Appearances

· Who do you think is the most beautiful person alive today?
· Does beauty affect one's success in life?
· Is it better to be physically attractive or intelligent?
· Is it better to be physically attractive or wealthy?
· Is beauty related to power?
· Can you think of anyone who is in a position of power that is not physically attractive?
· Do people spend too much time and money on beauty?
· How much time should be spent on making yourself look better each day?
· Do you think people should have cosmetic surgery to enhance their looks?
· How popular is plastic surgery in your country?
· What is the most popular feature for cosmetic alteration?
· Do you think self-esteem affects beauty?
· Do you think beauty affects self-esteem?
· How important is beauty in your daily life?
· What makes one person more attractive than another?
· What personality trait is the most important for inner beauty?
· Have you ever noticed anyone ever feeling pressured to be more beautiful?
· What do you think of the proverb, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder?"
· Do you have any proverbs or idioms from your country that relate to beauty?
· What do you think "Beauty is skin deep" means?
· What are some beauty tips that you could share?
· Do you think people with many tattoos can be beautiful?
· How many tattoos are too many?
· Would you ever get a tattoo?
· Do you think people with many piercings can be beautiful?
· What kind of body piercing, if any, do you feel are acceptable?
· What kind of piercing, if any, do you feel are unacceptable?
· How do you define beauty, using your own words?
· Would you ever date someone who was not conventionally attractive?
· Do you think people from different countries than you see attractive the same way?
· Is there someone famous that is considered beautiful, that you think is not?
· Do you think one gender or group worries more about beauty than another?
· Would you want your children to be beautiful or talented?
· What are some of the negatives about being beautiful?
· What are some examples of social pressures to improve on natural beauty? For example, lipstick, haircutting, shaving, ...
· What do you think about plastic surgery?
· Would you ever have plastic surgery? If so, what would you change?

Alone in the Passage of Time

Superstition & Luck

· Do you think that there is truth behind superstitions?
· Is the belief in superstitions because belief in religion is dying?
· Do you think that some people can predict the future?
· How do people predict the future in Iran / foreign countries?
· Why do some people need fortunetellers?
· Do you believe in horoscopes?
· What is luck? Does it really exist?
· Do you believe in luck?
· What do we mean to be lucky or unlucky?
· Is there any logic behind the word "lucky"?
· Are there really any lucky / unlucky people?
· How do you decide who is lucky / unlucky?
· What are some superstitions in your country?
· What are some things that are considered lucky / unlucky?
· Do you think that some people can predict the future?
· How do people predict the future in your country?
· Why do some people need fortunetellers?
· Do you believe in horoscopes?

72 Superstitions

The Broken Mirror, The Black Cat

And Lots of Good Luck

Nikos was an ordinary man. Nothing particularly good ever happened to him, nothing particularly bad ever happened to him. He went through life accepting the mixture of good things and bad things that happen to everyone. He never looked for any explanation or reason about why things happened just the way they did.

One thing, however, that Nikos absolutely did not believe in was superstition. He had no time for superstition, no time at all. Nikos thought himself to be a very rational man, a man who did not believe that his good luck or bad luck was in any way changed by black cats, walking under ladders, spilling salt or opening umbrellas inside the house.

Nikos spent much of his time in the small taverna near where he lived. In the taverna he sat drinking coffee and talking to his friends. Sometimes his friends played dice or cards. Sometimes they played for money. Some of them made bets on horse races or football matches. But Nikos never did. He didn’t know much about sport, so he didn’t think he could predict the winners. And he absolutely didn’t believe in chance or luck or superstition, like a lot of his friends did.

One morning Nikos woke up and walked into the bathroom. He started to shave, as he did every morning, but as he was shaving he noticed that the mirror on the bathroom wall wasn’t quite straight. He tried to move it to one side, to make it straighter, but as soon as he touched it, the mirror fell off the wall and hit the floor with a huge crash. It broke into a thousand pieces. Nikos knew that some people thought this was unlucky. “Seven years bad luck” they said, when a mirror broke. But Nikos wasn’t superstitious. Nikos wasn’t superstitious at all. He didn’t care. He thought superstition was nonsense. He picked up the pieces of the mirror, put them in the bin, and finished shaving without a mirror.

