Special Blog GIVEAWAY

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Hello all!

Did you know Giveaways are the new blog trend? Lately I've seen it here and there and I thought it was a fabulous idea. It brings a little excitement to the blogosphere and it makes me remember that giving is the best thing in the World.

Let's call it a giveaway on behalf on the blog's 3rd anniversary last month. Or it can be a special giveaway to launch the future selling of my photos on my Etsy shop (it's going to happen soon). Or we can call it a giveaway just because I feel like it.


So, for a chance to win this photograph I took in 15x20 cm format (that's more or less 6x8 in inches) all you have to do is leave a comment below, with an appropriate appreciation of the image (meaning: what does it remind you of? how does it make you feel? can you pick up a song to go with the mood?...whatever you'd like to say.)

You don't have to be a regular commenter to participate but you will have to provide personal data if you win, remember that. In a week's time I will randomly select the winner and announce it here.


Good luck!!

sunday scribblings - vision

Thursday, June 26, 2008


She woke up to find a myriad of trees solemnly peeking at her. She blinked several times, rays of sun managing to hit her straight in the eyes. With a wince of pain, she lifted herself from the floor and looked around. In the middle of the woods and she couldn't remember how she got there. Brilliant, this is just brilliant, she thought to herself. Lately it seemed that her actions had been increasingly lacking any logic or reason. She noticed with relief that she was wearing all her clothes, all being the operative word, as she seemed to have gathered half her wardrobe and randomly assembled it into parts of her body.


She rubbed her forehead trying to recollect the latest events in her head. She remembered a clock. Yes, the two hands of a clock pointing at sharp angles of time. Why on earth would a clock be her first recollection? She also remembered a rabbit, a white and fluffy rabbit. God in heaven - was she turning into Alice in Wonderland all of sudden? She exhaled trying to relax both her mind and her muscles that seemed to have been involved in some kind of marathon.


No, no, her allarm clock had a white rabbit on top of it, it was Wonderland-themed. That's probably what she remembered. So what had happened? She managed to get to her feet and walk around a little bit, trying to find any clues as to where she was. A thick fog seemed to be arriving through the trees, but she still managed to spot the chimney of her house through the trees. Oh, so she was in the woods on the back of the street...Ok, could be worse.

While she walked on the path towards civilization flashes of the previous night started to invade her. She remembered the softness of her pillowcase first. She was lying in bed on the verge of falling asleep. And then there was a smell, a very distinctive odour of peppermint and pine combined. When she opened her eyes there was a tiny shiny creature sitting on the top of her bed. She was too sleepy to be able to yelp, while the creature smirked at her and amazingly took flight.


She had hesitated between following it or banging her head against something hard, perhaps she'd wake up. But she leap towards the floor while the creature, that wore a tiny green hat and stripy red and white stockings, seemed to have gone through her window glass and stared at her from the outside. She must have then put some clothes on and gotten out of the house following the creature that twirled near the floor, appearing to leave a trace of glitter everywhere. She couldn't remember anything else now. She sighed, a bit frustrated. She thought her days of sleep-walking were gone but clearly her dreams were still vivid enough to make her get out of bed and do all sorts of potentially dangerous things. She decided to buy a lock to put inside the kitchen door and she walked up to the back of her house, quickening her step while inadvertedly stamping on a little bright green hat.


[This is what happens when you start writing something without having the faintest idea of where it's going!]

More visions on Sunday Scribblings.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Some food porn just because. These have vegetables and cheese and you eat it with that greek specialty tzatziki. :) Over there, spinach tart with fennel. It's so good I could cry.



This is from the restaurant and also a metaphor for this blog. It's been feeling a bit abandoned lately.


This was me testing my mother's new camera. It's so good...and you can hear a dog barking when you click the photos lol.


Aren't the little things the cutest? Little glasses, little pieces of cheese, little beads. How about a tiny blog? Would that be possible?

Venus in Cancer as the muse

Sunday, June 22, 2008


Aphrodite Anadyomene in Pompeii


For the first time in my Venus articles I'm forced to find the lyrical evidence to back my text in only 2 songwriters (I ask: what gives?!). Furthermore they're both male and Gemini which could somehow cast a doubt about whether this feminine, emotional side of them will be perceptible in their lyrics. (as I've mentioned before men aren't always very conscious of their feminine {Venus} side and when that happens they tend to project this aspect of them onto women in their lives).

