Not the Real Deal

 

It was a chilly Fall night, something strange was in the air. Tonight, was the big night, we had been invited to the Elton John concert and were thrilled about it. We had been given the tickets by some friends for the South who just flew up North for this event.

By we, I mean my hot shot businessman boyfriend. We have been together for the past two years, no wedding bells in the air. Been there, done that once, both of us in fact. Besides it was nice dressing up and going out on dates. Between both busy schedules living under the same roof would cause friction due to not having fixed hours to come home.

The theater was jam-packed. There were people sitting on extra chairs that had been added to the aisles after all the people who had a numbered seat had been seated. What it seemed was as if there was a waiting list somewhere in the building just waiting for some one not to make it to the show.

Lights out, music playing an there he was on stage. It didn´t look like Sir John from where we were sitting, which was not far from the stage. The singer looked like a younger version, to my eyes which were starting to fool me. It certainly sounded like him, though.

Rocket Man just ended and out of the blue, Sir John came off the stage and started going up to each person in the audience tipping his hat. The man to my left sitting in a chair placed on the stairs, took a fan of dollar bills and repeated the same action as the singer. When the singer stared at me, fury covered his face. He demanded American currency. I offered local currency, however, in a rage, he ran back to the stage and behind the curtains he disappeared. That was when it dawned on me that all the people in front of me was gone.

What a frustrated evening it was. My dear friends had bought real expensive tickets to a cover band show. He wasn´t a local artist, but, nonetheless, he was not the real deal.

 

Written: October 30, 2021 (based on a dream)

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On Reading and Writing

 

A writer is a gossiper, perhaps one of the biggest around. A writer writes or tells stories from his angle.  This is done by listening to dialogues being reproduced all around and jotting it down in the mind or in the little notebook that some carry on themselves.

Life is going on, ideas floating in the air, and it is up to the writer to put it down on paper, register the fact or the idea behind it. Words, dialogues, plots, people, places, - elements that make up a good story. Many genres to please all kinds of readers.

Thin, thick, large print, small print, illustrated books. Fancy, plain, colorful, geometric covers. Never judge a book by its cover, so they say. Sometimes this is exactly what a reader does.

There are magnificent libraries all around the world which go from a small box to buildings with many floors covered in bookshelves and a countless number of books.

The largest library in the world, second the Digital Heritage, is The Library of Congress (LoC), the national library of the United States of America. It holds more than 158 million documents and is therefore the largest library in the World.

The smallest is called The Little Free Library, which is a mailbox that is converted into a library. It is a nonprofit organization with more than 100,000 little libraries worldwide.

Reading is a must. It helps you on so many levels, such as, increases creativity, reduces stress, helps you communicate better and so on. Remember, every writer likes to be read.

Written: October 21, 2021

Google Images: LOC

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To Be Vaccinated or Not

 

Last night deaths in Brazil due to COVID reached 600,000. This is not just a number. They are fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, grandmothers, grandfathers, children, friends, the young and the old.

In 2020, every time I was delivered the news of someone that I knew departed, I would say a prayer for those family members who remained. However, when I reached a total of 50 deaths, I stopped counting. Some people had the audacity to say, “but they weren't closely related to you”. What difference does that make? - it's a life that was lost. Besides that, they were closely related to somebody.

Unfortunately, vaccination started too late here in Brazil. If the government had done what it should have done in the first months of COVID, perhaps the death toll wouldn't be so high. Mind you, as I am writing, this number has changed and is still changing and will continue changing. Some may say that this is a pessimistic point of view. I am a positive realist. I can see what is going on and I do not intend to close my eyes and create some fantasy that COVID has been eradicated.

The choice whether to be vaccinated is a personal decision, which I understand. I can also understand when people, because of their immune system or some kind of disease, are not allowed to be vaccinated. Nonetheless, there are people out there who do not realize this. By wearing a mask and keeping a distance from others you are not only protecting yourselves, but you are also protecting those who cannot be vaccinated.

