Random things that remind me of London.

For some reason, slightly cold and yet sunny Sunday mornings remind me of London (they do have sun in the UK, you guys), much more than rainy days in fact. So I’ve decided to compile a list of other things that remind me of that city which is the true love of my life. (I’ve tried to keep out obvious UK products)

- Tea (well, this one was pretty obvious)

- Subway (first time I had one was there)

- Dumplings and many other types of food that have nothing to do with England, like Dim Sum, Kebabs, Curry.

- Have a real breakfast

- White sheets and white houses

- Jägermeister, Ales, Cider

- People complaining it’s cold when the temperature is around 15ºC. (this is basically Summer, people)

- Orthodox Jews (the first house I lived there was in a street where I was basically the only one not Jewish)

-  Tea Cups (or rather ‘Cuppa’)

- Black cocktail dresses

- Ray Ban Wayfarers

- Hills (I spent a lot of time in Muswell Hill)

- Parks

- Sunday Roast

- Hangovers

- Gingers

- Very big houses with great gardens (aka ‘manors’)

- Comic books

- Small  avocados

- Moldy bread (used to happen a lot, I ate it anyway)

- Oysters

- Braids

- Mustard

- Women with moustaches (I met one as soon as I got to London and she was really rude)

- Supermarket own brand products

- Talking about the weather

- Stand up comedy (well, funny people in general make me think of England)

- Some REALLY bad adverts (video ones), yet the clever visual adverts (like the ones in billboards or magazines) or beautifully designed packages also remind me of London

- Old men with very white hair

- Cheekbones (Matt Smith and Benedict Cumberbatch)

- Men wearing pointed-toe shoes

- Naked women in the newspaper

- CUSTARD, OH GOD I MISS CUSTARD and scones, I miss scones too

- Red bricks

- Banjos

- Men with nice haircuts

- Girls wearing shorts/skirts with a high waist

- Waistcoats (my boss in the pub wore it all the time)

- Scarves

- Puns

- And last, but not least (for now anyway): banter

Amuse me

James acordava todos os dias às 6h17 – exceto domingos e feriados, além de outros dias santos. Não 6h15. 6h17. Ele não gostava do número 5 e nem de números pares. Nem de azul-turquesa.
Melissa, sua esposa, já não se estressava mais com os desgostos de James. Ela até achara charmoso e interessante nos primeiros meses de namoro.
Nessa terça-feira em particular (ou nessa particular terça-feira), James não conseguia dormir. Veja bem, ele andava preocupado com o filho na faculdade e a hipoteca da casa. Além disso, ele estava com o estômago embrulhado desde o dia anterior.
Portanto, às 6h17, James já estava de pé. Ou melhor, ajoelhado. No chão do banheiro. Com a cara enfiada no vaso.
‘É culpa daquelas porcarias que tu come no trabalho’, disse Melissa, ‘se tu viesse jantar em casa…’
‘Mas eu nem comi ontem’, responde James logo antes de ser acometido por um ataque de vômito.
‘Pior ainda. Tá vomitando o quê?’
‘Meus órgãos?’
James sentiou o enjôo passar levemente e levantou-se. ‘Passou’.
‘Vai ir trabalhar?’
‘Tenho que ir. Depois do incidente da semana passada tem muita papelada pra resolver.’

