Superbe cadeau permanent


My youngest daughter, Roo, is 26 years old today. So it’s a good day to translate a poem about a superb gift and the passage of time.

“Impromptu” is by Jules Aïm, the blind poet who, with his wife Sabine, runs the bed & breakfast where we stayed in Paris this weekend. Jules’s poems employ strong rhyming couplets, but in this first attempt at poetry translation I am going to forego the travail of finding English rhymes as musical as his in order to stay as close as I can to what I take as the meaning of the poem. The collection which he gave me draws from annual volumes which Jules prepared for friends and family. He asked his readers to select their favorites, and those are the ones he included in the collection, titled Au Fil du Temps, Poèmes 1993-2003. In English the title might be To the Thread of Time.

I’ve been working on the translation here in our apartment in Cannes this morning, accompanied by a terrific CD I bought at the Musée Picasso yesterday. It’s a compilation of music which Picasso loved, “la palette sonore de Picasso,” the liner notes say, or “Picasso’s musical palette.” I enjoy the thought that he might have listened to this music as he worked, on a phonograph, or at least had these melodies moving through his mind as he did the work of creating a world in his art which had never existed before.

IMPROMPTU
de Jules Aïm (montré avec la permission de l’auteur)

J’en pleure et j’en ris,
La vieilesse m’a supris
Au tournant d’une decade.
Les années comme une cascade,
Ont chute dans le temps,
Me laissant chancelant.
L’étonnement et l’émoi,
Lassent un trouble en moi.
Mais! il es bon de vieillir,
Avoir des bons souvenirs
Et regarder l’avenir,
Porteur de nouveaux plaisirs.
Oublions le temps qui passé,
Dur exercise qui nous lasse.
Faisons face au lendemain,
Continuité du destin.
Sourions au temps present,
Superbe cadeau permanent.

Tome IX – 19 août 2002

IMPROMPTU

I cry, I laugh as old
age sneaks up on me
at the turn of a decade.
Years, like a waterfall,
tumbling down through time,
have left me unsteady.
Astonishment, turmoil
leave me troubled.

And yet! It is good to grow old,
to savor dear memories,
to gaze into the future,
bringer of new pleasures.

Let us forget the time passed,
its hard work which wearied us.
Let us look into tomorrow
for our continuing destiny.
Let us smile now at the present,
that superb and permanent gift.

VOLUME IX – August 19, 2002

Note: For anyone looking for a great B&B in Paris, we recommend chez Jules and Sabine highly. Our high-ceilinged room was very private, separate from the house in the same building as Sabine’s studio. The double bed was comfortable. The bathroom was tiny but had a great little tub with hand-held shower. Their e-mail address is Jules.Aim@wanadoo.fr and the phone number is 33.(0)1.42.08.23.71 .

Monday, June 13, 2005


Comments:
Hi, came across this article that I think works well with your blog.


adhd diet
adhd diet

Children with ADHD

There is a perplexing state of affairs in today's society, there lies a strong correlation between the affluence of a society and the amount of disease that is present. There is also another correlation that troubles many a people and that is with affluence comes disease at an Earlier age.

Working with children and the parents of these children I often get asked the question, 'Why are Children with ADHD on the increase?'

The answer as you shall find is one that is both interesting and challenging.

Children of today are really no more different from the children of yesterday in terms of genetic makeup. However, if you examine the issue more closely you will tend to find that many children today have been given labels. For example, 'Oh, those are children with ADHD' or 'Those are the children who can't sit still.' Or 'That is the kid that always gets into trouble.'

These labels are not only destructive but also become a self fulfilling prophecy as it is repeated adnauseum.

So as a 21st century parent or a parent with a child with ADHD or a parent with children with ADHD, what knowledge framework do you need to equip yourself with to ensure your children live out their true potential?

Here is a quick reference list for thinking about ADHD
? ADHD is a source of great frustration because it is misunderstood
? ADHD medications are a great short term time buying device and should be avoided long term
? The above point goes for any sort of drug consumption. Think about it for a minute. Unless you have a biochemical deficiency in your body like Type 1 diabetes where your body fails to produce enough insulin or any at all, why would you take an external drug? A body that is in balance is totally healthy. It is only when the body is out of balance that dis-ease symptoms start to creep up.
? ADHD is a biochemical imbalance of the mind and body.
? The Head of Psychiatry in Harvard states that drugs for ADHD simply mask the effects of ADHD. It does not cure ADHD. This is an important point because a cure implies never to have to take the medication. This means that once you start on medication you will have to be on it for the rest of your life i.e. you have medically acquired a dependency for a biochemical imbalance. That is like stuffing all your rubbish (problematic behaviors) into a closet (medication) where no one can see it. But if you continue to stuff more rubbish into that closet, one day you will not have enough space and need to do one of two things. You either empty the rubbish (the natural conclusion) or you get a bigger closet (i.e. change to stronger medication to control the symptoms). The choice is obvious but sometimes when you don't have the necessary tools to deal with ADHD you tend to think the bigger closet is the only option.
? ADHD children are super sensitive to the emotions around them. Often they pick up emotional cues from their parents without realizing. Many parents come home frustrated or annoyed from work, the child with ADHD picks this up and starts to 'cause trouble' by becoming restless. Parents frustration increase because they just want some peace and quiet. They get angry which in turn is picked up by the child who then intensifies their activity. Things get way out of hand and some sort of punishment is handed down to the child who has no idea what just happened. The cycle repeats itself every so often.
? Our brains are wired emotionally. Positive praise is interpreted as an analytical/thinking exercise. Negative criticism including scolding, name calling, physical punishment all go directly to the emotional brain of children with ADHD. This means in order to ensure you get your message across in the most optimal way, you need to learn how to communicate with your ADHD children the way they like to be communicated with.
? Every negative comment requires 16 positive comments to neutralize the emotion. Save yourself the frustration and agitation by practicing positive communication.

The list is by no means complete. In dealing with children with ADHD there are a certain set of behavioural principles to follow. I will detail these steps in the coming weeks. I'll also build on the list as you continue to learn about what appears to be a mystical disorder known as 'Children with ADHD'
 
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