"How The Grinch Stole Christmas" and other Christmas stories

We have reached a wonderful time of the year... Christmas Time. Many countries celebrate Christmas in many different ways but with one common goal: spread joy, light and love by decorating their houses, businesses, streets, trees and everything you can imagine.

It's a time of year where people come together and help each other out. There are no boundaries between them. Having all of these thoughts and images floating in my mind along with beautiful songs I thought it could be a nice idea to share some of my most beloved Christmas stories. 

I'll be posting one per day for the next 10 days. There is no ranking involved just my wish to share and spread some hope, laughter, love and peace to anyone who wants to read or listen to them.

I'll start things off with a CLASSIC children's story: 

❦❦❦ DAY 1: HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS ❦❦❦

You have the option of listening to the story here: 

HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS (WITHOUT IMAGES)

HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS (WITH POEM PICTURES)

Or read along below:

HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS

Enjoy! See you later, alligator!

❦❦❦ DAY 2: THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING ❦❦❦

You have the option of listening to the story here:

THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING

Or read along below:

THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING

Enjoy! After a while, crocodile! 🐊

❦❦❦ DAY 3: A CHRISTMAS CAROL ❦❦❦

You have the option of listening to the story here:

A CHRISTMAS CAROL - LISTEN AND READ

Or read along below:

A CHRISTMAS CAROL - READ ONLINE

Enjoy! Gotta go, Buffalo! 🐃

❦❦❦ DAY 4: THE STEADFAST TIN SOLDIER ❦❦❦

You have the option of listening to the story here:

THE STEADFAST TIN SOLDIER - LISTEN AND READ

Or read along below:

THE STEADFAST TIN SOLDIER - READ ONLINE

Enjoy! See you soon, Raccoon! 🦝

❦❦❦ DAY 5: RUDOLPH, THE RED-NOSED REINDEER ❦❦❦

You have the option of listening to the story here:

RUDOLPH, THE RED-NOSED REINDEER

Or read along below:

RUDOLPH, THE RED-NOSED REINDEER

Enjoy! Be sweet, Parakeet! ❤

❦❦❦ DAY 6: 'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS ❦❦❦

You have the option of listening to the poem here:

'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS (read by Michael Bublé)

Or read along below:

'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Enjoy! Take care, Polar Bear! 🐻

❦❦❦ DAY 7: MOTHER CHRISTMAS ❦❦❦

Read it online:

MOTHER CHRISTMAS

Enjoy! In a shake, Grater Snake! 🐍

❦❦❦ DAY 8: THE ELVES AND THE SHOEMAKER ❦❦❦

You have the option of listening to the story here:

THE ELVES AND THE SHOEMAKER (read by Chrissy Metz) 

Or read along below:

THE ELVES AND THE SHOEMAKER

Enjoy! Hit the road, Happy Toad! 🐸

❦❦❦ DAY 9: THE POLAR EXPRESS ❦❦❦

You have the option of listening to the story here:

THE POLAR EXPRESS (read by Liam Neeson)

Or read along below:

THE POLAR EXPRESS (don't mind the "Narrators")

Enjoy! Can't stay, Blue Jay! 🐦

❦❦❦ DAY 10: AULD LANG SYNE ❦❦❦

You have the option of listening to the story here:

AULD LANG SYNE 

Or read along below:

AULD LANG SYNE

Enjoy! Bye Bye, Butterfly! 🦋

"1917" brought me here.

These are the first words I wrote in the comments of a YouTube video when I finally 

managed to find part of the first verse of the poem Schofield recited to the baby at night. 

I was absolutely gobsmacked with the poem, his voice, the whole scene and the entire 

movie of course.

If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. I leave you with the entire original poem and 

the video link to the beautiful movie scene.

My recommendation when it comes to poems, sonnets, rhymes and limericks is to read 

them ALOUD in order to play with the intonation in your voice, the pacing of it and for the 

sake of the language in itself.

THE JUMBLIES - by Edward Lear

1917 Scene - Schofield Talks To Baby

Enjoy!

"Peace, love, empathy": "It's better to burn out than to fade away"

These are some of the most impactful last words Kurt Cobain wrote on a letter before leaving this world. Today being World Mental Health Day I just could NOT let it go by without writing something... anything about it. I truly believe we can all do better, get better and feel better if we have a strong and supportive network along the way: call it family, friends, neighbours, someone to reach out, someone to turn to when it is too much.