But let's get to business! Venus in Cancer has a very emotional, nurturing and devoted approach to love (Water signs, remember?). Emotion and feeling are frequently present in the lyrics: Lenny Kravitz sings: All I want you to do is feel with me. Many of his songs refer to a love revolution or "we got to let love rule". Noel Gallagher (main songwriter for Oasis) also mentions it: Let there be love and I feel love (...) now all my emotions fill the air I breathe (which is a very nice metaphor for someone with Gemini Sun, since this is the sign of breathing and lungs).
You can find lyrics that are very romantic (remember kissing in the moonlight? You are my life and my passion that never goes out of fashion, I want to know will you marry me? - Lenny Kravitz) but bear in mind that they have a great sense of self-protection and caution - Cancer is terrified of being hurt and rejected because they care about other people's opinions too much. The possibility of someone saying no to them equals complete humiliation and so, even though they're Cardinal signs, their approach to the things they want is not direct like, for instance, Aries. The crab is the main Cancer symbol and if you look at one walking towards something you'll notice they don't follow a direct line. Furthermore they rarely forget when they've been hurt by others. Lenny Kravitz sings: I've got to find a way to get past what I can't forgive.


This way, one of the most important factors in a relationship to Venus in Cancer is security. Cancer represents family and home and so these people will want to build something that can become their home, something secure and familiar where they can relax. Lenny Kravitz sings: I can't live my life alone without a home and also I'm just trying to get back home in any way, how I miss all the good times. In one of Oasis' earlier songs, Noel Gallagher wrote: What a life it would be if you would come to mine for tea, I'll pick you up at half past three and we'll have lasagne. Even if they're not very domestic people they'll want to grow roots because that's their biggest guarantee for a safe future. Gallagher explains: build something, build a better place and call it home, even if it means nothing you'll never ever feel that you're alone.
Being alone is, like for other Water signs, one of their biggest fears. Here's evidence provided by Noel Gallagher: we need each other, we believe in one another/ it's hard enough being alone, sitting here by the phone, waiting for my memories to come and play.


Family is one of their greatest treasures; perhaps why Lenny Kravitz's album Mamma Said is dedicated to his wife Lisa and most of the songs have a familar tone to it. He sings: we both are hurting and it's gonna take a little time to heal all the wounds and save our family. He also includes a song for his daughter called Flowers for Zoë. In another album he sings: In this garden our children will grow, Darling this is a must, We’ll be so happy, our little family so full of love and trust.

It's important for the partner of someone with this Venus to demonstrate their affection often, so that the person feels more confident and reassured, as their insecurity will sometimes be their biggest enemy. But if you're with someone with Venus in Cancer, you probably have a hard time knowing what mood they'll be in every half an hour. Lenny Kravitz wrote: If you open your eyes you’d see that I’m wearing a frown - pouting and being mute may be their way to get attention from you. Cancer is ruled by the Moon and this involves quick and fluid changes in their disposition. At the same time, their personality is quite conservative and will want to maintain the status quo at all costs (count on them to be extremely tenacious on their opinions).


If you imagine a crab grabbing something with their claws, you'll understand how they simply won't let go. Musical evidence is abundant. Lenny Kravitz has two songs that say it all: I'm gonna stand by my woman now and It ain't over 'til it's over. In his lyrics he insists: This love will never leave you, this love will never let you go. Never letting go also means being there to take care of you (But I would never lie, let things go by, leave you in road to die, I would never ever say goodbye) until the end of time: Darling when we're old, we'll close the gates and lock the door, our love will never fade away. Oasis have two songs that reflect this as well: stand by me, nobody knows the way it's gonna be and don't go away, say that you'll stay forever and a day. You can guess that usually Venus in Cancer isn't the one to end relationships - even if they are comfortable with emotionality, they prefer to avoid confrontations.

Cancer also represents the Mother, so someone with Venus in Cancer will either look for someone to mother them or inversely adopt a motherly-role in their love relationships (taking care of someone is the easiest way for Cancer to show affection). Lyrics prove it: Good morning, Can I walk you to the train, Would you like to get a bagel on the way? (Kravitz) and you make sure I eat today (Gallagher). As other water signs, they need to feel needed. But it's very important that they direct their attention into other things besides their loved ones, or there might be the danger that they'll try to rebel against constant attention. So a creativity outlet is very important for Venus in Cancer, they need a project to express themselves.


Cancer is extremely imaginative (Gallagher: lived in a bubble ... not concerned about what life was sending ... fantasy was real) but they're also very concerned about the responsabilities and the real world so you can expect a partner that is fully commited but that can also dream (Whenever you call me, I'll be waiting, Whenever you need me, I'll be there {Kravitz}).

