I want the hours to stop
For the water to lay still
Like the characters in the books when I close the pages
They living trapped among words, until we again read
I want life to stop slipping away
For tea not get lukewarm
And to see your smile without a frown
without a care
I want Time to stop, every day, at 2 p.m.
And to embrace you forever, under this bridge
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| debajo del puente Mission Bay, Bonita Cove beach |
Halloween reading ideas, dark and charming The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. Inspired by The Jungle Book, but a ghostly twist, Bod, short for Nobody is a boy raised not by animals but ghosts in an old graveyard; where ghosts from many eras reside. A coming of age tale for children & adults. Flows easy, has funny moments, but many heartfelt lessons for the young & the old. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Neil Gaiman himself, he was a wonderful voice and diction that go perfectly with his genius book. If you are older than 10 years-old, or your 110 years-old eyes or ears still work, I highly recommend you this for a lovely Halloween reading. #TheGraveyardBook #NeilGaiman #Octoberbooks #graveyardbooks #HalloweenBooks
Since I was a young lonely girl, maybe around 7 or 8
I've found refugee in books, before the piano
Before the music, before my cousins, and my friends
There were the books.
Maybe because my mom and I are named both Berenice
We had a copy of Edgar Allan Poe's Horror Tales
Of course I read Berenice, and The Black Cat,
The Oblong Box, The Fall of the House of Usher!
I mean, I was not older than 8, but all made horrible sense
and I was hooked... later I switched to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's
Sherlock Adventures, and Agatha Christie, but I was marked for life
Horror, mystery, thrillers, have been the backbone of my love for literature
And now, alone again, about 45 years later,
I heal my Covid-23 wounds, no friends, no school,
just some work, but don't talk to anyone and wear a mask
some fever, headache, cough, no sense of smell!
All bearable, but oh the mental health, the rumination
Can't go on my beloved walks, can't focus, can't draw...
Yet I discovered now, I can finally READ!
So I am able to grab these frightened eyes that have been staring at me
Since I got the book months ago, can finally be hold in my hands,
and what a fantastic cover this one is, yes finally reading this fantastic book by one of mine
fast-becoming favorite authors ever, Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Mexican by birth, Canadian by inclination as she calls herself
but with the deepest knowledge of my ex-beloved city than most authors
who actually live in the city.
This is not my first experience reading Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Mexican Gothic was my first book of hers, and what a superb novel!
Of course, I was into H.P. Lovecraft and other gothic authors too
She did a magnificent job creating the perfect "Mexican" and "Gothic" novel
I have also read Gods of Jade and Shadow, more of a Mayan fantasy book
and Velvet Was The Night, a perfect noir! No horror, no ghosts, just
a beautifully crafted noir film, that raises to the level of a Raymond Chandler novel
Being an student from La UNAM, Velvet Was The Night fast became my
favorite book of hers, but now, here comes Silvia with this uber neat literary bundle
that is Silver Nitrate, it's Mexico City again
And the 90's! Horror movies, metal music, film, sound editing,
runes, spells, magic, witchcraft, ghosts, beepers, an ex-telenovela actor
from yes, Televisa, some evil uppity white people, and yet another fantastic
anti-heroine, full brown Mexican sound editor, horror film aficionado
willing to fight Nazi occultists, and chauvinist bosses and workers
with the same fierce and unapologetic bravery.
What a fantastic book! Thank you Silvia Moreno-Garcia
For making these days of Covid-23 go faster.
You are the coolest, most intelligent contemporary author,
I have read recently.
The most heartful thank you and admiration
From my entire brown Mexican heart to yours!
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| The superb cover of Silver Nitrate |
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| Silver Nitrate Silver |
This is the second week of my freehand drawing class
We have been drawing a lot of hands, at first pencil
Last Thursday, we used India ink for the first time
This my second attempt at a hand traced and drawn with pencil, followed with India ink
The background started as a mistake, too dark!