After that he went into the kitchen to make himself a sandwich to take to work for his lunch. He cut two pieces of bread and put some cheese on them. Then he thought he needed some salt. When he picked up the salt jar, it fell from his hand and broke on the floor. Salt was everywhere. Some people, he knew, thought that this was also supposed to bring bad luck. But Nikos didn’t care. He didn’t believe in superstitions.

He left the house and went to work. On his way to work he saw a black cat running away from him. He didn’t care. He wasn’t superstitious. Some builders were working on a house on his street. There was a ladder across the pavement. Nikos thought about walking around the ladder, but he didn’t care, he wasn’t superstitious and didn’t believe in superstitions, so he walked right underneath the ladder.

Even though Nikos wasn’t superstitious, he thought that something bad was certain to happen to him today. He had broken a mirror, spilled some salt, walked under a ladder and seen a black cat running away from him. He told everybody at worked what had happened. “Something bad will happen to you today!” they all said. But nothing bad happened to him.

That evening, as usual, he went to the taverna. He told all his friends in the taverna that he had broken a mirror, spilled the salt, seen a black cat running away from him and then walked under a ladder. All his friends in the taverna moved away from him. “Something bad will happen to him”, they all said, “and we don’t want to be near him when it happens!”.

But nothing bad happened to Nikos all evening. He sat there, as normal, and everything was normal. Nikos was waiting for something bad to happen to him. But it didn’t.

“Nikos, come and play cards with us!” joked one of his friends. “I’m sure to win!” Nikos didn’t usually play cards, but tonight he decided to. His friend put a large amount of money on the table. His friend thought Nikos was going to lose. Nikos thought he was going to lose. But it didn’t happen like that.

Nikos won. Then he played another game, and he won that one too. Then somebody asked him to play a game of dice, and Nikos won that as well. He won quite a lot of money. “Go on then Nikos” his friends shouted, “Use all the money you have won to buy some lottery tickets!” Nikos spent all the money he had won on lottery tickets. The draw for the lottery was the next day.

The next day after work Nikos went to the tavern again. Everybody was watching the draw for the lottery on TV. The first number came out, for the third prize. It was Nikos’ number. Then the second number, for the second prize. It was another of Nikos’ tickets. Then the first prize. It was Nikos’ number as well. He won all three of the big lottery prizes.

It was incredible. It seemed that all the things that people thought caused bad luck actually brought him good luck.

The next day Nikos bought a book about superstitions from all over the world. When he had read the book he decided to do everything that would bring him bad luck. He left empty bottles on the table. He asked his wife to cut his hair for him. He accepted a box of knives as a gift. He slept with his feet pointing towards the door. He sat on the corners of tables. He put a candle in front of the mirror. He always left his hat on the bed. He always left his wallet on the bed. He bought things in numbers of six, or thirteen. He crossed people on the stairs. He got on a boat and whistled. And with everything he did, he got luckier and luckier. He won the lottery again. He won the games of dice in the taverna every evening. The things got crazier and crazier. He bought a black cat as a pet. He broke a few more mirrors, on purpose. He didn’t look people in the eye when they raised their glasses to him. He put loaves of bread upside down on the table. He spilled salt. He spilled olive oil. He spilled wine.

The more superstitious things he did, the luckier he became. He went in to the taverna and started to tell all his friends what he thought.

“You see!” he told them. “I was right all along! Superstition is nonsense! The more things I do to break ridiculous superstitions, the more lucky I am!”

“But Nikos” replied one of his friends, “Don’t you see that you are actually as superstitious as we are? You are so careful to break superstitions, and this brings you luck. But you are only lucky when you do these things. Your disbelief is actually a kind of belief!”

Nikos thought hard about what his friend said. He had to admit that it was true. He was so careful to break all the superstitions he could, that in some way he was actually observing those superstitions.

The next day, he stopped spilling salt, chasing away black cats, walking under ladders, putting up umbrellas in the house and breaking mirrors. He also stopped winning money on the lottery. He started to lose at games of cards or dice.

He was a normal man again. Sometimes he was lucky, sometimes he wasn’t. He didn’t not believe in superstitions any more, but he didn’t believe in them either.

“Nikos”, said his friend to him, “It was your belief in yourself that made you lucky. It was your self-confidence that helped you, not superstitions.”

