tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-304835912011-04-21T15:40:07.133-04:00from Latin: "inter" (prep.) + "nexa" (from the verb "nectare": "link", "connect". Meaning: 1. (neut. plural) "things linked together or interconnected (with other people or things)" 2. (fem. sing.) "Woman (or girl) linked together or interconnected (with other people or things)". See also www.interplexa.blogspot.comEster Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.comBlogger471100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-84053999650034950792007-09-22T17:04:00.000-04:002007-09-22T17:37:41.976-04:00

Folks,To mark a new stage in my esterical life, I decided today to start a new blog or two. Their titles are much more self-explanatory than the super-cool internexa and interplexa:- estersblog.wordpress.com is the new internexa. All my posts written in English, old and new, are stored there. - blogdaester.wordpress.com, in turn, is my new blog in Portuguese. It contains all of interplexa´s old

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-62379530184434805092007-09-21T11:46:00.000-04:002007-09-21T11:59:55.996-04:00

As some of you know, I am spending this autumn in Brasília. Only it's not autumn here, but spring. As the equinox is this weekend, here's a report of my new daily routine. I wake up in the morning, and look through my window: After a hearty breakfast, I drive to the university library:I park a block away. As I walk alone I wonder what my day will bring me:I work in the library all morning: I

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-33575228875510348872007-07-30T17:08:00.000-04:002007-07-31T00:20:13.107-04:00

A few weeks ago I posted a story -- or rather, a confession -- about a plant I am trying to baby-sit (and not kill). I am pleased to report that the plant is still alive. Not only that, it is actually flourishing! That's right: to my surprise, I walked in this morning to find that during the weekend the plant had produced dozens of baby-leaves! I had never seen more than three or four at a time

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-24279568756158776322007-07-19T10:50:00.000-04:002007-08-01T18:02:08.561-04:00

The news of the plane crash in Brazil really shook me yesterday. I couldn't think about anything else all day long, and spent way too much time reading whatever news there was about it online.It all seemed so near. I had spent a good part of the day before, nay, the week, month, year, thinking of the logistics of going back home in August. I always have to change planes in São Paulo whenever I go

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-55658702038933687142007-07-12T13:49:00.000-04:002007-07-12T19:23:44.675-04:00

A couple of months ago I realized that I had forgotten to inform the the Brazilian government that I didn't need to file a tax return because I hadn't made any money. Such neglect caused my Brazilian Social Security Number to become "irregular", and now I needed to make it regular again.I went to the website for Revenue Brazil, as I do every year. But this time it was different. Very different.

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-66160659705095852722007-07-06T11:27:00.000-04:002007-07-06T13:39:22.657-04:00

This battered comic strip has been with me for years. I've taken it to my classes in Philosophy of Education. I have pinned it to the corkboard on my wall. It is now taped to my office door, because I feel it accurately and concisely describes all my qualifications for my current job.As I said on my post "First of May", I have a very simple summer job: I rent rooms to people who come to Toronto

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-63188282703218911012007-07-03T12:03:00.001-04:002007-07-03T18:36:08.966-04:00

It's been a year today. A full year. It was a day like this when it all started. Only I was in Brazil, not in Canada. And it was winter, not summer. Well, now that I think about it, the day wasn't really that much like today, as far as days go. But that it was July 3rd, that it was.Since then, it's been 40 Esterical posts in English (47 in Portuguese). The internexa side of the blog has been

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-24881779902134566762007-06-30T18:21:00.000-04:002007-06-30T22:06:32.855-04:00

It's funny how you go the longest time without thinking of someone or something, and all of a sudden it hits you at once, and it's everywhere.I found out today that Leonard Cohen (about whom I wrote earlier this month, but hadn't thought much about before) lived for a while in the island of Hydra (where I was earlier this month (see picture), but whose existence I didn't know of before). I'd

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-53950373311828856482007-06-27T11:18:00.000-04:002007-06-27T14:07:52.794-04:00

Warning: this post is rated R for reference to sexual body parts and mild violence content (gotta call a spade "a spade"). Completely based on true facts.---------------After a post on being childish, here's a serious one.Lately I've been thinking about a lot about violence against women, which was something I knew about, but never really knew about. Until now. I always knew it was something that