The most worrying tendency to be aware with Venus in Cancer is their tendency to manipulate others and this is also a Water characteristic. Being very sensitive to other people's feelings they easily pick up on other people's moods and work with them until they get what they want (I want you to know I'm emphatic about your love that's enigmatic). And if this isn't dubious enough, they might use this ability to prevent other people from leaving them or going against their wishes - they do that by playing the martyr, as we've seen on Water signs.

Venus in Cancer isn't prone to rationalisations and will never explain or analyse themselves (they simple can't, hence the famous Oasis lyric
there are many things that i would like to say to you but I don't know how or I can't find the words to say about the things caught in my mind). They are extremely secretive. In order to deal with this side of them, their partners must learn to read the non-verbal signs. When given the necessary emotional reassurance and feedback, Venus in Cancer can provide a very patient and loyal partner, an expert in understanding and taking care of others.
Venus is in Cancer as we speak. :)

Sunday Scribblings - Happy Ending

Friday, June 20, 2008


I've been writing stories ever since I was seven or eight years old. It's always been one of my favourite hobbies, even though there were times when they took some time off while I was busy with other things.

Through the years I've written quite a few of them, as can be verified by the number of filled notebooks that inhabit my drawers. Some were more serious than others, some were undoubtedly better than others but none reached the level of quality one dreams of.

Nevertheless that has not been my main writing challenge, no. My biggest fault has been my inability to finish most of the stories I've started. It was either the inability to find the right ending for the path the story took, or the lack of motivation to follow through a certain plot and put all the ideas I had into paper...or even being simply unwilling to give it an ending, as it would imply saying goodbye to something I'd been working on for so long,saying adieu to the characters and moving on. Believe it or not, it can be tough to some writers.

From the few endings I've managed to put together, I cannot find one that was a happy ending. I think that I actually pushed myself to write the strangest endings I could possibly imagine: split-ups, suicides, plots of vengeance, even murder...dark things that match my Venus in Scorpio well. I remember plots that seemed to be going in the right direction until, at the last minute, I decided to ruin them and plan a crazy escape.

But why? Doesn't everybody want a happy ending? Maybe not. I do know that if I'm watching a film or reading a book and I can guess that a pink fairytale ending is coming (even if I, myself have desired it while watching/reading), those last instants seem to lose some interest. I still watch/read but I find that it's not as gripping...just a little boring.


Visit Sunday Scribblings for more.

A Letter

Wednesday, June 18, 2008



My dearest blog,

I have been bad. In fact, I suck. I forgot your birthday and I know a late letter simply won't do to make up for the fact that I've neglected you. It's been three years and now you walk and talk perfectly on your own. I don't need to take care of you like I used to before, or perhaps I have to take care of you differently.

I miss the early days, the blog mojo, the posts without a single comment that were still important nonetheless. So much has changed since then.

I am willing to make this work and feed you beyond these three years but if that isn't possible I'll say it was undoubtedly a very nice experience.

Have a piece of cake and again forgive my forgetfulness, June is a month full of birthdays, almost too many to remember.

Yours truly,
Devil Mood
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Photo licensed by BigPru on Flickr.

Happy Birthday!

Friday, June 13, 2008

Just a small post to note that it's the 120th anniversary of Fernando Pessoa's birth. Fernando Pessoa was/is Portugal's greatest poet and that is saying a lot, in a country of poets.

He dedicated his whole life to writing, whilst keeping jobs on the side to sustain him economically. The most notable fact about his writing was his like for creating heteronyms. The experts have mentioned there were over 70 of them! He created these characters, gave them names, ideas and a specific writing style and he wrote the poems in their names. Let's call it the many faces of Gemini.

For instance his heteronym Alberto Caeiro was really fond of nature and very connected to the Earth. Ricardo Reis was a neo-classical poet, he inherited the themes from Ancient Greece. Álvaro de Campos is more concerned with issues of the modern times, he's very intense and wants to feel everything intensely. They all had specific private lives and jobs, they even wrote letters to each other.

Pessoa also wrote epic poems: he wrote a collection called Message about the past, present and future of Portugal. Some occultists consider this to be prophetic. Pessoa himself was very interested in Occultism and Astrology, one of his heteronyms was an astrologer, he made birth charts for his greatest heteronyms and made the chart of Portugal too. He was also interested in the philosophical issues of his time, writing essays about specific schools of thought.

He even wrote for advertising. If I'm not mistaken he created the first slogan for Coca-Cola in Portugal.

For this and much more he should always be remembered.

