Ana's Bookstore

Ana's Bookstore
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6/23/2008

"A Terminal Episode"

I know at least one famous comedian who is not laughing today. At least, not today. One who I consider a great comedian must be mourning the death of another one with all his ingeniousness, George Carlin. What I really enjoyed of Carlin was his linguistic detours, being myself a tongue twister. I love acrostic too and to quote his own saying of if he died on a hospital he would have "A Terminal Episode" the acrostic "ATE" is a farewell word in Brazil which in Portuguese means, "See You"!! So see you, George. You know I hate farewell so much that I actually "ATE" them all... And as a ballerina I've got "two-too" to show respect to Carlin's memory:

"If your name was a footnote in American legal history, what would be the photo on your ID: A toe-nail?"

"If you "died" your hair, would that make your hair drop? And would you bury it in a hair style?" I know they were lame (I just in-vented them in a "Minute Made"), but I hope I can make you laugh the heck out of it.

So to stir and spur us to forget the tears, and cheer up a little bit (at least myself;) here below I leave what some of my other fellow writers have been saying about my writing (for instead of deleting I kept them to share to the world:)

"I've taken a look at your web sites and it seems that you are incredibly talented."
David Cole from Launceston, Tasmania

"I have taken some time to read your postings. You are an amazing writer! I will post some comments on your writing, but I just thought I would e-mail you and let you know I am now officially a fan. Do you have any writing available for purchase? Bookstores....Amazon.com...? Anyway, I'll stop now to avoid sounding like I am just blowing sunshine up your arse. I look forward to reading more of your writing. Dustin."

"Working on anything new? You can't keep a mind like yours all to yourself...Its just not fair to the rest of us here on earth."
Dustin Doornbos from Grand Rapids in Michigan

"In a fit of self-destructive pique I've recently decimated my collection with the "delete" command, but there's still a little left. And now I can explore your writing, since I truly enjoyed the small part of it I've seen."
Bill Kowalski from St. Louis, Missouri

"Keep that pen moving. Rock on..."
-Metal Mark from Tucson, Arizona

Soon I will have some very good news about my books (and more messages coming on my way:)

"I happened across your website, and I am awe-struck. I just want to say that you are one of the most talented and multi-faceted people I have seen.

Your choice of words is exhilarating, your book's preview is captivating, and on top of all that are you behind Lulu (and soon on Amazon and other major retailers!:)

I will have to look into it more, but from what I see already, compliments to you and the many roles you fill.

Happy Holidays.

Sincerely,

Shad Nunemaker"


"I am writing to you because I tell you, I was really impressed with your

diverse experiences. You have done some interesting stuff, plus you have

used the time you spent on this planet to include some of your life in your poetic works!

I am looking forward to reading more of them. (I only read the samples.)

You seem to me to be a wonderful,

substantial writer who has done so many enriching things with her life.

I am so proud of you. I mean this from my heart: I hope

more people can find out about you through

the promotion of this anthology. You are really inspiring!

Good luck to you!

Theresa McGriff "

6/22/2008

Oscar Niemeyer (ON): GO+Old=GOLD!

This Sunday I went to the museum of Beaux Arts here in Santiago to see Niemeyer who recently celebrated his 100th birthday. What I most enjoyed about the exhibition, besides wandering around the building, was to go inside a dark room and see a projection screen showing a video where Oscar (with a head as bald as his architecture in the sense of simplicity and functionality) tells with details about his life as architect and public figure. "Life is just a breath", a minute and gone. That's not exactly the message from his creation which seems to scream out loud that they're there to stay forever in the eye of the viewer. His global intentions are circular and round, as the curves the Universe is made and as nature itself. Oscar never won an Oscar (and believe him when he says he never intended to win a prize or praise) and his works are as golden spheres. Go see, they're all around the globe (with no pun intended, I swear!:)

6/21/2008

Painting, Panting and Patting


I've been checking some of my old presentations on TV and (Movie) Theatres which made me yearn for the past. I surely did a lot in the last couple of years, but nothing compares to what I have done through the last twenty years of my life.

