

Lost in Space (1965) - opening theme

Star Trek (1966) - opening theme

Daniel Boone (1964)

Land of the Giants (1968) - opening theme

The Adventures of Gulliver (1968) - opening theme

The Invaders (1967) - opening theme

The Time Tunnel (1966) - opening theme

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964) - opening theme

Thunderbirds (1965) - opening theme

"Get Smart" (1965) - opening theme

Bonanza (1959) - opening theme - Bonanza bloopers!

Rin-Tin-Tin (1954) - opening theme

Roy Rogers (1951) - opening theme

Lassie (1954) - opening theme

Flipper (1964) - opening theme

Skippy (1966) - opening theme

Daktari (1966) - opening theme

Bewitched (1964) - opening theme

I Dream of Jeannie (1965) - opening theme

Batman (1966) - opening theme

The Flintstones (1960)

Jonny Quest (1964)

Land of the Lost (1974)

The Hair Bear Bunch (1971)

I also found this youtube video with lots of the openings in one, click here.

I am feeling very old right now! =)

..:: ::..

Happy Mother's Day! and a freebie =)

2008-05-11T13:37:00.003-04:00

Woke up this morning with breakfast in bed, and kids hugging me and kissing me. =) What else a mother can wish for on Mother's Day? Oh, got some nice flowers too!

Hope all you mothers are having a great Mother's Day!

I have a little freebie to share, it's a pack of paper clips, digitally made. I hope it's useful!

{click on the image to download}

..:: ::..

Good Monday everyone!

2008-04-28T11:39:00.005-04:00

First of all, movies. I watched There Will Be Blood yesterday. Long movie. The main character, David Plainview, is violent, mean, greedy, and crazy! I think the only time that he seems a little human is when he reads his dead brother's diary. Nothing that he did or said was honest and without a hidden agenda. Nothing. And to think that there are people like that in the real world?!

School is over since the 18th. Got my grades a few days ago. Didn't do too bad, which was a real surprise to me, this was a tough semester, my personal life has been in a roller coaster for several months. My GPA for the first semester was 3.57, and for the second was 3.64, so not bad at all, eh? I am looking for a job for the summer months, second year starts in September and I don't really want to stay home all the time.

With school done for the year, gone was my camera. :( I looked for my point and shoot, recharged the batteries. The only thing about it is that it fits anywhere =) . Last week had to go to the city and took some pictures while driving around. I miss having DoF! But... that doesn't change the fact that the photographer in me is still in here. It doesn't need a big and better camera. I realized that the last year in school taught me how to use my eyes to consciously see and look for things that before I knew were there but didn't have a clearly definition in my mind.

Which brings me to this link below. I was reading some of my blog feeds this morning, and came across this posting by Amy Pearson (photographer and digital scrapbooking designer). She "photo walks". =)

I will post some of my "photo walk" pictures later. I also want a new heading for this blog, something more bright and spring-ish looking.

For now, "I am finished". ;)

Friday at the movies...

2008-04-11T17:19:00.003-04:00

Nah.... not movies today... not in the theater. I went to Blockbuster though. Got me a few movies. Just watched Lions for Lambs. Very interesting. Two things got my attention, besides the topic. First was something that the character played by Meryl Streep said:

"What have we been doing for the past six years when the World War II took less than five?"

Second. I would like to know what the heck Tom Cruise was doing when he all of a sudden looked nowhere to his left, at exactly 38.09 minutes into the movie? That looked like a huge bad editing job! If you see this movie, please tell me your thoughts.

Peace! ;)

Elaine

Ok, I've watched it!

2008-03-29T21:03:00.007-04:00

And yes, I didn't like it. It's got such a stupid ending! I mean, what?

It should had ended here:

You can't stop what's coming.
It ain't all waitin' on you.
That's vanity.

At least I got my own opinion about it now, right?

In any case, No Country For Old Men is wayyyyyyy better than Southland Tales. I returned it without watching it to the end. Too painful!

Friday at the movies...