Since I have a disease that has no ICD number, my doctors asked me to wait for more information to be published on the effects of the vaccines on people who have a neurological disorder. Therefore, I only got my doctors´ (yes in the plural) consents in July, a week before my birthday.

The consultation was not an easy one, but I gathered my strength and sat across from my doctor, who was speaking for the team, and asked him straight forward what the verdict was. I have been going to these doctors since 2010, so they pretty much know that my conversation is blunt and straight to the point. He looked at me and said that they had decided that I should get vaccinated because we were dealing with a death issue. He declared that if I were to catch COVID, I would die. But vaccinated and catching COVID, which is possible, I could stop walking again or lose my eyesight and with that they could deal with. He wasn’t speculating, he had read papers. He also mentioned that the people who were not vaccinated and caught COVID had serious neurological side effects, of course not everyone, but some.

As the words he was enunciating swam around in my brain, my mouth opened, and I blurted “Don't I get to choose?” He knew I was joking because I would never choose death over life. But come to think of it, not walking (been there done that) is not pleasant.

So, the very next day I woke up high-spirited and went to the nearest location where vaccines were being given here in my neighborhood. Oh yeah, I had asked him too which one I should or shouldn't take due to my condition. Of course, I'm the one that always says, “take the one they give you”. He said to take the one they gave me, but to live my life as if I hadn’t taken it. So, there I was in my car in the drive thru. The whole procedure took half an hour, and I was so relieved.

The vaccine that I took was AstraZeneca. I didn't even think about it. No side effects whatsoever. And the second dose would be in October , which happened yesterday. The procedure took 15 minutes because the location was distributing the AstraZeneca vaccine and the Pfizer vaccine. Luckily for me, the people in the long line wanted Pfizer.

Now I must wait 22 days talk to my doctors to see whether or not I can go back to work face to face. Scared I am because I have been in a bubble keeping my distance even from family and friends since March 2020 and going back to work face to face, I am exposing myself to the virus. Don't get me wrong, I do miss being around people, but if the number of infected people keeps rising it doesn't mean that we can live as if the vaccine were the cure. Several people are living this way, sadly.

You may be asking yourself how I'm feeling today - day 2. Well, my arm hurts a lot, my nose is running, my head is hurting, my body hurts all the time so it's not like that's going to give me a parameter to know whether it's the effect of the vaccine or not. I have been taking my temperature and so far, nothing, which I am grateful for.

I am totally pro vaccine, however, there are some that I am not allowed to take and though you may look at me and think that everything's OK behind my smile it is not.

Get vaccinated if you can, wear a mask, keep a distance, and wash your hands frequently.

Written: October 9, 2021

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Connected

 

a writer writes

a reader reads

a teacher teaches

a learner learns

each one depends on the other in order to exist, be it in the classroom or online - the new trend

 

a thinker thinks

a speaker speaks

a preacher preaches

a listener listens

all related to the head though some believe it is also attached to the heart

 

a player plays

a dealer deals

a winner wins

a loser loses

all together at a poker table, in a bank or in a relationship

 

an actor acts

a dancer dances

a singer sings

a director directs

all on stage or behind the curtains; sometimes on TV or in TV; nonetheless, in perfect harmony

 

a weeper weeps

a griever grieves

a sobber sobs

a screamer screams

all together at a wake, a hospital bed, a funeral or even when a dream is shattered

 

a dreamer dreams

a doer does

a planner plans

a maker makes

all the ingredients to rise and shine

 

 

written: September 15, 2021

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The New Neighbor

 

Opening the window on such an early sunny morning,

Noticed a new dweller down below under the trees.

His home has no walls, no furniture, no windows, not even a roof.

To his left, his kitchen where he drank from a plastic bottle some water.

To his right, his bathroom where he released his water.

Practical indeed, just roll from one side to the other.

It appeared that not much was needed.

Carefree! No bother!

No closet full of shoes and clothes.

Just has a yellow mattress.

Whenever he feels like it, he can just pick up and go.

Written: October 2, 2021

Photo: Personal File