Eric Shackle Writes: Still Blogging At 96
Spain's oldest blogger, Maria Amelia, has just celebrated her 96th birthday, as Eric Shackle reveals.
Do please visit Eric's world-famouse e-book for further reading pleasure www.bdb.co.za/shackle/
Spain's oldest blogger, María Amelia, seemed pensive when she began making a brief video of her 96th birthday celebrations on December 23. Then she tried to blow out two candles on her decorated cake. Only one light went out with her first and second puffs. She blew harder. The remaining flame flickered, but stayed alight. Several more puffs, but the candle stubbornly refused to be extinguished.
Maria Amelia's face lit up like the candle. "Dios me dió 1 año más!" ("God has given me one more year!) she exclaimed, waving her arms excitedly. You can share her spontaneous joy even if you can't understand Spanish by viewing her latest video http://amis95.blogspot.com/
Emilio Pérez Touriño, president of Spain's autonomous community of Galicia, sent a congratulatory birthday message to Amelia. The online automated translater must have been overcome with emotion, because when asked for an English translation, it offered this gobbledegook:
Dear Amelia, Sei horseradish tree that or last 23 day as much vostede, comma or seu blog celebrated or seu anniversary and quixera felicitarlle by both ace dúas you couse and transmitirlle to miña sincere noraboa by that fantastic ventaniña á súa life that opens all you cybernauts to us. Aproveitando for desexarlle unhas Happy Festas, receives warm saúdo.
Amelia's 96th birthday marked the completion of her first year's blog, which was the previous year's gift from her grandson Daniel, who helpfully types the posts that she dictates to him.
When I interviewed her a year ago, http://english.ohmynews.com/ArticleView/article_view.asp?menu=A11100&no=341010&rel_no=1&back_url= she said her name was María Amelia. Last month she revealed for the first time that her full name is María Amelia López Soliño Abente Barros. (The automated translater says it's María Amelia López Soliño Abente Mud, because the Spanish word barros means mud in English).
One year ago, we hailed Amelia as the world's oldest blogger, but since then she has been dethroned by Australia's 108-year-old Olive Riley. http://www.allaboutolive.com.au/
Both these remarkable oldtimers have thousands of supporters reading every word they dictate, but sadly all Amelia's memories are recorded only in Spanish and Olive's only in English. Perhaps someone fluent in both languages will offer to translate their posts for the benefit of us monolinguists.
