12/9/09
TV SHOW -30 ROCK-
From the first moment I layed my eyes on this ty-show I was fascinated with it. The characters are very well placed, humor is never absent, I laugh as crazy in some scenes, really great show. Here's a little info about it:
Dealing with life in a studio at NBC's 30 Rockefeller Plaza (the title is a shortening of that), the show centers around Liz Lemon, played by Saturday Night Live's Tina Fey, who's the head writer of The Girlie Show. When her old boss dies and a new boss comes in (Alec Baldwin as Jack Donaghy), demanding the addition of a volatile former movie star (and re-branding the show TGS with Tracy Jordan in the process), Liz must figure out how to keep things running smoothly without losing her mind.
Jane Krakowski plays Liz's friend Jenna Maroney, the former headlining star who's all too aware her time to rely on her look is running out.
Tracy Morgan plays Tracy Jordan, and out-of-control comedy star whose movie career vanished.
Scott Adsit plays producer (and Liz's confidant) Pete Hornberger.
Judah Freidlander is writer Frank Rossitano, a slovenly man who's into porn and comic book.
Jack M
cBrayer plays NBC page Kenneth Parcell, a naive Georgia man who seems to always let NYC get the best of him.
NICE THOUGHTS TO BRIGHT UP YOUR DAY :)
"Every beauty which is seen here below by persons
of perception resemble more than anything else that celestial
source from which we all are come...."
-Michelangelo (1475-1564)
"Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be."
-Grandma Moses (1860-1961)
"To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,
Every cubic inch of space is a miracle."
-Walt Whitman (1819-1892)
"Freedom is the last, best hope of earth."
-Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
12/8/09
BOOKS YOU M U S T READ :)
CHRISTIAN OSTER -A CLEANING WOMAN-
A Cleaning Woman traces the complexities of desire through the sensitive, sensual observations of a man in the thrall of ecstasy. As a long-standing relationship ends, Jacques finds himself irresistibly drawn to the leaflets advertising the cleaning services of an anonymous woman identified only by her initials. Once he learns her name, and the details of her affairs, he enters into an erotic relationship that challenges the class taboos that stand between them.
MA
RIAN EYES -WATERMELON-At twenty-nine, fun-loving, good-natured Claire has everything she ever wanted: a husband she adores, a great apartment, a good job. Then, on the day she gives birth to her first baby, James visits her in the recovery room to inform her that he's leaving her. Claire is left with a beautiful newborn daughter, a broken heart, and a body that she can hardly bear to look at in the mirror. So, in the absence of any better offers, Claire decides to go home to her family in Dublin. To her gorgeous man-eating sister Helen, her soap-watching mother, her bewildered father. And there, sheltered by the love of an (albeit quirky) family, she gets better. A lot better. In fact, so much better that when James slithers back into her life, he's in for a bit of a surprise.
FAN
NIE FLAGG - DAISY FAY AND THE MIRACLE MAN-A journey to the South that only Southerners know, to a time when "Blue Velvet" was played at the Senior Prom, and into the life of Daisy Fay Harper. Daisy is a sassy, truth-telling heroine who just can't stay out of trouble. What's more, she tells us everything.
K
ATHY LETTE -NIP'N'TUCK-Lizzie, 39, has a successful career as a TV news anchorperson, a handsome husband and two small children. Her life seems pretty marvellous - until she realises she is about to hit the dreaded 4-0. Unlike her sister, Tish, looks never mattered that much to Lizzie, but then husband Hugo falls for the outstandingly bodacious Minxy Amore, Texan model and perfect Playboy material and she loses her job to a more attractive journalist. Then Minxy Amore and her husband, Sven, persuade Hugo to use his skills as a doctor in a new clinic that specialises in plastic surgery and body refits, perpetuating the myth that looks are the only thing that count. Is Lizzie the only one to disagree, and is the only way to get her husband back to go under the knife herself?
Set in remote 19th-century China, details the deeply affecting story of lifelong, intimate friends (laotong, or "old sames") Lily and Snow Flower, their imprisonment by rigid codes of conduct for women, and their betrayal by pride and love. The author's in-depth research into women's ceremonies and duties in China's rural interior brings fascinating revelations about arranged marriages, women's inferior status in both their natal and married homes, and the Confucian proverbs and myriad superstitions that informed daily life.
