Best Of – Isidora Works

Apr 5, 2019Apr 9, 2019 M Best Of, English, My Pen

The Infinite Monkey Cage

Once upon a time, when the world was younger, a new plant sprouted that began releasing a strange new gas. It was poisonous and it started killing everything around it. That new, deadly gas was oxygen. This was, give or take, one of the stories my dad would tell me when I was a child, … Continue reading The Infinite Monkey Cage

Jan 23, 2019Apr 3, 2019 M Best Of, English, My Pen

Book Review: Cloud Atlas

Summary: Souls crossing ages like clouds cross skies. And Robert Frobisher wins my heart. Some book-to-movie adaptions work so well that you'll flutter towards the source material. Others are not as fortunate but, if the story is good, some will pick up the book to see what it's all about. For me, Cloud Atlas, the … Continue reading Book Review: Cloud Atlas

Nov 9, 2018Nov 12, 2018 M Best Of, English, My Pen, Pen

Margaret Atwood’s MyThologies

What do you do when Margaret Atwood comes to your country for a talk, but she's doing it more than 300kms away from your city and on a school night? You ask for the Friday off work and travel 300kms, of course. Every year since 2014, the city of Porto hosts the wonderful Fórum do … Continue reading Margaret Atwood’s MyThologies

Jun 13, 2018Feb 1, 2019 M Best Of, My Pen, Português

De Santos e Pastores

Foram anos de poemas declamados no colégio de freiras e de outros tantos a retalhar versos como se fossem só uma aglomeração de a-b-b-a e sinédoques - que identificamos com o mesmo entusiasmo de quem decora a lengalenga do teorema de Pitágoras. Até que um dia, depois todo este ruído, conheci o mestre Caeiro, e … Continue reading De Santos e Pastores

May 1, 2018Feb 5, 2019 M Best Of, My Pen, Português

A Página em Branco

O terror. Começar por onde, em que ponto? E se me engano...? E se aquilo com que preencher o espaço em branco for mau? Pior: e se for medíocre? Todo este potencial manchado. A infâmia...! Pelo menos é o que entendo dos infinitos relatos sobre o medo da página em branco. Não o sei descrever … Continue reading A Página em Branco

Dec 12, 2017Oct 29, 2018 M Best Of, My Pen, My Pencil, Português

Hoje o mar sou eu

É a sina de qualquer aprendiz: antes de se conseguir criar obra nossa, passamos eternidades a copiar (muito) os que já o fazem. Para perceber como se chega lá, para exercitar os músculos até conseguirmos andar sem as rodinhas de apoio. Os desenhos por aqui começaram depois dos 30 e, só muito recentemente, a surgir … Continue reading Hoje o mar sou eu

Jun 9, 2017Apr 9, 2019 M Best Of, My Pen, Português

Mais, por favor

Quando era pequena, o meu pai tentou (exaustivamente) convencer-me a ter aulas de aikido. "Não quero! Quero ser bailarina!", protestava eu. "O aikido é quase uma dança," argumentava o meu pai "vais ver que vais gostar." Mas a Marta de 8 anos não queria saber. A Marta de 8 anos queria era lantejoulas, dançar em … Continue reading Mais, por favor

Feb 26, 2017Mar 22, 2018 M Best Of, My Pen, Português

O Pai

em·pa·ti·a (grego empátheia, -as, paixão) substantivo feminino Forma de identificação intelectual ou afectiva de um sujeito com uma pessoa, uma ideia ou uma coisa (ex.: a empatia entre os voluntários e a população local era evidente; assistimos à perfeita empatia entre piano e violino). in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa Esta semana, a Associação … Continue reading O Pai

Nov 3, 2016Oct 22, 2018 M Best Of, English, My Pen

Maiden, Mother & Crone: Neil Gaiman’s Ocean

[Book review may contain spoilers] A few lifetimes ago I used to study and practice certain rites at the fringe of reality. Mostly, the focus would be on the history of arcane knowledge and beliefs throughout the various periods of mankind but, more often than not, I'd plunge into them myself. I have long since … Continue reading Maiden, Mother & Crone: Neil Gaiman’s Ocean

Sep 26, 2016Mar 26, 2018 M Best Of, English, My Pen

Isidora & Censorship

No one has the right to spend their life without being offended. Nobody has to read this book. Nobody has to pick it up. Nobody has to open it. And if you open it and read it, you don’t have to like it. And if you read it and you dislike it, you don’t have … Continue reading Isidora & Censorship

Sep 21, 2016Mar 26, 2018 M Best Of, English, My Pen

Brave Delusions

Being stuck at home with a broken foot is as good an excuse as any to catch up on some movie watching and I couldn't resist the recent Florence Foster Jenkins, with the acting genius that is Meryl Streep, about the socialite, erm, singer. Known worldwide for her terrible, dissonant singing, lady Florence was an enthusiast of … Continue reading Brave Delusions

Sep 14, 2016Mar 26, 2018 M Best Of, English, My Pen

Back to the 80s

[Disclaimer: the following post is spoiler free.] This is the age of nostalgia. I don't just say it because I'm no longer in my tweens and, like so many other thirty-somethings decades before me, think that the times and culture of my youth were a thousand times better than what they are now - that is … Continue reading Back to the 80s

Aug 24, 2016Oct 22, 2018 M Best Of, English, My Pen, Pen

The Other Martha

Woke up to a could-be-worse movie about her and Hemingway this morning - sadly, it is also the most common result when you run a search for the lady on YouTube. The great Martha Gellhorn is high on my list of Women I Want to be Like When I Grow Up. With a tremendous amount … Continue reading The Other Martha

Jun 17, 2015Oct 22, 2018 M Best Of, English, My Pen, Pen

What would Granny Weatherwax do?