The letter he wrote is so powerful in so many levels that I want to share it with you. It really got to me the first time I read it.

If you are struggling, please reach out. If you know someone who is struggling, call them. Let them know you are there for them. Even if they don't want to say anything, they will appreciate your support. Let's stop taking people for granted and make more meaningful connections.

If we want the world to change, let's start by changing ourselves first and helping others along the way.

Letter Transcript:

(Source: KurtCobain.com)

To Boddah pronounced

Speaking from the tongue of an experienced simpleton who obviously would rather be an emasculated, infantile complainee. This note should be pretty easy to understand. All the warnings from the punk rock 101 courses over the years, since my first introduction to the, shall we say, ethics involved with independence and the embracement of your community has proven to be very true. I haven’t felt the excitement of listening to as well as creating music along with reading and writing for too many years now. I feel guity beyond words about these things. For example when we’re back stage and the lights go out and the manic roar of the crowd begins it doesn’t affect me the way in which it did for Freddie Mercury who seemed to love, relish in the the love and adoration from the crowd which is something I totally admire and envy. The fact is, I can’t fool you. Any one of you. It simply isn’t fair to you or me. The worst crime I can think of would be to rip people off by faking it and pretending as if I’m having 100% fun. Sometimes I feel as if I should have a punch-in time clock before I walk out on stage. I’ve tried everything within my power to appreciate it (and I do,God, believe me I do, but it’s not enough). I appreciate the fact that I and we have affected and entertained a lot of people. It must be one of those narcissists who only appreciate things when they’re gone. I’m too sensitive. I need to be slightly numb in order to regain the enthusiasms I once had as a child.

On our last 3 tours, I’ve had a much better appreciation for all the people I’ve known personally, and as fans of our music, but I still can’t get over the frustration, the guilt and empathy I have for everyone. There’s good in all of us and I think I simply love people too much, so much that it makes me feel too fucking sad. The sad little, sensitive, unappreciative, Pisces, Jesus man. Why don’t you just enjoy it? I don’t know!

I have a goddess of a wife who sweats ambition and empathy and a daughter who reminds me too much of what i used to be, full of love and joy, kissing every person she meets because everyone is good and will do her no harm. And that terrifies me to the point to where I can barely function. I can’t stand the thought of Frances becoming the miserable, self-destructive, death rocker that I’ve become.

I have it good, very good, and I’m grateful, but since the age of seven, I’ve become hateful towards all humans in general. Only because it seems so easy for people to get along that have empathy. Only because I love and feel sorry for people too much I guess.

Thank you all from the pit of my burning, nauseous stomach for your letters and concern during the past years. I’m too much of an erratic, moody baby! I don’t have the passion anymore, and so remember, it’s better to burn out than to fade away.

Peace, love, empathy.

Kurt Cobain

Frances and Courtney, I’ll be at your alter.

Please keep going Courtney, for Frances.

For her life, which will be so much happier without me.

I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU!

The Madness of Crowds and Delusions

Today I want to continue delving into the amazing sci-fi show LEGION. Being a massive fan of the show, I just can't believe that it's finally over after 3 exquisite seasons.

This is a superhero show based on MARVEL comics so if you are as much into MARVEL and DC as I am you should definitely give it a go. 

The interesting thing about this show in particular is that it is not centered around the typical hero who comes to save everyone from impending doom but rather on a kind of "antihero"- "lunatic" sort of bloke who people think suffers from mental illness.

 AND THIS IS WHY I love it so much. I'm fascinated by the intricacies of the mind, the illnesses connected to it and the corresponding behaviour analysis that derives from it or surrounds it.

Season 2 of this show has the brilliant idea of introducing each episode or a group of episodes with a psychological observation accompanied by a beautiful visualization. These introductory narrations are read by the incredible JON HAMM (voice over)

I will share all of the texts periodically - some of which will have the corresponding video - starting with these two: 

SEASON 2 - EPISODE 1: "Chapter 9" 

[Part 2: The Madness Of Crowds]

There is a maze in the desert carved from sand and rock. A vast labyrinth of pathways

 and corridors a hundred miles long, a thousand miles wide, full of twists and dead ends. 