2008-03-28T19:39:00.003-04:00

On my way home from school today I passed by The Home Depot to check on some painter's cloth. The movie theater is right beside it, so I decided to check it out. I love movies (can you tell?), didn't really have time to spare but told myself "why not?". The only movie starting at the time was 21, I had seen trailers on tv, knew that Kevin Space was in it, so what the heck, let's go see it. It's a 2-hour movie, much to my surprise.
I sneaked in a bottle of water and a pear. LOL Had to get popcorn of course. I enjoyed the movie a lot, and now I am considering seeing Across The Universe, with the same guy. I found out that Harrison Ford is making a movie with Jim Sturgess, Crossing Over. I think it's going to be a good movie (there's also a Brazilian actress in it).

Wishing you all a great weekend!

Control your actions, right now!

2008-03-07T20:49:00.002-05:00

Your Photoshop Actions, that is! ;)

Don't you just love PS actions? I do. I have tons of them, actions to make stitches around something, actions to make buttons, actions to make a special effect, etc etc.

Have you ever wished that you could edit them, change a little something, for example, the size of the stitch, or a feathering set that's just too much?

I will show you how.

1. First, open an image, any image will do, it can be anything that you like, I suggest opening a jpg, not too big, just for the heck of this tutorial;

2. Let's take a quick look at your actions palette. Photoshop comes with some basic actions, let's load a set.

image 1

3. Open your actions palette, you should see a group of actions under "default actions". If it's not there, click on the drop down menu (refer to image), choose "load actions..." and browse for your photoshop preset folder - that will usually be at: yourcomputer>program files>adobe>adobe photoshop>presets>actions, and load any of the actions that you see in the actions folder. I am going to use one of the default actions for this tutorial. If you want to use the same action as me but you dont' have the default actions loaded, you can reset your actions palette by clicking on the drop down menu, and choosing "reset actions". If you have other actions in your palette, you might want to "append" these when you're prompted.

image 2

4. Click on the little arrow beside the default actions on the action palette. That will expand the folder so you can see all the actions in that group (the default actions is a group of actions, an "action set").

5. Highlight the first one on the list "vignette", and using the rounded marquee tool make a selection anywhere in your image:

image 3

6. Play (run) the action; this particular action pauses and asks you for the amount of feathering you want to apply to the image, type any number you want and click ok. Now you have the action result. But you're not very happy with the action. You want the action to NOT stop and prompt you for the feathering, and you want the feathering be 10 everytime you run that action. Let's change it! ;)

7. Most important step of all in this tutorial: duplicate your action BEFORE you make any changes to it. To do so, highlight the action, drag and drop it on the "new action" icon on the bottom of your action palette. Now change the name of that duplicated action to anything you like.

8. click on the arrow beside the duplicated action to expand all the steps. Go ahead and click on the arrows inside that action to expand each and every step as well:

image 4

9. Now, make a selection anywhere in your image, as you did before. Double click on the "feather" step. When you are prompt to type the number, type anything that you like (other than 5, which is the default for this action step, I will type 15). Note: the record button on the bottom of your action palette is ON! ;) Click ok; the radius changed to 15 in your action step. Everytime that you run this action, the default feathering number will be 15.

image 5

10. Let's make the action run without stopping to ask you for the feather number. Do you see that little square right beside the feather step? Click on it to disable it. Don't worry, you can unable it again by simply clicking on it.

11. Now go back to your image, make a selection, and run your new edited action! Enjoy! =)

If you have any questions about my tutorial, feel free to post it here or email me.

..:: ::..

Feast of Love

2008-03-01T16:58:00.006-05:00

I was at Blockbuster today picking up some movies (again??!!), looking around, trying to decide which movies to get. I skipped one section because this tall guy was in front of me and I didn't seem like he was going to move on any time sooner. I stepped back and looked at the next section. Then I paid attention to what the guy had on his hands: Feast of Love.

In all my years of going to Blockbuster, I had never seen a guy, alone, checking out a romance type of movie. He looked at the cover, read the back cover, put it back. Then looked at something else, got the movie again. I finally moved on, and a little while later when I went to check my movies out, he was in front of me, had 2 movies in his hand. I couldn't tell if any of them was Feast of Love though.

I wonder how many guys like to watch that kind of movie?

I didn't get it today, I might get it next weekend. After all, Morgan Freeman is in it, who doesn't like this guy? Here it is, image clickable:

Now, if you feel like a funny movie, get Death at a Funeral! I sure needed the laugh! =)

..:: ::..

