The PSC of Lleida, with Junts, has decreed a ban on the burqa on the city's streets, which is this kind of mummification of adult women. In the photo illustrating the news from ARA we see one of these women, all in black, from top to bottom, like a chrysalis, with a boy and a girl, whose eyes are pixelated to preserve their identity. You cannot help but think that a normal life awaits the boy. For the girl, soon, the entire and eternal pixelation awaits, which will not preserve her identity, but will silence and hide her. We read that they will be fined if they wear them in the street, which in practice will mean they go out less or not at all, of course. ERC, the PSC itself, and the PP are in favor of the ban in the Congress of Deputies, but against the fine and in favor of having them participate in social activities.

Ferran Vital, in our newspaper, offered us an automotive-linguistic news item. The Nissan brand, from Japan, has christened its new electric car as the Nissan Pixo. He himself, in the news, reminded us of all the car names that, in the languages available to us, are either scatological or sexual unintentionally. He mentioned the "Nissan Moco, Mazda Laputa, Opel Cascada, Opel Manta, Ford Corrida or Hyundai Kona". I confess that the latter, the Kona, I do not understand. And I add to the list, of course, the legendary Mitsubishi Pajero, which because of the word was renamed, in Spanish-speaking areas, as Montero. If we look at it from the perspective of Catalan, we must also include the Kia Picantó.

Let me start the story at the end, which is where great stories begin. Later, if you have the patience, readers, we will go to the flash-back. It so happens that at the Congress of Deputies, three restrooms and a dining room had to be sealed off “after someone emptied a spray with a toxic substance in them”. Three floors of the building were evacuated, including the kitchen area. Cooks, waitresses, and a member of the Mauritanian delegation, who happened to be passing by, were intoxicated and had to receive medical assistance.

Donald Trump, who is a gentleman of those who do not want to take medication, and has sudden attacks of impatience, anger and nerves, has banned certain press from the White House, after several media outlets did not behave well. As an act of protest, the main television networks that have not been banned have stopped covering his acts. Now this big gentleman, with the name and posture of a duck, who talks nonsense, is left without bootlickers and, therefore, has set up a YouTube channel where he will satisfy himself.

We read in ARA that the former mayor of Barcelona Ada Colau “has reappeared this Monday as a housing activist at the eviction of a vulnerable neighbor in Barcelona”. It seems the Mossos took her away. Reappear: the verb is used for movie stars.

The pundits, the journalists, some waiters explain it to me, because I have a wonderful magnet for confidences and what young people call a gossip session, the scoop on the Andic case. This case that has a giant popular jury open 24 hours a day. It is all of us and it is all of us who cry out: "Do not ask me for my opinion on whether he is guilty or innocent, ask me what I wish him to be". It is as if we all, all of us wished —because now crimes are all just a joke— that Jonathan Andic killed his father.

I am watching a video by a professional organizer. With new technologies, helping to tidy and organize is a profession. And I have no doubt that it is necessary. Whoever does not have a tidy kitchen cannot cook well. The desk where you study is your brain (and no, saying “Then, if it were empty, would my brain be empty?” doesn't count). I know that having a place for everything is necessary for peace of mind.

I read in ARA a news item that “calls out to me”. Tibidabo will be “the stage for the biggest event ever conceived entirely for the active senior generation”. Wait, this must be meant for me and those of my generation. Are we active seniors? You bet! We want to party! It’s promoted by a platform called Club65, which makes me think I’ll be one of the youngest at the gathering. This club says it will “fill the summit of Barcelona with talent, music, humor, and well-being”, and that makes me smile. Since we are seniors, there will be talent, yes; music, yes; humor, too, and well-being. This means there won't be many big beers, since we're of a certain age. The party will have a “marathon schedule”, they promise me, and I, upon reading it, am already sharpening my claws. I will close the after, I will see the sun rise. But then I keep reading and my joy turns to sorrow (that’s an expression we seniors say a lot, like the juniors, who say bro). The marathon schedule runs from “11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.”. In other words, at half past nine, yogurt and to bed.

The President of the Generalitat must launch, set in motion, whatever you want to call it, a round of talks to also launch, set in motion, whatever you want to call it, a national pact for education. As part of the pact—and the issue is not minor—classrooms will be air-conditioned within a period of five years. This will give us a new distraction, which will consist of worrying about climate change, complaining about colds due to temperature changes, killing students who do not close the doors, et cetera.

