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11/11/2011

11/11/11

Funny how the world became so small, and with all the easy access to communication people seem to have lost their ability to be in touch with one another and communicate well. How many times I've seen a lack of trust and the inability to express one's feelings. That's why I created a song with lyrics such as "I want to be somebody, not just anybody"

I see the importance people have in our lives and sometimes just by the lack of communication in a world filled with communication lines we can get tangled, wrapped up and lost in the myriads of selves. So it's not really a lack of communication but of a "communion action", not of deliberately giving information to one another as much as a miscommunication in all aspects. When was the last time we really looked into each other's eyes and openly spoke from our hearts, and I mean literally, sensing each other's rhythms, not just a chit-chat or talk about things in general, but a pounding and vigourous beat. We are way too busy with our lives, searching for things we don't really know what or why, just to keep busy and stay away from what really matters, which is to commune, not only talk but listen to others, to make someone feel special, for we are in fact all unique in this world. That's why this 11.11.11 I pray we may all connect in one heart and soul to dance as one, May our spirits soar high and our lives be as a beam of light where the whole planet may sing in one tune wishing upon the stars as dreams come to fruition with creations of an unimaginable beauty.



"One day on Earth,
a new rebirth,
sing with me
with harmony,
let's join together,
you and me,
let's make this world a big symphony!" (lyrics & song by Ana C.)


Hope you may live each day as one day on earth.
HAPPY 11-11-11, every ONE!:)

10/16/2011

#BAD11 FOOD (Poisoning)

This year, as every year, I'm participating once again in Blog Action Day, always held on October 16, which today coincides with World Food Day. And for 2011 the theme is FOOD and why FOOD can be #BAD11 one of the most vital element to all living beings. And when food turns out to be bad for you. There are many reasons why you should intake what's essential for your survival. But here I will only name the facts why you should be careful before putting anything inside your system:

Pesticides and other hazardous chemicals (known as a fact to cause serious diseases, such as Cancer)

Validation Date Expired (take note on how many times you buy food and you forget to read the labels on the products you consume)
Combination of foods (that one, we often take for granted)
Canned food (Can I say a big no-no to many products with their package damaged?)
Sea food (only good when it's fresh. But too fresh, that meaning raw, and it's like poison)
Meat (not to wave the Veggie flag here, but shoudl I need to point out thats it's no good since it brings all the toxins and the adrenaline caused by the killing of the animals?)
And the last on my list, but not the least...
National Security Matter: When food is a means to terrorist attacks.
Food as terror threat, what a treat! (You didn't hear my intonation? Holy Cow!)
Not to alarm anyone, but I get to the conclusion that to play safe we should all start to have our own food cultivation with organic plantations.
Take a look at this little rat. He found a way to live healthy, free and all, big and small, thin and tall, all up and down in his own town:


This way we would not only guarantee the quality of our own food but also help millions of people around the world to get rid of starvation. Just imagine you have been invited to have dinner at your friend's house and you bring your own salad, and your friend invite you for a dessert prepared with fruits taken from her own garden. And make it multiplied by millions, if not billions of other people's home doing the same and having those precious menus. Deliciously delightful... Such an utopia! But as long as we have recycling to make we could always have food in our table as well. And don't forget: An Apple a Day (if not poisonned) makes you live a long way.
Bon Appetit!

9/20/2011

Spring or Fall? Both for us all!

Acrostics and a little limerick:

Fair friends in the North Hemisphere,
A Happy Fall for all of you up there!!
Let's make the best of what nature brings.
Lovely leaves for you, for me I'll Spring!!;)


Blessed be, it's finally Spring!!
In joy and delight the birds sing,
Ravished upon the entire earth,
The new rebirth,
Helas, the joy it brings!

Ballet based upon the book "Sea Sons: Rhymes & Songs" Illustrated Book for charity. All donations will go to the children in need.

9/14/2011

Time for a coffee break:"R U OK?"


New studies say that a compound found on caffeine could help block cell growth and blood clotting, preventing not only heart disease but also Colon and Skin Cancer, and be effective in fighting other cancer tumors. A key biochemical process crucial to the functioning of an enzyme helps play a role in the survival and movement of cells.


Tv spot for the Brazilian Coffee Association.

Lyrics (translated by Ana C. Antunes):
"A good coffee, we can never forget
(here and there, now and then)
Drink a coffee and no sweat
It will happen!!"