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-24593047021781254482007-06-24T22:54:00.000-04:002007-06-25T13:58:24.724-04:00

I used to read a lot when I was a child. A lot. In fact, I used to read so much, I wonder how much of a child I was. I would rather have books than company. I would rather read than play. More than once my parents were called into school by teachers who were disconcerted by my precocious love of reading.In some senses, I think that this serious attitude of mine helped me grow up quickly. But, at

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-44556416561608650942007-06-20T11:21:00.000-04:002007-06-20T20:44:40.321-04:00

So the Ancient Greeks thought they were the navel of the world. If that is not egocentrism (literally), then I don't know what is.Now, in this last visit to Greece I didn't have time to go to Delphi, the precise spot where the belly-button of the world is supposed to be. But I did do a lot of navel-gazing nevertheless.Actually, I've been doing an unusual lot of navel-gazing in the last couple of

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-71772816945630212912007-06-16T19:27:00.000-04:002007-06-19T10:52:58.317-04:00

People that know me might recall my tendency to listen to an album over and over and over again, sometimes for days, sometimes for weeks (and sometimes for longer: those who don´t believe this or don´t know me might want to check see my previous post "Food for the Soul").Well, this week´s album was "The Essential Leonard Cohen". I bought this disc months ago, together with another half a dozen

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-78844388249500613382007-06-15T10:30:00.000-04:002007-06-15T11:47:50.811-04:00

So, I said that reading signs was one of the things I enjoyed doing in Greece. The one posted here is a perfect example. It reads:"'Oi Zôes tôn allôn"'Oi = article masculine plural = "the"Zôes = "lives" (like in "zoology") tôn allôn = genitive plural = "of others" (like in "allopathy")I get that, and being able to get that gives me the kind of thrill a child feels when she is learning how to

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-16966841423464567512007-06-12T08:52:00.000-04:002007-06-12T08:53:43.128-04:00

So I've said that Greece is the place in the world that reminds me of Brazil the most and you, dear reader, must be wondering:"What does she mean by that? She can't just say 'there's more to this feeling than that', as if that was self-explanatory!"And right you are -- it's by no means self-explanatory. I'm not even sure it is explainable at all. But here's roughly what I mean by it:1. As I said,

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-53789297939130624812007-06-09T04:02:00.001-04:002007-06-11T00:30:07.206-04:00

I spent these last seven days in Greece, and as I think over the balance of the week, these are the things that struck me the most:1. Greece reminds me of Brazil. This might have something to do with the large number of Brazilians I've encountered here. But there's more to this feeling than that.2. For someone like me who loves languages, and who studied Ancient Greek for years, going around

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-39185090131000143042007-05-29T15:15:00.000-04:002007-05-29T18:24:32.361-04:00

Learning how to live by yourself in a world of instant digital communication is something else. Here's an msn conversation I had last weekend with my brother, who's five thousand miles away:*****chico says:hi, esterchico says:all good?chico says:how does one turn an oven on, in your opinion?Ester says:oven: turn the dial to the desired temperaturechico says:hummchico says:and then what?Ester says

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-19189769521084638812007-05-25T16:00:00.000-04:002007-05-25T18:42:25.128-04:00

I thought I had killed it. I was really afraid I had. I had murdered it through negligence.Well, not really negligence, because I didn't technically neglect it. I actually worried about it quite a bit. But plants do not live on worries alone. Let's look at the facts.Fact #1: A friend of mine went away for the summer, and asked me to take care of some of her stuff, including a futon, a comfy chair

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-61155914828237901102007-05-13T10:30:00.000-04:002007-05-21T21:05:39.595-04:00

Keeping resolutions is hard. And this finishative business, I tell you, is super hard.For instance: I broke the resolution I made a few weeks ago to stop reading. This week I read a book. An entire book.I may claim as attenuating circumstance the fact that it was a non-academic book. Very much so. Though there are somethings in there I can definitely use in school work. In the middle of more or

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-41473562634770014292007-05-13T10:01:00.000-04:002007-05-13T10:23:00.986-04:00