MAEVE BIN
CHY -THE LILAC BUS-The Journey -- Every Friday night young Ron Fitzgerald's lilac-colored minibus leaves Dublin for the Irish country town of Rathdoon with seven weekend commuters on board. All of them, from the joking bank porter, Mikey Burns, who plays the buffoon while his brother makes a fortune in the family business, to the rich doctor's daughter, Dee Burke, who is having a secret affair with a married man, have their reasons for making the journey.
The Destination, Rathdoon, is the kind of Irish Village where family histories are shared and scandals don't stay secret for long. And this weekend, when Tom's bus pulls in, the riders find the unexpected waiting for them... as each of their very private lives unfolds to reveal a sharp betrayal of the heart, a young man's crime, and chance for new dreams among the eight intriguing men and women on...
MAEVE BINCHY -CIRCLE OF FRIENDS-In Knockglen, Ireland in 1949, Benny Hogan celebrates her tenth birthday and befriends classmate Eve Malone. Benny is the only child of protective parents Annabel and Eddie, who own a menswear shop. Eve is an orphan being raised by nuns in a convent. Eve's mother's family, the Westwards, who are Protestants, objected to the marriage of Eve's mother Sarah Westward to Eve's father JackMalone , a poor Catholic. They disowned Sarah and refused to raise Eve after Sarah died in childbirth and Jack committed suicide. Because Eve's father was a handyman for the convent, the nun Mother Francis got custody of.....
LAU
RA ESQUIVEL- LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE-
The novel follows the story of a young girl named Tita who longs h er entire life for her lover, Pedro, but can never have him because of her domineering mother's traditional belief that the youngest daughter must not marry but take care of her mother until the day she dies. Tita is only able to express her passions and feelings through her cooking, which causes the people who taste it to experience what she feels.
EMILY GIFFIN -SOMETHING BORROWED-
Focuses on Rachel, a 30-year-old single lawyer living in New York City. Rachel has a best friend from way back, Darcy, who is getting married to a law school friend of Rachel's named Dex, with Rachel as her maid of honor. At the beginning of the book, Rachel and Dex spend the night together, and thus begins the tale of the unrequited love of Rachel and Dex.
JENNIFER WEINER -IN HER SHOES-She is twenty-eight years old, never held a job for more than three months, and likes to party on somebody else's dime. Maggie Feller has learning disabilities that make her feel inferior to her older sister Rose who breezed through law school and landed a job as junior part ner at a prestigious firm. Rose takes Maggie in when she runs out of money but kicks her out when she discovers her boyfriend in bed with her sister.
Maggie goes to Florida to meet the grandmother she has never known and she gradually makes a place for herself in her elderly relative's heart. Rose quits her job and becomes a dog walker, not caring to caring to learn the whereabouts of her sister. When she finds out that Maggie is in Florida with the grandmother she also never met, Rose flies down for an awkward family reunion. It is up to Maggie to find a way to heal past wounds and old injuries.
KARYN BOSNAK -SAVE KARYN!-Drowning in $20,000 of credit card debt, shopah olic Karyn Bosnak asked strangers for money online- and it worked! For Karyn Bosnak, after growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, living the 'good life' in New York City was a dream come true. A big-shot producer on a 'Judge Judy'-style talk show, Karyn had the six-figure income and developed a liking for the finer things in life, such as Prada blouses, oriental rugs and $400 sandals. Each time she would pull out her credit card, Karyn could justify any expense. Then she hit rock bottom and found herself jobless, and $20,000 in debt. So what does a cash-strapped girl do? Karyn started a website www.savekaryn.com on which she asked for donations to help her pay off her shopping debts. Karyn started to receive emails from all over the world, either confessing to their own debt-ridden lives, or criticising Karyn's. But after only four months of internet pan-handling (and around 2 million hits on her website), a change in lif estyle and selling more than a few of her precious possessions on eBay, her debt was gone!
Jordan Hale returns to Eden, the decaying cane farm he left after his parents died. He plans to restore the property to its former glory, and destroy his parent’s enemy, the powerful Max Courtland. He finds support in a bunch of courageous men and falls in love with the mysterious, independent Eve. The
truth about Eve is shocking and Max’s wife divulges a secret that puts all their lives in danger.