Picture it... a puzzle. You walk, and at the end of this maze is a prize just waiting to be 

discovered. All you have to do is find your way through. Can you see the maze? Its walls 

and floors, its twists and turns? Good, because the maze you've created in your mind is 

itself the maze. There is no desert, no rock or sand. There is only the idea of it. But it's an 

idea that will come to dominate your every waking and sleeping moment. You're inside 

the maze now. You cannot escape. Welcome to madness.

[Chapter 3: Delusions]

And now we must speak of Zhuang Zhou, who fell asleep one day and dreamed he was a 

butterfly. For hours, he fluttered in the warm winter sun, until he no longer remembered he 

was Zhuang Zhou. Suddenly he awoke, and he was Zhuang Zhou again. But in that 

moment, he didn't know. Was he Zhuang Zhou who had dreamt he was a butterfly, or a 

butterfly who was dreaming he was Zhuang Zhou? 

A delusion starts like any other idea, as an egg. Identical on the outside, perfectly formed. 

From the shell, you'd never know anything was wrong. It's what's inside that matters. 

Albert A had an idea. One day, as he was walking, he stumbled. And for a moment, it 

seemed that his right leg didn't belong to him. This is how it begins. The leg was clearly 

Albert's. It was attached to his body, and when he pricked it, he felt pain. But despite that, 

the idea grew. Such is the power of an idea. With every day that passed, Albert became 

more and more certain that this was not his leg. He decided he didn't want it anymore. 

And so one day, he went to the hardware store. You see, an idea alone isn't enough. We 

have ideas all the time, random thoughts and theories. Most die... before they can grow. 

For a delusion to thrive, other, more rational ideas must be rejected, destroyed. Only then 

can the delusion blossom... into full-blown psychosis.

I Carry Your Heart With Me (I Carry It In My Heart)

Ésta ha sido la frase más hermosa que leí y que decidí hacer conmemorativa hace 5 años. Quien quiera leer un poco más acerca del escritor tan hermoso que escribió esto a su hermana o a su mejor amigo ( no recuerdo) les dejo los links a su biografía (Wikipedia) y a la hermosa imagen del poema que me guardé en mi escritorio.

Autor: E.E. Cummings

Imagen del poema completo

Poema completo:

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in

my heart)i am never without it(anywhere

i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done

by only me is your doing,my darling)

                                                      i fear

no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want

no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)

and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

5 años. Mismo día. Misma hora. Cíclico, no? Para mí, inconcebible.

Sin estar 100% segura si quería o no hacerlo público o liberarlo al Universo - como prefieran llamarlo -  necesitaba hacer algo conmemorativo en este día en particular que esté por fuera de un archivo de Word guardado en el escritorio de mi notebook desde hace ya 4 años.

Tampoco estaba segura si debía escribir esto en inglés o castellano asíque decidí que salga como salga. 

Es tanta la incertidumbre que me genera escribir este post que hasta tiemblan mis manos al escribir pero si así sucede es porque así tiene que ser. No hay otra.

Hace EXACTAMENTE 5 AÑOS, en este mismo día SÁBADO hace apenas unas horas para ser más precisa ocurriría un evento TAN DESAFORTUNADO en mi vida que es hasta el día de hoy que no lo entiendo. Lo ACEPTÉ (-lo aceptaste? Estás segura?) pero no lo entiendo (NO LO ENTIENDO)

Solía tener un alumno particular los días SÁBADOS de 11.30 a 13. Era un alumno que iba regularmente a tomar clases al Instituto donde trabajo y luego de unos años decidió continuar conmigo. 

No me voy a hacer la exclusiva en esto pero estoy casi segura que TODOS tenemos mínimo a una personita guardada en nuestro corazón que es ÚNICA, que IRRADIA LUZ, que es ÍNTEGRA. No sé como explicarlo pero me entienden seguramente. Bueno, él era esa personita.

Había empezado a deconstruir ese día pero se me estaba haciendo muy largo por no querer omitir detalles asíque decidí borrarlo y limitarme a compartir algo de las tantas cosas que le apasionaban que era la música. Éstos eran algunos de sus temas favoritos de algunas de sus bandas favoritas y de una frase de una de ellas se hizo un tatuaje. Les dejo las letras:

• HASTA ACÁ NOS AYUDÓ DIOS - Las Pastillas Del Abuelo
• NORTE - De La Gran Piñata
• STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN - Led Zeppelin
• THANK YOU - Led Zeppelin

"-Flabbergasted me hizo aprobar el FCE, Profe.