Nikos listened to his friend and thought that he was right. But, however rational he still believed himself to be, he always wondered what would have happened if he hadn’t broken that mirror...

Days Like This

We all have days we'll never forget.
We want to hear about yours.

*

Days Like This is an exciting project run by Scottish Book Trust in partnership with BBC Radio Scotland. To take part, all you need to do is write about a day in your life that was a bit extraordinary.

Over 800 stories were sent by the deadline of 1 November - these stories are being reviewed by celebrity curators, with the best ones featuring in a series of broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland and in a book. However, you can still send a story - it will appear alongside the others on that website.

Check this out ...!

http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/days-like-this-story-index

Rebirth

Sculpture title "Rebirth" by Omar Galan

on Genova Street in the "Zona Rosa" in Mexico City

The Haunting

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The Haunting

Eleanor Lance is called to meet at Hill House for Dr. Marrow's sleeping disorder studies, along with three other people. The owners of the house tell them that no one will be around and that they won't be able to hear them. The first night they all sit around and talk. Eleanor tells them that her sleeping disorder is different because she can sleep it is just that she wakes up because she thinks her dead mom is still living with her. Well that isn't the case now because she is woken one night in the Hill House bedroom by talking childrens voices asking her for her help. At first scared by the voice, she learns to avoid them. Later, the group finds out that Dr. Marrow is not using them for sleeping disorders but a test in fear. The fear is first thought to be fake but eventually turns real when loud noises are heard and objects start to move. Now they must try an escape the house before they are all killed.

The Others

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The Others

Dear Students,

Before you read A Diagnosis of Death, I recommend that you do vocabulary exercises which practise some of the difficult words in the text. If you wish, you can read more about Ambrose Bierce at Wikipedia.

Click for a larger image

A Diagnosis of Death

Ambrose Bierce

'I am not so superstitious as some of your physicians - men of science, as you are pleased to be called,' said Hawver, replying to an accusation that had not been made. 'Some of you - only a few, I confess - believe in the immortality of the soul, and in apparitions which you have not the honesty to call ghosts. I go no further than a conviction that the living are sometimes seen where they are not, but have been - where they have lived so long, perhaps so intensely, as to have left their impress on everything about them. I know, indeed, that one's environment may be so affected by one's personality as to yield, long afterward, an image of one's self to the eyes of another. Doubtless the impressing personality has to be the right kind of personality as the perceiving eyes have to be the right kind of eyes - mine, for example.'

'Yes, the right kind of eyes, conveying sensations to the wrong kind of brains,' said Dr. Frayley, smiling.
'Thank you; one likes to have an expectation gratified; that is about the reply that I supposed you would have the civility to make.'
'Pardon me. But you say that you know. That is a good deal to say, don't you think? Perhaps you will not mind the trouble of saying how you learned.'
'You will call it an hallucination,' Hawver said, 'but that does not matter.' And he told the story.

'Last summer I went, as you know, to pass the hot weather term in the town of Meridian. The relative at whose house I had intended to stay was ill, so I sought other quarters. After some difficulty I succeeded in renting a vacant dwelling that had been occupied by an eccentric doctor of the name of Mannering, who had gone away years before, no one knew where, not even his agent. He had built the house himself and had lived in it with an old servant for about ten years. His practice, never very extensive, had after a few years been given up entirely. Not only so, but he had withdrawn himself almost altogether from social life and become a recluse. I was told by the village doctor, about the only person with whom he held any relations, that during his retirement he had devoted himself to a single line of study, the result of which he had expounded in a book that did not commend itself to the approval of his professional brethren, who, indeed, considered him not entirely sane. I have not seen the book and cannot now recall the title of it, but I am told that it expounded a rather startling theory. He held that it was possible in the case of many a person in good health to forecast his death with precision, several months in advance of the event. The limit, I think, was eighteen months. There were local tales of his having exerted his powers of prognosis, or perhaps you would say diagnosis; and it was said that in every instance the person whose friends he had warned had died suddenly at the appointed time, and from no assignable cause. All this, however, has nothing to do with what I have to tell; I thought it might amuse a physician.

