From: smirzo@example.com   
      
   D  writes:   
      
   > On Fri, 7 Mar 2025, Salvador Mirzo wrote:   
   >   
   >>> Thank you! Very interesting, I had no idea!   
   >>   
   >> An excellent reference to how it got where it is is   
   >>   
   >>  United States Penetration of Brazil   
   >>  Jan Knippers Black,   
   >>  University of Pennsylvania Press, 1977   
   >>  ISBN 0-8122-7720-1.   
   >   
   > Thank you for the recommendation. Sadly I do not think my schedule allows it   
   at   
   > the moment, I have way too many philosophical topics on my plate at the   
   moment.   
   > =(   
      
   Not really a recommendation; it's an annotation.  We're the ones   
   writing, but there's lots of reading eyes for sure.  Unless you're   
   particularly interested in Brazil or in the United States influence in   
   the Latin America, I think there's no point in reading a book like that.   
   (The work is of the highest quality.)   
      
   >>>> You're quite right.  It is indeed *very* distracting.  In fact,   
   >>>> observing such things has given the conclusion that visual stimili (at   
   >>>> least in myself) is a really strong physiological thing: it seems quite   
   >>>   
   >>> I also imagine that in south america it is still fashionable for women to   
   be   
   >>> women, and that women are feminine? I hope so... I like that!   
   >>   
   >> Lol.  A declaration like that won't get much support around here. :)   
   >> We're living in a globalized world.  Even news casters now use words   
   >> like ``spoiler''.  Literally---no translation needed.  My geography   
   >> teachers in elementary school now seem like prophets.   
   >   
   > What!?! Please don't spoil my dreams of travelling to Brazil meeting   
   > loads of beautiful brazilian women who would be naturally interested   
   > in a swede with blue eyes! ;)   
      
   Lol.  I think they would be. :)  But let me tell you that everywhere in   
   the world I went I found as many beautiful women as I find over here.   
      
   >>>> stronger than any will power.  I started out reading at the beach so I   
   >>>> would have something to do there, staying longer in the sun.  So my slow   
   >>>> reading doesn't defeat that purpose.  I also often go during week days,   
   >>>> when the beach is not crowded with people.  It worked out so well that   
   >>>   
   >>> Aha... so that's how you get any work done! I imagine if you would go   
   during   
   >>> beach rush hour, you'd not get a lot of things done. ;)   
   >>   
   >> Lol.  You're quite right.  One thing that's happening is that I'm a very   
   >> approachable person and being there nearly every day brings new friends.   
   >> Now every now then there appears someone to chat.  I feel unable to tell   
   >> anyone to go away, even because---when people approach for chat---it's   
   >> evidently the case that they're in need of something.  (They might also   
   >> think that I'm killing time.)  I never really tell them to go away.   
   >> That doesn't help the work much.  Nevertheless, one of my deadlines got   
   >> extended by a week and so I was able to get a project's phase done---I'm   
   >> on time!   
   >   
   > Amazing! You couldn't get further from the swedish folk psyche. In sweden two   
   > people could sit next to each other for years, and at most nod to each other.   
   > Maybe after a year or two, a small conversation might start.   
      
   That's horrible.   
      
   > In the subway, no one talks to each other. People mainstain silence and look   
   at   
   > their phones. Only people who know each other talk on the subway. Definitely   
   not   
   > strangers.   
      
   Reminds me of New York City.   
      
   I don't think it's too different here in Rio.  But I often greet people   
   as a gesture of recognition of their existence.  It turns out people do   
   like that.  At first you greet people alone; it's too unexpected for   
   them to react.  (This makes the greeter feel odd and so people usually   
   stop on the first attempt.)  Little by little, though, things change.   
   You need to be okay to do this properly.  (If you don't feel like   
   talking to people, you will likely not work.)  People like respect.   
   Recognizing their existence is an important gesture.  There are   
   psychoanalytical explanations to all of this, but, since it's not   
   obvious, it would take a while to build the result from first   
   principles.   
      
   At the beach, I don't mean that random people come over for a chat.  I   
   mean people who often find me there---people who work there or who often   
   go there as well.  They're all used to me being there.  And every now   
   and then a friend meets me by chance or knew they would find me there.   
      
   >>>> it seems to work like a second phase of my work schedule.  I write in   
   >>>> the morning and read in the afternoon, intermixed with walking,   
   >>>> swimming and biking.  I cannot do it *every* day because I need to   
   >>>> [be] ``the office'' some days.   
   >>>   
   >>> Sounds like you have a very nice job there!   
   >>   
   >> It's my favorite ever.  My at-the-office phase restarts in two weeks.   
   >   
   > Ouch! Hopefully it will not last too long!   
      
   Two mornings per week.  I still to get lunch at home---thankfully.   
      
   >>> And what about beef? I heard there are wars in south america over   
   >>> whether argentina or brazil has the best beef? Who is right?   
   >>   
   >> I never quite heard of wars, but surely Argentina is known as one of the   
   >> best bovine meat producers.  And so [is] Brazil's south.  Historically,   
   >> they have a lot of tradition (and still do).  So Argentina or not, it's   
   >> that whole region, going beyond Brazil and Argentina.   
   >>   
   >> As a teenager (with my family), I traveled once to a beach place in   
   >> the state of Rio de Janeiro and one thing got stuck in my memory   
   >> about a dinner we had [at] an Argentine restaurant.  The (small)   
   >> place was run by the owner himself, who was an Argentine.  The meat   
   >> was unforgettable.  Brazil's south is known as people who know how to   
   >> [barbecue] like no one.  I'm sure the same applies to the Argentines.   
      
   Typos fixed above.   
      
   > Another dream! Except for the women, above, I dream of going to brazil and   
   > argentina for a beef and bbq safari! This would be excellent! Maybe I would   
   > never leave again? =)   
      
   I wouldn't. :) I really love this place.   
      
   And I agree about the women---we really don't have any shortage of   
   beautiful, caring women.  But the fact is that that's true anywhere else   
   in the world.  It is true that women and men are losing their health   
   early in life, which doesn't favor their looks; still, everywhere I go I   
   am often hypnotized by feminine natural enchants.   
      
   >>>> But I consider coffee---no matter how good quality if might be---a drug   
   >>>> to be totally kept on a leash.  I don't think we should make regular use   
   >>>> of any stimulants---of any drug at all.   
   >>>   
   >>> Ahh... and here I drink between 0.5 and 0.7 liters per day! ;)   
   >>   
   >> That's a huge quantity.   
   >   
   > Really? Just regular coffee. No espresso! ;)   
      
   Huge.  If it were espresso, it'd be much worse.  Remember the American   
   actor Philip Seymour Hoffman?  He likely died out of some drug-related   
   abuse back in 2014.  It seems in those days his morning routine included   
      
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   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)