James trabalhava no Laboratório Farmacêutico da HSF, um dos maiores laboratórios do gênero no mundo. Nos últimos anos a HSF vinha sofrendo uma série de processos contra testes em animais e foi na semana anterior que um grupo de coelhos, que estavam sendo testados para uma nova droga contra o Alzheimer, escapou. Dos 60 coelhos, foram recuperados 57. Um foi encontrado morto dois dias atrás no sistema de ventilação.
‘A coisa mais curiosa do mundo aconteceu’, disse Jamile, uma das novas contratações da companhia, assim que James entrou no escritório.
Jamile era morena, tinha 24 anos e era tenista nas horas vagas. James vinha dormindo com ela desde o mês passado, na festa de despedida do antigo vice-presidente da companhia.
‘Sim?’, ele respondeu, pensandos nas 7 horas de sexo ininterrupto da sexta-feira passada no motel perto do laboratório.
‘O Dr. Zeller veio aqui me contar que o coelho 58, o que tinha morrido…’
‘Hum’, o estômago de James embrulhou e ele sentiou sua mão direita formigar e parar de responder aos seus pensamentos.
‘Que estranho’, ele murmurou.
‘…não morreu’, a voz de Jamile o trouxe de volta.
‘Oi?’
‘O coelho. Não morreu. Parece que era algum tipo de estado catatônico só.’
‘Hum’, agora o braço inteiro dele parecia não funcionar. ‘Eu vou pra minha sala’, ele falou, desatento ao que Jamile estava dizendo.

Fora alguns enjôos e idas ao banheiro, o resto da manhã passou sem maiores incidentes para James, fora o não-funcionamento do seu braço direito.
Às 13h, no horário do almoço, James foi encontrar Jamile no motel. O braço de James voltou a funcionar mais ou menos às 13h31. Às 14h18, quando ele atingiu o orgasmo, o mesmo braço quebrou a armação da cama do motel.
E às 18h30, quando James chegou em casa, o mesmo braço quebrou o pescoço de Melissa.
Às 18h33, James devorou metade do pescoço da sua esposa.
Por fim, às 20h33 – aproximadamente – Melissa, com seu pescoço meio devorado, comeu o cérebro do vizinho.

On oversexualization and hands touching.

Confession blogs have become quite popular on Tumblr and recently I posted a confession on a Jane Austen blog saying I thought the scene in Pride & Prejudice (2005) when Mr Darcy helps Lizzie and gives his hand was just amazing. There’s a lot of sexual tension in that and anyway the movie is not what the post is about.

This scene is one of my favourites because I think it’s very simple and yet it represents a lot of things.

First of all, I’m a fan of Jane Austen’s work and I’ve seen this version of the movie about 10 times (I think Joe Wright is an amazing director). However, I’m not a naive 15 year-old girl who thinks Regency times were this amazing thing OMG. Nope. I know it was a patriarchal and sexist society, where chivalry was merely one of the many ways of repressing sexuality and so on. I know all that.

So, back to Tumblr. My confession was that I love this scene, because it represents a time when touching the person you like was so rare, that the slightest touch meant the world. Which I truly believe.
There was an argument among other people who saw that confession saying I was ‘misguided’ and that I was naive for thinking that (again with the same argument of sexism back then and repressed sexuality) and while I appreciate that maybe I wasn’t that clear, I think they consider themselves persecuted by something which wasn’t a romantic view of the act chivalry (not at all, I can open my own door and pull my own chair, thank you very much). However, someone said something about the ‘oversexualization’ these days and that’s the point I was trying to make.

I’m not against sexual expression, sleeping with random strangers or having thousands of sexual partners. I’m all for it. As long as you are feeling good about yourself, I say, go for it. My point with that confession was that today, when you like someone, it’s usually pretty easy to spot, the hugs, the touches, the clothes you wear when you’re going to see that someone, whatever. Some people are more discreet, some people are very obvious. It’s normal to start a relationship based on touch rather than on feelings (and that sometimes works perfectly fine). What I’d like to bring to the discussion is that what I meant to say was about sexual tension.

Honestly, I LOVE some good sexual tension and I find it kind of hard to come across these days. It’s difficult for people not to touch, if they are friends or even co-workers. If you’ve never experience that almost electric thrill that comes down your spine when you touch the person you like (preferably by accident) then take your hand out quickly kind of scared, then you haven’t lived. It’s quite unique and sometimes people really ignore that. Which is funny, because that’s my favourite part of the ‘flirt’: when the tension is so thick, you could cut it with a knife. It’s scary. It’s intense. It’s fun. And it doesn’t mean I’m sexist. Sometimes you didn’t even know you liked someone until a random touch to reach for the same thing allowed that weird awkward-make-me-blush kind of thing. Even if you are very open about your sexuality and speak freely of the pleasures of the flesh, it’s impossible to ignore that feeling. Because later, when (and if) something happens, it’s like taking shoes off that have been crushing your feet for hours x100.

