18.08.26 - Pensando na morte da bezerra

Hallooo,

Hope all well - and congrats again on your Ruby Anniversary!

Over here we are getting into the parenting groove, at least until Amelie completely switches up her daily routine again, and have been out and about a bit more, which is a relief. 

On Saturday we walked down the median strip of our local thoroughfare, and the next day we went to Zila's house to bury her umbilical cord stump in a rosebush, which is apparently an old Lembo family tradition. 

Elsewhere I've made a new compilation, and I got a lot of new Brazilian phrases from my Instagram followers, including "pensando na morte da bezerra" ("thinking about the death of the death of the calf"), which is what you call someone who is distracted, head in the clouds etc. 

And on that note - speak soon!

Fredit card

11.08.26 - Pagar pra ver

Halloooo,

Hope all well and you're having a blast in that there London. 

Sunday was my first Brazilian Father's Day as an actual father, so we celebrated with a massive lasagne at Gaby's parents. And the day before, we went to the wedding of an influencer friend of mine which was very sweet and also the first time we'd been out and about without Amelie, who had her jabs on Friday and was under the weather.

In other news, I've made a new compilation, and my phrase of the day translates literally as "pay to see", and means "to take a risk in order to find [something] out", more or less. 

And that's about it for now - speak soon!

Fred Level Midnight

04.08.26 - Bater na mesma tecla

Halloooo,

Hope all well, and may I add, Happy Birthday Matisse! Looks like you're all having a blast in sunny (?) England.

Over here we've been getting into the groove a bit more, and have been venturing into the outside world a bit more, including walks along the nearby cycle path, and to the market earlier today. On Friday Amelie gets her jabs, at which point we can start entertaining people at home and abroad. 

No compilation this week, and my phrase of the day means "to keep hitting the same key", or to belabour the point / beat a dead horse. Send news from the UK, and speak soon!

Lots of love,

The Word Becomes Fredsh

28.07.26 - Dois palitos

Halloooo,

Hope all well. Another week of very little sleep and loosening grasp on the concept of time itself... but I do remember we went out at the weekend, for the first time since Amelie arrived, to Gabi's cousin's son's birthday party at an Iron Man-themed diner. Sonic the Hedgehog was there too, or maybe I hallucinated him. 

All well otherwise, I've made another compilation, and my phrase of the day - "dois palitos", or "two toothpicks" - means "in a jiffy", or "in no time at all". So there's that. 

Bon voyage and enjoy the UK! Speak soon,

Frod-botherer

21.07.26 - Rei morto, rei posto

Halloooo,

Hope all well. We're in the midst of Peak Colic Season, shepherding Amelie through a series of complicated bowel movements as the flat slowly falls apart around us. But light, it seems, is at the end of the tunnel - yesterday we had a mostly shriek-free day! And it's all worth it for the periods where she's at peace.

Otherwise work is going full steam ahead, and we are nearly at the point where Amelie can get her jabs and we can start venturing out of the house more. I've made another compilation, and my phrase of the day translates as "dead king, instated king" - meaning "the king is dead, long live the king", basically, or more generally, "out with the old, in with the new".

And that's about it for now - speak soon!

Minor Fred

14.07.26 - Força na peruca

Halloooo,

Hope all well. We had a pretty rough weekend with Amelie wracked by a seemingly never-ending bout of tummy aches, so we spent so much time driving round the block that our neighbours must think we're burglars casing the joint. 

Eventually we decamped to the in-laws on Sunday, so they could take over for a bit while we caught up on sleep. Luckily it all seems to have sorted itself out before business hours on Monday. 

In other news, I've made a compilation, and my phrase of the day is "força na peruca", a "keep your chin up"-type saying which literally means "force in the wig"! 

And that's about it for now - speak soon!

The Fred on the Door

07.07.26 - Puxar a capivara

Hallooo,

Hope all well. In the past week I've gone back to work, which has been OK so far, and so has Gabi, as she couldn't face another month in our living room. The in-laws are looking after Amelie in the afternoons, and so far it's been working out pretty well!

I also had an unpleasant run-in on the way back from fixing Amelie's birth certificate in town - a car pulled out and clipped mine, I referred the driver to my insurance guy, but it seems he would rather I pay him in cash for his new wing mirror, because he turned up the next day outside our old flat harassing the doormen. We have since pulled up his entire life story online ("puxar a capivara", as it's inexplicably known here), lawyered up, and hopefully he'll give up now. 

And that's about it for now - speak soon!

Fred by Donkeys

30.06.26 - O que não mata, engorda

Halloooo,

Hope all well. Here, the days and nights blur into one, with lots of nappies and crying and World Cup games on in the background. Tomorrow I go back to work, god knows what that'll be like since we're firing on all cylinders and going without much sleep as it is. But it's all worth it for the gift of a child's laughter (or just the absence of a child's crying).