'The house was furnished, just as he had lived in it. It was a rather gloomy dwelling for one who was neither a recluse nor a student, and I think it gave something of its character to me - perhaps some of its former occupant's character; for always I felt in it a certain melancholy that was not in my natural disposition, nor, I think, due to loneliness. I had no servants that slept in the house, but I have always been, as you know, rather fond of my own society, being much addicted to reading, though little to study. Whatever was the cause, the effect was dejection and a sense of impending evil; this was especially so in Dr. Mannering's study, although that room was the lightest and most airy in the house. The doctor's life-size portrait in oil hung in that room, and seemed completely to dominate it. There was nothing unusual in the picture; the man was evidently rather good looking, about fifty years old, with iron-grey hair, a smooth-shaven face and dark, serious eyes. Something in the picture always drew and held my attention. The man's appearance became familiar to me, and rather "haunted" me.

'One evening I was passing through this room to my bedroom, with a lamp - there is no gas in Meridian. I stopped as usual before the portrait, which seemed in the lamplight to have a new expression, not easily named, but distinctly uncanny. It interested but did not disturb me. I moved the lamp from one side to the other and observed the effects of the altered light. While so engaged I felt an impulse to turn round. As I did so I saw a man moving across the room directly toward me! As soon as he came near enough for the lamplight to illuminate the face I saw that it was Dr. Mannering himself; it was as if the portrait were walking!

'"I beg your pardon," I said, somewhat coldly, "but if you knocked I did not hear."
'He passed me, within an arm's length, lifted his right forefinger, as in warning, and without a word went on out of the room, though I observed his exit no more than I had observed his entrance.

'Of course, I need not tell you that this was what you will call a hallucination and I call an apparition. That room had only two doors, of which one was locked; the other led into a bedroom, from which there was no exit. My feeling on realizing this is not an important part of the incident.

'Doubtless this seems to you a very commonplace "ghost story" - one constructed on the regular lines laid down by the old masters of the art. If that were so I should not have related it, even if it were true. The man was not dead; I met him to-day in Union Street. He passed me in a crowd.'

Hawver had finished his story and both men were silent. Dr. Frayley absently drummed on the table with his fingers.
'Did he say anything to-day?' he asked - 'anything from which you inferred that he was not dead?'
Hawver stared and did not reply.

'Perhaps,' continued Frayley,' he made a sign, a gesture - lifted a finger, as in warning. It's a trick he had - a habit when saying something serious - announcing the result of a diagnosis, for example.'
'Yes, he did - just as his apparition had done. But, good God! did you ever know him?'
Hawver was apparently growing nervous.

'I knew him. I have read his book, as will every physician some day. It is one of the most striking and important of the century's contributions to medical science. Yes, I knew him; I attended him in an illness three years ago. He died.'

Hawver sprang from his chair, manifestly disturbed. He strode forward and back across the room; then approached his friend, and in a voice not altogether steady, said: 'Doctor, have you anything to say to me - as a physician? '

'No, Hawver; you are the healthiest man I ever knew. As a friend I advise you to go to your room. You play the violin like an angel. Play it; play something light and lively. Get this cursed bad business off your mind.'

The next day Hawver was found dead in his room, the violin at his neck, the bow upon the string, his music open before him at Chopin's Funeral March.

Ghosts

· Do you believe in ghosts?
· Do you believe that dead people come back to life as ghosts?
· Do you believe that houses can be haunted? Have you ever been to one?
· Do you believe that houses have ghosts in them sometimes?
· Do you believe your ancestors are watching you?
· Do you know anyone who has said that they have seen a ghost?
· Do you put any faith in the modern day ghost hunters?
· Do you think we can feel if a ghost is near us?
· Have you ever come in contact with a ghost?
· Have you ever felt that you knew a ghost that you saw?
· Have you ever seen a ghost?
· Have you seen a ghost? What kind of ghost? Did you get to talk with the ghost?
· Have you thought about becoming a ghostbuster?
· How do you know if a ghost is near you?
· If one of your friends told you they had seen a ghost, would you believe him/her? Why/Why not?
· If you don't believe in ghost, and you actually have seen one, what were your reactions?
· If you don't believe in ghost, tell why?
· If you were a ghost who and where would you haunt?
· Is there an area where you live (park, house, etc.) that is known to be haunted? If so, what is the story or legend that makes people believe this area is haunted? Have you ever visited this place?
· Were you ever touched or physically harmed by a ghost or "spirit"? If so, how?
· What do you about the image movies give us about aliens?
· What is the scariest ghost story you know?
· Why do people say they see ghosts even though they sometimes do not?
· Would you be scared if a ghost talked to you?
· Would you stay the night in a place where people say that there are ghosts? Like in a very old uninhabited house??