-Que dirá de mí si con solo esa palabra aprobaste?

-That you are a great teacher."

5 years on and I'm still flabbergasted. 

I miss you. 

Rest In Peace.

AESOP'S FABLES - Prometheus and the making of Man; Grief and his Due

Since this outlandish quarantine began I've decided to resume some of my favourite hobbies. One of these is READING, obvs.

I'm such an avid reader that I even have an account on GOODREADS. I set it up a couple of years ago and it's been so helpful for me because it helps me organise my books digitally in three shelves: read, currently reading and want to read and keeps me motivated with the addictive READING CHALLENGE.

One of the many books I've read this year is AESOP'S FABLES. Gosh, it's been a heart-warming pleasure delving in those pages. Absolutely gorgeous read. I seriously recommend it if you haven't read it.

I have difficulty choosing my one-and-only favourite fable so I've opted to rewrite two instead. In a future post - or an updated version of this one - I might include even more.

Grief and His Due

When Jupiter was assigning the various gods their privileges, it so happened that Grief was not 

present with the rest: but when all had received their share, he too entered and claimed his due. 

Jupiter was at a loss to know what to do, for there was nothing left for him. However, at last he 

decided that to him should belong the tears that are shed for the dead. Thus it is the same with Grief 

as it is with the other gods. The more devoutly men render to him his due, the more lavish is he of 

that which he has to bestow. It is not well, therefore, to mourn long for the departed; else Grief, 

whose sole pleasure is in such mourning, will be quick to send fresh cause for tears.

💗💗💗💗💗💗

Prometheus and the Making of Man


At the bidding of Jupiter, Prometheus set about the creation of Man and the other animals. Jupiter, 

seeing that Mankind, the only rational creatures, were far outnumbered by the irrational beasts,bade 

him redress the balance by turning some of the latter into men. Prometheus did as he was bidden, 

and this is the reason why some people have the forms of men but the souls of beasts.

Empathy and Fear

Given the horrendous episodes of violence in the USA which the black community have been suffering these past few months and even and regrettably longer than that, I haven't stopped thinking about us as human beings. We always preach to be ONE RACE while there are still people, communities, villages and even cities which do not bear to live among people who are different... DIFFERENT, really? WE ARE HUMAN BEINGS, where is the difference in that? Oh, right. I see: difference in social status, difference in religious beliefs, difference in sexual orientation, difference in the COLOUR OF SKIN.

If not by lack of education, how can anybody ever feel disgust, rage or indifference towards another human being just because they do not look alike, think alike, love alike? This is OUTRAGEOUS. I cannot conceive it.

Education within the family and education in school should be available to everyone everywhere for free. Kids need to learn the basics on empathy and kindness in their families and in their schools. Governments should do anything and everything in their power to make people feel they BELONG as ONE.

Not to make it too long, tedious or repetitive, the topics that I wanted to address today given in the title of this post are cleverly narrated through a monologue given by Oliver Bird in the extraordinary FX series called LEGION. If you haven't watched it, give it a try. You don't have to love superheroes but rather be interested in mental illness and psychology.

The show has an interesting way of telling the story through brief introductions showing amazing images and Jon Hamm or Oliver Bird (character's name) in this clip narrating different psychological concepts in relation to mental illness such as empathy and fear for example.

The following quote is taken from IMDB site and the clip is taken from YOUTUBE. It's the beginning of EPISODE 4 - SEASON 1 and the analogies narrated are in relation to the aforementioned concepts.

Enjoy.

[first lines]

Oliver Bird : Good evening. We are here tonight to talk about violence, or maybe human nature. We are here to talk about human nature. Wait, a quote. A great philosopher [Friedrich Nietzsche] 
once wrote; 

'In times of peace the warlike man attacks himself.' 

This is the root of all our problems, and by this, I mean we. We are the root of all our problems, our confusion, our anger, our fear of things we don't understand. Violence in other words, is ignorance. Figure your shit out, that's what I'd say. 

There are two kinds of stories we tell our children. The first kind; 'Once upon a time there was a fuzzy little rabbit named Frizzytop, who went on a quantum fun adventure, only to face a big setback, which he overcame through perseverance and by being adorable.' This kind of story teaches empathy. Put yourself in Frizzytop's shoes, in other words. The other kind; 'Oliver Anthony Bird if you get too close to that ocean you'll be sucked into the sea and drowned.' This kind of story teaches them fear, and for the rest of their lives, these two stories compete. Empathy and fear. 