It's back to school time!

2008-01-08T21:50:00.000-05:00

YES! School is back! I am so happy, I've been so lazy this past couple of weeks! It seems to me that the more free time I have, the less I get done! =)

So we have a couple of assignments to do already. I am going to appreciate being busy with all the assignments, there is so much going on in my personal life (not to mention in the digiscrap word!) that I welcome anytime that I need to concentrate on school.

I "think" I have decided which dSLR brand I am going to stick with: Canon. I am going to buy a prime lens this week, do more research and in April I will buy my own dSLR (since I have to return the school's camera for the summer).

Weather has been really nice since yesterday, around 12 degrees POSITIVE! Hard to believe it's January, but I know it's going to change pretty soon and we'll be back to normal temperatures!

American Idol returns next week! I had told myself that I wasn't going to watch it (I hate being controlled by the tv! LOL), but from the little bits that they have been sharing on tv, I just have to watch it! For example, this woman gets so upset with the "trio" for telling her she can't sing, that she goes crazy and runs out of the building saying: "... he is not even American, he is from France!", referring to Simon! LOL Gosh, I need all the laugh I can get!

LOST is also coming back pretty soon, on January 31st! I am so looking forward to the new season!

That's it. I will try and post some pictures this week!

..:: Blessings ::..

{Enjoy}

2008-01-05T01:14:00.000-05:00

I was reading somewhere about blogging one inspirational word a day for year of 2008, as well taking one picture a day. I wish I could make that a resolution and stick with it, but I can't. I will do what I can to share one or two pictures here and there, whenever I have the time.

Anyway... I was eating grape tomatoes while thinking about all that and thought they would make a great shot! This was a few days ago, and yes, I still have my Christmas tree up, tomorrow it will go away though.

The inspirational word for this picture is

{enjoy}
* to have a good time
* to take pleasure or satisfaction in

Enjoy 2008, one day at a time!

..:: ::..

Happy New Year! {and a PS trick}

2007-12-31T21:51:00.000-05:00

I wish everyone a great 2008, happiness, success in everything that you do, peace in your hearts and a smile on your faces!

On another note, since I got my laptop I've been using it more and more and now use the desktop only on rare occasions. I remember that I had to install a little file to be able to view thumbnails of .psd files on windows explorer a year or so ago, so I did some searching and found the file. Installed it on my laptop and it works just fine, which is a real surprise because the laptop runs Vista! ;)

So here's a link for the zip. You are going to find 2 files in it plus a readme file. Just follow the instructions and restart your computer and you'll be ok!

Click here to download PS Thumbnail Explorer

Happy New Year!

Hello! I am still here! =)

2007-12-10T17:57:00.001-05:00

I've been MIA for a long time, but it's a good thing, really it is. School has been a "little" stressing, to cope with school, family, house, etc, is not easy, but looking back now I am surprised I did it. I didn't miss one day of school, assignments were 99% of the time handed in on time (I had problems with essay writings... oh well....), overall I am very happy with my performance. I did my best, and I feel good about it! I am looking forward to next semester, and to learning more exciting and interesting things!
I made a good decision: I am taking my English and my elective over the summer break next year, instead of next semester. In fact, I will take 2 electives if they let me - that way I can concentrate on my program. That will help me to ease the stress next semester, for sure!

If I were to pick a quote to represent what I went through this past 4 months, this would be it:

Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want!

I keep going back to that quote over and over again. The old "learning from our mistakes" hasn't been so true to me as it is now!

I feel especially good for setting a good example to my kids: going back to school at 44 has to be a positive thing! My dd, who is 11, thinks is so "cool" that mom is attending school, and mom is never late, and mom studies for her exams and get assignments done! My oldest son, who is 25, thinks that I am having a middle life crisis! LOL "However", he adds, "it's a good middle life crisis, at least you didn't buy a convertible!" LOL

I won't deny it: I've had a lot of doubts to deal with, and I still do. The worst ones were at the very beginning of the course, and one about a week or so ago. I tried to remember some things that I heard from two people at school: first, whenever you feel discourage and feeling like you can't do it anymore, do it for one more day only. Second, don't be too hard on yourself.