RAAJA ALSANEA -GIRLS OF RIYADH-In Sanaa's book, the familiar format of four girlfriends chatting about love, men, sex, marriage and divorce has been transplanted into a particularly exotic ground: Saudi Arabia. There, sexes are segregated not only in school, but also in the streets, in the banks and in the malls, and the harsh laws of the country make flirtation and romance almost impossible. And still, Rajaa Sanaa's revealing book deals with the most restricted taboos in the country - homosexuality, premarital sex and the discriminations of the divorcees and social casts.
GAP YEAR- MAKING THE MOST OF LIFE
To introduce this topic, it is worth mentioning that a so called gap year is becoming more and more popular among many students worldwide.
Striking findings show that at least 75% of students decide to take a pause during their education. It is of great importance to say that it is not a bad thing at all. On the contrary, it is a good thing for many reasons, although we must not neglect the fact that many students, after the gap year finishes, decide to quit of their education permanently.
However, for many students a gap year is an integral part of their education. They have this feeling that they should be involved into something more than just studying. Some of them choose volunteer work abroad, far away from their own country, just to experience a totally different environment, and to establish new social contacts with people from various ethnic and racial backgrounds.
Students want to share their insights with other people. Moreover, it may change their entire sense of well-being. They characterize a gap year as an important source of both pleasure and learning.
Speaking of volunteer work, some students decide to work with handicapped people. Sometimes what they learn from that experience is unexpected. A chance to work with people who may be difficult in countless ways is one way in which they also learn about themselves, their strenghts and weaknesses.
Consequently, that kind of an ongoing experience may be very important in shaping all their future social interactions. Yes, it is hard, but pure pleasure.due to the fact that they are not evaluated and they will get a chance to expand their experience.
Students usually choose this option in order to enrich their academic knowledge. This experience can occasionally even lead to what careers they decide to pursue after. It gives them a chance to open eyes to new possibilities for their own future they simply had not thought of before.
Some of the best interactions and the most powerful learning experience occur when students work together to achieve a common goal. In some cases, it leads to lasting friendships that students might have never made otherwise.
All in all some students who met a whole new diversity of friends throughout their gap year wherever they were, gained one of their most valuable experiences.
They learned how to adjust to a new surrounding. Before taking a gap year,they seemed to be caught in a downward spiral of boredom and lack of activities.
They turned a situation around and finally reached the tip of the iceberg.
Studying in Europe, The Bologna Process
Studying in Europe nowadays is becoming worth mocking, all thanks to the so called Bologna process. Students suffer due to the impossible rules that this system brings. One of the major problems, maybe even the largest, is losing the status as a student.
To be a student nowadays is very precious. Not only because everyone will say to you that these days are the best days of your life while you roll your eyes complaining how much work you have to do before deadlines catch you. But, indeed, even I, still a student, have to agree with that statement.
To be a student nowadays is very precious. Not only because everyone will say to you that these days are the best days of your life while you roll your eyes complaining how much work you have to do before deadlines catch you. But, indeed, even I, still a student, have to agree with that statement.
Let me tell you about college system in most of the European countries. It is called the Bologna process. This system was named after the Italian city of Bologna where it was first introduced to Ministers of Education from 29 European countries. But many academics and professors as well students criticise this process for many reasons. Students protested against this system because there are so many undefined rules which even professors don't understand.
However, let me explain briefly one of the main problems of that process. Let's say you are a sophomore,and you didn't pass two classes in your first year. You have to take those classes again,switching them with the two most similar classes in your second year. If you fulfilled your obligation concerning the attendance to those two classes in a first year,you don't have to go to them again. You just have to come on the examinations days. So, let's say you finally passed one of those two exams and you didn't the second one, you automatically lose your status as a student. It means that you can easily pack all your bags and other stuff and go home. Furthermore, it also means you can throw away all your efforts, nights filled with constant learning while you drink your fifth cup of coffee balancing it with class schedules. You can also throw away all money you spent on books and other supplies necessary to survive in college. If you aren't one of those lucky students with scholarships,even if you paid your two years it doesn't mean anything. Let's not mention how hard it was to get in a college in a first place, and how hard it was to pass an entry exam as well.
In conclusion, after all those sacrifices because of that abnormal rule they reject you like garbage. Even if you passed all your other exams with an excellent grade,and not just that one, according to that rule you are not a smart student but a dumb one. This is what this so called Bologna process is all about. What they really want to accomplish with this ridiculous rule is more young people who lost their confidence and faith in themselves as in a better future , after being rejected and left alone like some worthless garbage.
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