Billy

"For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one wants to cuddle so does the other; indeed, they all have the same longing in their hearts and there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity."




Billy knows. When he has that look in his eyes, I know he knows what I'm thinking. He knows that sometimes I feel superior to him. That's when he looks at me like this. I might be small, he seems to be thinking, but I'm not a fool. His wisdom might not be as philosophical as King Solomon's, but it definitely has it's own charm. 


This week I'm pretty much confined to our home. A deadline looms. I'm translating a book on subjectivity written by a German philosopher. There is no bigger nightmare for a Brazilian translator than German philosophy. German is an extremely precise and, at the same time, very criative language. Every German verb can be transformed in practically anything you want by adding prefixes and suffixes to express the most delicate and relevant nuances. Portuguese, on the other hand, sings its way through life and topics. Its concepts are generally very vague, and if you have ever taken part in a conversation with a Brazilian, you know that concepts are made up as you go. The intonation and harmony of what you say are often more important than what you actually say. It is very difficult to talk about subjectivity objectively. A Brazilian would explain subjectivity to you by being subjective. Makes sense, doesn't it? So I have to objectively trust my guts on this one. 


From time to time I will try to relax a bit taking pictures of our dogs and interesting things inside our house, experimenting with lighting and manual settings.