It’s been almost four years since the last time I sat at my computer and decided to upgrade my online portfolio’s image, content and design. Since then this has been far from a static website, going through several and constant updates. At least, this was true for the first couple of years. This website’s information has always been up to date, and some of its content was, in fact, altered and upgraded, however, the same could not be said about its design, its logo, and its overall look.

Sure, I’ve made a few changes a few months ago, replacing my old logo and the section markers with vector versions more adequate for this medium, but most of these changes went unnoticed. The truth is, it was time for a fresh new look, a new logo, new design, and new updated content.

New information was added to ‘Publications’ and ‘Video’. The pages ‘Multimedia’, ‘Media Relations’, ‘Journalism’ and ‘RTP’ are now gone, with some of its content being merged with some of the new sections, as the rest of it was dropped for being too old, less appealing, or for having too many dead links.

Home has a new and a more clean design, with a brief bio and direct links to my main portfolio pages, and my CV information has been moved to its own page. ‘Design’ and ‘Photography’ are two new pages with a wide selection of my most recent work on both of these fields.

Of all the dropped content, I’m still trying to figure out a way to include my multimedia interactive project, ‘Shall We Meet?’. In the meantime, my Master’s thesis is still available for browsing in the ‘Publications’ section, so not all references to it have been lost.
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I find that this new design meets my current needs for an online showcase and archive of my most recent work in the several fields in which I excel as a multimedia content manager.

Hello and welcome to my new online portfolio. 

To be honest, not really. But with over two thousand views on facebook, and a little over five hundred views on Youtube, On the Right Track is soaring ever higher. If you haven’t seen it yet, which is highly doubtful (no, seriously, I hate to be one to brag, but it’s really good), I’ve just uploaded it to the Video section of this portfolio.

On the Right Track has been featured on two online news sites, Ovar News and Urbi. It has also been mentioned on Vontade de Viajar’s twitter feed, with quite a few retweets and mentions to its name. Vontade de Viajar, or Will to Travel, is a Brazilian blog about, you guessed it, travelling. On occasion, I’ve written a few guest posts for Vontade de Viajar, and I’m working on one right now about a less known side of Amsterdam. Be sure to check it out!

Our first anniversary, well, kind of

It’s been one year since this online portfolio has been online. Well, actually this domain has been around for over four years, however, for most of that time it was a dead url with little, to no updates. Last year, I decided it was time to build a professional looking online portfolio. With a new design, a more organized feel to it, and brand new sections, this portfolio has become my main source of employment over the last year.

It’s been a great tool to promote my work, doubling as an archive for past publications, and personal news clipping.

Too Much Information…

…is the title of my latest article on Her Ideal. This time, I’ve decided to put the matters of the heart a side for a little bit and focus on the overwhelming stream of personal and pointless information that drowns us on facebook. How many times have you found yourself thinking: Is he really posting that on facebook? Don’t they realize anyone can see this? Do they have no self-respect? Since finding new friends can be a hassle, why not share my article with them? Maybe they’ll learn a thing or two about privacy settings and about self-control of what they publish online.

I will be visiting London over the next few days. Hopefully I’ll find some time to promote my portfolio. Who knows? It’s always a great asset to have around if you ever need it.

August is the month many of us choose to spend relaxing on a sandy beach, travelling around the World, partying every night, or simply staying as far away from work as possible. For me, my soon to be annually two-week vacation, turned out to be everything but relaxing.

Sure, I did spend a few days visiting some friends in Lisbon, after a week off to catch up on some much needed sleep, however, an interesting new project swept me away from my days of R&R. Long story short, a friend of mine was interested in shooting a short film about Ovar, my home town, and some of the villages around it. I just couldn’t say no.

300 Km, 18 locations, and five days of shooting. If you count the two days of pre-production and location scouting, this was the fastest production stage I’ve ever had. Luckily, everything turned out ok. I’ve finished the final touches on the post-production of this short film yesterday, and it’s now ready to be shown to the public.

