The Great Gatsby

86. Read 26 books I've never read starting with each letter of the alphabet. (in progress - 11/26)

I’ve been planning on reading “The Great Gatsy” for over a year. But finding an edition of the book in Portuguese for only 8€ sold the deal for me. I had to buy it! (Unfortunately, since then I found an edition for only 5€!) And the fact that Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan are filming a movie based on the book coming out next year helped a lot!

I really enjoyed the book. It made me feel for the characters and think about me and the people that I know. I felt so sorry for Gatsby character it made me start wondering how I would feel if I was in his shoes. I hope I’ll never be.

Now I just can’t wait for the movie to come out!

<3

Little Women

86. Read 26 books I've never read starting with each letter of the alphabet (in progress - 10/26)

About three years ago I watched the “Little Women” movie and I quite enjoyed. Therefore I bought the book. What a mistake! It took me forever to read it and I read a lot of books in between.

I couldn’t relate at all to any of the characters and their feelings. I thought that they were all a little stupid and their little speeches about what they had to do to become better people annoyed me a lot!

Apparently I only read the first part of the book. Usually “Little Women” is published as a single book that includes “Little Women” and “Good Wives” but my edition only included “Little Women”. By the end of the book I started thinking that the film had a lot more going on. For that reason I googled and understood what happened. Not planning on reading “Good Wives”…

I’ve already read another book. I’ll blog about that later.

<3

Giant - James Dean *.*

64. Watch all James Dean's movies (in progress 2/3)

I absolutely LOVE James Dean! He’s so dreamy…

Before this project I had already seen “Rebel Without a Cause” and yesterday I watched Giant. I enjoyed the film, in particular James Dean’s character and acting. But it is way too long; it lasts for 201 minutes (3 hours and 20 minutes)!

I still have to watch East of Eden, however I want to read the book first. Kind difficult because I don’t have the book yet. 

<3

Journal... Will it last?

81. Start a journal           

            Today I started a journal. I think it was around 2 A.M.

Last night I just decided to go to FNAC and buy the damn journal. I’ve been planning on doing that for a while but I would never go through with it because I didn’t have enough money and because I didn’t have my FNAC card with me. Yesterday, I said screw that and I just bought it.

I’ve started many journals but I can never write faithfully every day. And when I can’t write one day that almost always means that I won’t ever touch that journal again.

But I love too much the idea of 20 years from now reading what I felt and what I was going through, to not give it another try. Maybe I could give it to my future children when I am about to die… Enk, maybe not. Kids shouldn’t know every little detail about their parents’ life just like parents don’t have to know everything about their children’s life.

Plus, it will be a good writing exercise. Maybe one day I’ll finally write a book. I would love that so much!

<3

New hobby? Jewellery

68. Make a pair of earrings.

I wanted to make a pair of earrings for a long time but I couldn’t find the time to explore the city and find a shop that sells beads.

I decided that today would be the day.

The shop is fantastic. I’m not saying that I liked every single type of bead but I’m pretty sure that anyone can find something for their own taste.

As soon as I got home I made them. Pretty quickly, actually. And my friend Lucia helped me. 

I think they’re very cute. They don’t look homemade at all.

I’m thinking that making jewellery could be my new hobby. :)

<3 

Mockingjay

85. Read 26 books I've never read starting with each letter of the alphabet (in progress - 9/26)

I've finished reading this book for a while but I forgot to post about it. I have to be honest. I was so disappointed. This is the 3rd book of the Hunger Games series. I loved the first book. I loved the second. But this one left me feeling like something was wrong. Some story lines were over explored and others, very important storylines, weren't explored at all. I had a problem with the ending. This will be difficult to explain and not spoil the book to anyone but she ended up with the person that I wanted but the author didn't take the time to explain how it happened.
Maybe it wasn't that terrible but I loved the other books SO much that I thought that Mockingjay would just as awesome!

Btw, the trailer looks awesome. I'm super excited for the movie. It's a shame that it only comes out in March.

<3

11/11

6. Make a wish at 11:11on November 11, 2011.

I did it! I’m not gonna share what the wish was. I’m like Cinderella. I’ll just say that I’d really like it to happen.

At that time I was with a friend in uni and when the alarm clock went on, we just stopped everything. We stood there and thought about our wish. I probably seemed a little silly. Especially because it was raining ahah

Sorry for the late update but I’ve been really busy!

