sábado, 6 de abril de 2013

conversation with miss brill


Mario: hello, miss brill how are you, you know I've been watching you lately and I know what you love sitting on this bench and watch the crowd.

Miss Brill: But, who are you, how do you know that

Mario: let me tell you that I love to sit on the bench of the park and watch the people like you do

Miss Brill: But I have not seen you here

Mario: I know, but don´t be afraid of me, I just want to be your friend, my name is Mario

Miss Brill: it´s good to know that 

Mario: I want to know why you think when you are sitting on the bench.

miss brill: when I´m sitting on the bench I love to hear the  conversation of the other people who´s around  of me, it's just  like sitting in other people's lives just for a minute 

Mario: I've been seen you here as I told you, but how long have you been coming here?

miss brill: oh, it’s a long time that I’ve been coming here, every Sunday and I always find the band in the green rotunda, the old beggar who sells flowers, the young, little girls, little boys, but there is another ones who sit on the benches and they are always the same, it's funny to see them because they are odd, silent and almost all old it seems like every one of them would just come from dark little rooms or even cupboards.

Mario: it's interesting how you see the world miss brill, but what is the most interesting thing that you ever seen here?

miss brill :there's a lot of things for example the other day  I saw a beautiful woman who was walking over here, and she dropped a bunch violets that she had,  and suddenly  a little boy  ran after to hand them to her, she took them, but then she threw the violets away as if they'd been poisoned.

Mario: I think I saw that situation too, that day you was wearing a ermine toque and I think a gentle man in gray was in front of you.

Miss Brill: you're right Mario that ermine toque that I was wearing that day I bought a long time ago, when I was young.

Mario: what about the gentle man in grey?

miss brill: I don't know him but that day  I thought  he wanted to know me , but it was my imagination, I didn't know what I did maybe it was because of my old ermine toque.

Mario: don't worry Miss Brill, may be some day you will find someone who wants to know you

Miss Brill: thank you, I invite you to eat a slice a honey cake at the baker’s, sometimes there’s almond in the slice and makes a great difference. For me it’s like surprise

Mario: oh thank you Miss Brill, and let me tell you that you has a really nice fur; don’t pay attention to those ones who make fun of you coat.







viernes, 22 de marzo de 2013

READING CLUBS FOR EVERY ONE

searching the net I found that there are intereting site for reading clubs, there are reading clubs for children such as     http://www.summerreadingclub.slq.qld.gov.au/archive/src08_09/for_parents/reading_clubs_for_adults
well this site also includes other links for more reading clubs, but the one that I found one that could be for our group and may be we can join in,   http://onlinebookclub.org/  what I read about this site is that offer a wide range of book reviews and books that we can disccusss it, also it offers the  book of the month program according to this site, It's free and it's simple.Every month members of the forum vote for a book of the month, then  it`s read it and discuss it together.I found very interestting.

Here’s what this site has to offer:  http://www.bookcrossing.com/
Join hundreds of thousands of active BookCrossers daily in our many forums to discuss
your favorite authors, characters and books in every genre throughout history right up
through current releases.
The conquest of happiness
By Bertrand Russell

Review
Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970). Was Philosopher, mathematician, pacifist, prolific letter writer, known intellectual figures of author and columnist, Bertrand Russell was one of the most influential and widely the twentieth century. In 1950 he was awarded the Noble Prize for Literature in 1950 for his extensive contributions to world literature and for his "rationality and humanity, as a fearless champion of free speech and free thought in the West."

The conquest of happiness is a book that was publicated in 1930 and is about an analysis clear and pleasant about the facts that make us unhappy and the ones that make us happy and is not a book about self-help even though it seems by the name. Russell that was a great mind explains the subject of the book in a ironic way, he is splendid in the most part of his thoughts.

It’s difficult to make a selection of phrases or words to be emphasized because almost all the text deserved to be underline. For Russell one the reasons of happiness consist in the high expectations that we have in our lives. It means that not every day can be full of intense and exciting moments that make us feel totally happy or in joy . At this point is very important that education of children to be ready from infant to this reality. As Russell himself says
The capacity to endure a more or less monotonous life is one which should be acquired in childhood. Modern parents are greatly to blame in this respect; they provide their children with far too many passive amusements, such as shows and good things to eat, and they do not realize the importance to a child of having one day like another, except, of course, for
Somewhat rare occasions.”
Russell talks us about a happiness that is outside, and the best recipe is not make harm to any body and try to have occupations that fill our time and stimulate to make things better, he says “The secret of happiness is this: let your interests be as wide as possible, and let your reactions to the things and persons that interest you be as far as possible friendly rather than hostile.”

Bertrand Russell also writes about things that cause unhappiness and as the author himself explains having no outside cause, are all the more upset since they seem to have no solution. Russell proposes answers for the everyday happiness that every human being is bound to suffer. His chapters include Envy (the greatest of human passions, according to him), Persecution Mani , Family, Work, and so on. A few things in the book must be taken with a grain of salt; however, I fell that on the whole Russell hits the nail on the head and offers us a work that is part philosophy, part psychology, and very effective in doing what it proposes. The second part of the book contains chapters that explain the cause of happiness, and how one can attain it. chapters like, Is happiness still possible?, Zest, Affection, The family, Work, Impersonal interests, Effort and resignation, The happy man, this chapter give us a perspective of how can we reach happiness and the different meanings of this word for the people, Russell explains how in healthy life must have a equilibrium between different activities in order to give a balance to a our health, incomes, study, work, and religion . In the end, the book is a bit more about human nature, and realizing that a book that was written so long ago is incredibly current- he truth that human nature never changes, Russell talks about the happy man is the one who can live in a objective way and certain things are indispensable to the happiness of most men, but these are simple things: food and shelter, health, love, successful work.

The happy man is the man who does not suffer from either of these failures of unity, whose personality is neither divided against itself nor pitted against the world

This book can help us to think and open the eyes to things that may be we don´t stopped to think, in order to eliminate those obstacles, almost the time imposed in every one , that stop us from being really happy

viernes, 15 de marzo de 2013

The Conquest of Happiness

well it`s  a book that I  read a long time ago but I read it again
the conquest of happiness it`s a book written by Bertrand Russell a mathematician and  philosopher in this book  Bertrand Russell gives to know his opinion about what is the meaning of happiness for him and compares his concepts with others concepts, through the book he describes the diferents types of happiness and the way to reach it  

what is reading in English/Spanish/French for me

well, the reading in inglish for me some times is good experience , because  I can understand what the writer is trying  to say, I like  when I undertand a good book , but some times  I find words that I don't undertand and I have to search for its meaning,  some time I can`t find in the dictionary, so  I have to search for that word in internet.

And the reading in  spanish  is more fluid because of course, it's my mother tongue

and reading in french is dificcutl because i'm new in this language, so I read for lear vocabulary and grammar