Called “On the Right Track”, this short film tells the story of a young traveler who visits some of the most historical landmarks of the city of Ovar. It will be presented on an event that will be held at the Aqua Hotel in Ovar (Portugal), this Saturday, August 31st at 6 p.m., local time. Soon after, it will be available online for everyone who isn’t going to be able to attend this ceremony.

It was my first time working with a Nikon D800. It surprised me how a full frame camera, more suited for photography, was able to record such amazing high-quality video. I guess Canon has to be on the lookout for it’s main competitors technological advancements.

Since it was a small production with limited resources, I ended up doing pretty much everything. Still, my main responsibilities were Director of Photography, Camera Operator, Director, Editor and Video Post-production.

This isn’t the best article in the World, this is just a tribute

“Come sit with me, Maria, by the river” is the title of my article, published in this month’s edition of Her Ideal. This August I tell the story of Maria, a young adventurous architect, who sets out into the World, ready to sacrifice everything to accomplish her dream. You can read it right here in the latest edition of Her Ideal.

At that moment, my triumph was not a state championship, but simple clarity. The realization that we had always been meant for each other and every instinct to the contrary had simply been a denial of the following truth. I was now, and would always be, in love with Peyton Sawyer.

One Tree Hill is one of my favorite teen drama series. A refreshing storyline, made up of profound and complex characters, with some of the best writing I’ve seen on a television series in the last decade. Well, at least for the first four seasons, the others just seemed a bit presumptuous and unnecessary, especially after the sixth season. But I digress. As a teenager I always dreamed of becoming a writer. I thought about it every night. I hoped to write the great Portuguese novel. A great romance inspired by beauty, freedom, truth, and above all things, love.

As soon as I heard about this new thing called “blogging”, I decided to try it out for myself. I created a blog and named it Blue Dove. It was a symbol of freedom and inspiration. One day, I too will fly high, and my work will be acknowledged. I started Blue Dove in December 2004. It had a short run of a little more than a year. The platform where I was publishing, although popular, was a bit outdated. I decided to switch to Blogger, and remained a faithful publisher, with my current blog No Sense of Reason, which I started back in 2006 and, to this day, is still regularly updated.

Blue Dove had a fine run. Even though I stopped updating it, I often found myself reading some of its posts. Strolling down memory lane, looking for some sort of inspiration hidden in between the hopes and dreams of my teenage self. Most of the time, I just ended up reminiscing about old flames, letting myself be flooded with emotions. A flood that could only be stopped by shedding a couple of tears.  

I often wondered back to that moment when Lucas declared his love for Peyton. The endgame. That moment that every fan anxiously waited for since day one. I only wished I could have such a resolve. I only wished I could truly find love. Truly be in love. And thus, find my story, my greatest inspiration to write.

Earlier this year, I found out that, without my knowledge, Blue Dove had been put offline. Never to rise again. Luckily, I kept a record of every post I’ve ever published in that blog. For months I struggled with a way to bring them back. At last, the solution was obvious, I need to bring back Blue Dove. Not the old one, but a new, revised and improved version.

A little over a month ago, A Flock of Blue Doves was born. My new blog, that is actually nothing more than an old archive of short stories, opinion articles, thoughts, and poems that I’ve written over the years.

A Flock of Blue Doves couldn’t be just another copy of Blue Dove. It was a fresh start, a new platform where some of my best private work of the last few years would have a second chance to let itself known to the world.

Every day, from Sunday to Thursday I post a new, revised version, of every post ever published in Blue Dove. When I’m finished, I’ll continue to use this new blog to republish all of the short stories, articles and poems published in my other blogs, 25 de Julho, Story Writer and Antologia do Eu. After that, all these three blogs will be closed, and only accessible by invite. A Flock of Blue Doves will be the latest platform to promote my work in storytelling and poetry. No Sense of Reason will continue to be updated like it always has. Its older posts will too be revised and republished, but they won’t leave No Sense of Reason’s atmosphere, at least not for the time being.

In the near future, instead of five, I’ll only be managing three blogs, No Sense of Reason, A Flock of Blue Doves and Mercúrio do Porto. I’ve recently updated their design with new logos, taglines, and I’ve also installed a couple of new widgets, such as a recent post slider and a Like Button for my facebook page.