My Immortal

Evanescence

• Download "My Immortal" .mp3
  

I'm so tired of being here
Suppressed by all my childish fears
And if you have to leave
I wish that you would just leave
'Cause your presence still lingers here
And it won't leave me alone

These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase

When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have
All of me

You used to captivate me
By your resonating life

Now I'm bound by the life you left behind
Your face it haunts
My once pleasant dreams
Your voice it chased away
All the sanity in me

These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase

I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone
But though you're still with me
I've been alone all along

Haunted

Evanescence

No lost words, whisper slowly, to me.
Still can't find what keeps me here.
And all this time I've been so hollow, inside,
I know your still there.

Watching me, wanting me,
I can feel you haunt me down.
Fearing you, loving you,
I know I'll find you somehow.

Haunting you, I can smell you,
Your heart pounding in my head !

Wanting me, fearing me,
I won't let you haunt me down.
Deceiving me, bringing me,
Watching me !

Watching me, haunting me,
I can fear you haunt me down.
Fearing you, loving you,
I won't let you haunt me down.

Watching me, wanting me,
I can feel you haunt me down.
Fearing you, loving you,
I won't let you haunt me down.

Sacred Light

Towards God

Pick the First Apple!

The Fisherman

Earth Song

Michael Jackson

Song's Video Clip

The song's music video depicts the Earth being destroyed by humans, and alludes to environmental and poverty issues in the world. The visuals present the destruction of rainforests by loggers, animals killed by poachers, and a North American forest burnt to stumps. The video also shows the devastation of 1990s aggressions in Yugoslav wars and people returning to their shattered homes. In the end, Jackson and all the suffering native peoples depicted cry, kneel and turn to prayer, which God answers the prayers by bringing animals and people to life and returns forests, returning everything to its original, peaceful state.

• Download "Earth Song".mp3

What about sunrise?
What about rain?
What about all the things
That you said we were to gain . . .
What about killing fields?
Is there a time?
What about all the things
That you said was yours and mine . . .
Did you ever stop to notice
All the blood we've shed before?
Did you ever stop to notice
The crying Earth the weeping shores?

What have we done to the world?
Look what we've done
What about all the peace
That you pledge your only son . . .
What about flowering fields?
Is there a time?
What about all the dreams
That you said was yours and mine . . .
Did you ever stop to notice
All the children dead from war?
Did you ever stop to notice
The crying Earth, the weeping shores?

I used to dream
I used to glance beyond the stars
Now I don't know where we are
Although I know we've drifted far

Hey, what about yesterday?
What about the seas?
The heavens are falling down
I can't even breathe
What about the bleeding Earth
Can't we feel its wounds?
What about nature's worth?
It's our planet's womb
What about animals?
We've turned kingdoms to dust
What about elephants?
Have we lost their trust?
What about crying whales
We're ravaging the seas
What about forest trails?

Burnt despite our pleas
What about the holy land?
Torn apart by creed
What about the common man?
Can't we set him free?
What about children dying?
Can't you hear them cry?
Where did we go wrong?

Someone tell me why
What about babies?
What about the days?
What about all their joy?
What about the man?
What about the crying man?
What about Abraham?
What about death again?
Do we give a damn?

What I've Done

Linkin' Park

Music Video

The music video for "What I've Done" explores the many ironies of humanity and its ill effects on the earth and the environment. It juxtaposes various pieces of footage: a large, well-fed man eating fast food, a woman measuring her waist and a man who is so malnourished that his ribcage is visible through his skin, African Americans being hosed down, nuclear explosions, the World Trade Center towers collapsing, children waving American flags, a Middle Eastern child holding an AK-47, clips of oil tankers torn in half and birds covered in an oil slick.

• Download "What I've Done".mp3
  

In this farewell,
There's no blood,
There's no alibi.
'Cause I've drawn regret,
From the truth,
Of a thousand lies.