I cannot pick one class that I like the best: I like them all, they are so very interesting! I love being in school, I love learning new things! I even love grammar! Well, maybe that one doesn't count, I've always loved grammar! =)

One of the most important things that I've been learning is how to accept constructive criticism. We do critiques a lot, and sometimes it's not easy to take. It's not an easy job for the teachers as well, they need to be as much honest as possible without discouraging the students and make them feel bad.

Anyway... I am looking forward to my 3 weeks off, but at the same time I am not. I am going to miss school. On the other hand, it's Christmas and I am going to be very busy, so far I haven't done any decorations and also need to get us a tree.

Keep the lights on, it's the only way to see some colour in our world!

Happy Holidays and a wonderful Christmas!

Photoshop and spell check

2007-10-14T23:17:00.001-04:00

Do you know that you can spellcheck text you type in Photoshop? Cool huh? No excuses anymore! =)

This is what you do - either CS2 or CS3: type your text, select it and then go to edit>spell checking.

Easy as pie!

I hope you all had a great weekend, mine was really busy, I had a memoir to finish writing for my Personal Journey class, plus yesterday I had to go out and shoot for a project due tomorrow! I also had to take some film to process (for a 4x5 large format camera project). I am looking forward to seeing those films processed, scanned, and printed! I took it to a place in Toronto called Image Works, owned by no other than Edward Burtynsky, make sure to check his photography site!

This is going to be a very busy week, tomorrow I have a full day at school, need to book one of the Studios for my first studio shooting! Fun! And the project is very interesting too, I will talk more about it sometime this week.

I've been planning to post some pictures but it's just not happening, sorry!

Wishing you all a great week!

..:: Blessings! ::..

Photoshop CS2/CS3 quick tip

2007-10-02T20:11:00.000-04:00

So there you are, working on Photoshop, maybe it's a picture of your grandma, of your better half (not referring to your pet here), or your pet. ;) Or is it a graphic?
Doesn't matter.
You changed a setting in a box, let's say the image size box. And then realized you changed too many of the settings and forgot which ones, or you want to compare to what it was before changing it? No need to close that box by clicking on cancel and opening it again. Just hover your mouse on the "cancel" button and press the ALT (windows) or OPTION (mac). Voila! The buttons changes to "reset". ;)

Gotta run, need to mount a 4x5 camera on my tripod!

..:: Be Happy ::..

Neat trick I learned today

2007-09-26T20:20:00.000-04:00

As I am learning more and more of Photoshop CS3, I am discovering some really interesting things. I learned something today that I didn't know it could be done. I started in graphics using Jasc PSP (now Corel), version 7. When I switched to Photoshop last year, it was only natural that I'd try to do things the psp way. I really missed some psp features that I couldn't find in Photoshop. One of them was "cropping to selection", which I show how to do in PSCS3 below:

Using your marquee tool, draw a selection around the part you want to keep, like so:

Now while still selected, go to

And here is your image cropped to your selection, just deselect and keep working! =)

Here's another neat little trick I learned. When you want to zoom in an image, press and hold Ctrl+space bar; you will see that your cursor will change into a magnifier, just click anywhere inside the image to zoom in. To zoom out, while holding Ctrl+space bar, right-click with your mouse and choose one of the options. You can always use Ctrl+(+ - signs) to zoom in or out as well. =)
If you want to zoom in on a specific part of the image, press and hold Ctrl+space bar, and with your mouse draw a selection around the part of the image that you want to zoom in. I thought this one was pretty neat!

Well, I hope you have enjoyed! I am sure most of you knew about all this already, but I wanted to share anyway.
If you subscribe to any feed reader, keep an eye on my blog, I will be posting any other little tricks about Photoshop as I learn!

..:: Blessings ::..

Pictures

2007-09-25T21:10:00.003-04:00

Pictures I took for my Visual Literacy class. It was about similar/dissimilar stuff, These part of the "similar" series, the one I handed in is the first one. Care to comment? Be my guest! =) Thank you!

** note: frames by Patricia Amaral

That's it for now... and as my dear friend Dory would say: "just keep swimming, just keep swimming..."

First post!

2007-07-01T21:27:00.006-04:00

Hi everyone!
I've decided to join the blogger community!

..:: ::..