Brasilmagic’s Weblog

Venting to the World

I am a techie lover

iphone_0412I have some friends who don’t answer their phone or their emails frequently. It is not so much that they are busy, but they do not care much for modern technology. They leave their cell phone turned off or they leave it in the car (that always amazes me as I cannot part with mine for one second…).

They still use the good old home line. They check their emails once a week, or every 2 weeks (that amazes me even more!). They make fun of these cell phones full of “stuff”. Why do we need a camera? Why do we need to surf the internet on a phone? Why do we need to check our emails during the day? They even brag about their cell phone being the same one from 7 years ago and still working fine..as a phone.

I am quite the opposite.  I grew up with a father and a brother who liked the latest gadgets, so I guess I got that rubbed into me. What I don’t spend in designer clothes and shoes (count me in for discount outlets!). Give me a fast internet connection over a pair o Manolos!  I like to spend on the latest cell phone, computer or TV. I like to be abreast of the latest technologies.

It causes me anxiety not to know what something is in the techie world. What is RSS, what is  iGoogle? I have to know. To me it seems that if I am not following technology, I will get old and rusty. I started tweeting just because everyone else is doing it :)

I don’t know that many women who are techie lovers, but I am sure there are many. I was one of the few women in the long line to get the iPhone 3G. But even though I am ignorant of the workings of these machines, I like to have the technology at my hands.  The current exception is the iPhone 3.0 OS. I am not getting it. 500 dollars for 3G users? No way. I will wait for the next big thing :)

June 24, 2009 Posted by Brasilmagic | Lifestyle | | No Comments Yet

So many websites, so little time

Websites

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was trying to remember my internetless days and see if in the past I had more time and enjoyed life more. I feel so drawn to following different websites every day, as if I cannot be away from what’s going on. Facebook, Twitter, The Huffington Post, AOL, CNN, Perez Hilton, different blogs, Atheist websites, Orkut,  and lately, www.BringSeanHome.org

After I became involved in the David Goldman saga, I have to follow not only BSH but also Orkut’s BSH community (Orkut is the most popular social networking website in Brazil), as well as Eduardo de Oliveira’s “Brasil com Z” blog at the Globo website, where the maternal family plants spew their venom. We have to counterattack by responding to the lies and misconceptions that are posted there about David.

Along with working FULL time, exercising and finding time to eat, I feel I have so much to read, so much to learn. There is so much interesting information on these websites, from news to politics to variety. It’s gotten so bad you can find me plugged to my iPhone (I am not advertising for Apple, it could also be a Blackberry or the Palm Pre :) ) late at night in bed reading tweets or checking Bring Sean Home….

Maybe I should take a vacation in the wilderness or an deserted island to get away from so much information and so many ideas that enter my brain every day…

June 24, 2009 Posted by Brasilmagic | Lifestyle | | 1 Comment

David Goldman can have Sean during the week…in Brazil

As promised, the latest chapter of David Goldman’s struggle to get his son back in his life, correcting an error that should never have happened in the first place!

The Brazilian Supreme Court (STF) did not accept the Progressive Party’s ridiculous motion. All judges voted against it, including Marco Aurelio Melo, who had accepted it in the first place! Justice Ellen Gracie Northfleet impressed me with her discourse on the Hague Convention. Ricardo Zamariola, David’s lawyer in Brazil, impressed me with his youth and to the point presentation of the case. Minister Antonio Toffoli impressed me with his oratory skills and extreme common sense about the case.

Who did not impress me? Sergio Tostes, the maternal family’s attorney. Old rhetoric, cheap emotionalism.

With that out of the way, the case went back to the Federal level. After Judge Pinto’s wonderful decision which made everyone ecstatic, it was frustrating to hear that the case still had to be judged at the Rio Federal court. Delay, delay.

A few days later, we were shocked to see a transcript of an interview made by a PUC (Catholic University in Rio) psychologist, friends with the family, who interviewed Sean Goldman. The family one more time exploited the boy to get what they wanted: cheap emotionalism. Sean was cowered into saying he did not want to live with his father or either see him. I can only imagine how hurtful it must have been for David to read those lines, after all the sacrifice he has made for Sean, the trips, the gifts, the hugs and “I love yous”.

Talk about parental alienation at its finest.

One day later we were stunned to hear that Judge Pinto, the hand behind the 82 page document detailing parental alienation and Sean’s immediate return to David, decided that the transition period would he held in Brazil instead of New Jersey.

We took the news with a grain of salt. While it is great that David could spend a lot more time with his son without any interference from the “dark side”, we also knew how impratical it is for him to have to spend long periods of time in a country where he does not speak the language, have a work visa or know his way around. He is being inconvenienced while the maternal family, who has more time and money, is not.

Meanwhile, everybody is waiting for the final decision, which I still hope will be positive. I have a feeling that after the transition period and after David has spent time with Sean down there, they will let both come home finally. To be continued…

A few days later, we were shocked to see a transcript of an interview made by a PUC (Catholic University in Rio) psychologist, friends with the family, who interviewed Sean Goldman. The family one more time exploited the boy to get what they wanted: cheap emotionalism. Sean was cowered into saying he did not want to live with his father or either see him. I can only imagine how hurtful it must have been for David to read those lines, after all the sacrifice he has made for Sean, the trips, the gifts, the hugs and “I love yous”.

Talk about parental alienation at its finest.

One day later we were stunned to hear that Judge Pinto, the hand behind the 82 page document detailing parental alienation and Sean’s immediate return to David, decided that the transition period would he held in Brazil instead of New Jersey.

We took the news with a grain of salt. While it is great that David could spend a lot more time with his son without any interference from the “dark side”, we also knew how impratical it is for him to have to spend long periods of time in a country where he does not speak the language, have a work visa or know his way around. He is being inconvenienced while the maternal family, who has more time and money, is not.

Meanwhile, everybody is waiting for the final decision, which I still hope will be positive. I have a feeling that after the transition period and after David has spent time with Sean down there, they will let both come home finally. To be continued…

June 24, 2009 Posted by Brasilmagic | Activism | | No Comments Yet