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Tuesday, December 31, 2019

My Blog

             I am very grateful for all of you who have taken your time to read a story from my blog.

          When I started writing in 2012 I post 69 times. I had spent 2011 recovering from a bone marrow issue so I had more time to read and write.  However, the idea of creating a blog only popped into my head in 2012.

            By creating a blog it meant dealing with people’s opinions because we all know that people seem to be more powerful behind a screen. Nonetheless, I enjoyed writing and posting my ideas, thoughts, stories and dreams. So far, I have written 245 posts (including this one). As a friend once said to me, “If you want to become a writer, you need to write everyday even if you just sit and stare at the computer”. I am grateful for those words because that can be applied to everything we do in life.

            Despite the fact that I haven’t been posting as much as I did when I started this blog, I have launched two books for children, one in English and another in Portuguese; a short story in Portuguese together with other writers and have been working on volume one of a children’s book which shall be launched in 2020.

            I am grateful for the opportunity to share what is in my mind and heart.

            Once again, thank for reading.

Photo: Google Images


(written: December 31, 2019) Todos os direitos reservados a Meire Marion.

2019 is coming to an end....

Writing makes words come alive and feelings pop out at you. Since this morning people have been wishing me a Happy New Year; many inspiring messages of what to come is better than what is being left behind. Perhaps that is true. The New Year will bring along hope, new dreams, new adventures, new challenges, new people and new chances.
Being a realist reminds me that there will also be new lessons, new disappointments, new tears and new challenges.
Challenges are both good and bad. 2019 was full of them.
2019 has taught me to respect myself much more. People have walked out of my life for no special reason and it has taught me that people come and go. Either we have learned what we were meant to learn or the other person has learned and then we simply drift apart. Not missing them means that the lesson was learned.
The other day I was talking to some people about how hard 2019 was. In the group only one person said it was good. I fully understand why the year was good for that particular person. However, for me personally, it was tough, stressful and painful.
Today as I clean up my place, I kept thinking of why the New Year is so important. It brings hope for the future. Perhaps tomorrow I will wake up and just remember that now there will be 366 days to make a difference and I have to write 2020 instead of 2019.
To conclude, happy 2020 to everyone and I really hope it is much better than 2019.


Written : December 31, 2019 Todos os direitos reservados a  Meire Marion.

Photo: Meire Marion

Friday, September 6, 2019

The Beggar and the Well-dressed Woman



At a red light the only thing to do is look around and observe the people rushing around at 6:30, rather early to be on the way to work, but that´s what you need to do if you want to beat the traffic and get a good parking spot at work.

As I look to the left, I see a homeless man get up from under the shelter that belongs to a bank. Apparently, he had spent the night there to protect himself from the rain and cold. He wore a torn t-shirt and shorts and you could see the dirt that had poured down his legs from the previous night rain. On his feet he wore flip-flops. He didn´t look cold although I thought he would be because the temperature was low. Perhaps his body had already adapted to the condition he was living in. To me he looked rather content.

He got up, walked over to the street corner. He was carrying a plastic bag. Though I couldn´t see the content in the bag, I figured it was trash because he stopped at the bin connected to the light post and dropped the bag in.

After having done this, he noticed that the pedestrian light was still green, so he crossed the street with a proud grin on his face. I so happened to catch my smile broaden up too. How proud I felt of that stranger.

While he was crossing, a woman wearing high heels and dressed in a fancy businesswoman type of outfit almost crashed into him. With one hand she was blowing her nose and with the other she was holding on to her cell phone. Cordially the man saw that her eyes were attached to the phone and didn´t see that he was walking in the opposite direction. To avoid the collision, he cordially stepped aside as she dashed by him.

To my bewilderment, when she reached the sidewalk, instead of discarding the tissue paper into to the garbage pail that was right next to her, she simply threw it on the ground. I couldn´t believe my eyes. All she had to do was stretch her arm and toss the tissue into the trash can. She didn´t even need to stop to do that.

The light turned green and off I went. Deep down inside I wanted to step out of the car, pick up the tissue, run after the lady and say “ Excuse me Miss, you dropped something.”


(Written: September 5, 2019 )


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Marching in Pro of Education


Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today. -  Malcolm X
           
Times are changing and I would love to say that it is for better. The more the days go by in my country, the more I feel like going to Narnia.

            For those of you who do not know, The Chronicles of Narnia written by C.S. Lewis is a series of stories set in the fictional realm of Narnia, a fantasy world of magic, mythical beasts, and talking animals. It narrates the adventures of various children who play central roles in the unfolding history of the Narnian world. Each story starts off by entering an old wardrobe. It is beautiful, magical and filled with adventures. Sure there is also some danger, otherwise it would not be exciting to be there.