I might not be the most clarified person about my sexual life (I know I have problems with being seen naked for instance), but I think it’s more about insecurity than sexism. I know marriage was never the happy thing everyone thinks it is (please, most of humanity married for convenience until the last century) and I know people get divorced more these days, because they CAN choose what they want and don’t have to stay stuck in a hopeless and sad union.

On the other hand, oversexualization is a problem. Look at your TV, at your 11 year-old sister (like my own) and listen to what kind of music they listen to – bitches, whores, pimps and so. It’s a bad oversexualization. It’s not for liberty, if anything, it’s for more sexism for the most part of it. Treating women like objects, just like they did back in Regency times and way before that. If before it was no sex at all, now it seems it’s too much, isn’t it? Of course my judgement is still influenced by a moral society grown out of Catholicism, yet in a country where barely dressed women are just normal and you’re weird if you don’t like to wear tight clothes – like myself – seem to be outdated and sometimes even ‘intimidating’ (because I don’t like to wear uncomfortable clothes? How aboutcha). I don’t blame the victims for being raped, because it’s not how you dress that will trigger a sick man into raping you. If you want to dress with tight short and high heels and a cleavage, I salute you , because I feel very uncomfortable in most things other than jeans and a t-shirt. I’m a well-educated woman and I think as they are allowed to dress like that, I should be allowed to dress like I do, without being frowned upon by people saying I suffer the influence of a sexist society.

So, when I say that seeing hands touching it’s more of a turn on for me than seeing girls shaking their asses on some random rapper’s face, I will not stand for being said I was misguided. My romantic notions are pretty realistic (even if I do allow myself an occasional daydream), but I like the mystery more than the obviousness.

A citizenship

Some days make me ashamed of being a citizen of this planet.
When people murder each other for shoes, when innocents are executed because of their skin or religion, when we rather spend days watching Big Brother instead of giving a helping hand to those who need, when families abandon their children, when children abandon their parents, when we forget who we are or how we got here.
When it’s easier to see hate instead of love.
At the end of the day, all we really have are our actions. Our thoughts will be long forgotten after we die, but sometimes our actions won’t. As someone famous said, do things so that your death brings no pleasure to the world.

It doesn’t matter how we die, we always die alone.

I just wanted to write a few thoughts on the 10 years of the WTC attack.
I’ve read through these past days many people accusing the US of being just as guilty of terrorism as those who took threw the planes against the World Trade Center. People keep saying ‘WHAT ABOUT HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI? WHAT ABOUT ALL THOSE PEOPLE THE US ARMY KILLED IN THE MIDDLE EAST?’.

It surprises me that someone would respond to a grieving situation, to a terrible mark in the history of the 21st century (and might I say, of the human history) and to all those more than 2000 lives lost, with such a statement.
Of course Hiroshima and Nagasaki were terrible and yes, we do still see consequences of it today, of course the War on Terror that followed the 11/09 attacks was a horrible thing (and sadly it still is) and so many other horrible tragedies, but can you stop thinking about your ideals against capitalism for a moment and think about families and lives lost?

The way I see it, it doesn’t matter what nationality were the people who died or when or who did it, it matters that it was unreasonable and…well, evil. What matters now is the pain and the healing process and whether you like it or not, the 10 years ‘anniversary’ (if you can call it that – I always reserved that word for good things) of those attacks is part of that process. For those people who lost friends and family there, it’s not about which terrorist attack was worse, it matters that it happened and it seems all unthinkable and wrong and people are judging a country for wanting to show respect for those lives lost.