The discovery of coffee on helping treating such diseases can become revolutionary. See, for example, cases, such as people who see themselves as more involved into relationships and cared for and are objectively well integrated in positive social groups who may feel well protected against episodes of major depression. The impact of low social support on risk for major depression are more pronounced in detriment of people who feel excluded from the “milieu”, as much as the sensation caused by the whole society of segregating certain types to their circle. As coffee makes no enemies, and it is as universal and as pleasant as any simple hobby, available to all age group, regardless of sex and race, it actually could graduate people to be more able to establish a "communion-active" feedback. So integration such as “would you mind joining me to a cup of coffee?” or “I will meet you at the coffee house” and even a small discipline figured as a five minutes chat at the coffee break, might add some significant time to your every day errands. But like all things, moderation is a must. As much as coffee makes you feel upbeat and stimulated, an overdoses such as more than two small cups a day, may not keep the doctors away... So next time someone asks you out to go drink a harmless small cup of coffee, you might as well accept it!!

Just one last note: The impact of this research on social behaviour is yet to be proved. So prove it by inviting a friend to a coffee today and ask, "Are you ok?"

9/08/2011

Literacy For Peace

Today's the International Literacy Day. And the main theme for this year is "Literacy for Peace". What does it mean? When we have better education, when we can read books and start to build opinions and discern between things we may allow ourselves for a better undestanding of our own acts and atittudes towards many things, especially concerning cultures, families, tensions between countries, between siblings, their problems and solutions. That's why Literacy for PEACE is hope for all around the world. Which book now that I'm glad I'm able to read and write? The book I just recently released on Amazon: "Out of the Blue" yes, literally speaking, for it was out of the blue that I wrote it, and it was all thanks for the first words I learned, of course, in my mother tongue, Portuguese.



I remember the first words I learned in English, my first Workbook when I was around seven in the American School I studied. The colour YELLOW, I love that word, and it was the first thing I remember I had to draw, then, the RED, the words pencil came later. Maybe that's when I decided to be an artist and author, I loved colouring that book, which I still keep after all those years.

Last year I had the pleasure to have donated more than a hundred books of mine (in various languages) to the local library at my birthplace city of Santos in Brazil. But the greatest pleasure of all for me it would be knowing that my books may serve to a lot of people, that many may read from them and learn the interesting things that my books provide too. For I have selected them with much care and throughtout my many travelings and it would be such a pity if they were kept in the shelves and never been picked up if no one can read. That's why I keep teaching people to read and learn at least the languages I know and I still have in mind to teach from my own books as well. Hopefully one day I may reach thousands if not millions of hearts all around the world. That keep being my dream and of utmost importance for me to accomplish.
Happy you may read me. Thanks!


Last year I was invited by the Blog Action Day to write about a very serious issue, water, and the consequences we will have to pay for it if or when there will be no more clean resources on Earth. That's when the story came "Out Of The Blue". I usually don't write in this genre (Sci-Fi) but when I do the pictures come into my mind so clearly as if it is a movie I am seeing, though I rarely know the end. It's an enigma for me. I always think I've got the story straight, that I have it all planned inside my head when, all of a sudden and out of the blue", here it comes an u-turn to change all the concepts and beliefs I had before.

It's a big mystery and surprise for me, really, how things turn out to be in the end, it's not I the author who is writing the story but it's the story that reveals itself for me. They say that Science Fiction is a good way to show the perspective of a reality that could pretty much come to fruition and it adverts or inverts us about things that can eventually happen. And that's so true. What would be of the world if not for the Sci-Fi authors, and I mean since the crazy adventures of Jules Vernes under the sea or out in the space, or even in the Amazon jungle, or the amazing discoveries of Mary Shelley's Doctor Frankenstein. Scientists do prove what the friction between reality and fiction comes from a thin fine line and some had already revealed them to be true.

A mixture of drama and comedy but that surprises by the honest approach. It makes you laugh and cry all at the same time, and how much I love to get that reaction from my fictions. What's your reaction when you read me? Do you keep quiet, in introspection or are you eager to say a word or two? And if so, why you restrain from saying those words? Why keeping quiet and shut and not shout out loud? The main reason may be that Peace come from a place within and the words are simply a gate between two worlds, a meaning which through we may pass knowledge and understanding, leading to a more Universal compassion and Truth.
HAPPY LITERACY DAY!

4/19/2011

The Call (Guess Who's On The Line?)



A teenage girl wakes up after a call over her cellular phone by a stranger. That person grabs her attention saying things that only she could know. So she keeps the whole day grabbed over the phone while she tries to keep people she loves out of trouble. And that's when she gets into a lot of trouble. All the twenty-four hour ordeal ends with a birthday surprise for her. Was that all a prank from a friend or was it all true? Who's calling her? Who's on the line? The story takes place in the streets of San Francisco. The main character, Jennifer, talks to a ghost... on her cell. In fact she doesn't really know who she's talking with, but she does believe in everything the ghost says. Spooky! But all that only reflects her inability to fit in anywhere in the world. Also she struggles with her parents divorcing. So she is also looking for a place she can call home only to find out her home is no where near she thought it would be.

