the opera

I could live without them all. But I’m almost absolutely sure that waltzing around naked and pneumonic wouldn’t please some individuals.

You can’t know. At least not immediately; what you translate into love, from someone else’s outward reactions into your own emotional alphabet, will never correspond to the truth (hardly ever, to be precise). And then, an entire odyssey of disillusionment, mistrust, misunderstanding and fear comes from, commonly known as, (obsessive, impatient) love affairs. Does being loved means that you’re approved, enough? You cannot know what others feel; you’re irrevocably, sorely alone with your perception. I’m annoyingly sceptical sometimes but here it is my advice: you will always know what love feels like when you are able to love, unconditionally, and, without presumption, enter someone else’s perception. Share. And by loving, I assure you, you will acknowledge pure gratitude. Through loving you can become independent, free of pre-conceptions and not affected by the lack of it in others or by their judgment. Love is self-sufficient. Not by excluding others but by including them, and by not expecting anything in return. Oh dear, too many words again.

If you’d asked me this some years ago I would have probably answered everywhere, no limits, because I used to put a lot of effort in the quest for variety and exoticism. But I’ve shamelessly limited my choices to match a sharp, minimal, “handsome” and simple style. I prefer to rely on good quality and impeccable details. Overall, Massimo Dutti and Zara. Sure I like Hermès, Burberry, Barbour, Gerard Darel, MaxMara. But Zara and Massimo Dutti fill a larger space  in my wardrobe, for sure.

Oh darling, there is no magic trick to it. I simply committed myself to that one goal. I had some Italian friends helping me out as well. I was obviously, as I presume you also are, immensely immersed by Italian culture by the time. In order to consolidate my grammar and vocabulary I used to watch a lot of Fellini, Antonioni, Visconti, De Sica and Bertolucci, without subtitles, listen to Mina or Paolo Conte or even buy Italian Vogue. Dedication, I suppose. 

P.S. Knowing French before Italian helped my apprenticeship, a lot!

Rainer Andreesen-like beards. If I could have the entire equipment, body and face, it would be terribly nice.

I can’t give you any special advice specifically on how to learn French. It was obviously easier for me to learn French because of its latin origin, than to learn Greek or Russian. I didn’t choose to learn French, I had to, in school. But obviously, as I got older, my interest increased. French means Zola, Voltaire, Rousseau, Yourcenar, Maupassant, Camus, Hugo, Cocteau and Baudelaire. Impossible not to love it.

I live in Lisbon. I know right? Which cities did you visit? It is a beautiful country with a diversified landscape and lively and warm culture. I really love it, but loving your country comes from visiting others. You can balance and discern its advantages and disadvantages.

You inspire me, thank you! You keep a wonderful blog as well! X

I’ve recently finished Blue Nights by Joan Didion and The Smile at the Foot of the Ladder by Henry Miller. I’ve just started The Aleph by Jorge Luis Borges. Right after this one I intend to read Clarice Lispector’s An Apprenticeship: or, the Book of Delights and Camilo Castelo Branco’s Amor de Perdição. Then I’ll have to check my Summer Reading list.

And I don’t speak as many languages as I would like to. I speak portuguese because, well, I live in Portugal (I know this last argument is not entirely valid for I’m aware of an obscene amount of native language murderers), I speak Spanish because I’m of Spanish descent and, also, (let’s be honest) Spanish is very similar to Portuguese. I speak French because I’ve learned it in school, I speak English (slightly better than French) because I perfected it while studying in England. I taught myself Italian, and I’ve been trying to learn Greek and Russian.