<3

A Dangerous Method Premiere

18. Attend a film festival.

Last night I went to the premiere of “A Dangerous Method” at the Lisboa & Estoril Film Festival. I never thought I’d be able to go to a film festival so soon. The tickets were the same price as regular tickets. I thought it would be a good deal, so I decided to go with my brother.

David Cronenberg, the director, was there. The pictures are terrible but he’s the one on the right. He made a quick intro and left the room right away, that was a shame but it still was pretty cool to be at the same room as someone that famous. He made a remark about the film being accurate but that didn’t mean it was a good movie. He was just trying to be funny and I thought he seemed a very pleasant guy. I wanted to ask for an autograph and a picture with him but I’m quite shy.

I enjoyed the movie very much and I’m really glad that I decided to go. The actors were absolutely fantastic and I loved the cinematographic.

<3

Small Update

Lately I feel like I haven’t been committed enough to my Day Zero Project because of college.

BUT next week you’ll have big news from me! I’ll accomplish this Sunday one of my main goals.

See you soon!

<3

Oh and BTW,

 60. Go a month without chocolate - Done

The Hunger Games

85. Read 26 books I've never read starting with each letter of the alphabet (in progress - 8/26)

I’ve been planning on reading this book for about a year. I heard great compliments about the book and according to a lot of people “The Hunger Games” was absolutely epic!

And I have to agree! It’s a fantastic reading. I just couldn’t stop myself from reading (although I have a lot of academic work I need to do). I love that feeling!

And if you want to have an idea what this is all about, there you go:

“In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s place in the Games.”

Doesn’t it sound super cool?

If the answer is “yes”, just read it!

 <3

The Prince of Mist

85. Read 26 books I've never read starting with each letter of the alphabet (in progress - 7/26)

Well, well… I succumbed to my addiction. I went to FNAC!

I was peacefully walking down the stairs when I saw a book with Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s name on it. I did not know that cover. It meant I had not read that book.

My heart was beating awfully fast and my hands were sweating. Oh I felt like a princess walking down the stairs to meet her prince. And what a good looking prince it was!

Ok, ok. I’m kidding. (I wish) True facts: I was walking down the stairs and I got super excited when I saw the book.

The book was fantastic! Not as good as “The Shadow of the Wind” or “The Angel’s Game” but that’s very hard to beat. I recommend it to everyone, from young adults to “old adults”. It has a little bit of romance, a little bit of mystery and horror. Now, I just have to wait for the translation of the next two books of this trilogy. Can’t believe these books were published in the 90’s and not one Portuguese publisher bought it and translated it. What a shame!

Oh and Zafón will publish a new book next month! Super excited!

<3

Of Mice and Men

85. Read 26 books I've never read starting with each letter of the alphabet (in progress - 6/26)

This is not the book I said I had started reading. I was actually reading “On Beauty”, which is a romance. However, yesterday I went to FNAC (again!) and I decided to buy Steinbeck’s book. I’ve been dying to read this one for a long time as well as “East of Eden” but apparently the Portuguese translation has been out of stock since 2008. If you (or anyone you know) have a copy of the book (Portuguese) let me know, I’ll gladly buy it.

I adored the book. I read the all book before going to sleep and it didn’t disappoint me one bit.

Oh and I also bought “The boy in the striped pyjamas”. I cannot go to FNAC and not buying at least one thing. Seriously, if I won the lottery the first thing I would do would probably be buying a copy of every book in FNAC. I have great ambitions, hen?!

<3

Italian in 30 days

26. Become fluent in Italian (in progress)

Today I went to FNAC and finally found a book to learn Italian. I wanted a book that included audio but I didn’t find anything like that. As a result I decided to buy “Italian in 30 days”. It’s pretty cool. I just took my first lesson. :)

Instead of learning Italian in 30 days I’m thinking about learning in 30 weeks. I think that it is more realistic because in a few weeks I’ll have a lot to study and it will be hard to find time or motivation to study yet another thing.

<3

Fahrenheit 451

85. Read 26 books I've never read starting with each letter of the alphabet (in progress - 5/26)

Yesterday, I finished reading Fahrenheit 451.
I thought the book was just ok. I don’t know why I didn’t enjoy it as much as I enjoyed the ones that I’ve recently read. Maybe it’s the author’s writing style, maybe it was just the story itself. I feel like it could have been a better book than it actually is.

I’ve already started reading another book. I’ll tell you more about it in the next post.

<3

Chocolate

60. Go a month without chocolate. (in progress)

October means no chocolate!

Ok, this goal will be quite difficult for me. I LOVE chocolate!