I Am Tired

I am tired, that is clear,
Because, at certain stage, people have to be tired.
Of what I am tired, I don't know:
It would not serve me at all to know
Since the tiredness stays just the same.
The wound hurts as it hurts
And not in function of the cause that produced it.
Yes, I am tired,
And ever so slightly smiling
At the tiredness being only this -
In the body a wish for sleep,
In the soul a desire for not thinking
And, to crown all, a luminous transparency
Of the retrospective understanding ...
And the one luxury of not now having hopes?
I am intelligent: that's all.
I have seen much and understood much of what I have seen.
And there is a certain pleasure even in tiredness this brings us,
That in the end the head does still serve for something.

(24.06.1935)
'Selected Poems' translated from Fernando Pessoa by J.Griffin. (http://pintopc.home.cern.ch/pintopc/www/FPessoa/FPessoa.html)

Link: http://www.disquietude.nl/ - an impressive website with english audio of Pessoa's greatest book and animations. It's not how I usually read him but it's interesting.

Latest update

Wednesday, June 11, 2008


clouds are gone for now...


Here's the latest update on what goes on in my World these days.

- Football. It's inevitable. First of all, I like it. Second of all, even if I didn't, I'd be surrounded by excited people screaming: Por-tu-gal! Por-tu-gal! everywhere I look. So it's better to embrace it and enjoy it and so far it's going surprisingly well. Lastly, Scolari is going to Chelsea and I can't help but rejoice.

- Summer has arrived and that includes first barbecues, with lots of people, sardines and salad.

- I'm busy preparing for a Craft's fair I'll be attending this weekend.

- The football cannot disguise the fact that this country is in shambles. Last week it was the fishermen who were on strike, now it's the transportation veihicles. This means that most gas stations are now out of fuel, supermarkets are out of fresh items and one person has been killed when hit by a truck. I've lost count of the number of strikes and demonstrations there were in the last few years but they're too many.

- I gave up coffee last week. I didn't think I could do that but it has been a piece of cake, simply because I seem to have gone off it one day. I am strange.

sunday scribblings - my nights

Friday, June 06, 2008


How do I spend my nights? I wish I slept but I was born with a genetic condition called night-owlness and it keeps me up until 3 or 4 o'clock these days.

My nights are in fact the most important part of my day (as strange as it sounds in a sentence). This is the time when I'm most creative, active, allert and, more importantly, when I'm able to relax and not be interrupted at any given second. The neighbours finally stop their annoying screeching and pianoing and wailing and I'm able to concentrate on whatever I'm writing or reading or wondering.

I'm certain that 95% of my creative ideas for stories and even blog posts are created at night, particularly if I'm already lying in bed. I think the blood flows better and I'm able to come up with things that I normally can't when I'm standing. (This reminds me that other times when people are trying to remember or talk about things they tend to walk, as if walking gets the brain working - and it works! but in this case it's a different thing).

I love nights. Rainy nights with a blanket on my knees. Spring nights when you put your nose out the window and it smells wonderfully of flowers. Summer nights with the noises from the cicadas and falling stars through the sky. But whatever the weather I never close my window shade until I go to bed. I hate to look at the window and see a grey thing covering it. Right now I'm looking through and I see lights from the street and the silhouettes of the trees. There were times when I slept with the window uncovered all night just so I could stare at the Moon when I was falling asleep. But it's not possible if you want to sleep through most of the morning, as there's too much light.

So, as you can see, my nights are important to me, but I can also draw another conclusion: if it wasn't for me not having to follow a strict schedule during the day, I probably would have to control my night-owlness and sleep through the night and I don't think I'd be less creative or effective because of that. It would simply be different.


My life on TV - part 1

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

It's not my fault that I grew up when the TV age was in full bloom. Not my fault that there were a lot of interesting (good/bad) TV series that are part of my childhood memories. I'm doing a little report on that, starting with some of the earliest shows I remember.

This one always played after the news on weekdays. I have to say I enjoyed the intro more than the rest, I thought it was a bit goofy - why did Alf always mess up?


I didn't watch this show (or don't remember watching) but this intro and the song got recorded in mymind until today. My mother really liked this.


This was one of my favourite, I laughed and laughed...'don't be ridiculous!'


This was another show that I didn't watch back then. Many many years later I eventually did on re-runs.



Who doesn't remember this intro?


This is one of my favourites. I must have watched this intro a thousand times because I watched this in different occasions. The first time this was on was during a tv show where you had to phone in to choose what programme they would play next. Then I watched everything when I was about 8, and then again when I was 19 or so. It never stopped making sense and being funny.


Oh a classic! This (along with MacGyver) used to be on on Saturday afternoons and my cousins were always watching and even though I didn't like it, I had to watch it too.


Oh and this one was the BEST!!!



Hope you didn't have an 80s overdose. Sorry about that. Will be back with fresher things later on for part 2. Oh and feel free to share your own life on tv...