Happy New Year 2016

                             Happy New Year,  
                                                          dear visitors, 
                                                                                friends or 
                                                                                                 whoever you are.

                                         
                              Colour your New Year your way, as you like. You decide.
                              No difficult resolutions this year. Let's take it easy !
                              Lucidity, courage and tons of love.

                              Thanks for reading me,


                              lourdes

 

Nochebuena 2015.

Hay personas que son estrellas.

No de cine. Mas bien de cuento.

Aunque se cuentan pocas realmente las hay por todas partes. 

Se las distingue por su brillo. Como una luz intensa y fulgurante. 

Y porque dejan un pequeño rastro. O estela. O pista. Un no sé qué. 

Nos gusta verlas de cerca. Estirar la mano para acercarlas. 

Si es posible tenerlas al lado.

Y es que además las estrellas  son cálidas. Eso siempre se agradece. Sobre todo por la noche que refresca más.

Las hay fugaces. Corren rápido y no se dejan atrapar. Pero están.

Hay personas que son estrellas. 

Están ahí.

Para ti.

Abre los ojos.

                                                                

                                                                            Otra Nochebuena que contar. Qué bien.

                    
                                                                            24 diciembre 2015

lourdes

Audio (haz clic aquí)

                                                              

50 Christmas songs for kids .

"One of a kind".

You're one of a kind = There is no one else like you
                                      You are unique
                                      You are unrepeteable 
                                      You're very unusual and special 

*"One of a kind" = Único en su especie

Perfectly imperfect.

It's ok not to be perfect.
Failures are part of life.  ;)

"Runaway" (animated short film)

                                True friendship is invaluable.

Charlie Chaplin. Factory Work.

                                        Modern Times.
 
  "Modern Times is a 1936 comedy film written and directed by Charlie Chaplin in which his iconic Little Tramp character struggles to survive in the modern, industrialized world. The film is a comment on the desperate employment and fiscal conditions many people faced during the Great Depression, conditions created, in Chaplin's view, by the efficiencies of modern industrialization." 

( source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Times_%28film%29)

Mother Nature.

 

Lauren Wood. Fallen.

 !! ... you control my rain brain

John Lennon. Imagine.

#prayforparis

                                                               #prayforparis

                                                                13 November 2015

 

Spain's festival of fire: Las Fallas.

::

Compound nouns.

Take a good rest.

                                              Take a good rest.
                                              I, personally,  need it.

Health problems.

                                                        Match illnesses and medicines :

                                    

Spanglish.

"The word Spanglish is defined as a hybrid language combining words and idioms from both Spanish and English.

 Spanglish isn’t limited simply to mixing or adding phrases from both of the original languages. Individual words can combine aspects of English and Spanish. The Spanish language adopted the English verbs to rent and to park as rentar and parquear, and they are conjugated in Spanish accordingly: yo rento (I rent), tu rentas (you rent), yo parqueo (I park), and tu parqueas (you park). Of course, American English has adopted several words from Spanish too. We have more than a few fashionistas (fashion plus the Spanish suffix –ista) in the city and what New York neighborhood would be complete without a bodega?"

( source: http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2013/06/spanglish/ )

Film: Wish You Were Here (1987)

Wish You Were Here is a 1987 British comedy-drama film starring Emily Lloyd and Tom Bell. It was written and directed by David Leland. The original music score was composed by Stanley Myers.

Plot

Sixteen-year-old Lynda Mansell (Emily Lloyd) lives in a small English seaside town in the early 1950s. She is feisty and precocious and tries to shock other people with her vulgar and saucy tongue (her favourite insult is "Up yer bum"). Bored with conventional jobs (which she frequently loses) and her town's dull young men, Lynda has her first sexual experience with Dave (Jesse Birdsall) but after she has slept with one of her father's middle-aged friends (Tom Bell), her life changes. She becomes pregnant and her father, a somewhat rigid and conventional man, disowns her. Desperately she tries to seek an illegal abortion but in the end decides to become a mother.
"Wish you were here" is a sigh Lynda makes because of her dead mother, who understood her and protected her from her intolerant father. Beneath her cheeky exterior, Lynda is a vulnerable girl who seeks love and a place in life; she lives in a time when it was difficult for teenagers like her to do that in their own way.

(source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wish_You_Were_Here_%281987_film%29)

The Weeknd. Can't feel my face.

"I'm sorry."

So what were the different ways of saying sorry in the programme?

1) The simple ones. These are just statements on their own:

• Sorry.
• I'm sorry.
• I'm so sorry.
• I'm really sorry.

2) The classic one: Sorry I'm late.

3) Sorry about (something).

• Sorry about this
• Sorry about the damage to your bike

4) Sorry for (doing something). Normally this is followed by a verb in the -ing form.

• Sorry for losing your bike
• Sorry for being so smelly

5) Saying sorry without saying sorry – I apologise for...

• I apologise for calling you an idiot. It wasn't very nice.

source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/course/intermediate/unit-19/session-4

"Trick or treat ?"

                                           Demanding childhood ?  ;)

Artificial Halloween.

                               Halloween or the art of making money out of any celebration.
                                                            

                                                     * How do I look : terrific or horrific?

                            - You look terrific ! (positive meaning)  
                                             terrific = great, excellent, fabulous, splendid, wonderful
                            - You look horrific ! (negative meaning)
                                             horrific = terrible, horrible, awful

          * What is the meaning of "trick or treat"? 
              In Halloween :    trick = broma, travesura, "hacer la puñeta" (informal)
                                          treat = dulces, caramelos 
             The common translation "truco o trato" is not really very meaningful. I'd rather say 'broma o golosinas'.