"Write a hooking book,
Plant a tree near a brook,
Have a child
born to be wild..." Well, I wrote more than forty books, I've planted more than twenty trees over the last two years (thanks to my personal recycling deal) and that gives me what? The possibility of having at least ten children!! So I know there is so much more in the horizon for me. But just to contemplate the template ignites so many emotions that's almost impossible not to gasp for some air. And yet I have accomplished so much that I think it is OK to give yourself a pat on your back once in a lifetime. I also have been sharing those moments with cherished friends and I do feel awesome that they appreciate my efforts of turning back in time, or at least trying to freeze a little breeze that passed once through our lives. I am not being nostalgic the least (perhaps only a little romantic) that I simply like to offer a bouquet of precious memories that once experienced nothing can take away. Time passes, right. But a time well spent is a life well lived. And if remembering is to live, then I live to remember!

6/20/2008

Photo Shooting

It's pretty nice that Paulo Coelho, a worldwide celebrated writer, shows the step-by-step of how to make a cover. As models, we've been in so many photo sessions that it's hard to keep track of our works and we even take for granted all the hard work from measuring the light to keeping the model still, to have the patience to not scream to the person, "Don't move... Don't move, DON'T..." (Too late!;)


Talking about covers of magazines, I once was sitting in the VIP room of Lima's airport, waiting for my plane (from Varig airlines) when I saw a magazine... and look who was on the cover?? Only my favourite author!! (And he would never guess, magician as he is;) then, my plane arrived, and what was my surprise when I saw him descending from the same plane that I was about to catch. Tell me about synchronicity! It was in 1998 and the magazine I was reading had an interview about Paulo Coelho's upcoming visit to Peru. I don't need to mention that when I saw him walking in the landing lane I started to jump like crazy (or like a bunny groupie, as his last name itself means Rabbit) and yelling I called him, "Paulo Coelho, Paulo Coelho". I swear you I thought he had heard me screaming at the top compartment and through the sound-proof windows, as I saw him stepping towards my direction. Then a big woman (I wonder if she was his agent) grabbed his arm and redirected him to the exit. At least I can sing the FADO (Fate) that I was once THIS close to him... To quote Maxwell Smart, "It was this close!"

6/19/2008

Made In Heaven


This movie is about two souls whose marriage was literally "Made in Heaven", in a romantic comedy (a genre which I love) so amazingly written, beautifully arranged and so true that I had tears in my eyes when it finished. The message is "You can find true love... Have faith!" A message that I once seem to have received from my own true Love...

Just as I think with my heart, I feel with my mind.
Cause let's face it: Love is not blind!

But I am actually in ecstasy right now for I finally found out that my new book is on the way within the hands of the editor-in-chief for Divine Destinies... And what a divine destiny that is.

6/17/2008

Into The Wild


I've read the book (the one with black and white cover) a year before this movie was shot. That cover caught Sean Penn's attention. It was a photo of a bus covered in snow. I only thought when I finished the book how good a movie could this be, for I so had in my mind's eye the whole picture, with so many attention to details, so very well described, filled with nuances not only from the inner and outer nature (in both senses, human and by the environment) but very well written as a sentiment, it feels how much this true story touched the author Jon Krakauer. The actor Emile Hirsch as the main character plays with distinction his role as the young Chris McCandless who left everything, family, friends, and an apparent flawless life to live into the wild. Awesome photography and direction, as well as the screenplay which held very truthful to the original text. Many Kudos for the first time director Sean Penn.

6/16/2008

San Francisco Spells


"If you are going to San Francisco..."
Scott McKenzie

"I left my heart in San Francisco."
Louis Armstrong

"(...)every gesture there has a meaning
(...) may feel your whole body screaming"
Village People


"Luna de San Francisco,
que la noche iluminó,
sólo hay una religión,
música y amor."
Paloma San Basilio


"(...) a place, where love begins
a certain town I left my heart in.

San Francisco love is all around
San Francisco you've never let it down."
Olsen Brothers

6/13/2008

Birds and Boats

Ana is thrilled to have someone's offering to buy a signed print of one of her artworks (it will be a hit in the South of England:) that now she's even considering making an exhibition. She always keeps her original, hoping someday she will be actually famous enough, and her family could make some profit. All for the sake of her heritage. Anyway, artists are often known for putting their faces in everything they create. Can you see her face in the painting? The original is a coloured ink in a couchet paper, with mostly shades of blue and grey: