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Tuesday 1 November 2016

Don't Judge a Story for its Retelling

Today, I finished reading one of those books that achieve the impossible.
You see... I am one of those people that sometimes can be completely overtaken by a book (sometimes even a movie). And in the last few days that was exactly what has happened to me.
Now, don't hate me or anything.... this is my first real review of a book, and that is because I felt really compelled to write about my feelings while reading it.
The book that I am talking about is CINDER & ELLA by Kelly Oram.
But lets start at the very beginning... in order to do that I need to state some facts:
            
             1- I am a bookworm: I almost literally live reading books. 

            2- I am highly judgmental and very choosy of what I read. I can't pick up anything and read it. The summary has to trapped me first, no mater what. 

            3- I pretty much look down most of the classic's retellings that I encounter  when browsing the web or the libraries for new stories to read. (don't misunderstand me, I love classics like Cinderella, the Beauty and the Beast and Snow White. But books with always the same kind of obstacles for the heroine, at least for me, given a little time, become boring). 

            4- In order for a book to be good has to make me want to keep reading it instead of going to sleep, even if I have to force my eyes to stay open.

So, when I came upon this book on Goodreads, I was a little skeptic. You know, being a retelling of Cinderella and everything. I though that this would be another story where you can find the poor girl, with the evil stepmother, the two evil stepsisters and what in my view is the most irritating thing of all: not knowing the identity of the man or woman (whichever maybe the case) that you will fall in love with.
Ha! I was so wrong!!! From the very beginning, this book entrapped me. I couldn't escape it, even if I wanted to. And there where times when I wanted to stop reading and think of something else, because at some point I felt so in tune with the main female character, that when she felt like crying I WAS CRYING.
Whenever she felt a lump in her throat, I felt it too. whenever she was depressed, I was too; and when she was finally happy I was too.  I felt like I understood her completely, not something that happened to me with characters a lot.
Sometimes I wanted to stop, because I was crying while reading the book or laughing out loud in public. It was really embarrassing, it wasn't just a smile on the train from work, like always, but a laugh that all the passenger could hear. I AM BEING SERIOUS. HONEST TRUE EVER!!
Even though, I also have to say that being from two points of view was a turn down in some part of the book. Don't misunderstand me, both lead characters were complex, interesting and with their depth. But, when I was crying, so com-penetrate in Ella's story, the book changes chapters and lead me to Cinder's (Brian) Story were you can find the typical Hollywood problems: the fame, the struggle for power and what I always hated: the biatch that always tries everything to separate the two leads in love, turning some parts of the book in a big boring drama, and not in what for me generally was: a truth life drama. Those which are really worthy of your time.
But well, everything has its goods and bads.
Another point that believe that I should mention is that while enjoying so much the story, I was expecting a little more of the end. For me, it was a little to simple; I wanted more. Maybe it was my desire to keep myself inside Cinder and Ella's story. But.... you can't always get what you want....
Basically, you don't get anything like a Cinderella story or something like that. What you do get is a lot o family drama, getting to know one another and yourself. Coping with a lot of bulling, a life with scars and disabilities, and in the middle of all of that: knowing who your true friends are.
You don't have cliches in this story, just the ones that sadly are part of everyone real lives.
Summarizing, I loved it. I cried, laughed have lumps in my throat and grew with Ella, more than everything. This books was one that when reading it, I could feel it too.
Below you have the summary if you are interested:

It’s been almost a year since eighteen-year-old Ella Rodriguez was in a car accident that left her crippled, scarred, and without a mother. After a very difficult recovery, she’s been uprooted across the country and forced into the custody of a father that abandoned her when she was a young child. If Ella wants to escape her father’s home and her awful new step family, she must convince her doctors that she’s capable, both physically and emotionally, of living on her own. The problem is, she’s not ready yet. The only way she can think of to start healing is by reconnecting with the one person left in the world who’s ever meant anything to her—her anonymous Internet best friend, Cinder.…

Hollywood sensation Brian Oliver has a reputation for being trouble. There’s major buzz around his performance in his upcoming film The Druid Prince, but his management team says he won’t make the transition from teen heartthrob to serious A-list actor unless he can prove he’s left his wild days behind and become a mature adult. In order to douse the flames on Brian’s bad-boy reputation, his management stages a fake engagement for him to his co-star Kaylee. Brian isn’t thrilled with the arrangement—or his fake fiancée—but decides he’ll suffer through it if it means he’ll get an Oscar nomination. Then a surprise email from an old Internet friend changes everything.

Tuesday 4 October 2016

Try, try and keep trying :)

Sometimes we also have good days. You don’t know when will it hit you, but a day of good mood is one the stuff that dreams are made off.
Days when you say to yourself: no matter what I will never give up on anything.
Well, that day is today.... At least for me it is.!!!

“I won’t give up, no, I won’t give in till I reach the end and start again...!”

That is what is in my head right this moment. And I bet that you know that phrase, Right? ;P
Life can be awful, can be marvelous or even some in-between. But what we have to keep in mind is to never give up. At first, things can be difficult, or even seem impossible. But, if we put every thing we have in us, we will reach our dreams.

I am following my dream. Even thought is complicate to reach, I keep going. I already have the NO, so I am going for the YES.

And I will keep going till the day I die. ‘cause nothing and no one can bring me down. At least no for a long time. If I fall down I will always get up.

As long as I have my imagination and my family standing by my side I am capable of of getting anything I want and dream about.

Today I feel good. Maybe spring and summer are at the corner, or maybe I just know that people will try to bring me down but they are nor going to accomplish anything of the sort.

I want to sing and dance and smile and laugh because of nothing. Life is good. And as long as I keep thinking that it will always be good, even thou I can and I am going to stumble.

Through think and thin, through heaven and hell I am going to keep going.


That is my motto.

Wednesday 24 August 2016

Breathe, keep Calm and keep going just being true to yourself

What happen when you hate you work? When you feel that most of the time you are treated like a lesser punching bug? Moreover, what happen when you feel that you are lost? When you do not understand most of the things that you are suppose to work with?
Actually you end up hating the majority of the hours of you day.
To be more specific and in order for you guys to better understand the situation, let me start at the beginning.
Life in general is not easy. We all know that, right? Even more when you choose a university course which does not permit you to develop in many different areas. But guide you to one or two path at most. That being said, I want to clarify that I studies International Relations and don’t want to become a diplomat. I like the idea of working as a political annalist, but not for a determined government. - In our country, they changed constantly and they differ in theirs ideas too much for my taste. -  So that’s not even on my mind.
So what happens when you like social studies but you don’t have anything related to work on? And worst, you need to work? ‘Cause you need the money.
You end up working in whatever you can find or wherever you are accepted.
In my case, that is an administrative position at a company which main topic is natural sciences. The opposite of what I like.
Yes, my mom is a doctor, so I am able to understand some of the things that I have to do. But is part of my being as a social sciences student, to ask the why of everything, to find the causes and consequences in any circumstance. Never to just accept things as they are because. So, when I start asking questions and the answers don’t come, or they ones I got are not enough, the problems arise. This situation reaches a point where the people who I am working with, tell me that I am insufferable and to just shut up – sometimes with others words - or simple enough they do not talk to me and make angry faces. This ends creating an uncomfortable work environment.
That is when I ask myself what am I doing here?
Sometimes is even worst. Obviously, everyone has it bad days and sometimes they use another person as a punch bug. But lately, there has been a lot of fighting between my boss and other important members of the company and in the end I am the usual punching bug. If is not because I am too sleepy in the morning and do not talk enough, ‘cause I talk too much. Or my view of the universe is too closed and my opinions and ideas too shorts. Or simply because I am such an innocent in my way of understanding thing that it cannot be possible. They are always telling me “Te falta y te falta mucho” – you still have a long way to go to understand things. But if understanding means to learn how to have some malice in me, how to be sometimes a bad person I don’t want to understand, I want just to be me, no matter what.
Recently I read something about being a punching bug, it said: “be prepared to respond and not react to their behaviors. Remember the KISS method – Keep It Simple Sally. Focus on the one thing that you can do either at the time or later if you choose to, in order to have control over how you want to respond and not react. It’s okay to calmly say to that person something like:” I’ll have to get back to you on that.” Don’t take it personal, it’s their stuff to own. So let them do just that and you learn how to respond and not react.  It may not be easy, but it is simple.”[1]
That is the reason why I wrote this, to focus on what I can do and to not pay attention to people who want to change me.




[1] Fragment obtain from: http://marypfeffer.com/overcoming-being-someone-elses-punching-bag/

Thursday 18 August 2016

Dejate de Boludear y Pensa en lo que Realmente Importa

¿Cuántas veces pensaste “¿por qué a mí?” o “¡no es justo!”? ¿Cuántas veces te dijiste a vos mismo “¡todo esto es una mierda, me quiero ir de acá!”? ¿No fuimos nosotros mismo los que dijimos en una misma oración “¡todo puede ser mejor! y ¡que h de p, mira lo que hizo!”?
La vida puede que nos haya sido fácil o nos haya dado palo tras palo. Puede que estemos peleados con alguien a quien queremos con toda el alma, puede que tengamos al lado a una persona a la que no podemos ver, que no aguantamos, pero que necesitamos, o incluso puede ser que los que amamos ya no estén físicamente con nosotros.
Tantas cosas pueden ser.
Tantos escenarios pueden existir.
Están los que creen que todo esta escrito, que nuestros destinos están echados y que no importa lo que hagamos ya todo esta dicho.
Hay quienes solo creen en el libre albedrío, en crear nuestra propia suerte, y hay quienes piensan que ambas opciones son posibles; que creen en un balance de ambas a lo largo de nuestra vida.
Yo, personalmente me posiciono en el segundo grupo, creo que uno es artífice de su propio destino
Ahora bien, y si dejamos de mirar introspectivamente y miramos un poco al que tenemos al lado. ¿Cómo es esa persona? ¿Somos capases de describirla? ¿La conocemos?
Desde hace meses que nos importan los debates de si gana uno o el otro en política, si uno es oligarca, de derecha y el otro se preocupa por el pueblo; o, si uno es un chorro, que afano hasta el hartazgo y el otro viene a dar libertad de prensa, a ajusticiarlos. Nos preocupamos de si un programa cómico ridiculizo a una figura importante de una manera completamente despectiva e impensable, escuchamos las críticas los sábados a la noche, los Domingos al mediodía, y vemos cuánto se robo al pueblo los Domingos a la noche. Otros ven fútbol todo el día, pensando si River o Boca gano, o sí se jugo o no el clásico de Avellaneda.
Sería bueno parar un minuto en nuestras vidas y apreciar lo que tenemos y no tan solo, añorar lo que no.
Mirando a nuestro alrededor, podemos observar que hay cosas peores de las que nos han ocurrido a nosotros mismos.
Yo por ejemplo, me acuerdo de la impotencia, la rabia y frustración que sentí un día que me robaron. Me acuerdo perfectamente que pensaba: “¿que? No, me están robando, esto es mío (refiriéndome a mi cartera con mi libros de estudio adentro), ¡Salí de acá pedazo de H de P!” Luego, cuando me calmé, llego la impotencia y la tristeza, no tenia nada de valor para otros, pero si de valor para mí, como una foto de mi papá que ya no esta conmigo. Impotencia y rabia pensando ¿que podríamos hacer mejor con el país que tenemos para que cosas así no ocurrieran.?
Hay gente que hace chistes de valijas llenas de dinero escondidas en conventos, mientras otros tiran piedras a autos de personajes políticos a los cuales no quieren en el poder.
Hay quienes eligen izquierda, otros derecha, ¿y el centro y el balance? ¿Donde quedo el respeto al otro, la aceptación de las diferencias? ¿Dónde quedo el ir de frente y no dar apuñaladas por la espalda? ¿Dónde quedo el confiar en la palabra del otro y no tener que dejar todo por escrito?
Ahora yo pregunto ¿hay una grieta en nuestro país? ¿Se pelean por ideologías amigos con amigos, hermanos con hermanos, padres con hijos?
No lo sé y tampoco voy a intentar encontrarle una respuesta, ya que es un tema muy espinoso. Mi objetivo escribiendo esto, es centrar nuestra atención a otros temas de importancia.
El otro día pude escuchar un par de canciones que me hicieron pensar sobre varias cosas, pero por sobre todo en el egoísmo y excentricismo de los seres humanos. Mientras nosotros despotricamos contra unos y otros, (supuestamente en nombre de la patria) hay quienes con el frió del invierno duermen y mueren en la calle, hay quienes pierden sus casas (o incluso la vida) por guerras o desastres naturales, hay quienes lo arriesgan todo por un atisbo de algo mejor, hay quienes eligen matar y morir por un Dios u otro, sin nosotros entender el motivo de su accionar.
“Yo soy Igual a ti, tu eres Igual a mi”[1] dice Diego Torres en una de sus canciones o también “si cada lagrima te hace más fuerte, muerde la vida con uñas y dientes…. Si cada piedra marca tus rodillas, si la ilusión se convierte en cenizas, hoy puede ser, que todo empieza a cambiar, y lo mejor está por llegar”[2]
Alicia Keys dice: “…. Hablemos de lo que nos toca, mi corazón, el tuyo. Hablemos, hablemos acerca de vivir, que tenemos suficiente de morir…. Demos más, perdonemos más; nuestras almas se unen para que podamos amarnos entre nosotros…”[3]
Así sucesivamente, si nos ponemos, podríamos encontrar miles de canciones que hablan de temas parecidos; pero el fin es el mismo; aferrate a la vida, no pierdas el tiempo en boludeces, sin apreciar lo que ya tenés. Mira a tu alrededor, cambia tu mundo para mejor, y si la peleas, hacelo con honestidad, de frente, con el corazón y diciendo “acá estoy yo, esto es lo que soy”
Guerras en todo el mundo, atentados terroristas, refugiados de la violencia que perdieron todo, gente que lo deja todo en medio del mediterráneo por el sueño de un mundo mejor.  Discusiones y acusaciones por diferencias políticas, pobreza, hambre e ignorancia. Tanta mierda y en medio de eso…los seres humanos, nosotros, intentando vivir como podemos. Como dijo el periodista Alfredo Leuco el lunes 15 de agosto de 2016 en su columna de la radio: “…para morir bien hay que vivir bien. Que cada minuto valga la pena. Que no aflojemos nunca en la batalla por ser felices y hacer felices a nuestros semejantes. Solo se trata de vivir bien para morir lo más sano posible. Sólo se trata de vivir, antes de que sea demasiado tarde para lágrimas.”[4]





[1] Iguales de Diego Torres
[2] La vida es un Vals de Diego Torres
[3] “Let's talk about our part. My heart to your heart. Let's talk about, let's talk about living, had enough of dying; Not what we all about. Let's do more giving, do more forgiving, yeah. Our souls are brought together, so that we could love each other, sister” Fragmento de la canción We Are Here de Alicia Keys.
[4] Vivir bien, Columna de “Le Doy Mi Palabra”, Alfredo Leuco, 15/18/16.