I was talking to by brother yesterday about my usual "problems" (namely, interest in a million things, but in nothing in particular). My brother, in his typical wisdom, diagnosed my problem as "too much initiative, too little finishative". He found this neologism in one of those airline magazines. I thought it was a brilliant concept, one that reflects my ailment really well. After all, I deserve

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-30352446931009992962007-05-01T21:35:00.001-04:002007-05-01T21:53:36.776-04:00

Labour Day is a good day to start a new job. And that's today, in many parts of the world. But not in Canada: here the First of May is just another working day.But not quite. Whereas Labour Day in Canada marks the end of the summer and beginning of the school year, the First of May marks the beginning of the summer term, at least at University.With the school year officially over yesterday, the

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-30276855935646552972007-04-22T11:00:00.000-04:002007-04-22T11:28:42.789-04:00

Sartre said that 3pm is either too early or too late to do anything you want to do.I think a similar thing is true of the period of four months: it is either too long a time, or not long enough.For instance: I came to Canada to spend 4 months. Then I liked it so much that I stayed another 4. And then another 4. And so on, and so on. It has now been 8 years.Last Christmas I decided it was enough.

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-41601298806658085882007-04-17T22:13:00.000-04:002007-04-17T23:01:19.445-04:00

1. To stop reading, until I've finished my dissertation. I've read more than I can fit into it already.2. To sit down to write a single sentence, instead of waiting for the whole page to materialise at once. Or the whole dissertation.3. To think at least 5 impossible thoughts before breakfast.4. To write at least one of these down. Preferably in fiction mode. But maybe also dissertation mode.5.

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-13191895102945480732007-04-12T02:37:00.000-04:002007-04-12T03:16:44.927-04:00

Last week four students in my department came over my place for dinner. Coincidentally or not, all the four of them are Chinese, married, and their respective husbands (and children) are all in China.This made me think. Sometimes I complain of the difficulties of struggling to complete a doctorate living by myself with no family in an eight-thousand-kilometer radius; that this double life is just

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-3381296048434774962007-04-09T14:12:00.000-04:002007-04-09T14:30:02.425-04:00

Yesterday I went out for brunch at a place I hadn't been to in a long time, and that was nice. I used to like going there because they always happened to play the Beatles. Whole albums. From beginning to end.This time they played not Beatles, but Elvis. Not bad at all, though it made it harder to concentrate on the conversations I was having (when I was having them, that is... the interruptions

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-49061627516836941902007-01-12T14:13:00.000-04:002007-06-11T05:09:42.284-04:00

Last posting's title was actually meant for this posting's subject: my new apartment. Having taken the resolution to feel at home wherever I happen to be, I thought that getting an apartment of my own would help with that. As the Beatles would say: "Where I belong I'm right where I belong". One of those sentences with more than one meaning, depending on how you punctuate.Moving can be tiring, but

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-1168039389657475962007-01-05T18:43:00.000-04:002007-06-11T05:10:32.312-04:00

I'm changing skins: the redness of Brazilian Christmas is peeling off, being replaced by warm skins for another Canadian winter. And a warm Canadian winter at that: record high temperatures of +13 degrees Celsius in the first week of the year is very different from minus 30 degrees Celsius in my first year here, or of the few times I had family visiting.It is as if in the beginning the

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-1163358927504470482006-11-12T15:01:00.001-04:002006-11-12T16:08:34.236-04:00

This week I really really wanted to stop a bit and just enjoy time with my friends. Something simple, nothing fancy. Sit down, listen to music, have a bit of homy food, pão de queijo, brigadeiro. Something that is festive but in an ordinary way. Something spontaneous.But spontaneous doesn't work this way: you can't plan it. And simple these days is just too complicated, in so many levels. It's

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-1162834337910781502006-11-06T13:23:00.000-04:002006-11-06T13:32:17.933-04:00

Perfectionism. It is the habit not only of finding flaws in everything that is done, but also not wanting to do anything that is not perfect. And as that is impossible if you're a perfectionists, you can easily fall into simply not doing anything. Period.Perfect comes from the latim for "thoroughly done." But sometimes the obsession with "doing thoroughly" hinders it being done at all.Esterical