But the brushes coming from the center sort of fixed it
I still need tons of practice, but I am ok with tonight’s practice
it was yesterday, when
the ghosts of candles
raindrops, windows,
it was green, and it was gray
all the words, the music,
the beauty, created out of pain
and then, today
I barely know you
yet
alone, I see you
alone, I miss you
and there is no more rain
I haven't read a lot of science fiction
I got started this summer with Octavia Butler, Ray Bradbury
The online recommendations about Cixin Liu's trilogy came appearing
So I decided to give it a try, I thought probably I would read
at least the first book: The Three-Body Problem.
Which is based on the problem in physics of tracing the trajectory of three bodies interacting with one another
this problem doesn't have a closed form solution!
I am very lucky to be able to read in both Spanish and English
I read books in their original language (only for those languages of course!)
Being the original books written in Chinese
And catalogued as "hard science fiction"
A subgenre of sci-fi that focuses more on scientific details, math, physics
I thought it would be easier to understand these concepts in Spanish
I also did a combination of audiobook while following the paper back in Spanish at night.
The Spanish version is narrated spectacularly by Francesc Belda.
Yet, I couldn't resist to buy used books of the English translations
I've been having a great time comparing chapters in both languages, jumping from Spanish to English print editions to audio in Spanish
I have finished books 1 and 2, The Three-Body Problem and The Dark Forest
Both are highly recommended!
I don't know much about science fiction but I am in awe of the concepts, the visuals, and the stories that Cixin Liu have created
I have read that the characters are flat, and yes, this is not literary fiction (which is one of my favorite genres) yet, the narrative feels like a thriller, a space but also early 1960's Chinese thriller, full of mystery and archetypical passages
The imagery is mind-blowing and so the scientific concepts!
But also the books are full of philosophical analysis of our species, moral concepts, sociology, including cosmic sociology (what a concept!) and more
The concept of the 'sophons' on The Three-Body Problem was mind-blowing and that was just the beginning
The concept behind The Dark Forest itself is "espeluznante" truly nightmarish
The imagery is superb too!
I could keep on writing about these books, but rather get started with
Death's End / El fin de la muerte, the last of the trilogy... and the longest.
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| Estuche con la trilogía Recuerdo del pasado de la Tierra y los libros en inglés The Three-body Problem and The Dark Forest |
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| How it all got started: El Problema de los Tres Cuerpos |
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| Capítulos en Español e Inglés |
.JPG) |
| Excelente libro: The Dark Forest, El Bosque Oscuro, muy entretenido leer en inglés y español alternadamente |
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| Following both translations, sometimes switching back in the same reading session, but mostly I read one of the other language, didn't repeat chapters in both languages. |
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| Los 'infamous' Vallados, The Wallfacers, what a thing! |
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“…music, the art most conductive to unspoken fellowship, …”
from the Afterword of Gaddis book Agapē Agape.
A brand new young friend, with the most impressive musical taste, shared a song from this album with me. The entire album is just so good! That bit of magical southern goth, fun, a bit unconventional, and oh well, so so good!
Another favorite album of this summer:
Of Cixin Liu’s El Problema de los Tres Cuerpos
en español
y de turntable
y de música nueva (gracias amigos)
y de Domingo por la noche
y Pink Floyd
I always thought I didn't mind
Being a secondary character
in the novel of my own life
Not much spotlight needed
I declared
but this solitude the no cats
no family, just a few old
and yet not so solid new friends
the books the life the music
but then
fortuna locks me in this country
when a chance of family encounter came
I am trapped behind the country's walls & fence
I will miss my little 1/2 sister and her baby
Friends coming later
but what's with this heart pang, anyway?
walked in front of a mirror
didn't see my own reflection
where was I going?
lost myself some more
lost in disappointment
or was it frustration?
sure, lost in translation
walked walked around
looked looked around
still no reflection
Not all melodies are great
Just like not all life stories end well
But tonight, all songs are lovely
And that little hollow pain turned into warmth
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| My little teacup |
Monday, afternoon.
I can walk in San Diego, North Park.
There are still church bells, marking the hour.
1 p.m.
Reminiscence and a bit of joy (self-smile)
*Aaaand I am writing again on this blog (another little self-smile)
