A foundation

According to the theme we were talking in class. I decided to talk a little about a foundation Avril created in order to help the ones who are in need. I think that it’s the obvious thing to talk and try to explain thanks to our friends from abroad who talked to us about the eight goals and make sure that we could see and was going on beyond our borders, and try to make some sense and make people active to this objective.
So like I was saying the Avril Lavigne foundation is an organization that tries to help and to collect founds in order to build schools, hospitals and many other objectives. The Avril Lavigne Foundation R.O.C.K.S. Respect, Opportunity, Choices, Knowledge, and Strength in support of children and youth living with serious illnesses and disabilities.

It is their mission to:

• Respect the needs of all children and youth, no matter their circumstances, and encourage others to do the same;
• Create the Opportunity for children and youth with serious illnesses or disabilities to follow their dreams;
• Offer Choices so children and youth see they have many options in life and not just a single path defined by their circumstances;
• Provide Knowledge about what is possible to children, youth and their families through new program ideas that The Avril Lavigne Foundation will support and help expand;
• Give kids and their families the Strength to face their daily challenges.

Not only overseas or in other countries but, it’s a foundation with very active members that try to make a difference in the world by doing everything they can where it is needed. Let that be by stopping in schools that have disabled children or that need any kind of support.

Like they said it’s in your hands to make a world a better place.

a fanclub of youtube

A fanclub of Youtube

You’re headed to school. You can’t believe it; finally the day has come, after months of waiting. Valter is coming to give a speech at school today about the power of new media. Your mom turns and asks why you look extra done up today. “I am not extra done up, I’m the same as always.” Embarrassed, you look out the window and stay silent for the rest of the trip. You hope your classmates won’t notice the extra work you put into your morning routine as quickly as your mom did.

First term drags on. You try to focus on your school work hoping that will help the time move quicker, but you glance up at the clock every forty seconds. 8:30, 8:34, 8:35, 8:37, 8:37 and a half. You try counting seconds, even attempt to make conversation with the people sitting around you.

Finally, second term comes. It’s study hall so at least you can spend your time silent in thought instead of pretending to working on assignments. You listen to the girls talking behind you.

“I’m so excited to see Valter after his speech, my mom is friends with his aunt so we’re going to say hi and get lunch afterwards”

You turn to see who the voice is: Eleanor. Eleanor watches YouTube? The girl you’d grown up with for years, then abandoned you for cooler friends in middle school? Eleanor watches YouTube? You turn your attention forward and think I guess YouTube isn’t underground anymore.

“That’s SO exciting, Eleanor. Valter’s so cute; you too would be a perfect couple”

Haley too? You try to brush it off. This sounds like something Eleanor would lie about for attention, how could her mom possibly know Valter’s aunt? 

The bell rings and you jump. Nervously you collect your books, time to head to the assembly.

“Why are you all done up today?” You turn and realize Eleanor is talking to you. “Not expecting to catch Valter’s attention are you?”

“As if.” Haley adds, “Like Valter would ever be interested in someone as plain as you.”

“It’s cute that you’re trying though.”

They laugh and walk out ahead of you. You burn with embarrassment, of course someone would notice. You chastise yourself. You wear the same t-shirt and jeans every day to school and for the first time you’re in a dress and makeup. Did you really think people wouldn’t see how hard you’re trying?

You catch your reflection on the way to the assembly hall. Stupid, stupid. But your heart races with excitement anyway. You can’t help it, and you can’t help but hope you might catch his attention. Maybe get to have a real conversation. You blush just knowing how much you secretly want to talk.

The assembly fills up and you choose a spot in the middle left. Don’t want to sit too close and be packed in with the fan girls, or too far away and risk not being able to properly hear him. Two rows up and to the right you catch Eleanor applying her millionth layer of lip gloss. 

Someone walks out and your heart jumps, but it’s just Scott, the class president there to introduce Valter. He talks a bit about what an honor it is to have Valter here, rattles off about some school announcements. You look over again and spot Eleanor fixing her hair, when all the fan girls up front start screaming.

What? What did I miss?

“Alright everyone! Calm down. Valter’s going to be doing a meet and greet after his speech so just hang around during lunch if you’d like to say hello.”

You can’t believe it, you are going to meet Valter. You ring your hands and hope the person sitting next to you can’t feel the excitement coming off of you. You secretly hate that you’re letting yourself get this excited; you’re no different than the mindless fan girls after all.

And suddenly, Valter’s walking out on stage. You see his smile, his hair, his face, you take it all in. Wondering now if choosing to sit so far back was a smart idea. He starts his speech, and there’s something so different about him. So charming and honest, and modest about him. He’s so funny and the assembly laughs at all the right spots, and you can’t help but laugh too.

Then it’s all over and everyone’s applauding. Valter waves to the audience and you secretly hope he’ll look at you.

“Valter!” Eleanor shouts with a wave.

He turns to look at her, a moment of recognition, and waves back. Eleanor turns to Haley “Told you so.” and your heart sinks. She wasn’t lying, she actually knows him.

