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I'm a huge fan of short stories but it's hard to find the format in bookstores - perhaps with a few exceptions of really famous authors like Jorge Luis Borges or Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. I really don't know why this happens. The format definitely needs some marketing but it's terribly addicting. After reading the first it's very hard to stop. Like popcorn but denser. Yogurt instead of milk. I guess that this is what captivates me the most as short stories tend to cover a short period of time, one plot, one incident; but you get to know the characters as well as in novels. Anyway, the reason why I'm posting this is because I found this radio program from the 50s, NBC Short Story. There are only 25 of them and listening is not the same as reading but it's cool anyway to have access to them. And, you get a special feeling this way. Like you were listening to one of those really old radios.

I remember when I used to drive every week 300 km each way to go to work. I just hated it. The thought of driving would make me nauseous. Now that I don't have a car, I find it a cathartic experience. What is there in driving, seeing the background changing, listening to music and thinking about life that makes it so purifying? Perhaps it's just the feeling of running away and leaving everything behind.

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In my house in Porto we have this Picasso painting, a Blue Nude - the original, of course. For a long time, I thought it was a potato with hair, a rotten persimmon or something like that. I never really understood why would someone put this crazy painting on their living room but I hadn't given it too much thought anyway. One day, a big event, perhaps Christmas, maybe Easter or a birthday, I was with my cousins sitting on the couch when suddenly, it came to us - that's not some potato, it's a naked woman! Is she sad? She is, I think.

I got a book from a place here in Pisa that does book crossing and it had a notice saying that it "wants" to arrive to Guarda, Portugal. Very funny because that is the town where my mom is originally from and it is a rather small, boring city. Because I don't go there very often (almost never), I'm just giving the book a ride to Porto this Christmas but I'm hoping that it will arrive there sooner or later. The book was originally left in Tokyo and after that it has been to Toronto, Instanbul, Athens and now Pisa. This is a very cool idea and I really wonder if the owner is getting the book back.

Some time back I left a link to this website in the comments but Hugo remembered me about this and I think it deserves its own post. It's pretty amazing, it considers every possible way to get from one point to the other by train, car or plane and lets you sort by time, price and carbon emissions. This is what I should do this Christmas.

Hoje fui a uma loja de artigos usados (também conhecida por loja da tralha) para comprar uma luz de cabeceira. Estava pelos cabelos de me levantar para apagar a luz antes de adormecer. Até porque para mim o principal objectivo de ler é cair para o lado de cansaço, K.O.! O problema é que todos os candeeiros que lá estavam eram simplesmente horríveis. Abajur de renda, base de latão. Vocês imaginam. Então, resolvi comprar um candeeiro muito foleiro de plástico e uma coluna de som avariada, tudo por 9€. Cheio de vontade cheguei a casa, montei tudo e tudo encaixou perfeitamente. O casquilho tinha duas partes que usei para prender a lâmpada à coluna e ficou mesmo fixe. Hem, tudo planeado, claro.

Agora só falta pensar na parte de cima. Pensei em dobrar um disco de vinyl para não levar com a luz nos olhos mas o preto deve tapar luz demais e por isso não é boa solução. Alguma ideia?