6th writing - Letter to a close friend about your/somebody else’s current or former priorities in life

Dear Mary,
I hope that you have enjoyed your Christmas holidays. Is still Paris so wonderful in winter? Your brother and I travelled through Morocco during a week and were truly captivated by the landscapes, the kind hospitability of people and, above all, the splendorous nights at the desert. We have to talk about that in our next family meeting, ok?

You will be surprised that I write a letter instead of making a call as I usually do, but I prefer doing that on this occasion, so there is no possibility that your brother can hear what I need to explain to you. He is now stuck in a rut at work, his company has failed in the latest decisions about which the best option against its competitors could be, and the situation will be worse in a few months.

As you know better than I, John has a doubtful mind, although he has an excellent training in his speciality. But, prior to that, you need to know the latest news. A great change can be done in our life little before the next year will arrive. The most important agent of art design in Edinburgh has sent an interesting proposal for John as a middle manager, and he must decide soon about this offer. John is admirable as a designer, though he will always regret not finishing his PhD when he was younger. I have thought that he can obtain a PhD without any problem before the next year arrives, he is fully able to do it and I told him so.

What I am trying to say is that I need you to help me to convince him, because he doubts whether accepting this offer could be a good option, partially because he is worried about the situation of his company and I suppose that he has sit any confidence in his possibilities of achieving the PhD in a year either. On the other hand, if we are capable of convincing him that could be a good medicine. In this way he will have an important goal and his temper will surely change. Lately he has become the less talkative man that I have ever known, he is always going around the problems in the company, deadlines, meetings and does not remember how to have a little fun in his daily life.

Do you believe that I have become wholly mad or do you share my point of view? Can we have a coffee next Saturday at your home, and go on planning the best strategies to persuade our loved John to improve his future? Send me an email to make an appointment, if you agree with my purpose.

Kisses,
Carmen

5th writing - Television as such is bound to disappear

All of us have grown up in traditional television times, although this fact is varying exceptionally fast in the last generation. I still remember the first time I had the chance to watch a TV programme in a black and white device.

We were, as children, used to playing outdoors, but the prospect created by this strange and new thing gathered the entire troupe in front of a little black screen, waiting expectantly to see what would happen. Suddenly we saw a man, partially naked, talking to a monkey, jumping and screaming among the trees of the jungle. We were nearly six-years old and neither of us was really impressed by a stuff we could not play with, so we slowly returned to play in the open air.

However, the current value of television is totally different. It is recognized as an effective channel for communication, entertainment and information and has captivated the attention of billions of viewers around the world.

TV producers are intelligently adapting their offer according to the demand. The speed of changes has been increasing in the last fifteen years by the inrush of the net in this market. At this moment the offer is so huge that we are unlikely to be forced to watch a programme by a lack of choice.

Nonetheless, I doubt the oncoming future will be better for television companies, because if each person is now able to choose what they want to see and when they want to see their favourite programme, there's no reason for the existence of television as we have known it up until now, is a bad business and investors will turn their interest towards more fruitful results in the network.

Despite being a 47-year-old woman I will continue playing outdoors. And you, what are you going to do?