Everyone’s getting up now to go meet him. Valter’s in the crowd now, surrounded by people. You stand in the back, ringing your hands again, and suddenly you’re self conscious about your makeup and your dress. Why didn’t i just wear what I always wear? Why am I trying so hard to look like one of them anyway? Why do I even care?

You turn away from it all. Desperately hoping no one can sense how stupid you feel. Valter’s interested in the Eleanor-type, just like everyone else. Why am I even surprised?  You leave the assembly hall and hold back how upset you really feel. Stupid. So stupid.

It’s after school now and you head to the bathroom to whipe off your make up. You pull your hair back up into its usual ponytail. Nothing to be done about the dress, but what does it matter anyway. You leave to go catch your bus and realize you must have taken longer than you thought, bus is gone, and almost everyone’s left the campus. You sigh and sit down on the sidewalk; you regret the dress once again as the autumn chill sets in. You shiver and lean against your backpack. Reflecting on today’s expectations and realities. Suddenly, you sense you’re not alone. Again the embarrassment and vulnerability in thinking they may have caught what you were thinking.

“Your ride late too?”

“I don’t have a ride, I take the bus” You retort.

The stranger sits down next to you. “Me too,” he says. “I just wanted to sound cool.”

You look over at him, and have a moment of shock. Valter. Valter is sitting next to you right now.

“Ummm… hi.” You meekly say. Please don’t let him notice how nervous I am.

“I’m Valter by the way.”

“Yeah, I know who you are; you gave a speech at the assembly today.” You play it off, you know him from the assembly and not YouTube. 

“Something like that.”

You sit for a moment in silence.

“Here, take my hoodie. I can see you shivering” He hands you his black and white striped hoodie, your hands touch for a moment. He looks at you now, he’s so close to you, you can see his eyelashes. You want to say something, tell him how much of an influence his work has had on your life. He lifts his hand and softly brushes your bangs out of your face. He moves closer and you can feel his breath.

“Who are you?” He says.

“Just me.”

He puts his other hand on your face, whispers something to your ear but you can´t understands it. Valter leaves you alone as his ride arrives. You stand there as it stats to rain.

You never saw him again

My first story

And so it begins …

I was behind the counter of the coffee shop that I worked at, taking orders. It wasn’t a fast day, or a slow one. It was at the right speed. When nobody was in line I stared blankly into space. But as I was staring I noticed a familiar figure just outside of the shop. He was texting, he was tall, skinny, and had that mop of hair that I recognized. As I stared to confirm that I knew this person he turned around and I saw his face oh my goodness Valter is standing right outside of the coffee shop where I work in. Being the partly confident and shy person I am I ran out the door pointing at him yelling, “I found you!” my heart racing. He looked up from his phone and smiled. Out of his pocket he took out a familiar “i found charlie” button. I took it and asked “are you coming in?” as I was opening the door and gesturing him to come inside first. He chuckled and said “thanks, gentleman” jokingly. I was melting inside. He was so cute. I yelled at my friend as I was passing by the counter, saying “I’m on my break!” as I took off my apron, revealing my Cloning Charlie shirt. My friend gave me thumbs up, saying okay. I had already had fresh cups of tea ready so I took one for Valter. He looked at my shirt and I immediately looked down, almost forgetting what shirt I was wearing Valter smiled. “Thanks for buying my shirt.” he said.

So we started having small talk, like how I was saying what a fan of him I was. He got to know me a little better. “So you work here, and yet you have never seen me before.” Valter said. My eyes widened. “What?” came out of my mouth? “Yeah, I come here twice a week.” Valter said. I melted inside. How come I never found him here? What days did he go on? Ten minutes passed and Valter got a text. “Oh, sorry I got to go. Nice chat.” He said. “Wait a second.” I told him, taking a napkin from a table near us and the pen that rested on my ear. I quickly wrote my number and email address. “Just in case if you want to keep in touch.” I said. He nodded and we shook hands. Oh my God his hand held mine for two seconds. As he went out of the coffee shop it was the end of my shift, so I got my bag and rode my bike back home, being a bit shaky that I just saw my crush. I think I embarrassed myself in front of him, and that’s what worried me as I rode home.

I spent that day sitting in my room, reading. At about eleven Leah walked in holding her phone out. “Its you mom.” She said handing it to me. I took it and held it close to my ear.

            “Hello?” I said quietly. “Yeah… David… Uh huh… Yes… Valter… Yeah, he was one of those guys that freaked out when we were fighting… He’s nice… Really? Oh, dad’s idea huh… Well, how about we come in a couple weeks. Okay. Bye.” I hung up and handed the phone to the Leah. I waved my hand at her, as if saying I didn’t want to talk. She walked out of my room and closed the door. I sunk into my bed and closed my eyes.

            “OH!” Leah said as she burst back in. “One more day.” She said happily, I flicked her off and she closed the door, I could hear her laughing as she walked into her room. I looked at the clock and saw that it said twelve. One more day…  I groaned quietly and turned off the lights, falling asleep instantly.