I’m not saying other lives lost in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Baghdad, Belfast, Madrid, London, Mumbai, Kandahar and so on, mean nothing, because they DO and they mean as much as any other life taken by prejudice, fundamentalism or xenophobia. These past 10 years have been shaped by that one day in September (and I remember hearing on the radio and thinking it was the beginning of the III World War), as you like it or not, the US is the geopolitical force of the last 60 years, so it’s sad that their tragedy seems to matter more than other tragedies around the planet, but blame the journalists, blame the politicians and their games, don’t blame the victims.

I’m sorry that my sister (who was only 2 when the 11/9 happened) had to grow up watching repeatedly news of terrorists and war against this said terror and seeing the replay of those planes hitting those buildings, of car bombs being exploded, of suicide bombers murdering innocents in the name of a god. I’m sorry she had to grow up seeing armies murdering civilians in the name of democracy, or that she had to see that prejudice and xenophobia are still part of the world culture even after the II World War, and I’m sorry she has to see people who dislike the US saying that grieving is only an excuse to ‘play the victim’. I’m sorry she has to see that the answer to violence seems to be more violence and hatred.
Don’t blame the victims of fear and hate of all over the planet on ideologies and acts played by politicians.

E a lista continua…

Agora a lista dos Deputados Estaduais, que aprovaram o reajuste dos seus salários em 73% no final do ano passado (21 de dezembro! Presentinho de Natal…) para entrar em vigor esse ano.
“A partir de 1º de fevereiro de 2011, o vencimento do parlamentares, que hoje é de R$ 11.564,76, ficará fixado em R$ 20.042,34.” informa a Zero Hora (de onde eu também tirei as informações sobre quem foi a favor/contra).

Todos os candidatos do PT votaram CONTRA (Adão Villaverde, Daniel Bordignon, Dionilso Marcon, Elvino Bohn Gass, Fabiano Pereira, Ivar Pavan, Marisa Formolo, Raul Pont, Ronaldo Zülke e Stela Farias) e também votou contra o Deputado do PTB, Cassiá Carpes. A proposta do PT era fixar os salários em R$ 15.521,06 a partir de 1º de fevereiro de 2011, e em R$ 17.400,66 a partir de 2013 (nem chegou a entrar em votação).

Então, os queridinhos Deputados(as) Estaduais que foram A FAVOR DO AUMENTO:
— PMDB:
Alberto Oliveira, Alceu Moreira, Alexandre Postal, Edson Brum, Gilberto Capoani, Luiz Fernando Záchia, Márcio Biolchi, Marco Alba, Nelson Härter.

— PP: Adolfo Brito, Francisco Appio, Frederico Antunes, João Fischer, Pedro Westphalen, Silvana Covatti

— PSDB: Adilson Troca, Paulo Brum, Pedro Pereira, Zilá Breitenbach

— PDT: Adroaldo Loureiro, Ciro Simoni, Gerson Burmann, Gilmar Sossella, Kalil Sehbe

— PTB: Abílio dos Santos, Aloísio Classmann, João Scopel

— PPS: Berfran Rosado, Luciano Azevedo, Paulo Odone

— PRB: Carlos Gomes

— DEM: Francisco Pinho, Paulo Borges

— PSB: Heitor Schuch, Miki Breier

— PCdoB: Raul Carrion

Logo além, farei a lista dos Deputados Federais. Bora tirar esses abusados das nossas Câmaras, Senados e Ministérios!

Aos Porto-Alegrenses: Serviço de Utilidade Pública

A Câmara de Vereadores de Porto Alegre aprovou nessa segunda-feira (dia 29 de agosto) um aumento de 73,3% nos seus já altíssimos para R$ 14,8mil (já tinha sido aprovado um aumento em fevereiro). Coloco abaixo os nomes dos queridos e imploro para os que possuem o direito de voto, para tirarem esses Ilustríssimos Senhores(as) Vereadores(as) da nossa Câmara. “A decisão de aumentar o valor novamente foi tomada com base em legislação aprovada em 2008, que permite que o subsídio corresponda a até 75% do que recebem os deputados estaduais.” (segundo o Estadão)

