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5/31/2008

World No Tobacco Day

There is a saying that goes something like this, "You can smoke your life away" also, "Smoking is a daily deadly threat." I should rather say, "If you smoke you just joke... with your own life!" Smoky! But so true: That's now a fact that the effect of both active smoking and second-hand smoking is on the rise in the risk of breast cancer. (See the complete article I wrote for a Health Webzine in the link below:)
http://www.naturalhealthweb.com/articles/Bowlova1.html


A couple of old, old friends (I've known them for ten years, and they are ten years older than I) were about to move from their house. So two days ago, I was invited in their home for a get together there for the last time. They are both active smokers. But they knew how I hate smoking. Nevertheless, they each smoked more than two cigarettes in less than an hour that I had myself suffocated. In the end, I left the place with my hair and clothes smelling like a furnace. I had them in my house once and they were nice enough to ask me if they could smoke, I said yes, as long it was outside. But this last time, I was in their own house, they knew they would make me feel grasping for clean air, but they simply didn't care. Or couldn't they remember how much smoke bothers others who don't smoke? If they didn't seem to care for their own daughter who was there simply to serve their guests and who had already fought leukaemia when she was a newborn baby. I was polite enough to fight the idea of screaming at them about abusive relationships and mild, nonetheless, abominably shameful child slavery and also resist the impulse to just jump outside, cracking, or even crashing against the closed windows of their living room. Not so sure if next time someone does that, for even five minutes puffing to my face smokes and pokes in ferocious strokes for atrocious chokes, I will react in such a civilized manner. After all, it IS my health that they are putting in jeopardy as well. And who gives them the right to incur someone into such misery of feeling breathless? Tobacco should be permanently banned from the world market, once and for all, for the good of ALL! I still have them as my old friend, although if they do not consider changing their habits AND ATTITUDES, they will insanely wane with this bane and before their very own eye, not to mention that I won't be visiting them too often to avoid risking getting cancer from mindless smokers.
myspace layouts, myspace codes, glitter graphics
(Blessed Be the Day with No Tobacco in the World!:)

5/29/2008

Ascending up high in the heights of Andes Mountains

In 1953, the new Zealand Edmund Hillary and Norgay from Nepal were the first men to arrive to the top of the Mount Everest, the highest mountain of the Himalayas. They stuck some candies and a cross in the snow probably as religious tokens from both expediters parts (it's known that as an Oriental tradition people leave out some sweeties to their ancestors, and a cross is very much an Occidental symbol of faith+:) We all have our own mountains to climb, our own obstacles to overcome and places in our subconscious we need to explore, for our own hearts to conquer. Size really doesn't matter here, no contest, as much as WHAT or WHO we are supposed to reach to finally feel the conquest. We all have our own Everest to climb. And that's just sublime!:)
At the Andes Mountains

5/24/2008

Memorial Day and Isadora Duncan


Monday is Memorial Day and Tuesday is the day to remember Isadora Duncan. The mother of Modern Dance was born on May 27th in San Francisco. And that's also the day I celebrate my return to Modern Dance. Classical are classic, of course, and Ballet is the basic for all dances, and will be forever in my heart and soul. But sometimes is good to just take out your shoes, let your hair down and dance freely with or without music.

At the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco a la Isadora Duncan, I also ended up participating on a monocycle run for the "Click It or Ticket" campaign (Use your seatbelts and watch out for those cycling):
Also two videos I recorded of the cyclists dancing in their own show:
Let's do some RE-CYCLING...

5/18/2008

International Museum Day


What best way to celebrate the International Museum Day than going into a museum. I went to the Vicuña Mackenna Museum in Santiago, a nice way of learning about this political character in the History of Chile. The building is a two-floor ancient house, from the beginning of last century, in a neighbourhood where we see a quiet place in a rare case where restauration of patrimony and recovery of the city's history seems to be the law. A half-day there and you will be at least inspired by the diversity of roles this man took throughout all his travellings of an exciting light-spirit enriched life as a diplomat.

5/11/2008

CANONIZATION of the First Brazilian Saint

Santo Antônio de Sant'Ana Galvão was canonized by the Pope Benedict XVI exactly a year ago. He's mostly known for making miracles happen, especially for people with kidneys diseases and women in labour, or unable to deliver babies. What best way to celebrate Mother's Day than celebrating this Saint and his miracles! May Love blossom throughout our lives in daily miracles...

5/09/2008

Hannah visited Valparaiso


It's always nice to see celebrities visiting places which are not famous for their glamour. Such is the case with Daryl Hannah who showed her humanitarian side yesterday when she enjoyed a short tour throughout Valparaiso, greeting and talking with stray dogs . While in there I also met many dogs wandering around the city streets, and many accompanied me.


In Santiago, while I climbed the mountain in Cerro San Cristobal, many followed me as well, just to protect me. I even wondered if they were hired just to guide the tourists there. They barked at the cars each time they passed me, and I said, "Very good! We should walk here. Enough of polluted air." So surreal! I was then a funny version of "Anna and the Wolves".

"Many people buy fancy dogs, while there are so many abandoned, eager to love and be loved" said darling Daryl. "There is so little love in this world..." and so little compassion, I would add. Wouldn't it be nice if we could just embrace the idea of reaching out our hearts to one another, and shelter those who are so much in need?

5/07/2008

Shak' inspired!


Ana is working on the Spanish version of her Shakes Opera composing songs and tunes for this Project to be sponsored by Culture & Arts Foundation to pay her Bill (and no pun intended).

Glad if you enjoy my Shakespearian attire.
Hope this will allow my works to transpire.
Or at least a limerick create
So that Lear won't hate... his fate.
T'was a ghost who made Hamlet enquire.

(AnA Cross Tic)

5/02/2008

The Labyrinth that's been her life...

Ana in Lagoa Santa, Minas Gerais, Brasil


L ong labyrinth, that is her life.
And that's the real fact.
But where this will bring her to??
Years gone and she doesn't know yet,
Redeemed with still so much strife
In one point to finally reach point two.
Nevertheless, she still has to face
The most contagious creatures embrace
Hopefully bringing peace to her heart.

"Millions of years have passed to build the structure that contains the visceral designs of a cave. And it is the same with life. We walk the path through tortuous roads, beneath the sea, under storms, and we arrive to the same place. For once we crossed the path, the way is forever traced and it seems evident that it had always been that way, and we forget for an instance about the miracle of a path which looked similar to a return. Only it was not." Ana: A "playdrome" wor(l)d