I've always had a soft spot for the stern. They have the discipline I lack, they're objective where I'm soppy - and they may not smile much, but will always tell it like it is. My favourite teachers at school and university were the ones that, even though I dreaded their grading pen, always made … Continue reading What would Granny Weatherwax do?

Jun 9, 2015Feb 21, 2019 M Best Of, Digital, English, My Eye, My Pen

it’s the manic goblins!

It's the goblins again! The plan: go to one of The Holy Bible shows in 2015. The venture: never-ending setbacks from day one. Getting the tickets back in December of last year was a nightmare, from visa cards failing, to money transfers and login issues - all to the sound of the ticking clock you … Continue reading it’s the manic goblins!

Dec 22, 2014Jun 19, 2018 M Best Of, English, My Pen, Pen

the Richey Edwards appreciation post

My very first memory of the Manic Street Preachers is the news of Richey’s disappearance. I was about 12 and just starting to get up to date with modern pop & rock after years of listening to nothing but oldies and my dad’s jazz records. There were the hourly updates by Carolyn Lilipaly with footage … Continue reading the Richey Edwards appreciation post

Sep 10, 2014Mar 22, 2019 M Best Of, English, My Pen, Pen, Verse

the miner

Watch your step as you tread through the depths. The surface is always safe - all lies rest above the ground. So go ahead out the cave all the way down. You may not even be afraid of the dark or damp dusty tunnels you'll need to cross to get to us. But make sure … Continue reading the miner

Aug 21, 2014Oct 5, 2018 M Best Of, English, My Pen, Pen

The Philistine Gene

Coming from an eclectic background where religious beliefs are concerned (extended family who attend Mass without ever having read the Bible vs. Mom and Dad who found more sense & meaning in Eastern philosophies), I have always believed in some kind of higher force. To this day, I still question what that force might be … Continue reading The Philistine Gene

Aug 14, 2014Jun 19, 2018 M Best Of, English, My Pen, Pen

«Read like a butterfly, write like a bee»

I have always wanted to write. Even before I knew how, I was already scribbling on the blank spaces of all the books lying around the house - including the Bible. The love for writing was never just about the thoughts-to-words dynamic, it was the physical side of it as well: the paper textures, … Continue reading «Read like a butterfly, write like a bee»

Jul 31, 2014Mar 22, 2018 M Best Of, English, My Pen, Pen

on vanity

Woke up this morning to an article in The Guardian about how men are now feeling what it's like to have your looks scrutinized as you grow older. We're more than used to seeing women being objectified, for the simple fact that we keep being bombarded with Photoshopped images of almost-perfect female specimens. All. The … Continue reading on vanity

Jul 18, 2014Mar 22, 2018 M Best Of, English, My Pen

Isidora & destiny

Even if our destiny is written, does that mean that we should just stop acting or do you continue doing what you think is right in the moment? Jeff Pinkner My recent binge (re)watching of Fringe has brought back one of my favourite existential questions of all time: destiny vs. free will. I was in … Continue reading Isidora & destiny

Jun 3, 2014Mar 22, 2018 M Best Of, My Pen, Pen, Português

a série que me está a fazer deixar o Game of Thrones na prateleira

A fórmula não tem muito de original: Equipa all-stars composta por personagens da literatura vitoriana? Check. Sangue e sexo semi-gratuitos por todo o lado? Check. Vampiros? Check. A Eva Green a fazer de bruxa? Check, check e check. Penny Dreadful traz-nos o Dr Frankenstein e a sua criatura (ironicamente, talvez a personagem mais bela da série), o hedonista Dorian … Continue reading a série que me está a fazer deixar o Game of Thrones na prateleira

May 20, 2014Mar 22, 2018 M Best Of, English, My Pen, Pen

connection

Detachment Movie Poster ©Lafar88 How are you to imagine anything if the images are always provided for you? Doublethink. To deliberately believe in lies, while knowing they're false. Examples of this in everyday life: "Oh, I need to be pretty to be happy. I need surgery to be pretty. I need to be thin, famous, … Continue reading connection

Apr 14, 2014Mar 22, 2018 M Best Of, My Pen, Pen, Português

Obediência

Ver filmes sobre os quais só se sabe o título tem as suas vantagens. A história começa com o início de um dia de trabalho num franchise de fast food. Conhecemos a gerente, o empregado calão, a loirinha mais interessada em mudar as capas do telemóvel do que em atender clientes, e tudo filmado em … Continue reading Obediência

Apr 6, 2011Oct 5, 2018 M Best Of, English, My Pen, Pen, [2010 - 2011] Isidora Masson

Sister Sarah

Our lives were full of bohemian friends with sketchbooks and cigarettes, orchestras, poetry, philosophy and science. A ton of leather cover books. We would get drunk on joie de vivre... and many a bottle of red wine. The more I learn about her mind and heart, the more I feel like Sarah Slean is a … Continue reading Sister Sarah