I'm so thrilled how the script ended up to be that I published my screenplay with no doubt this will turn out to be a very good story to tell in the big screen. This is a very contemporary piece, I took a commom device (a cellular) to tell the story for it refers to all of us, on how someone manage to get things done when dealing with so many distractions nowadays. And that comes with an advice: Having ADD syndrome since I was a child, and hardly listenning to what teachers would say in class to then getting bad notes in the end of the month made me learn it in the hard way. Discipline, my friend, discipline. And a lot of good will!! After an hour or so, you will feel relieved to how much you've advanced. That's a great reward at the end of the day you know a little was accomplished. Baby Steps Work Wonders!!

The last ScriptFrenzy I worked on the adaptation of my NaNoWriMo "The Pierrot's Love", which was quite an interesting experience, actually. I tried to maintain the rhythm of the story while I kept the word count in balance with the pages from the original manuscript and I finished like a clock, right on time for a tea. But then it was not as fun as it was this year when I really grabbed a piece of nothingness, well, not really nothingness as much as a small tiny little idea I had in the back of my head to turn it into a script. That sort of no man's land and you not knowing where it will turn out to be next gave me such a thrill that I couldn't stop thinking of the story and what would come next. That kept me going all the way and I rather finished the 100 pages almost half of the time I took on my first script adventure. So, characters may change, views will definitely do the work, and the story would give you the jest as much as you allow it to flow. Hope you have a blast with my script... well, I did!

Can't wait to make this one as a feature movie...would love to see the faces of the audience holding on to their chairs with their hairs up only trying to figure out who's on the line!!

You can get a sneak peek with a preview in the link below:
http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/the-call-%28guess-whos-on-the-line%29/15523580?showPreview

3/09/2011

Playing With Words...Literally!;)

The Spider Game

1/03/2011

Celebrating Life

This morning my granny died at age 96. She was at the hospital and I made her promise me that she would be there (hopefully not at the hospital) to spend her 97th birthday with me in the beginning of this year. She first said yes, then she stopped and looked up saying, "It depends on the one who's up there...He's the only one who knows when our time is up!" She had such a peaceful smile, she was so lucid her whole life through. Portuguese-born, and very proud indeed of her roots, she chose though Brazil as her primary home, and she wouldn't change her life for nothing. A tremendous pianist and needlewoman (she made the most beautiful cloths and garments in crochet and tricot for my sister and I during our childhood), she just so lived her life so fully, and she did not only teach her sons and daughter piano lessons but most appropriately she chose to leave a legacy about love for we could see the reflection of all that affection on the way they treated her. Or she wouldn't have survived for that long, with not for the loving care they gave back to her. Such a celebration of life, she was still weaving and knitting and teaching. Her last pupil was my mother who just told me, "And I didn't show the towel I just finished for her." The afternoons I spent at her house, all the conversations we had about deep meanings, about life, about relationships, about love, ABOUT RESPECT. But most importantly it was when I held her hand at the hospital and kissed it for the first time that I could realize how much she meant to me and above all of the big lessons she taught without even saying a word. For it was in that moment that I saw that no matter what we do in our lives, in the end it is love that is basically left to us. What makes our life worth living are those cherishing moments, they stay forever, more than words, they are the actions, a simple gesture that is so meaningful and filled with symbolic healing. I write these words with my eyes half-covered in tears, for I know I'm more useful when I pour my emotions down with no restrain, while still able to discern what I am saying. She has always brought me a smile, and I will treasure the moments we spent together forever in my heart. Her sweet laughter and Portuguese accent, something that she never lost over the years, will remain in my memories, as much as her devoted soul. She was the one who stayed there with me all so vigilant and waiting patiently for my recovery when I was at the hospital on my sweet sixteen battling between life and death. Although she never mentioned that, her indeniable love and sacrifices towards me were so uplifting and moving that there were never enough words to describe what she meant to me. So we simply smiled at each other like two complacent souls.

I don't even need to mention what we so commonly wish for a soul who just departed! "Rest In Peace" or to write an anacronysm such as "RIP", for I know she's been resting in peace her whole life through by the way she lived in peace in spite of any turmoil that would rise around her. And I will take her forever with me, for she was the one carrying me around when I was the one who could not walk then. She showed me the way with gestures, not only words. And I'm the one following her steps in heavenly garments. I will always remember her sweetest laughter when on the phone each time I called her and by every year on her birthday, and her tender smile will be engraved in my heart for good.

I love you,
Granny!