So let mercy come,
And wash away ...

What I've Done.
I'll face myself,
To cross out what I've become.
Erase myself,
And let go of what I've done.

Put to rest
What you thought of me.
While I clean this slate,
With the hands,
Of uncertainty.

So let mercy come,
And wash away ...

What I've Done.
I'll face myself,
To cross out what I've become.
Erase myself,
And let go of what I've done.

For What I've Done

I start again,
And whatever pain may come.
Today this ends,
I'm forgiving what I've done.

I'll face myself,
To cross out what I've become.
Erase myself,
And let go of what I've done.

What I've done.
Forgiving What I've Done.

A Hymn

Anne Brontë

Eternal power of earth and air,
Unseen, yet seen in all around,
Remote, but dwelling everywhere,
Though silent, heard in every sound.

If e'er thine ear in mercy bent
When wretched mortals cried to thee,
And if indeed thy Son was sent
To save lost sinners such as me.

Then hear me now, while kneeling here;
I lift to thee my heart and eye
And all my soul ascends in prayer;
O give me -­ give me Faith I cry.

Without some glimmering in my heart,
I could not raise this fervent prayer;
But O a stronger light impart,
And in thy mercy fix it there!

While Faith is with me I am blest;
It turns my darkest night to day;
But while I clasp it to my breast
I often feel it slide away.

Then cold and dark my spirit sinks,
To see my light of life depart,
And every fiend of Hell methinks
Enjoys the anguish of my heart.

What shall I do if all my love,
My hopes, my toil, are cast away,
And if there be no God above
To hear and bless me when I pray?

If this be vain delusion all,
If death be an eternal sleep,
And none can hear my secret call,
Or see the silent tears I weep.

O help me God! for thou alone
Canst my distracted soul relieve;
Forsake it not -- it is thine own,
Though weak yet longing to believe.

O drive these cruel doubts away
And make me know that thou art God;
A Faith that shines by night and day
Will lighten every earthly load.

If I believe that Jesus died
And waking rose to reign above,
Then surely Sorrow, Sin and Pride
Must yield to peace and hope and love.

And all the blessed words he said
Will strength and holy joy impart,
A shield of safety o'er my head,
A spring of comfort in my heart.

Internet Addiction

Internet Addicts don’t steal to pay for their habits. They don’t lock themselves in bathrooms and shove needles up their arms or snort things through their noses. Their addictions don’t cause car accidents or impair their judgment or ability to make decisions, but that doesn’t mean an Internet addiction isn’t dangerous.

Internet addictions have broken up marriages and strained friendships. They’ve torn apart families and gotten in the way of school and work. Because an Internet addiction isn’t seen as life-threatening as drug addiction, it’s a lot more acceptable. Because it’s legal doesn’t mean we should be any less aware of what can happen if we spend all our time online.

The Internet vs. The Real World
The Internet is attractive to so many people because it offers something we don’t have in the real world, anonymity. People who are shy or have trouble speaking to others can have intense discussions online. People who feel they’re unattractive or unpopular can have many online friends. In fact, there’s really no need to leave the house anymore. Now that we can shop, chat, play, date, even have sex online. One can see how easy it is for someone to get hooked.

Signs of Internet Addiction
There are those who spend a lot of time on the Internet and there are those who are just plain addicted. People who spend too much time online, might have trouble tearing themselves away from their computer screens, but people who are addicted can’t seem to do so at all. Here are some signs of Internet Addiction:

· Spending hours online without a break.
· Preferring to spend time with a computer over friends and family.
· Lying about the amount of time spent online.
· Hiding what you do online.
· Checking email several times an hour.
· Family complains about the amount of time spent online.
· Thoughts are always on the Internet – even when offline.
· Logging on while at work or school instead of working or studying.
· The first thing an addict does when family leaves the house is log on.

Statistics and Studies
The Washington Post listed some interesting statistics:
About 6% of surveyed individuals responded, “their relationships suffered as a result of excessive Internet use.”
About 9% attempted to conceal “nonessential Internet use.”
Nearly 4% reported feeling “preoccupied by the Internet when offline.”
About 8% said they used the Internet as a way to escape problems
Almost 14% reported they “found it hard to stay away from the Internet for several days at a time.”