Oh, holy Virgin of the Push. L'ARA breaks a story saying that Catalan prisons are at the limit. Meaning we have more prisoners than cells in the prisons, well. In the Figueres one “there are inmates sleeping in the infirmary instead of the usual modules because they don't fit there” and, in Lledoners, there are some who “were serving isolation sanctions in the intake module, where they normally only place those who have just arrived at the prison”. The Department of Justice publishes that prisons are at 95%. On August 31st there were 9,597 prisoners and the total capacity of the system is 10,016.

Today, September 12th, after the Diada, is the time to continue existing. To continue existing means to continue being. To be, which is different from just being present, requires a lot of work. And the main work is to have the consciousness that the work that is needed is to do a great job so that the work does not feel like work.

I do not know if we are different people, or the same ones in a different skin, than those from almost a decade ago, in this corner of the world. I know that our children, who were small then, have embraced other causes, kinder ones, than being among the losers, the unpleasant ones, those who do not stop poking and complaining, like woodworms. The house cats, well-fed and pampered, are very nice. The stray ones, those who have nothing and beg all day, or steal, exasperate us. We are the stray ones.

The campaign –or perhaps action– by Barça with all that youth (I love, already, using the expression “youth”) with wonderful, punkish and even highly elaborate hairstyles, encouraging, with complete normality and naturalness, the use of Catalan (I also love the expression “to use”) makes me feel, by proxy, the power of the human spring. Bernal, Cubarsí, Kika, Fermín (and his father), Clara, and Marta speak to you about this fact, which we should take for granted, of speaking the language in which they said dirty things to conceive us and, later, give birth to us. To this is added another young woman, Aitana, who explained that at home “they are Spanish speakers” but that “thanks to going to school in Barcelona” she learned "perfectly Catalan". The singer lives in Madrid and it turns out she is a fan of Crims.

In classrooms, today, there are different challenges, or puzzles. These different challenges and puzzles need different solutions and ways of solving them.

For some reason I don't know, Google Play considers that it must send me an app. In the promotional photo, there is a bearded and bald guy, one of those who shave the part that hasn't fallen out yet. He is young, and his smile shows us very white, very, very white teeth. He is wearing a purple t-shirt, and a discreet but visible necklace hangs from his neck. In the background, an office can be seen (photocopiers and blurred plants). The headline says: "Unlock your genius without writing anything". And immediately after, the informative text: “Whether you are going to work or taking a shower, your best ideas are captured all the same. These voice tools help you avoid the friction of the first draft and manage your life without using your hands”.

Isabelita or Isabelín was a girl sure of herself, one of those girls who in restaurants order dishes with confidence, with the worldly wisdom of the rich girls who have been out to restaurants many times. She was an only child –one of the only children of those days–, spoiled, pampered. The one who wore the best clothes, the one who had carpeting in her room (it seemed so luxurious...), the one who wouldn't invite you over to her house if you didn't pass some shameful tests.

I write sitting on a pallet, between open barrels, some already full. I see her, all energy, a burst of vitality, climbed up the ladder, helping with her hands—her arms red with must—to make the grapes slide down. I see him, thoughtful, eating a grape of picapoll and smiling without realizing it, because it is delicious. We bring in “my” grapes, the ones we harvested, the toy ones, and immediately from those purple, compact, very healthy Mandó grapes, a juice springs forth that is a miracle. Up on the tractor, the very white teeth of the lanky young man, who is laughing, enjoying the pleasure of driving a machine, stand out in the darkness of the cellar. “He’s a machine!”, I hear someone say.

There has been a crime in Manresa, which leaves two children without a father and a whole town devastated. Carles Vilajosana, the victim, was a much-loved neighbour in Castellnou de Bages and throughout the region, as he had worked at the Mas de Sant Iscle winery, and everyone knew him. In these circumstances, the Minister of the Interior, Núria Parlon, wanted to emphasize that "the two minors detained for the crime were born in Catalonia", after politicians and youtubers had insinuated or stated that the arrested were immigrant minors.

Pedro Sánchez announced in the morning that the king would go to Ceuta (but did not say when) and in the afternoon he met with Felipe VI. And the next day, the Spanish government also announced that its relations with the royal house are "good".

We read in ARA that “Catalonia was warned seven times to correct the error in the PISA tests”. Apparently, the National Institute for Educational Evaluation (INEE) informed “Catalonia” that it “had made errors in the sample of students in the tests”. As everyone knows, “23% of the students in the sample were discarded, when the OECD marks that the maximum number of exempted students cannot exceed 5%”. The minister Esther Niubó finds “deficiencies in the communication of criteria to the centers, and has announced the replacement of the Secretary General of Education”.