And so I bring you tonight's play, the work in five acts about a fuzzy little bunny, who got too close to the ocean. And what happened next, let us begin.

Oliver Bird's monologue

Cupid and Psyche - a beautiful MYTH turned into a Sleep Story

For over a year now, I've been having trouble sleeping at night. Doing some research online I found out this outstanding website (also a mobile app) called CALM which not only has helped me sleep much better every night but also it has instilled in me a new found love for meditation, relaxation and breathing techniques to ease my anxiety levels at times.

There is a section in this website/app designed exclusively for SLEEP STORIES. They go from well-known fairy tales, to travel stories and even myths all of which are adapted to make anyone go to sleep. It has worked WONDERS for me ever since I started listening to these.

Such is my fascination with them that I've already listened to all of them more than once and I can now share with you, on a regular basis, some of my favourites:

Today's favourite is a Greek MYTH called "Cupid and Psyche" written by Apuleius in his book "The Golden Ass". Being five pages long, it would be very long for a single blog post so I share the PDF which you can easily read online, download or even print.

I hope you like it as much as I do. Pretty soon, I'll be sharing some other favourite sleep stories from this fantastic website.

Give it a try and let me know your thoughts in the comments!

See you soon!

Stay safe :)

Do people have FREE WILL?

It's been a while since my latest blog post but here I am again with a new essay I've written for a course in NEUROECONOMICS (Introduction To Neuroeconomics: How The Brain Makes Decisions) I'm currently working on using COURSERA

One of the peer-graded assignments I had to do was to write about the topic of FREE WILL with the prompt: Do people have free will or is it an illusion? Is neuroeconomics the death of free will? The word limit was 500 so this is it. I hope you like it and feel free to leave a comment and share it with other people.

These views are my own. No copyright infringement. Sources are cited at the end of the essay.

We are made to believe that for those of us who live in a democracy we have such freedoms as  freedom of speech or freedom of religion to name a few but the real question to discuss here is whether or not we have free will.

When I started thinking how to approach this question I thought of more than one perspective to consider it from. Two of these will be taken into account: the religious/moral perspective and the psychological perspective.

To begin with, some people who believe in God and Catholicism have no second thoughts when stating “God gave you FREE WILL” meaning, in my opinion, that you are free to choose what you want to do. Nonetheless, digging deeper into this notion can lead to further inquiries such as: how free any individual can be to choose what they want to do without feeling guilty, remorseful or selfish in religious terms right? There is plenty to be said about this concept in religion but I will leave you with this excerpt I took from Wikipedia discussing the concept of FREE WILL in the Roman Catholic Church:

The Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church asserts that "Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will".[1] It goes on to say that "God created man a rational being, conferring on him the dignity of a person who can initiate and control his own actions. God willed that man should be 'left in the hand of his own counsel,' so that he might of his own accord seek his Creator and freely attain his full and blessed perfection by cleaving to him.""[2]

Secondly, psychology being a science which studies people and their behaviours brings a new light to religion not being the only field capable of explaining choices. Considering this matter, there are professionals in the field who try to explain the way in which the brain functions when faced with a decision to make. Doctor Danil Razeev made a compelling argument discussing this topic. This is his lecture on it: "Can Neuroscience Measure Free Will?". Another opinion on the subject matter wrote an editorial on the web and this is an excerpt I found to be quite interesting:

“How can a person make self-determined choices, make sense of the world, and even self-actualize when neuroscientific evidence seems to indicate that our brains are making decisions before we even realize it? Are we claiming responsibility for events that have little or nothing to do with conscious intention?” [3]

All things being considered, it is my personal opinion that the notion of free will is subjective to the person and the place where they live, the governments they have and the desire each of them have to do what they feel is right for them as long as it does not forfeit another individual’s right to do and act the same way.

Citations:

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_will_in_theology “Roman Catholic” third paragraph , end of quotation 34

[2] ] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_will_in_theology “Roman Catholic” third paragraph , end of quotation 34

[3] https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/proceed-your-own-risk/201311/do-we-have-free-will Paragraph 10 - Editorial written by Seth Schwartz Ph.D.