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Do you have the feeling that much of your time is being used to return to old projects, review pending issues and, on the other hand, some people you thought you had left completely behind in your life decide to make contact? If your answer is yes, I have two pieces of information for you:

  1. you are not alone and
  2. it is not your fault

In fact, it is nobody’s fault, just a planetary, astrological condition: Mercury is in full retrogradation movement. In other words, looking from our (that is, from Earth´s) point of view, Mercury seems to be moving backwards on its trajectory. Do not be alarmed: everything will return to normal by mid-October, ok?

Until then, my special recipe for those periods that come repeatedly three or four times a year is to simply go with the flow, which in this case means it is time to review, redo, reschedule, repeat, rethink. re… you got the idea. You will be amazed at how productive this cosmic break can be, if you allow yourself to take two steps back and say to your past self: “Honey, we were wrong.” (always be kind to your yourself, remember?)

Recently checking out a project for a podcast, I have found that all the audios needed some sort of review. Details such as the pronunciation of the name of the guest or the fade out effect of the vignette, which had gone completely unnoticed by me, immediately jumped to my eye (or better saying, ears), when I allowed myself to review them with a frrank attitude.

I know that in a world obsessed with the quantity and speed of content production and very little concerned about the quality of that production, proposing a joyful stroll through the land of review can seem strange, to say the least. But how about being different from the crowd just by being careful with what you do? Does it sound too revolutionary to you?

Well, you know, it is like Lou Reed says: sometimes you need to take a walk on the wild side.

Be seeing you!

G.F.

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Superwoman (Where were you, when I needed you) is a 1972 song by Stevie Wonder and one of my favourites from his vast repertoire. Musically complex and refined, the long history of loss and resentment speaks straight to the heart, as is often the case in the work of this genius musician.

The love story cut short because “Mary wants to be a Superwoman” and the pain-filled, resentful acceptance that follows also seemed like an interesting parallel to the plot twist of last week.

After weeks of hard work, everything seemed to go as planned: I had drawn up a long, detailed work plan for the month and stuck to it, much to my delight. Such a success had not been achieved without effort. I had not slept properly for days, my meal breaks were no real breaks and in the last 48 hours I had not even had time to comb my hair, which gave me the looks of an abominable tropical woman, but did I manage to follow my plan!

I was really feeling like a super woman (resting is for the weak!), when the harsh reality reminded me that even super women need to take care of themselves. I caught a cold, which while far from being a tragedy, can change your productive capacity overnight, not to mention the immediate effect on the voice and singing capacity (after all, singing is air, remember?).

In other words: to fulfill a previously established work plan, I put the final activity (singing) at risk. Seeing it that way, my over busy routine did not make much sense.

Regardless of your area of expertise, I am sure that you, like me, often feel in the middle of a race. Well, we are not. Do not know which practical use these words will have in your life. Probably none, but if you can make room in your heart for things that have no practical use, then maybe someday this statement will be of great value.

Being always busy, running from task to task will not make you live longer, or better. Maybe we should try to weigh more often whether the ends really justify the means. Sometimes the answer is yes, so go for it, and other times it is just not worth it.

Take my superwoman word on that.

Be seeing you!

G. F.

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Why we do stuff? I am sure your answer involves some kind of rewarding definition. From losing weight to making money; from prestige to the smile of a beloved one. We do stuff because we want something in return, do not trust me, trust Sociology on that.

One of my favourite reasons to do things is just… to feel good. Sounds silly to you? Maybe, but think about the number of times we have to do things that don’t make any sense to us and you will understand what I mean. This is why I am always very grateful for the moments when I can do things that make me happy and singing is what makes me the happiest in this life.

I have participated in four different editions of International Jazz Day producing local events (and counting!), but every time I receive the certificate of participation, the six-year-old girl in me jumps for joy and delight. And I do not even care if every participant gets the same letter. In my heart, I feel as if Mr. Herbie Hancock had written those lines only for me. Check it out.

The feeling of reward is sky high, especially because the performance on Jazz & Comics represents a fusion between my academic background and the experience of being a singer and songwriter. This edition was actualy a double treat, as it was also my first in person peformance since the world turned upside down in 2020.

Starting over is always difficult and I remember that on that day (April 30th, when International Jazz Day is celebrated) not even the weather helped, but in the end it was all worth it. Although I do not need a certificate to know that, it has an enormous value to me, because even the things we know for sure can be forgotten im moments of trouble.