In other news, I've made another compilation, got some free pens in the mail, and my phrase of the day is "what doesn't kill you, makes you fatter", which is a local favourite and a humorous spin on the well-known phrase. 

And that's about it for now - wish us luck, and speak soon!

Powerade Fred-ration Break

PS: @Vicky Mander we got your book and card in the post, thanks very much! Amelie is a big fan of the floppy ears.

23.06.26 - Dor de cotovelo

Halloooo,

Hope all well. We are slowly but surely getting the hang of this whole being parents thing, and have got our dead-of-night routine down to a fine art, so we can all get some intermittent sleep. 

We've been trying to get out and about where we can, including a trip to the grandparents, and the occasional bout of tummy-aches and screaming aside, it's been smooth sailing so far, with the World Cup group stages making for perfect background content. The next challenge will be going back to work next week, but one step at a time and all that.

No compilation this week, but my phrase of the week translates to "elbow pain", and is a metaphor for "romantic disillusionment" or "sour grapes", apparently. Make of that what you will. 

Speak soon!

Monday, you can hold your Fred / Tuesday, Wednesday, stay in bed / Or Thursday, watch the walls instead / It's Friday, I'm in love

18.06.26 - Cair na malha fina

Halloooo,

Hope all well. 

We're slowly getting the hang of being parents, keeping Amelie not only alive but fed and warm, watching lots of World Cup football in the background. Plus we've been incorporating a number of sidequests into our daily routine - going for check-ups, hitting up the local market, strolling around outside in the sun, to name but a few. 

Notably I was also summoned by UOL, the news outlet I've been doing videos for lately, to act as a talking head on their in-house football chat show after the England game yesterday, where I believe I acquitted myself reasonably well despite massive sleep deprivation and only the barest grasp on the facts. So hopefully more of that sort of thing to come!

I've made another compilation (haven't had time to listen, mind you!), and my phrase of the day is "to fall into the fine mesh", or get selected for a tax audit. 

And that's about it - speak soon!

Fredside manner

10.06.26 - Já combinou com os russos?

Hallooo,

A day late with this email, since we only got back from the hospital yesterday afternoon, plus a brand new baby. Gabi and the C-section crew worked wonders to deliver Amelie on Sunday morning, and we spent the next few days recovering in an extremely swish and well-attended room, occasionally going on sidequests to weigh the baby, register the baby with the government, find coffee etc. 

We thought we'd got the hang of this parenting thing and were feeling extremely cocky until we got home last night and Amelie's digestive system kicked in, resulting in a sore tummy and a screaming fit so loud and prolonged that we had to hide out in the car until it passed, to spare the neighbours. So we're a bit more clear-eyed about that now. But otherwise no issues to report, she seems very happy and healthy and beautiful. 

And since this week marks the start of the World Cup, my phrase of the day comes from an apocryphal tale involving the Brazilian squad in a past tournament. The coach was telling them in training about a specific set-piece routine to bypass the Russian defence at a corner kick, to which one of the defenders replied "OK coach... but have you got the Russians to sign off on this?" ("já combinou com os russos?")

And that's it for now, speak soon!

Fred Nerves

02.06.26 - Em dia de chuva não se conserta o telhado

Halloooo,

Hope all well. 

We are both off work as of this weekend, trying to relax and enjoy our last week before Amelie arrives. It's cold and Gabi can't really be moved around much, but we're trying to stay active and get out as often as we can - trips to the cinema, nearby Korean restaurants, what have you. 

In other news, I've made another compilation - probably the last one for a while - and my phrase of the day means "don't fix your roof when it's raining", or "plan ahead, dummy", basically. 

That's about it - speak soon!

I am Frod, the Ultimate Resonance

26.05.26 - Sol e chuva, casamento de viúva

Halloooo,

Hope all well. We are in the final stretch before Amelie pops out and we're confined to quarters, so we've been preemptively going out as much as possible, including anniversary dinners, trips across town to dump more miscellania in Zila's garage, book launches in Vila Madalena, and a Peruvian-themed wine tasting event with an influencer mate of ours. 

In other news, I made a new compilation, and my phrase of the day was inspired by the schizophrenic weather we've been having lately: "Sol e chuva, casamento de viúva", or "sun and rain, widow's wedding", which draws parallels between two seemingly paradoxical things happening at the same time (plus it rhymes in Portuguese).

And that's about it - speak soon!

Fredshrinker

19.05.26 - Dar um colher de chá

Halloooo,

Hope all well. We are settling in here and had an honest-to-god day off on Sunday, with nothing to do except assemble some flat-pack bedside tables and flop around in front of the TV. 