And not eating chocolate means not eating chocolate cereals, chocolate cookies, chocolate salami, chocolate cake or drinking chocolate milk and chocolate milkshakes.

It will be a sad, sad month. :(

Oh today I finished goal nr 74 – Eat an apple a day for one month. I’m really happy I managed to do it. Forgetting to eat an apple wouldn’t be that improbable to me.

Cell

85. Read 26 books I've never read starting with each letter of the alphabet (in progress - 4/26)

Today I finished reading “Cell”. My grandfather borrowed the book to my brother and then he borrowed it to me.

I had never read a book by Stephen King but I was impressed. Yes, I know he’s the author of “The Shining”. I’ve never read the novel or watched the movie.

The premise is very interesting:

“Mobile phones deliver the apocalypse to millions of unsuspecting humans by wiping their brains of any humanity, leaving only aggressive and destructive impulses behind.”

The idea is so scary. If, suddenly, you’d start seeing people biting dogs’ ears and trying to eat one another, what would you? I’d definitely call my parents. But what would happen to me afterwards? I’d become a zombie.

And all the characters feel so human.

I really liked the book. Not as much as I liked “Brave New World”. But it is a nice book!

Tom and Jerry coloring book

11. Complete a coloring book.

Today I finished a coloring book!

First of all, I’d like to explain why I chose this challenge. I spend a lot of time being a grown-up, having to study and behaving a certain way, and because of that I like to have some escapism from that reality and bring out my childish side. Don’t get me wrong, I can be very silly in my day-to-day life but sometimes I forget how much joy I still get from what I used to play as a kid.

And second… I got a Tom and Jerry coloring book for only 90 cents at a Chinese store. I was so glad with my purchase! The day that I got it, I spoke on the phone with one of my closest friends and when I told her what I did, she started laughing really loud. Why? She loves to paint coloring pictures too! However, she usually gets them from the internet.

50 Places to Visit

59. Make a list of 50 places I would like to visit in my lifetime


Top 50 (in no particular order)

1.       Porto

2.       Aveiro

3.       New York

4.       Chicago

5.       Washington D. C.

6.       Sydney

7.       New Zealand

8.       Toronto

9.       Vancouver

10.   Quebec

11.   Madrid

12.   Dublin

13.   Rio de Janeiro

14.   Roma

15.   Venice

16.   Milan

17.   Berlin

18.   Frankfurt

19.   Greece

20.   Disney World

21.   Egypt

22.   Tokyo

23.   Thailand

24.   South Korea

25.   Beijing

26.   Amsterdam

27.   Cannes

28.   Marseille

29.   Moscow

30.   Budapest

31.   Norway

32.   Finland

33.   Sweden

34.   Denmark

35.   Slovenia

36.   Turkey

37.   Morocco

38.   Mozambique

39.   Indonesia

40.   Philippines

41.   Cape Verde

42.   Argentina

43.   Peru

44.   India

45.   Mexico

46.   Chile

47.   Palma de Mallorca

48.   Hawaii

49.   Alaska

50.   Monte Carlo

Oh by the way, I’ve already got company for the helicopter ride. My granddad always wanted to take one!

That’s something I’m really excited about!

<3

The Screwtape Letters

55. Finish a book in a day.
85. Read 26 books I've never read starting with each letter of the alphabet (in progress - 3/26)

Wow, I’m on fire!

I haven’t felt like reading basically the all summer and finally I am back to myself. I blame university for that, I studied so hard and read so much the past year! I definitely needed a break from my brain.

Luckily, the books that I read recently were absolutely fantastic and gave me a renewed passion for literature.

The Screwtape Letters is such an awkward and strange book. I’ve meant to read it since I was 15, four years later I finally did it! All that I’ll say is that it is a series of letters from a demon to his nephew, also a demon. Very unusual, for sure!

Oh and if it helps, the author of the book is the author of Chronicles of Narnia.

<3

Brave New World

85. Read 26 books I've never read starting with each letter of the alphabet. (in progress)

Today I finished reading Brave New World. What a fantastic book! I definitely recommend it to anyone who loves reading.

It’s a haunting and disturbing story! Imagining the society described in the book is almost impossible. It’s terrifying thinking of that.

I don’t want to reveal the story because when I started reading I didn’t know a thing of the story or what it was about and I think that added some of the magic. I’ll only say that it did remind me of 1984 in a very good way.

Oh and today I made a birthday cake for my brother but I didn’t do it all by myself and because of that I won’t consider the item nr 10 done.