            Out here we are in a realm between Brave New World by A. Huxley, Divergent by V. Roth, The Hunger Games by S. Collins, Fahrenheit 451 by R. Bradbury, 1984 by G. Orwell, Handmaid´s Tale by M. Atwood, just to mention a few. Perhaps, the last one is pushing it a bit too far, but I wouldn´t be surprised if it did happen.

            It seems to me that the people who are ruling this country read the summary of these books and thought that they would give a try. They are cutting back on education, culture and the arts. Not forgetting science and research.

             It would be a good idea for them to read these books and form some kind of book club so they can talk about them and truly understand what they are criticizing. Summaries do not allow spoilers and details. Summaries do not give away the ending nor do they talk about the negative aspects of these stories. Summaries are written in a way so as to attract the reader.

            Guess that by banishing education, culture, the arts, research and science it just makes it easier to rule the people who will lack this knowledge.

            However, when you try to take this away from a young generation that is thirsty of knowledge, they awaken to the times and are willing to fight to keep what is rightfully theirs. They go to the streets to conquer passively what belongs to them.

            Whoever is against education, culture, the arts, research and science is against humanity.

Written: May 27, 2019


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Just a Thought .....About Aunts, Nieces and Nephews

Some women are not born to have children of their own. The list of reasons why can be immense. However, there is a position that is fun too; that of being an aunt.

Being an aunt or uncle (in this piece I will be using the word aunt for that is my experience) is similar to being a parent but without the tough stuff like cleaning up after them or bringing them up. Being an aunt is simply the best. You can play with the kids, take them to the movies, the zoo, the park and they will always think you are super cool. When they cry or are cranky, you get to give them back to their parents and let them deal with it.

To the children it seems like the aunt understands them better than their parents. They tend to confide more in the aunt. Aunts sometimes know more about what is going on in the child´s life. Since the aunt only has a few hours with the child and not 24/7 it makes it easier to give them undivided attention, in which case most parents don´t get to do.

I am blessed with two nieces (Stephanie 28, Ana Clara 2) and two nephews (Victor 23 , João Arthur 8). Stephanie and Victor are siblings, and João Arthur is Ana Clara´s brother. They are pretty much four unique human beings who teach me how to be a better person.

Foto: Meire Marion (2019)
PS. Now they are older and Stephanie is married to Victor whom I also consider to be a nephew.


Written December 12, 2018

Thursday, May 9, 2019

Charlie Goes to the “Bienal do Livro” in São Paulo


Every two years in São Paulo during the first week of August, the Bienal do Livro is held. This year, Charlie and I, went to the 25th São Paulo International Book Fair. According to their website they state that:
” The 25th São Paulo International Book Fair took place from August 03 to 12, 2018 at the Anhembi Exhibition Pavilion.The event is the venue for the meeting of the main publishers, bookstores and distributors in the country, presenting their most important launches to approximately 600 thousand visitors in a total space of 75 thousand m². Besides the great offer of books, the Book Fair still has a comprehensive cultural program, mixing literature, gastronomy, culture, business and lots of fun.” [i]
            My editor asked whether I wanted to relaunch Charlie the Fish there in an afternoon of book signing. I agreed to go. When the day finally arrived and I decided to arrive early so as not to get caught in traffic or any other mishap.
            It was a cold but sunny Wednesday afternoon, August 8, 2018. I arrived before lunch time and with my name tag and AUTHOR written in big bold letters, at the entrance I was welcomed with a huge “Welcome and have a successful afternoon”.
            My eyes welled up as I walked into this huge pavilion filled with stands and thousands of people selling and buying books. The smell was amazing. I just love the smell that books let out, especially new ones right off the press.
            Since I had arrived early, I decided to walk around and check out some of the books that were on display. As I was walking people would nudge each other and whisper “look at the author”. I also looked around to see who it was and it only dawned on me after a few seconds that it was I.  Yes, there were actually talking about me. The feeling that took over me cannot be explained in words. I grew proud. I was reminded at every stand that I stopped at that I was an author.
            As I got to my stand, my hands started to sweat and my heart started to beat a bit faster. It was a special feeling to sit there, have my picture taken and talk to the readers as they stopped in front of my stand, asked to take a look and then asked some questions about it.
            Most of the questions were many about the price and why I had written it in English.
            There was a group of children from a public school visiting the stand on that day and the little ones were disappointed that the story was in English, although they did speak the language according to them because they could count to 20 and say some colors. One specific little girl really wanted a copy but could not afford to buy it because her mother had only given her 10 reais. This really touched me and I was tempted to give her one, but it would be breaking the contract that I had signed.
            A couple of friends and family members attended the event, but they had already been to the official launching, nonetheless, I was grateful for their presence.
            At the end of the day, I sold two books and went home feeling grateful for this new experience.