 

Dear followers,

                            I'm happy you're here = Estoy contenta de que estéis aquí.
                                                                 Thanks.  ;)

Zara Larsson.Uncover.

Judy Garland. Somewhere Over The Rainbow.

Keane . Everybody's Changing.

Good morning everyone !

Good morning in many languages http://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/goodmorning.htm
                                   
                                                    Buenos días a todos. :)

Oasis . Don't Look Back In Anger.

Marlon Roudette. When The Beat Drops Out.

Self-acceptance.

   self-acceptance = aceptarse/valorarse a uno mismo

 

International Day of the Girl Child - October, 11.

The International Day of the Girl Child promotes girls’ rights and highlights gender inequalities that remain between girls and boys. It is a UN observance that is annually held on October 11. 

What Do People Do?

The International Day of the Girl Child gives people and organizations the opportunity to raise public awareness of the different types of discrimination and abuse that many girls around the world suffer from. On this day, many community and political leaders talk to the public about the importance of girls’ right to equal education and their fundamental freedoms. Various events are held to showcase the work that people are doing to empower girls through active support and engagement with parents, families, and the wider community.

Public Life

The International Day of the Girl Child is a UN observance and not a public holiday.

Background

Discrimination and violence against girls and violations of their human rights still happen. The UN felt a need to raise awareness of the challenges that millions of girls face every day. In December 2011, the UN declared that it would annually observe the International Day of the Girl Child, starting from October 11, 2012.

source : http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/un/girl-child-day

Bee Gees. How Deep Is Your Love.

Coldplay. Viva la vida.

Loneliness or solitude ?

 

The Difference between Loneliness and Solitude

Loneliness

1. Loneliness is a painful, negative state.

2. It is where we feel alone, and cut off and estranged from other people. Thus, we may feel as if we are excluded, unwanted, unimportant or unnoticed.  

3. We can be surrounded by people we know and love and still experience feelings of intense loneliness.

4. Loneliness feels like punishment or rejection. It is rooted in a sense of deficiency or inadequacy.

5. It is something that depletes us, and is imposed on us.

6. Loneliness can lead to self rejection, and even to self loathing and despair.

Solitude

1. Solitude is a positive state.

2. It is where we are perfectly happy to be by ourselves, and relish and enjoy our own company.

3. Solitude can help us get in touch with, or engage with, our true self.  It allows us to reflect on ourselves, others, our life, and our future.  

4. Often, solitude is a springboard to greater self-awareness, greater creativity, fresh insights, and new growth.

5. Solitude is something we choose. It is something that restores and builds us up.  

6. Solitude grounds us in who we are – and that enables us to reach out and give to others.

source: http://onlinecounsellingcollege.tumblr.com/post/43801646073/the-difference-between-loneliness-and-solitude

 

 

Wiz Khalifa ft Charlie Puth. See You Again.

Ed Sheeran. Photograph.

The power of vulnerability. Brené Brown.

Some ideas I've found interesting watching the video:

Whole-hearted people have:
    * courage to be imperfect
    * compassion to be kind to themselves and then to others
    * connection
We live in a vulnerable world. We make the uncertain certain. We numb vulnerability.
Let ourselves be seen vulnerably. Love with a whole heart .

Love means everything.

                                'Isn't he sweet?'  ;)

'My grandparents Laura and Howard have been married 73 years. In this video Howard is 92 and Laura is 93. Laura (Grandma) is at a hospice facility making peace with her final days. I was lucky enough to capture this precious, heart-melting moment between the two of them. Howard (Grandpa) is singing to her their love song, the song that comforted her when he went away to fight in World War II.'

Enjoy your Sunday!

A tin of passion.

                                                              A tin of passion
                                                              Help yourself *.
                                                              Passion is energy.

* help yourself= sírvete

Two people, two attitudes.

attitude = manner of thinking, feeling, or behaving that reflects a state of mind or disposition

                            1. What are, from your experience, the main differences?

                            2. Who do you identify with ? Why ? 

 

Low self-esteem ?

Impact of low self-esteem*

                                                           Be proud of who you are

                            “The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself.”
                                                                                  ― Mark Twain

* self- esteem = autoestima

Stacey Kent. What The World Needs Now.

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
No not just for some but for everyone.

Lord, we don't need another mountain
There are mountains and hillsides enough to climb
There are oceans and rivers enough to cross
Enough to last till the end of time.

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of.

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
No, not just for some but for everyone.

Lord, we don't need another meadow
There are meadows and cornfields enough to grow
There are sunbeams and moonbeams enough to shine
Oh listen, lord, if you want to know.

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of.

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
No, not just for some, oh, but just for everyone.

It's never too late.

                           Keep moving forward.
                           It doesn't matter how slow we go as long as we don't stop... ;)
                                                          

Astonishment.

                                            Astonishment  = amazement, surprise

                                                           = asombro, sorpresa

                  What astonishes him/her is the fact that ......................................
                                                                                     (write your answer)
                                                                                    

 

Spot the difference.

                                  Can you spot the differences between these two pictures ?

Back To School, Mr Bean.

 He's a pain in the neck !  = es un incordio
                                            = es un coñazo (informal)
                                            = pone a parir
 

What a wonderful world.

                                              Have a restful Saturday !  ;)

Migrant crisis: 48 hours at Munich railway station - BBC News