We also went to Gibran and Gabriela's for Maya's 1-year birthday party, and had a tour of the nearby maternity ward on Saturday night, plus an office party at Sherlock during the week, to celebrate a bunch of nice new awards. 

In other news, I made another compilation, and my phrase of the week means "to give a teaspoon of tea", or to grudgingly give someone credit. 

And that's about it for now - speak soon!

He Said She Fred

 

12.05.26 - Em boca fechada não entra mosca

Halloooo,

Hope all well. We're still settling into our new (first!) flat, and jetted off to Indaiatuba for a Mother's Day shindig and to exchange baby clothes etc. We also had Zila and Edson over for lunch, and went to a pediatrician yesterday who seems quite well-versed in how babies work, which is encouraging. 

In other news, I've made another compilation, and my phrase of the week is "Em boca fechada não entra mosca", or "a closed mouth catches no flies". Or "when in doubt, shut the hell up". And I posted my second UOL video where I cosplay as Carlo Ancelotti - see it here!

That's about it, speak soon!

Fred Rain

05.05.26 - Quem vê close, não vê corre

Halloooo,

Hope all well. We are officially moved in, after a marathon 5-day effort. Against all odds we managed to fit all our stuff into a slightly smaller flat, with room to spare for a baby, and now we plan to spend the rest of the month doing as little as possible until the due date. 

In the midst of all that, I turned 39 - we went out for STEAK, and Gabi promptly fainted, leading to a late-night stay in A&R on a drip, unfortunately. She's alright now though!

I've also made another compilation, and my phrase of the day means "he who sees the close-up doesn't see the legwork that went into it" - a reflection on today's Instagram-ready society, no doubt. 

And that's about it - speak soon!

Frod Put a Smile Upon Your Face

28.04.26 - Por isso Deus não dá asas para cobras

Hallooooo,

We are in the last stages of orchestrating our move, which involves coordinating dozens of tradesmen, some of whom show up and some don't. I am writing to you from the bowels of our new flat, on a table which I'm sharing with a DIY sawing kit resting on an inflatable sofa, half a lamp and some drying shelves.

On Saturday we gave ourselves a few hours off and emerged blinking into the light for Amelie's baby shower at a nearby rooftop restaurant, which was jolly good fun. And tomorrow the removal fan comes to take all our stuff away, although crucially it won't give them back until Thursday, so I'm in for a pretty austere birthday evening!

I've made another compilation, and my phrase of the day translates to "that's why God doesn't give wings to snakes". Google says there's a similar phrase in English - "if the adder could hear, and the blind worm could see, neither man nor beast would ever go free." But basically it means that evil people shouldn't be given the resources they need to enact their nefarious schemes.

Alright, back to the drilling. Speak soon!

I Shall Be Fred

21.04.26 - Morte morrida ou morte matada

Halloooo,

Hope all well. Last week we made another trip to Indaiatuba and on to Holambra for a pregnant-Gabi photoshoot in a field full of flowers (pics to follow!). Then spent all weekend sawing endless pieces of wood, hanging wallpaper and generally putting the finishing touches on the flat ahead of our move. 

I've also made another compilation, and my phrase of the day is what you ask when you're trying to determine whether someone died of natural causes or foul play - "died death or killed death?". Sorry it's so morbid this time around...

Ciao for now,

Drop Fred

14.04.26 - Deixar tudo em pratos limpos

Halloooo,

Hope all well! Work is pretty manic and we're also in the final stretch before moving, coordinating tradesmen, moving furniture around and generally painting walls and screwing things into sockets. We went to Indaiatuba midweek but had to cancel a photoshoot in Holambra due to bad weather, so hopefully that'll happen this week instead. 

Elsewhere, I made another compilation, and my phrase of the day - literally, "to leave everything on clean plates" - is a Brazilian version of "cross the T's and dot the I's".

And that's about it for now - speak soon!

Fred Money

07.04.26 - Sebo nas canelas

Halloooo,

Hope all well! We had a nice long Easter weekend, semi-competently assembling flatpack furniture in the apartment, in between a trip to Claudio's for a cod-based BBQ, and to Zila's to drop off a bunch of rubble and tiles in her garage. Throughout it all Amelie's getting larger, and a lot of time is spent making her and Gabi comfortable in such close proximity to one another! 

I've also made another compilation, and my phrase of the day means "tallow on the shins", and is an old-timey way of saying "get a move on" - apparently people would grease their shins in the old days to give themselves a speed advantage (?)

And that's about it - speak soon!