Written: December 10, 2018


[i] http://www.bienaldolivrosp.com.br/

Foto: Meire Marion

Foto: Meire Marion

Foto: Meire Marion

Foto: Meire Marion

Foto: Meire Marion

Foto: Meire Marion


The Root of All Evil?


For the love of money is the root of all evil; which while some converted after, they have erred from faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
                                                                     1 Timothy 6.10


Money sits proudly on its throne.
Money is a king, a god, worshiped and adored by many.
Money is the ultimate reign.

Money, money, money.
Everybody wants it.
Everybody needs it.

Money, money, money.
There are some who want it really bad and would do anything to get it.
There are some who want it but do not want to work for it.
There are some who believe that it grows on trees.

Money, money, money.
Sadness fills the hearts of those who see families being destroyed; lives being lost; hatred all around.

Money.
Money.
Money.

Written on: May 9, 2019


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Sunday, April 7, 2019

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

Since I started school I have always heard someone say: practice makes perfect. It felt as if I was taking part in a conditioning session; the more they said it to me, the more I would do it.
Writing and reading when done frequently improve and that is a fact that I can testify to. (Or at least are shown in studies). However, I am going to talk about other activities where this saying fits: driving.
Every morning I hit the road at 6:15 am to drive a 12k route. There are times when I take the highway, but there are others that I follow  the indications from the voice on my Google Maps app. (Just a parenthesis here. I loathe the voice on my Google Maps app. It reminds me of something that I cannot put in words. So you might be thinking: Just change it. Ok, that might be the case, but I really do not know how to do that and in reality, I do not have the time for that at the moment. Time. That is a whole text in itself. I will leave that for another day.) It usually takes me between 25 and 35 minutes to arrive at work. Some drives are nice and smooth, others are just stop and go.
         This morning I was peacefully driving and singing a tune when all od a sudden from nowhere this huge monster car was tailgating me to speed up on a 50kph road. Mind you, I was going 50; 51 at the most.
         I started to ponder on why at such an early hour that drive (couldn´t tell if the driver was a man or a woman, young or old. The windows were tinted) was provoking me into breaking the law. Why was that driver trying to make my blood boil on purpose? Did the driver of the monster car wake up and set tailgating as a to-do thing on his list first thing this morning?
         Alright, so we need to put ourselves in other people´s shoes. (That´s what is in nowadays. To be honest, I try to do this regularly, but it really is not as easy as it sounds.) Therefore, I tried on his shoes and decided that maybe the driver was really late for work and if he got there late he might lose his job. Another possibility was that he was off to the hospital so see someone who was about to depart. Or perhaps he just needed to get to the nearest gas station to take a leak.  Whatever the reason was, the monster-car driver was getting on my nerves, so I simply let him pass me.
         As he was passing me, another car changed lanes and they almost collided. In my car I screamed: Karma is a Biatch ! (Don´t like to use foul language, but it was very appropriate at the time.) Horns honked and a few words were exchanged between the drivers. The monster-car motorist rolled down his window and yelled: learn how to drive a-hole!
         With that being said, I wondered whether the other car driver was used to driving in this traffic hell every day. I started to think that the answer to that question was no. But then, another question popped into my mind: If you drive in chaotic traffic every day, the traffic flows well because you practice every day. On a daily basis you drive together with the same drivers. You learn how to change lanes in a witty way as not to bother the flow. You get the gist of it.
 On the other hand, if you do not have this practice, you tend to mess it up once you are out there. You drive slow. You can cause accidents, bumper to bumper traffic, rage in other drivers and traffic jams.
         In a nutshell, practice makes perfect even when it comes to driving in hectic traffic.


Written March 27, 2019 ( just a morning thought)


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Wednesday, February 27, 2019

The Sky and Its Colors


The sky turns gray
The clouds cry
He is gone, but you stay
Somehow we so hard we try
To understand this disarray
But to no avail
He is gone and you stay.

The sky turns black
The tears slowly roll down your cheeks
You want him back
But his disease has reached its peak
You start wearing black
And deep inside you are weak.

The sky turns blue
Your whole world has to come to a stop
Your heart and soul are blue
Your head just feels like it is going to pop
You spent so many years of love so true
When you walk in the empty house, you flop
He is not around, you go cuckoo.

The sky turns red
Pain, tears, memories, laughs
For days you lay in bed
Then all of a sudden you are overtaken by wrath
Memories of what was unsaid
As you toss and turn you see him in a photograph
Your weakness turn into strength, soon peace spreads.

The sky has fallen
And so have I
What am I to do?
Just sit here and sigh
Until we meet again, my love,
Until we meet again.



Written : February 27, 2019 ( For a dear friend who lost a loved one today)

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