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Spoken Spanish: Essays, Viajar de forma diferente (Paulo Coelho)

Richard Cummings

paulo-coelho-spoken-essaysThis page contains a reading in Spanish from Paulo Coelho’s book:  Como El Rio Que Fluye: Pensamientos Y Reflexiones 1998-2005.  This reading will not only provide you with the tools to learn and pronounce new vocabulary in Spanish, it will also expose you to the timeless ideas of Paulo Coelho.

Below, you will find an .mp3 version of the reading which you can play on your computer right now or download to your computer for playing locally or transferring to your phone or tablet.  The text has also been provided so that you can follow along during the reading.

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Looking Up

Richard Cummings

look upI walked through the city the other day on streets I have walked thousands of times.  I have never stepped in a pothole or unintentionally bumped into anybody.  But, I realized, I had seen so little because I had failed to look up.

Look up.

It’s something that you infrequently do; nobody does.

We all have to look straight ahead.  This is a given.  Imagine if you did not look straight ahead when you were performing life’s most basic tasks…like driving.  TV, something all of us do all the time, would certainly be less enjoyable if we did not look straight ahead-it would be like radio!

Remember the days when radio ruled?  You probably do not because you were not alive.  Those people who would remember the radio days are not reading this because they are not currently on the Internet…they are listening to the radio.

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Soursop (aka Guanábana): An Exotic, Healthy Cancer Killing Fruit?

Richard Cummings

soursop-guanabana-cancer-cureSoursop, known in South America as Guanábana, is an exotic fruit with many health benefits, including the ability to fight cancer. So why haven’t you heard of it?

For those that have read my site in the past, you know that I have lived in Uruguay and currently spend half of the year living in Medellin, Colombia, which is where I am right now. And, coincidentally, where is A LOT of this wonderful fruit called Guanábana here in Spanish and Soursop in English.

My First Exposure to Soursop/Guanábana

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Top Ten Fraudulent Self-Help Gurus: #1, M. Scott Peck

Richard Cummings

m-scott-peck-fraudM. Scott Peck leads my list of the top fraudulet self-help gurus.  This may come as a surprise to many of his devotees but let’s at least discuss the possibility.

I never liked him because the first line of his famous book, The Road Less Traveled, says Life is Difficult. 

My mom and her friends all read this book.  My mom used to constantly remind me that yes, Richard, Life Is Difficult.  This got me depressed.  And my mom’s friends too. Hence, the future success of Prozac Nation.

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What To Do When You’re Procrastinating?

Richard Cummings

what-to-do-when-your-procrastinatingIf you’re wondering what you should do when you’re procrastinating, I might just have a quick answer for you.

You see, as I write this, it is the day after St. Patrick’s day.  Being part Irish, you might be able to guess why I would like to procrastinate right now after last nights’ activities.

How about you? What’s your reason for procrastinating?

I have many more things that I should be doing…marketing my SEO software, writing an article on one of many topics that I’ve jotted down, or preparing for the impending visit from a “friend” who is upset with me because she says that I was “flirty” last night.

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Hillary’s Hypocrisy

Richard Cummings

hillary-clinton-hypocriticalDid Hillary Clinton fail in her Presidential bids because people found her hypocritical? I wrote this piece back in 2008 when she was running against Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination.

We all know what happened in 2008 … and then again in 2016, when we witnessed the instructive election of Donald Trump.

Some people find Hillary dislikable, others disingenuous, and still others hypocritical.

These were my thoughts back in 2008. Let me know what you think.


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mild-ocd-essay

My Condition

Richard Cummings

mild-ocd-essayThe word for it  currently escapes me.  (I think that it will come to me within two paragraphs).  But I am semi-it.

I haven’t even had two sips of coffee yet and I don’t know that the brain is turned on.  Although, when I was in bed, debating whether to arise, thoughts were rapid-fire but in a mellow feel good fashion, not frenetic.  That may be the perfect state.  In bed, all comfy, enjoying ideas a-flowing.  Perhaps I should go back.

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Who Invented The Ipod

Richard Cummings

who-invented-the-ipodIn this article, we will take a look at who invented the iPod and the origins of this device that has became a must-have for just about everyone in the 2000’s.

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How Many People Are In The World?

Richard Cummings

population-of-the-worldA lot of our visitors wonder how many people are in the world.

In fact, I recently received this question from one our frequent visitors:

Question: I am wondering how many people that there are in the world? I keep seeing statistics like “There are 1.5 billion Catholics in the world” or “If Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest country”. But these stats mean nothing if I don’t know how many total people are in the world! Val — Tampa, Fl

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Copying DVDs: Where To Begin

Richard Cummings

copying-dvdsI started this post, Copying DVDs: Where to Begin, after having written several posts about copying DVDs to your hard drive and copying DVDs to DVDs and other formats.

The fact is that some of you want to know the details–like what is an .ISO file–but most of you simply want answers.  How do I copy DVDs from one format to another?

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Gisele Bundchen Weight

How Much Does Gisele Bundchen Weigh

Richard Cummings

Gisele Bundchen WeightI am fortunate to answer the question, “how much does Gisele Bundchen weigh?” because this gives me a chance to show you a bunch of pictures of Gisele Bundchen.

Really, how great of a job is that? It’s early Sunday morning and I am going to be spending time with you talking about, and looking at, Gisele Bundchen.

If you think I am fortunate, consider Tom Brady. He is waking up on this Sunday morning right next to Gisele Bundchen. Imagine that! Waking up next to Gisele Bundchen…

Hmmm. Tom Brady has got to be one of the luckiest guys on the planet.

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Should I Be a Doctor?

Richard Cummings

become-a-doctorWhen thinking of various career paths, many high school and college students ponder medicine. In doing so, they wonder: “Should I become a Doctor?”

There’s a lot baked into that question and, through consultation with those in the medical profession, I’ve done a critical analysis to determine whether the medical profession — a career as a Doctor — is right for you.

This was a recent email that I received: “Richard, I’ve always the sciences and, obviously, doctors tend to make a lot of money so this is why I am wondering if I should become a doctor.  It seems like a good career path for me.  What do you think? Thanks, Frank, Toldeo, Ohio


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