<3

Apples

74. Eat an apple a day for one month.

This is the month.

I’ve eaten my first Apple of the month at breakfast. It was a great way to start the day. Maybe I’ll stick to it for as long as possible.

On the 29^th, I went to an annual beach party. It consists of spending the night at the beach and at midnight going for a swim. It usually includes food, music, fire, fireworks, drunk people… It’s a really fun party.

And I thought that maybe I would end up achieving my 57^th goal “Stay up all night talking”. But I just can’t consider it done, although I only went to sleep at 7 a.m. on the 30^th.  It was so windy and cold that I just wasn’t able to enjoy it.  All I’d say was “I’m so cold. I shouldn’t have come”.

Hopefully next year, the weather is better!

Carlos Ruiz Zafón

54. Write an e-mail to my favorite author.

First I had to determine who my favorite author was.

The first name that popped into my mind was José Saramago.  The only problem is that he is dead.

Next on the list was Fernando Pessoa. Hum… Dead!

Finally I thought of Carlos Ruiz Zafón. He is a fantastic Spanish writer. Everyone should read his books. They’re so well written, mysterious and surprising. I feel that nowadays it’s quite difficult to find all of these qualities in the same person. But there is one small problem. I just can’t find his e-mail address. However I found out that he has a Facebook page.  I’ve decided to just leave a message on his wall saying what I wanted to say.

This is what I wrote to him:

“Dear Mr. Carlos Ruiz Záfon,

I’m one of the many people that your books have touched.  Your writing skills are mesmerizing and your stories are always captivating, surprising, mysterious and heartfelt.  It’s absolutely impossible to put down one of your books once you start reading it.

I am definitely looking forward to your next books and the translation of your first three books to Portuguese.

Please, keep up the good work!”

That was it! I bet he won’t read it but whatever.

FAIL

Ok, biggest fail ever!

My mute mode only lasted for about 2 hours!!! And I’m not even that talkative usually. I just got distracted when my mom was showing me some of her new clothes and I said something. And I only noticed the second time I talked! Ridiculous!

Yesterday I forgot to say one thing. While I was in Paris everyone thought we (my family) were Italian, probably, because Portuguese people and Italian people look so much alike. Well, while I was there I really, really wanted to learn Italian. When I do it, I'll always speak shaking my hand in front of my face as if I'm saying something very serious and important. I can't explain it, but I think Italian calls for it! :)

<3

Mute?

I'm thinking about going mute tomorrow. That will be quite interesting! I'll always need to have a pen and a sheet of paper nearby but that will not be that difficult since I'll probably stay home. Today I had a small surgery. It was nothing very important. But I have band-aid at my face. Not very attractive!

Ohh! Paris was fantastic! I loved the city! It's definitely a beautiful place!
Here it's a picture of my brother and me at the Gardens of Versailles.

I am quite excited for September! There are lots of goal on the list that I'd like to accomplish.

<3

Next... Paris

So proud of myself!

Last weekend I watched the 1st season of Friends. I know, I know, it's kinda old, but I've heard so much about it, that by now it must be an American classic. I enjoyed it, although HIMYM is better.

And.... I've finally finished reading Romeo and Juliet. It may sound strange but I didn't like it that much. However I looove the movie ( Baz Luhrmann).

I didn't do any of my cooking but wathever...

3% of my to do list is done! :)

I've decided to update my list because it had way too much reading and at the moment I'm not that into that, which is quite strange because I love reading!

Also, one of the itens was going to Paris. I felt that I was cheating myself. When I made the list I already knew I was going there. so my new itens are:

• Learn how to drive
• Watch every Disney animated classic
• Watch 30 movies in 30 days

That's it!

<3 

FRIENDS?

I'll probably watch the 1st season of Friends next weekend! Hurray! It will be another challenge completed.
This week I'm planning on reading Romeu & Juliet, too.
And I'd love to do some of the cooking on the list.
It just may be a great week for my Day Zero Project hehe :)
I'll keep the blog updated.

<3

Write a letter to myself to open after 1001 days - CHECK

So... I've just completed my first challenge!
As I thought I'm not going to share this letter with the rest of the world. I wrote down some very personal feelings. Besides that it's written in portuguese...

<3

1st Day

I've decided to join the "Day Zero Project" community and one of my itens on my "things to do" list  was to keep a journal of the project, and that will be the ultimate goal of this blog.
I'll probably write the letters for myself (1001 days and 10 years from now) today. I'll share them with you tomorrow... or maybe not. It may get quite personal.

<3