Coisa de Rico: A Vida dos Endinheirados Brasileiros, 8 out of 10
The focus is not on scientific or political pragmatism, it is not to seek adjustments for a concrete definition of "rich"; on the contrary, the focus is to highlight the blurred impossibility of defining a social position that only makes sense when thought relationally. In the character of the anthropologist with his playful side, the book also reveals a talent for scientific communication. The debauchery and absurd stories bring a tasty seasoning to a very serious subject: these people, obsessed with operating differences between themselves and between us, are in charge of the institutions of power - directly or by influence.

Limite, 7 out of 10
One of the pioneers and champions of Brazilian cinema. It follows the trajectory of anguish and suffering of three characters who find themselves at the limit of their lives: without freedom, without love, without power of choice in the face of the cruel indifference of the natural world. It is a work of art, but it is a tragic beauty. If the idea is to watch just for watching, it is an endless melancholy. For a film critic, this may be one of the most acclaimed films in our history, but for a mere viewer effort is necessary. A chicken breast without salt and without seasoning: peak nutrition but only on the menu of those who are serious. It makes more sense to watch with curiosity for its historical context: the country's first art film and 30 years before the new cinema; and its supposed universality highlighted out of the colonial context (however not totally, never is).

I've owned my domain and this website since 2019, but social media has been a much easier path to communicate with others. With the rise of federatd open platforms and LLM-generated software, the cost of experimenting with alternatives has gone down significantly and I occasionaly give it some attention. The goal is to use this website as the basis for RSS feeds and Email newsletters.

In June 2025 I've given up on Pixelfed. I'm thankfull that the project exists, but I still can't just whip up my phone and share a moment with it, the UX is not there yet. I'm keeping an eye on the space for polished clients, but for now, surprisingly the best image sharing experience is just using Mona to post directly to Mastodon.

As of May 2026 I've been working on generating machine-translated versions of that RSS feed, since as an immigrant I live in this in-between world of languages. I mostly post in English, which makes it hard for many of my loved ones to know what's up. I'm amazed that I can get pretty decent results hosting an open source model for free.

The next stretch goal is being able to deliver those updates via newsletter since most people have no idea what RSS is, and while Email isn't as catchy as Facebook, it is something that almost everyone is forced (for now) to have one way or another.

My image of a good life has remained simple and consistent since I was a teenager: 1) skate to work eating an apple; 2) dine and chat with interesting people; 3) chill under the shade of a tree. When imagining the ideal life, that's what I've always visualised, though now those images always have my parter in them, and I swapped a skateboard for a bicycle.

A decade later as a young adult, I was finally satisfied with my formulation of my life's purpose . It's compatible with that idyllic imagery, but adds some specificity to the things I care about beyond the feel-good moments. The challenge now is to actually go about living it properly and consistently because, while fun to muse about, aspirations don't have immediate practical consequences.

I'm still working at AWS, with manageable levels of stress and off-hours work. Late 2025 I was finally able to transtion to a Management position, and I have been lucky to have a team that sails smoothly. The hardest part is not really the people, it's actually balancing a higher amount of spinning plates and most of them with cross-team hardships.

The one perenially unresolved aspect is working for Amazon the megacorp, and this seems to be getting worse considering the latest USA political developments. The corrosion of character is real, but I trick myself into not thinking about it too much - at least it's not Meta or Xitter, and I'm not working on anything ethically dubious; it's mostly deep in the weeds fault tolerance and availability improvements. I can sleep well as long as it's not related to crypto, gambling, weapons, fossil fuels, or unethical AI use.

It took me a few decades but I'm finally satisfied with my formulation of my life's purpose . The challenge is to actually go about living it properly and consistently because, while fun to muse about, aspirations don't have immediate practical consequences.

I still semi-regularly workout lifting weights, it's not fun but it's the most efficient way to maintain a decent physique I need for so many other things that I do enjoy.

🚴🏽 I've been cycling all year round. Vancouver's weather is rarely inclement enough to make a 20 minute ride not be worth it. I'm up >92% compared to the previous 1Y period (919 km vs 479 km), and that's not counting the 85 km e-bike ride we did for Valentine's day!

🏃🏽 Running is moderately up, 14%. We travelled to Brazil just in time to miss both Vancouver's Sun Run and the BMO Vancouver Marathon, so the usual training push never materialized. The only reason it's not totally down is that Aline had some extra runs to treat ITBS that I tagged along.

🥾 Hiking has had a noteworthy increase as well, 136% (89 km vs 37 km). The main contributors were definitely our Sunshine Coast trip and the Panorama Hike. We started this season well, with an early spring Mt Gardner loop!

🏕️ Camping... I don't do any tracking, it's not actually a sport...? I just realized it's one of the few things that I just let it happen. I guess I have been relying on Aline and other friends too much to drive this one. Something to change for 2026. End of Spring we should have a bunch of campsites booked.

🏂🏽 Snowboarding is very much up, 81% (161 km vs 89 km). This season had snow for longer, we had a Grouse Mountain pass for the first time and I even went to the mountain solo once. We're both getting better at it, which makes each day yield slighly more as well.

It's spring in Vancouver, but I'm currently eperiencing Rio de Janeiro's Autumn. Rio barely has seasons, it just swings between easygoing and hardcore summer. Aline has been away with her parents in SP for a few days now, and oh do I miss her and Vancouver. Staying a little extra with my parents is a privilege, though; could be better if I had more vacations to spend with them but working from here also makes this yearly tradition be less disruptive overall. I don't know how many more chances like this I'll get, and I try to remind myself of that often. Heavy stuff, but important. Like I've learned at Eininji:

Let me respectfully remind you: Life and death are of supreme importance. Time swiftly passes by and opportunity is lost. Each of us should strive to awake Awaken! Take heed: This night your days are diminished by one. Do not squander your life.

Coisa de Rico: A Vida dos Endinheirados Brasileiros
I picked up this book to complement reading "The Rich and the Poor: Brazil and Inequality" by sociologist Marcelo Medeiros (which emphasizes how the problem of poverty is a problem of inequality, and the problem of inequality is a problem of wealth.) That being said, beyond the sociological point of view, it will be interesting to see from an anthropological point of view how the 0.1% differs from the 1%, who strive so hard to differentiate themselves from the 99%.

Os ricos e os pobres: O Brasil e a desigualdade, 6 out of 10
Interesting to learn more about the types of inequality, the characteristics of inequality metrics, measurement of income and assets, definitions of social classes, etc. Interesting to understand a bit of the history and logic behind the Income Tax and IPTU. Interesting arguments about tax reforms and ways of looking at these taxes. I do not know if the book is very playful because the target audience includes people who are not familiar with percentages, but if it is, I think it would have been better to draw because there are paragraphs full of numbers that are difficult to digest. And if the target audience is people who are comfortable absorbing econometric tables in prose format, the book is very repetitive and troubled with analogies and metaphors, or stories and historical contexts that add relatively little. Overall, I found the edition a bit bad, but the ideas behind the book and the thesis defended are well argued; if the reader can connect the scattered points among the repetitions and stories.

Os ricos e os pobres: O Brasil e a desigualdade
The theme of inequality is older than democracy itself; I was curious to know how the debate is going in this decade.

Cinema Brasileiro
Brazilian Portuguese: https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lista_dos_100_melhores_filmes_brasileiros_segundo_a_ABRACCINE