Enviei um e-mail para os queridíssimos e recebi uma resposta, que diz “Nenhum vereador votou agora com relação ao salário, essa votação, de acordo com o que manda a CF88, deu-se na legislatura passada, ocasião em que, dentro dos padrões constitucionais, ficou estabelecido que os vereadores de PoA iriam receber 74% do que for atribuído ao deputado estadual. A indignação da população está correta, só que ela está sendo direcionada de forma injusta. Antes dos vereadores estão os deputados federais, os deputados estaduais, o judiciário, o tribunal de contas e outros, todos recebendo grandes quantias, estabelecendo aumentos em cascata tão surpreendente como este, mas que não tem origem nos vereadores“
Resposta essa que recebi duas vezes (por que ler, se pode apenas copiar e colar né Sr. Mauro Pinheiro?) Não fiquei sabendo de nenhum vereador que disse não ao aumento. Colocar a culpa na legislatura passada é bem fácil também “Ah, se os deputados federais podem, a gente pode também”. “Se ele rouba, eu posso roubar também”?

Anotem, salvem no computador e todo ano de eleição vão lá pra olhar a listinha e garantir que eles não receberão seu voto.
Adeli Sell (PT) – estava em 2008
Airto Ferronato (PSB)
Alceu Brasinha (PTB)
Aldacir José Oliboni (PT) – estava em 2008
Bernardino Vendruscolo (PMDB) – estava em 2008
Beto Moesch (PP) – estava em 2008
Carlos Todeschini (PT) – estava em 2008
DJ Cassiá (PTB)
Dr. Raul (PMDB)
Dr. Thiago Duarte (PDT)
Elias Vidal (PPS) – estava em 2008
Elói Guimarães (PTB) – estava em 2008
Engenheiro Comassetto (PT) – estava em 2008
Haroldo de Souza (PMDB) – estava em 2008
Idenir Cecchim (PMDB)
João Antônio Dib (PP) – estava em 2008
João Carlos Nedel (PP) – estava em 2008
Luciano Marcantônio (PDT) -
Luiz Braz (PSDB) – estava em 2008 (engraçado que ele que me mandou o e-mail dizendo que foram os anteriores)
Maria Celeste (PT) – estava em 2008
Mario Fraga (PDT)
Mário Manfro (PSDB)
Mauro Pinheiro (PT)
Mauro Zacher (PDT) – estava em 2008
Nelcir Tessaro (PTB)
Nilo Santos (PTB)
Paulinho Rubem Berta (PPS)
Professor Garcia (PMDB) – estava em 2008
Reginaldo Pujol (DEM) – estava em 2008
Sebastião Melo (PMDB) – estava em 2008
Sofia Cavedon (PT) – estava em 2008
Tarciso Flecha Negra (PDT)
Toni Proença (PPS)
Waldir Canal (PRB)

Ouvi dizer que apenas os vereadores do PSOL, Pedro Ruas e Fernanda Melchionna, foram contra o reajuste. (me corrijam, se eu estiver errada)

Por um Brasil limpo, por um Brasil justo e por um Brasil onde políticos não podem aumentar o seu salário.
Por sinal, dia 7 de setembro terá uma passeata contra a Corrupção no Brasil. (http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=257924184226462) É às 9h da manhã, saindo do Viaduto Loureiro da Silva. Outras capitais estarão realizando passeatas também.

UPDATE: Recebi esse e-mail do Vereador Luiz Braz
“Os vereadores de Porto Alegre, ou outros vereadores, não podem deliberar sobre seus próprios salários. O que ocorre é que, de acordo com o que manda a Constituição, vereadores de uma legislatura votam salários para as futuras legislaturas. Agora os vereadores não votaram absolutamente nada, e nem podiam. Quando os vereadores votaram, não sabiam que os deputados federais e os estaduais colocariam percentuais tão elevados para os seus salários. A constituição impede que a câmara modifique essa legislação, por isso, essa câmara não tinha outro caminho a tomar. Certamente é justa a indignação de toda a sociedade com relação aos salários, mas ela deve ser dirigida à quem pode modificar esse quadro, ou seja, os deputados federais, que podem alterar essa legislação e até mesmo resolver criar salários mais justos para membros do tribunal de contas (26 mil reais), deputados federais e judiciário, assim como o ministério público (cerca de 24 mil reais) e, depois disso, na legislação atual, tudo vem pela chamada cascata, nos aumentos dos estaduais e vereadores. Como nossas legislaturas não começam no mesmo período, somos sempre colhidos em meio de mandato, quando eles começam suas legislaturas, estipulando seus salários que irão regrar os demais.”