On these occasions, the letter signed by Mr. Hancock will be my reminder that, once again, despite the difficulties, I managed to do what was important, what really made sense to me.

I cannot think of a better reward.

Be seeing you!

G.F.

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“The sun on the newsstands
fills me with joy and laziness
Who reads so much news?”
– Alegria, Alegria (Joy, Joy)
Caetano Veloso, 1967

What´s New? is one of the many incredible interpretations of Billie Holiday. The 1939 song by Johnny Burke and Bob Haggart was included in the album Velvet Mood: Songs by Billie Holiday, released on Clef Records in 1956. I wonder about the first verses: “What’s new? How is the world treating you?” and how they relate to the last verse of Notícia de Jornal (Luis Reis and Haroldo Barbosa), sang by Chico Buarque : “Our pain doesn’t come out in the newspaper“

I don’t know where you live, but I can bet that the vast majority of the incredible amount of news flashing across your screen daily rarely treats you well, let alone mirrors your pain. And yet we waste precious scrolling down an infinite screen of events that might fill our hours, but are fairly unable to appease the feeling of not being informed enough.

At the end of the day, which always seems shorter than the previous one (what do you mean it’s already that late?), how much information do we retain afterall? Very little. The bitter truth is that nobody needs so much news, and this is not an easy thing for me to admit for I am a confessed news junkie. Fear of Missing Out hadn’t even been invented yet and I already suffered from it.

Frankly, before digital media everything seemed to be under control, because the volume of news that a newspaper or printed magazine could contain was limited, not only in terms of the physical space occupied, but also in terms of time. Even in publications with two runs a day, once the edition was over, there was not much to do, even in the event of the biggest scoop ever.

The patience factor was even more important when it came to weekly or monthly magazines. Now think about the number of times the same content can be updated, rewritten and re-edited in the interval of, say, half a day. Pretty insane, isn’t it?

I remember an interview with the late Portuguese writer José Saramago, in which he said that if he subscribed to forty-three printed newspapers and magazines daily, his neighbors would certainly call him crazy when they saw the volume of information dumped at his door every morning. On the other hand, no one would question a cable TV subscription which included the same number of channels.

As we say in Brazil, Saramago shot at what he saw and hit (also) what he didn’t see. Not only we got used to a connstant hyper-supply of news, we have also expanded the concept of what can be considered relevant enough to gain the status of news. The faits divers, for instance, have been fully upgraded and are now sometimes considered more important than, well, basically anything else.

We discussed previously the importance of sorting out relevant songs in order to build up a consistent set list. Maybe exercizing fine curation also in other departments of life is not a bad idea at all. Sometimes it is good to take a break and take it slow.

Be seeing you!

G.F.

p.s.: in case you want to take five minutes relaxing from the news, I would like to suggest this lyric video of a song from 1893, which got new lyrics due to the 150th birth anniversary of the composer, Ernesto Nazareth.

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Do you consider yourself an organized person? I would love to tell you that I have my whole year planned in advance or, at least, the entire month, but instead I have to admit (with a little bit of shame) that despite my efforts to classify my priorities in short, middle and long ones, in terms of sticking to a pre-schedule list of activities, I barely reach a week.

How come? Well, if life happens while we are busy with our little things, sometimes it throws a big flaming ball on our direction. “Catch it!”, life says. You know you are going to hurt yourself anyway, but what can you do? You simply try not to drop the flaming ball, than you handle it (and your burns) the best you can, and when it cools dows a bit, you keep playing the game.

Some call the flaming balls “problems”, but I´d rather prefer to describe them as big things. All right, I know we learn to remember and cherish the good big events in life, but let us be honest: we all know that there will also be lots of rainy days, some storms now and then and, eventullay, even biblical floods.

“It is allright, if it is going wrong“, sings Ed Motta in the refrain of his 1997 song Vendaval (Windstorm). Gilberto Gil reinforces the message in Retiros Espirituais (Spiritual Retreats):

In my spiritual retreats
I discover certain banal things
How to have problems,
Be the same as not
Resolving to have them, is to have them,
Resolving to ignore them, is to have them

Last week I got one of those flaming balls thrown right in my face. Lots of burns, probably some scars. Needless to say, my weekly schedule was (again) totally ruined, but gee, did I manage to handle it well! Now, dear life, it is my turn. Catch it!

Be seeing you!

G.F.