Sweet Tempation

I know that June is almost at an end, and that we’re closer to a new edition of Her Ideal, however, I couldn’t sign off without promoting the latest opinion article that I published in this magazine. “Sweet Temptation” is a journey through Portugal’s most exquisite examples of desert cuisine. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Until next time, be sure to read the latest edition of Her Ideal, and don’t forget to check out A Flock of Blue Doves for a little journey to the past, with the delightful company of my teenage self.  

“Whether it is impossible or laughable, great men open up paths of battle!”

After a long walk through the desert I finally found my promised land on the steep landscape of Serra da Estrela’s Mountain range. Unlikely as it may seem I’ve managed to find work in one of the inner districts of Portugal. Ovar will forever be my home but for the next six months Covilhã is where I’m living.

I could say I came for the view, the great food or the picturesque charm of a small college town caught between the mountains and plains of eastern Portugal. I could, and believe me, these things actually helped sway my decision, however, I owe this recent life event to a successful job interview at LabCom (Laboratory for Online Communication) where I’m currently working. I’m part of a project called Communicating science and publication cultures in the humanities. Long title, isn’t it?

I’ve been here for over a week and, for now, there isn’t much more to add about this project other than what’s already been published on its website.

Her Ideal, Your Ideal, My Ideal

Some of my facebook followers may already know, but I’ve recently started writing for a fashion magazine called Her Ideal. My first opinion article “First Impressions” was published on page 57 of this month’s edition. You can check it out right here or read it straight from the source on the magazine’s website.

I’ll be writing similar articles forHer Ideal in the near future, so don’t forget to have a look at each month’s new edition.

New job, new personal project, and a bit of a writer’s block. I’m guessing this April will not go easy on me.

This update is at least a couple of weeks behind schedule. As some of you may or may not know, Reação Espontânea and 1+1 have premiered on January 26th and are already releasing their third episode this Saturday at 11 a.m. on RTP 1.

Don’t miss Reação Espontânea’s and 1+1’s third episodes this Saturday, February 9th at 11 a.m. on RTP 1. This week Reação Espontânea will let you know how IPATIMUP’s researchers are contributing to improve breast cancer diagnosis. As for 1+1, Marta challenges Rui to solve a riddle: How to slice a cake in eight parts with only three cuts?

I’ve been a little busy over the last few weeks and have been unable to write this post. However, I did update the RTP section of my portfolio with links to Reação Espontânea’s and 1+1’s episodes.

Both shows are part of Magneto, a half-hour show that airs on Saturdays at 11 a.m. on RTP 1, Portugal’s public television. Magneto is divided into five parts under the labels Sustainability, Tolerance, Knowledge (1+1), Coolture and Science (Reação Espontânea). Roughly 10 minutes in, you can tune in to watch 1+1 under the label Knowledge. Reação Espontânea closes the show 20 minutes in, just after Mau Maria, under the label Science.

I’ll be posting detailed updates with in-depth info on all the episodes that have aired so far. For those of you who haven’t seen them yet, you can find the links on the RTP section of my online portfolio, or just by clicking on one of these links: Magneto Episode 1; Magneto Episode 2.

Unfortunately, RTP doesn’t post links for the shows independently so the best I can do is link you to Magneto’s video podcast and remind you that 1+1 begins at about 10 minutes in, and Reação Espontânea at 20 minutes.

And now something completely different

Zut Alors! That’s right, I’ve decided to freshen-up on my French and I’ve just finished a three week intensive course in Front Desk French. Basically it’s a business level French course that focuses on vocabulary for people who are looking for work in customer service. Not necessarily my area of expertise, but it was a good way to get me talking in French, something that I haven’t done out loud in a while.

I finished the course top of my class with an A. Yay, for me. My classmates were great and I really feel that I’ve learned a lot over those three weeks. Will I get to put it into practice? Who knows, I might just pack my bags and fly off to Paris, Lyon or Marseille in the next couple of weeks. My future is now, like never before, utterly unpredictable.

Remember to check out this page for any further updates, until then, à bientôt!