Teachers not allowed to visit ice-cream parlors…
Posted by Blanca in Everything else on October 3, 2009
It has never stopped to amaze me how fast and how much the world changes from decade to decade. And even more amazing is the speed in which we get used to those changes and easily forget that what we now take for granted was probably unthinkable and unacceptable when our grandparents or even our parents were our age.
And when it comes to life as a woman, especially as a working woman, we really have a short memory issue.
Just check below … it is a teacher’s contract drafted in Spain in 1923. It spells out a list of things that a teacher should and should not do to keep her job, and most of them do not make any sense at all!
Really, can someone explain to me what was wrong with a teacher getting married? or even more puzzling, why couldn’t a teacher visit an ice-cream parlor?
Notice that they were not allowed to drink beer, wine or whisky. Does that mean that they could drink vodka, gin and tequila?
This is the translation to English, or scroll down to see the original document in Spanish and have a good laugh:
| Stamped as a Historical Document
Castilla – La Mancha Teachers’ contract – 1923 This is an agreement between Miss_____________, teacher, and the Education Council of _______________ School, wherby Miss ____________ agrees to teach during a period of eight months starting on ______ September, 1923. The teaching council agrees to pay Miss _____________ the amount of (75) per month. Miss _____________ agrees:
|
¡Gracias mamá por compartir!
Remember Ponch?
Posted by Blanca in Everything else on September 14, 2009
While I was driving home earlier today, I looked through the rear mirror and saw two policemen riding their motorcycles one next to each other. Right there, I had this flashback that transported me to the late 70s, a silly tune started to play in my head … ta-ta-ta-tata-taaaah-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-tatatatahhhh… and I could swear that I saw Poncherello smiling back at me with that perfect Colgate smirk.
But no, unfortunately it was not a CHiPs episode. The policemen rode away and I stayed there remembering the good’ol police and detective TV shows of yesteryear.
And I realized that there are so many of them and so hard to forget!
No, really. How can anybody ever forget Max from Hart to Hart? Or the way Bruce Willis looked with hair in Moonlighting? Or Tom Selleck’s moustache in Magnum PI?
And what about Farrah Fawcett’s larger-than-life smile on Charlie’s Angels … Columbo’s cigar …. Maxwell Smart’s goofiness … Kojak’s bald head … Hawaii 5-0 intro theme …. and Quincy’s …. ehem … well, who can possibly forget Quincy?! He is the forefather of CSI after all!
I love police shows. We’ve certainly been enjoying some good stuff also in the past couple of decades: from the X-Files to NYPD Blue, Law & Order, Dexter, Prison Break and 24, just to mention a few.
So this one is for all of you who still remember the oldies and liked them as much as I did: Officers Frank “Ponch” Poncherello and Jonathan “Jon” Baker in action. (and yes, please, feel free and get the tune stuck in your head for the rest of the week…)
Of roots and wings
Posted by Blanca in Everything else on September 13, 2009
I am reading a book by Paulo Coelho, “The Winner Stands Alone” and I have to confess that I am not enjoying it much.
He seems to jump from one thought to the next, killing the flow of the story in the process. At first I had the feeling that it was probably a translation issue, but now that I am almost half-way through the book, it simply feels like if it was written by a first-time author.
But there is one part that -although it seems like a “patch” on the plot- I really liked. It’s actually two paragraphs that I read over and over again and decided that they have more meaning than the 150 pages of the book I’ve read so far. I liked them so much that I felt compelled to close the book and write this post straight away.
One of the main characters is an Arab, Hamid, who at a time of reflection about his past and future recalls the Arabic proverb “Blessed be that which gives your children wings and roots.”
And the next two paragraphs go like this:
He needed his roots. There is a place in the world where we are born, where we learn our mother tongue and discover how our ancestors overcame the problems they had to face. There always comes a point when we feel responsible for that place.
He needed his wings too. They reveal to us the endless horizons of the imagination, they carry us to our dreams and to distant places. It is our wings that allow us to know the roots of our fellow men and to learn from them.
And by reading this my muse finally decided to come back!
So, I guess I should thank Paulo Coelho for writing those two paragraphs. They are precious … even if the rest of his book is truly appalling.
Where is my muse?!
Posted by Blanca in Everything else on August 22, 2009
I have just realized that this month has only one week to go and all I wrote on this blog in the whole month of August was one post … and that was already over two weeks ago!
The worst thing is that the only excuse I can think of is that I have no inspiration whatsoever! No, really. And this is a first. If there is something I usually have too much of are millions of thoughts inside my head desperately looking for a way out … and for the past year or so, I have happily found an escape route for them through this blog.
But right now, there is nothing. Zip. Nada enchilada.
My creativity has come to a halt, so I’ve decided to blame it on the fact that my muse must have taken a vacation. What else, right?
You see, EVERYBODY in this country takes a break during August, and I am sure my muse is now having a great time somewhere fun. I can see her sunbathing at a Caribbean beach or shopping till she drops in London while I am here, over-worked and wondering where she is.
“¿… a dónde a dónde a dónde estará …?”
So, if you happen to bump into her, can you please tell her to cut her vacation short and come back soon?
And to bring me a large bottle of my favorite perfume from duty free is she is so kind.
Shush shush tweet tweet
Posted by Blanca in Current affairs on August 7, 2009
Most of you probably experienced yesterday what was one the largest cyber attacks ever. If not the most damaging it was certainly one of the most targeted, as it focused on social media websites.
Facebook was terribly slow all day, Twitter went completely down, and sites such as YouTube and Google’s Blogger were also affected.
And the rumor goes that it was all a plot to silence one blogger from writing posts on the Russian-Georgia conflict!
I really love a good conspiracy theory. It makes me smile.
I also love the way some bloggers described the “crisis” as the morning when civilization almost ground to a halt as Twitter was hit by hackers. It makes me chuckle.
And what I love most of it all is the way some people were posting on the few sites that were still up and running during the event on how they felt miserable, useless and how much they missed their Twitter friends. It makes me want to laugh hysterically.
But the fact is that Twitter was launched in July 2006 and Facebook was launched in March 2007. Which means that civilization started only three years ago and by definition (of those Twitter-lovers, not me) we must have been all useless and miserable before that!
Not sure if I was less civilized and more useless then. But certainly I cannot be really miserable anymore with all that smiling, chuckling and laughing that the social media meltdown has brought to my life since yesterday!
Welcome!
This is me more than a few years ago.
Thanks for visiting my blog.
My thoughts and views are varied. My ideas come and go in a few languages; and much of my inspiration comes from the decade of excesses, bright colours and big hair.
Nostalgia is what is driving this blog, so at the end of the day it is nothing more than a mirror of my daily state of mind.
Enjoy!
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