Something Very Fred Is Going to Happen

31.03.26 - Affogare in un bichier d'acqua

Hallooooo,

Hope all well. We've been ferrying stuff to and from the flat all week, including a fun few hours on Saturday when I made 12 separate trips carrying sofas of varying sizes (I counted) as we gave Zila's living room a makeover, as well as our own. Today we do a deep clean, and then we can move in properly after Easter weekend!

I've also made another compilation, and my phrase of the week comes from Italy, where apparently "affogare in un bichier d'acqua" ("to drown in a glass of water") means to give up in the face of the most minor difficulty. 

And that's about it for this week - speak soon!

Play Fred

24.03.26 - O mundo não gira, ele capota

Halloooo,

Hope all well. We've been sorting various stuff out this week as we prepare to move - installing cabinets, bribing movers, getting very involved in the stripping and varnishing of old furniture, etc. We also made a mean shredded beef risotto on Sunday. 

In other news, I've made a new compilation, and my phrase of the day translates as "the world doesn't turn, it flips over", and is the regional equivalent to "what goes around, comes around", applied whenever someone is faced with the consequences of their actions. 

And that's about it - speak soon!

Fred Fred Wine 

17.03.26 - Se eu gostasse de mimimi, eu comprava um gato gago

Halloooo,

Hope all well! We've been plugging away at work and misc. flat stuff, including heading en masse to Zila's on Saturday to DIY-restore an old chest of drawers of hers, which will eventually end up in Amelie's room. We'll be going back this weekend to finish the job! 

Then we went to the park on Sunday, checked out a nearby Korean place (inspired by Culinary Class Wars!) and watched the Oscars, which unfortunately was a wash for Brazil this time. And we're currently in Indaiatuba, which is where all the ultrasound guys are these days. 

In other new I've made another compilation, and my phrase of the week only really works in Portuguese, but here goes: "if I enjoyed the sound of complaining, I'd buy a stuttering cat" (crucial context: "mimimi" is an onomatopoeia for people complaining, and also sounds a bit like a stuttering cat, I guess?)

And that's about it - speak soon!

Freddy Supreme

10.03.26 - Pego de calça curta

Halloooo,

Hope all well. We are back from a lovely long weekend in Rio - my first time there, and Zila's first time back in 70 years (!).

After a scenic taxi into Santos Dumont airport we went to our fancy Airbnb in Barra da Tijuca, then set out the next day into the centre of town, covering plenty of ground including Leblon, Copacabana fortress and the cable cars up to Pão de Açucar, where we were briefly stranded in a lightning storm. 

On Sunday we hit the beach, before taking in Parque Lage and the nearby lake, and heading back on Monday as the rain set in. A full write-up will be coming to Substack in due time, but suffice to say we had a great time and are a bit sad to be back to work in grey, flat São Paulo.

In other news, I've made another compilation, and my phrase of the day means "caught with short trousers" (roughly equivalent to "caught with one's trousers down"). And that's about it - speak soon!

Cristo Fred-entor

03.03.26 - Nem que a vaca tussa

Halloooo,

Hope all well. 

Work continues apace in the bright new post-Carnaval dawn, and we even got the figurative "band" (the pre-pandemic Wednesday night football crew) back together - we didn't play any football but we did go to the Gaucho bar to discuss playing football at some point. 

We also went to Indaiatuba over the weekend to brainstorm our next furniture-restoring venture, and I went to the cinema on Sunday night to finally see "The Secret Agent", which is well worth its Oscar hype. 

In other news I made another compilation, and my phrase of the day is "not even if the cow coughs", which means "it ain't gonna happen", basically. And that's all... I think it's been a pretty slow news week otherwise, right?

Speak soon!

Fredbird

24.02.26 - Nojo de farra

Hallooooo,

Hope all well. Carnaval is officially over, and the Brazilian New Year has unofficially begun, much to everyone's chagrin. 

We're just trying to get our old furniture restored, and if you want to do something properly (and cheaply) you've got to do it yourself, so we went to Zila's on Sunday to have lunch and scope out her garage as a potential workshop space. 

I've made a new playlist - haven't had time to listen to it yet! - and my phrase of the day is "nojo de farra", literally "disgust at merriment"... a common feeling among hungover Brazilians on a post-Carnaval comedown. 

And that's about it for now - speak soon!

Harder, Fredder, Faster, Stronger

17.02.26 - Pinto no lixo

Halloooo,

Hope all well. Carnaval is in full swing here, but I've been struck down by the flu and have been resting up at home, although we did have a nice trip to Indaiatuba and a nearby farm, for plenty of cheese and milk.

I have, however, made another mixtape. And my phrase of the day translates to "a chick [baby chicken] in trash", which is the local equivalent to "as happy as a pig in sh*t". May it serve you well. 

Ciao for now,

The Grateful Fred