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-1160014666410165272006-10-04T22:00:00.000-04:002006-10-04T22:24:27.283-04:00

Due to technical difficulties and life interferences, our regular scheduled programmes have been temporarily suspended. We apologise for any inconvenience and/or disappointment this might have caused you.We will return to our usual assortment of original and semi-original Esterical thoughts soon after thanksgiving (we are all terribly busy with way too many things for which to give thanks).In the

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-1159102914839195982006-09-24T08:41:00.000-04:002006-09-24T21:11:01.200-04:00

Alterego said...Luís,I compare Philosophy with History because I think that both are equally important components of a "liberal education." I have never seen anyone debate whether History should be mandatory in High School. I do not see why things should be different with Philosophy.High School in Brazil is not like in other countries where the student gets to choose which subjects to take. Every

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-1157896920399689842006-09-10T09:52:00.000-04:002006-09-17T10:28:15.756-04:00

LM disse...Ester, thank you for a prompt reply.I still disagree with you in some points, and have difficulties understanding others.First of all, I'm not sure your analogy helps - I'll go back to it at the end. I'll start with the points you hightlighted, saying what I think of each of them, which of them worried me in my original post.1) Is History that is necessary, or the knowledge of History?

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-1157421898347492882006-09-04T21:57:00.000-04:002006-09-06T11:32:46.843-04:00

Alterego said...Luís,To see if I understood your comments, I'll replace "Philosophy" with "History" and see what happens.So, let us say that I was commemmorating a policy that made History mandatory in High School, on the grounds that "History is necessary for actively exercising one's citizenship".Then you could ask:1) Is History necessary, or knowledge of History?2) All of History, or just a

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-1157140070841102642006-09-01T15:32:00.000-04:002006-09-01T15:52:37.690-04:00

Chico said...Philosophy for me at Cor Jesu middle school was to listen to Legião Urbana´s music: "You say your parents don´t undertand you, but you don´t understand your parents..." Isn´t this beautiful? Yeah. Cool, very cool. Then we had math class, recess, Portuguese, Science, and bus back home. In the half hour I´d spend on the bus I would learn more than in the five classes that day.LM disse.

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-1157056671098458882006-08-31T16:14:00.000-04:002006-08-31T16:43:29.576-04:00

Hi, folks,After a minisseries, a newsreport and a western, today's show is "A Retrospective"Since the News Report of August 3rd is still generating interesting discussion in the Brazilian version of this site, I decided to bring it over here too, so that we could open up the discussion a bit (I'll do it in 5 installments, to make it easier for everyone).Soon we'll return with our customary

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-1156511008380948282006-08-25T08:55:00.000-04:002006-08-25T09:11:09.916-04:00

When I was 16 a Native Brazilian was burned to death in Brasilia, my hometown and capital of Brazil.The victim, Galdino Jesus dos Santos, was in town for the celebrations of the 19th of April, the Day of the Native. Having arrived at the hostel after doors were closed, he was sleeping in a bus shelter in one of the busiest avenues in the city.The perpetrators were 5 teenagers, upper middle class,

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-1155822401403086682006-08-17T09:37:00.000-04:002006-08-17T13:02:29.840-04:00

For each of the 6 questions below, check all the answers that apply.Thank you for participating in our poll.Your opinion is very important for us.1. Where did you get in touch with Philosophy?In the university In high schoolIn primary schoolOn my ownWas never introduced to this lady Free polls from Pollhost.com2. Socrates was (check all that apply):The best player in the Brazilian soccer team in

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-1154659762530746092006-08-03T22:24:00.000-04:002006-08-03T22:49:22.663-04:00

And now for tonight´s Alterego NewsGood Evening!For today´s celebration of the first month of the Alterego blog network (founded by this humble writer), the Brazilian Ministry of Education passed a law that makes philosophy mandatory in the high school curriculum across the whole country.For more details about this initiative aiming at promoting philosophy and sociology as "necessary for fully

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-1154524363203802762006-08-02T09:05:00.000-04:002006-08-02T09:18:22.043-04:00

And now, the fifth and final episode of "About a Little Black Country Girl"Back from the start - Some could say that the situation I described is only possible in this poor third world country where I was born, or in this specific poor rural area my family is from, so very different from the capital.But during the school year I live in the most affluent city in one of the most affluent countries