A 2006 telephone-based Stanford University Study revealed one in eight individuals displayed at least one “problematic” sign of excessive Internet use. Elias Aboujaoude, a clinical Assistant Psycholology and Behavioral Sciences Professor at Stanford’s Impulse Control Disorders Clinic likens these problematic behaviors such as the constant need to check email or visit online forums and chat rooms as being similar to the cravings drug addicts experience.

Some statistics from the Stanford University study:
% 13.7 of those interviewed found it hard to stay away from the Internet for several days at a time
% 12.4 stayed online longer than intended very often or often
% 12.3 had seen a need to cut back on Internet use at some point
% 8.7 attempted to conceal non-essential Internet use from family, friends and employers
% 8.2 used the Internet as a way to escape problems or relieve negative mood
% 5.9 felt their relationships suffered as a result of excessive Internet use

Conclusion
If you find you’re online more than off, that your real-world relationships are sacrificed to cyber friends you’ve never met, and you can’t stay away from your computer … you may be addicted to the Internet.
Because Internet addiction doesn’t impair one’s ability to judge and think clearly like drugs, it’s a more socially acceptable addiction. Plus, many who spend large blocks of time online refuse to believe there’s such a thing as Internet addiction, anyway.
If the time you spend online is straining relationships in the real world and getting in the way or school or work, do seek help or at least make an attempt to spend less time online. As many things as there are to do online, there are more in the real world. Get out and explore.

Annoying Things

What annoys you about living where you live now?
What annoys you about taking trains to work?
What annoys you about driving a car?
What annoys you most about living at home with your family?
Do you think you have habits that annoy other people?
Do you get annoyed when someone cuts in front of you when you are waiting in line?
What are some new pet peeves you have as a result of recent technology (i.e. cell phone use)?
What annoying habits does your best friend have?
Does smoking bother you?
Do you get annoyed when other people display bad manners? Give some examples.
What is the most annoying thing for you?
What is the most annoying thing about your partner?
Do you annoy people with some of your habits?
What is something that your parents do that annoy you?
Can annoying someone be a good thing?
If something is annoying you, what do you usually do?
What are some things that annoy you that don't annoy your best friend?
How do you change annoying habits?
What are some things that car drivers do that annoy you?
Can you think of some things children do that annoy adults around them?
What kind of people annoy you?
Who is the most annoying person you know? Why?
How do you inform someone they are being annoying?
Do you think other people find you annoying? Why?
Who is the most annoying celebrity? Why?
Which is more annoying, being caught in the rain without an umbrella, or finding out you don't have enough money to pay for something you really need?
Is there anything about your teacher that annoys you? What will you do about it?

What If ...?

• If you had only 24 hours to live, what would you do?
• If the whole world were listening, what would you say?
• If you bumped your car into another car, but nobody saw you do it, would you leave your name and address?
• If you could be another man or woman for a day, who would you choose?
• If you could be invisible for a day what would you do and why?
• If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
• If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?
• If you could choose how you were going to die, what would you choose your death to be?
• If you could commit any crime and get away with it, what would you do?
• If you could date a celebrity, who would you choose?
• If you could hear what someone is thinking for a day, who would you choose?
• If you could live anywhere, where would you live?
• If you could meet any famous person, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
• If you could spend a day with any celebrity, who would it be and what questions would you ask that person?
• If you could take a vacation anywhere in the world for any length of time, where would you go?
• If your partner were offered a job in another part of the country, which was well paid, would you be willing to change places?
• If you were in the bank and somebody started to hold up the bank, what would you do?
• If you had to choose between love and no money or money and no love for the rest of your life, which would you choose?
• If you had to choose, would you give up your sight or your hearing?
• If you were given a choice between being given great wisdom or great wealth, which would you choose?
• If you were given an opportunity to be born again, in which country would you like to be born?
• If you were going to a deserted island and could only take three things with you, what would you take? Why?

Manners

What do you think are some good/bad manners?
What behaviors make you feel good?
What behaviors make you feel angry?
What are some good/bad manners for using a cell phone?
What are some good/bad manners in the classroom?
What are some good/bad party manners?
Do you listen to other people's conversations?
Why are manners important?
Do people have more polite social behavior now or in earlier times?
Can manners affect your success in life? How?
What is the best way to teach manners to children?
What culture do you think is the most polite? Explain.
Can you think of some good manners that are bad manners in another country?
What advice would you give a foreigner visiting your country who would like to show good manners?
What things about manners in foreign countries do you find difficult to adjust to?
Is there anything about manners in foreign countries that you prefer to manners in your country?