I woke up at seven, and when I did I just lay there and stared up at the ceiling. I rolled out of bed at eight and walked out of my room, Leah was still in her room. I made myself some eggs and sat down at the table, eating them slowly. At nine I walked back into my room and started reading. I heard Leah walk out of her room, and then the front door opening and closing. I sighed, realizing I was going to be alone most of the day.

At about two my phone started buzzing on my desk, I grabbed it and read the caller ID. I didn’t recognize the number but answered it anyways. “Hello?” I said caustiously.

“Hello Jo!” a happy Portuguese male voice said on the other side.

“Uhm hello?”

“Oh, how rude of me. I’m kiko . Valter gave me your number.”

“Oh. Well, hello kiko.” I said smiling.

“So you must be wondering why I’m calling. Right?” I swear I heard a smile in his voice, I grinned.

“How did you knoowwww.” I said sarcastically, I heard him laugh a little.

“Oh I’m just a genius. But anyways. So, the reason I’m calling it. I was wondering if you wanted to go do something with me today.”

“Sure.” I said happily, smiling more.

“Great! Meet me at the park in ten minutes.”

“Which park?”

“The one closest to your flat.”

“Oh, okay. Wait. Did you say ten minutes?”

“Yes.”

“B-“

“See you in a littleeee.” He hung up and I frowned. I quickly got up and pulled on black skinny jeans, black knee high boots, a white tank top and my blue knit hat. I fumbled to shove everything into my bag as I run out of my apartment. I bump into someone on the way out and yelled, “Sorry!” over my shoulder. I rushed to the park and saw a bright blue head from afar. I ran towards it.

“One minute late.” kiko said smiling

“God dangit.” I laughed, he smiled and we walked over to a bench. He sat down and patted the space by him, I sat down. “Sooo, why exactly did you want to hang out with me today?”

“Oh no reason. Just wanted to get to know the girl Valter is crazy about”, he said smiling, I looked away and blushed. kiko laughed a little and tapped my shoulder, I turned to look at him.

“Yes?” he pointed behind us and I saw Valter, sitting in a bench, reading. “What a coincidence.” kiko smiled and shrugged.

Well this isn’t quite the end … more developments still to come ^^

Biodata

Valter Martins do Vale was a famous biotecnologist who graduated from the superior Escola Agraria De Coimbra in 2018. Along the years, he gained various skills and knowledge which resulted in a specialization on programing and advanced bioengineering. With new tools in his disposal, ideas and concepts start to flow in his mind. He started his career in a research lab, were later was invited to work in a private company in America. Later, he achieved merit and recognition on robotics and nanotecnologie.

In a side project Valter was the first to create the first real “smart-car” and to found a field were many students and interested people could work and gain worth in the scientific world, working on the first “self-ware” computer based on bionanochips, technology that was far ahead to his time.

Still to young to receive a Nobel Prize, his modest ways prevent him from doing so. But still, many ways are there so that anyone with access to the internet or a library could see the path that he created, so that other ones could progress and develop far and beyond.
So far, much is still under developing but we own far gratitude to him, showing that one man can truly make a difference.  

Once Upon a time … Nothing happened

It was a day like any other. In fact it was so extremely like any other that it became weird. Afterwards, everyone agreed it had been the most unlikely day in the history of mankind.

It was the day nothing extraordinary happened. The ongoing wars didn’t have any significant battles. It was a day without terrorist attacks or murders. No floods or earthquakes occurred. Nobody famous died or gave birth or even announced a pregnancy. There were no royal weddings. No Hollywood romances or breaks-ups. A day without demonstrations strikes or riots. It was a boring day for Wall street and consorts. NASA didn’t launch anything, no scientific breakthroughs were made and no new gadgets were released.

No popstars were caught on camera showing their genitalia in public, no famous band released a new album and no long awaited movie had its theatrical release.

No spokesman of any religion said something stupid to upset the rest. Nobody claimed to have seen a UFO.

It was a day without news.

People didn’t notice at first, because all the news in newspapers had happened the day before. It became clear when the new day was a few hours old. No websites found anything new to publish. There was only news to gather. After the buzz about yesterday’s news had passed. Twitter became awkwardly silent. Only insignificant personal stories were shared by users of social media.

Press Agencies awaited incoming copy from journalist around the world, but they really had nothing to report about.

And then it started… people were wondering what was happening. Was it a glitch in the Matrix? Was God on a break? Was it the silence before the storm? The Apocalypse?

Some even tried to have their 15 minutes of fame, but none succeeded, because for some reason their actions were only discovered a day later. Nobody was interested in these attention seekers anyway because… well… this was the day nothing happened!

When the evening news came on, it was the most watched show in the history of television, although it had only one item. Why did nothing happen today?

When the first time zone was reaching midnight, people sat together holding hands in fear of what might come. But nothing happened, as it had been the habit all day. The day just gave birth to books, movies and cults.

“The day without news” became the most talked about event in history.

For some though, something DID happen that day. Because in a day without news. They started noticing what was going on in their lives.