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-1154438595895365262006-08-01T09:03:00.000-04:002006-08-01T09:23:20.306-04:00

You´re reading the fourth episode of "About A Little Black Country Girl", a minisseries in five actsIt could be worse - So that it does not seem that my family or Cielza´s family are horrible monsters, I would like to emphasise that these people live relatively well (relative to the other peasant folks in this area). They are all honest, hard-working people, who participate in the community,

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-1154306311407403232006-07-30T20:30:00.000-04:002006-07-31T09:17:23.576-04:00

How it all began - My parents are both from this region around the village of Montalvânia, in the north of the state of Minas Gerais, but have lived in Brasilia since the early 70’s. That’s where I was born and raised. Eight years ago, before he died, my grandfather left a little piece of land to each of his 14 children. To my father fell this piece of untouched savana-like vegetation, wild and

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-1154180543221705722006-07-29T09:30:00.000-04:002006-08-17T13:19:19.183-04:00

And now, the second episode of "About a Little Black Country Girl", an esterical minisseries in five parts.In the Middle of Nowhere - I spent last week on my parents’ farm, in a rough and arid countryside where neither asphalt or telephone (fixed or mobile) can reach, and where electricity only arrived about two or three years ago. Every time we go we take a pick-up truck full of things to give

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-1154061079788486902006-07-28T00:22:00.000-04:002006-07-28T07:53:01.133-04:00

Delivery - A couple of days ago I got after much longing and expectation two books in the mail: “Teaching to Transgress” by bell hooks, and “Trojan Horse” by Page du Bois. Since I’ve already talked a bit about du Bois, let me tell you about my first impressions about bell hooks.Against the current - I must confess from the start that, for some reason, I have great resistance against people who

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-1153490364480946522006-07-21T09:20:00.000-04:002006-07-21T11:25:37.386-04:00

It all began the day I arrived in Brasilia from Canada, and my brother Chico invited me to go to Naty´s thesis defense the next day. So I went. It was super nice. It was about the Brazilian artist Chico Buarque. After the defense, a group of my brother´s friends went out for a beer and great conversation. Brains working full throttle.Then I realized that Chico Buarque was one of those great

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-1152468374810395232006-07-09T14:05:00.000-04:002006-07-10T18:06:37.596-04:00

I said in the last post that Timothy Reagan's "Paideia Redux" was an excellent source of references. One such fascinating reference is to classics scholar Page du Bois.Quite a polemic writer, du Bois's main agenda is a call for rereading theclassics. Far from embracing ancient cultures as our ideal, the idea is to critically examine not only how much we have inherited, but also how much we have

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-1152283188640757952006-07-07T10:09:00.000-04:002006-07-08T10:30:52.933-04:00

People often wonder what the point is in studying classical cultures, like Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt or Ancient China.Some people say that it´s because the ancients were the high point of civilization and all went downhill from there.But I think that, first, that this is to disconsider all the achievements of the last 5, 10, 15 or 20 centuries.Second, this view neglects the fact

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-1151967058634735412006-07-03T18:21:00.000-04:002006-07-04T08:25:19.763-04:00

I think that it was Jane Roland Martin in her "Reclaiming a Conversation: the Ideal of the Educated Woman" (but I don´t have the book here with me) who, after pointing out how inadequate Sophie is a model for the ideal woman, calls for a new female counterpart for Emile, an Emily to replace Sophie.My first acquaintance with J.R. Martin was with sections of "Reclaiming a Conversation" on Rousseau

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30483591.post-1151941150707565012006-07-03T11:39:00.000-04:002006-07-04T08:32:34.780-04:00

Ever since I was a child I have always been amazed by classical cultures (language, literature, philosophy, etc.) Obsessed by Monteiro Lobato´s “The Ranch of the Yellow Woodpecker”, and by Monica and her gang (comics by Maurício de Souza), at the age of nine I could describe with details and in the right order, Hercules´ 12 Trials, the Greek goddesses and gods, their attribute, personalities and

Ester Macedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329756068154753986noreply@blogger.com2