Michelle Williams

Michelle is back and I'm loving the first single "We Break the Dawn."

I know that so far I've avoided going on about music and singers and whatnot. But I think Michelle deserves special mention here. Loved her gospel albums, and I was a bit worried that she's fall into the caricature of the mass- produced RnB/ rap albums, but if this single is any indication, this album shows great promise- can't wait to hear the whole thing.

I'm still hoping she does a few more gospel albums though :)

Lord of the Rings

At the risk of sounding like I'm departing on the very late train, I'm going to talk about the Lord of the Rings. Yes, the Lord of the Rings, although some may wonder how you could go from singing the praises of Paulo Coelho to Tolkien, well, that's just how it is.

In any case, what has brought me to the subject is that I've come across Tolkien's famous trilogy in audio book format (thanks in large part to the same person who introduced me to Coelho). I first "read" (or should I say, "listened to") the Hobbit and was so taken in that I continued on to the Lord of the Rings. All four books are read, unabridged, by the same person- Rob Inglis. That man has the gift of story telling in his voice. And at the risk of falling into cliché, I will say that he brings Tolkien's character's to life! His voice changes as he switches between narrator and character, and among the characters themselves so that you even come to recognise certain voices- Gandalf's for instance. He even SINGS the songs that occur frequently across the books! That's probably one of the greatest parts and without a doubt constitutes a large part of the charm of the work.

I'll bring it to an end here by simply encouraging anyone who gets the chance to give a listen to these audio books to grab the opportunity and do so! Once you begin, you won't be able to put them away til the end (that is if you appreciate that sort of thing). One word of caution- remember, they are unabridged recordings, so while it means that you won't miss a single word from the original books, it does make for several hours of listening. It's a long listen but an enjoyable one nonetheless.

Mas poesia... La Flor

La flor

Al amanecer,

Yo vi el capullo

Nuevo, inocencia de verde claro,

Salpicado de gotitas de rocío,

Luciendo en la luz del joven sol.

La juventud de una flor.

Luego, el sol en vía de elevarse

Los pétalos empezando su brote:

Tiernos, flamantes, rojos

Rumbo a un fin no lejos.

A media mañana,

El capullito ya no estuvo.

En su lugar se veía

Una flor-

Florita bonita:

Media-abierta, tímida, novata.

Más tarde, el sol instalado

Bien alto en el cielo

La flor ya fue completa-

Grande, encarnada, opulenta.

Inocencia, novedad, timidez

Recuerdos olvidados de

la niñez

De la flor intacta,

Bien sentada

En la copa de sus sépalos-

Viejos protectores,

encerrando óvulos.

Está para empezar otra etapa

Bien lista, madura, integra.

NA MARGEM DO RIO PIEDRA...

I'm continuing my diet of Paulo Coelho. After The Manual of the Warrior of Light, I moved onto By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept. Good cannot begin to describe the book- yet it's the word I choose to use because Paulo's work, as I think I've mentioned before, is just so simply written. That, I think, is the beauty of his writing- it's so deep, and yet accessible to all.

Thank you Paulo!!! Muito obrigado pelas tuas obras!!!