Não sei se confere essa história de que não são permitidas mudanças na legislação e que isso depende dos Deputados Federais. Porém, marquei na lista aqueles vereadores que estavam em 2008 (durante essa escolha, mas acho justo dizer que NÃO sei quais votaram sim ou não). Vou fazer um post com o nome dos Deputados Federais desse ano também.
Acredito que o fato dos vereadores não saberem que o aumento seria tão elevado é de pouca significância, já que o salário já era alto.

A quickie.

After more than 6 months without sex, you just forget about it. At least I do. And trust me, I’ve spend almost 2 years without sex a while ago.

I like sex as much as the next guy (well, maybe not as much as a sex addict) and yes, I do think about it all the time, but I don’t feel like a horny animal.

I was discussing that with my teenager classmates (I’m studying in a preparatory course to get into university, so I have lots of classmates just fresh from high school). They already spend most of the time talking about boys and maybe it’s because I’m older, but I find it plain boring. Of course, I do partake in some conversations and topics, but it’s THE ONLY THING they talk about. Then, I look at the other older girl there (who is actually married and is 25) talks all the time about how we must all get boyfriends.

I don’t know what’s that all about. The group’s “whore”, the one that everyday she comes up to say how perfect this guy is, but everyday she means a different guy and how she sleeps with random people every week when her mother is not at home. Well, she’s always bitching about how they mostly suck in bed and etc.

They were discussing how they needed someone to call and ask for sex without the guy falling in love or being annoying. I said they wanted a booty-call and all they had to do was shout out to the world and several candidates would appear. Not just because it’s sex, but because they are young and good-looking, reasonably clever girls. They said that would not work, because it doesn’t guarantee the guy would ‘behave’. They wanted a – and I quote – ugly guy, because then they wouldn’t fall in love. I don’t know, sex appeal is kind of important, even if a person is ugly based on someone else’s standards, he could be beautiful to me and that would qualify as sex appeal.

As much as a feminist I might be most of the time and I do not have a problem with people sleeping around, I think if it’s just for the sex, then you could at least have a bit of standards. If I’m going to sleep around, I’m going to do it with good looking people, thank you very much. I might date someone ‘ugly’, but if I’m talking about satisfying a physical need, I do want something nice to look at. The only time I had a one night stand he was the hottest guy I ever hooked up with, had the amazing abs and all that. He was a douche, but still. It’s not like he has any other qualities that I know of for me to have a reason to sleep with him. If it’s just to have something in your vagina, go buy a vibrator.

Also, do girls really think about boys that much when they are teenagers? I don’t think that was all I talked about. Or was it? I don’t know, I barely talk about boys now. I barely hang out around boys (if I do, they are mostly gays). I haven’t had a ‘real’ boyfriend for 4 years, I think. Am I miserable? Not at all. Am I fully happy? Not at all. I don’t see why people with partners have to be seen by society as always happy or if you are single you have to make sure everyone knows you sleep around to prove how fucking happy you are being free and single.

So, this is my statement. I haven’t had sex since November 2010. I haven’t kissed anyone since the same date. I couldn’t really care about this. I have more in mind than having to worry about boys. I like boys, but I don’t have the patience to go after them. I love the chase and I love flirting, but I really don’t have the patience for it. I’m happy for you if you have sex frequently, YOU GO AND GET THEM! If you don’t have sex frequently, well, deal with the matter in your own hands. Or just do as I do: find something else to think about (I travelled around Europe for 70 days), watch a lot of tv shows, read books and then after 6 months you might forget about it.