A Good Man Is Hard To Find

· A complaint by many women is a good man is hard to find
· That many men are selfish and to the needs of women blind
· And that some men abuse their women so happens to be true
· But give the good man credit if credit he is due.

· For the crimes men commit against women allow me to feel shame
· But for the sins of a minority a whole gender why blame
· That one person does not make a Race or Nation also applies to men
· One should not be found guilty if not guilty of a sin.

· Some women abused by one man condemn all men as bad
· But they are generalizing and that seems a bit sad
· And though my sympathy is with women 'tis not prudent or not wise
· To dislike all men for the crimes of one it does seem wrong to generalize.

· I suppose there is some truth in that good men are hard to find
· But not all men are cruel to women or aggressively inclined
· To cause harm to others some men are good and kind
· And kindness shown by good men readily come to mind.

Francis Duggan

Wedding Rings

The wedding ring, that most famous and instantly recognizable symbol of the (hopefully perpetual) joining of a man and a woman as husband and wife in the institution of marriage, has a long, wide spread and mysterious history.

The ring is of course a circle and this was the symbol of eternity for the Egyptians as well as many other ancient cultures. It had no beginning and noend, like time. It returned to itself, like life; and the shape was worshipped in the form of the Sun and the Moon. The hole in the center of the ring is not just space either; it is important in its own right as the symbol of the gateway, or door; leading to things and events both known and unknown.

It is not difficult therefore, to see how the ring and the gift of a ringbegan to be associated with love, in the hope that this most worthy of emotionscould take on the characteristics of the circle and capture eternity.

In Western cultures, a wedding ring is traditionally worn on the ring finger. This developed from the Roman "annulus pronubis" when the man gave a ring to the woman at the betrothal ceremony. According to tradition in some countries (derived from Roman belief), the wedding ring is worn on the left ring finger because the vein in the left ring finger, referred to as the "vena amoris" was believed to be directly connected to the heart, a symbol of love.

Why Are Most Men Unfaithful?

Hope and Comfort

Charley Foley calls into the Mater Misericordia Hospital to visit his wife.
'How are you feeling?' he asks, sitting at the bedside, close to Dolly who is smiling up at him, her black hair resting against the white pillows.
'I'm fine,' Dolly says, quietly. She looks old and tired to Charley; she is deathly pale and has black pouches under her eyes. When she slips her fingers into Charley's he notices two ugly brown liver spots on the back her small hand.
'You look tired,' Charley says. 'Aren't you sleeping?'
'I was a bit restless last night.'
Dolly does not mention the pain: she doesn't want to upset her husband.
'Any word from Linda?' she asks.
'She phoned again last night. I told her you were grand. I said there was nothing to worry about.'
Linda, their eldest, teaches in a university in Galway. Linda will come home for the holiday in August. Their son, Colm, and his children live in Australia. Colm hasn't been told that his mother is unwell. Colm's a worrier: it's best he's not upset.
Charley gazes dreamily across the chattering hospital ward, bright with pale afternoon sunlight. Other visitors are doing their duties, gathering around the sick, bringing flowers and fruit, offering words of hope and comfort.
'Have you seen the doctor again?' Charley asks his wife.
'Tomorrow maybe.' 'Any idea how long they'll keep you in?'
Dolly turns away and coughs into a tissue, then settles back. She takes Charley's hand again.
'They'll let me know on Monday. They have to do lots more tests. They won't let me home until they know. I'm sorry to be such a bother.'
Dolly's small chest heaves under her heavy nightdress. Charley thinks of a frightened bird. Sweet Dolores Delarosa he used to call her long ago when they were courting, mocking her sorrowful eyes and the way she took everything too seriously. He can't help wondering if she made herself sick with worry.
Poor Dolly Delarosa!
'Don't let them budge you until you're absolutely better,' he says.
'Are you managing all right, darling?'
'Grand.'
Charley is eating out and staying away from the house as much as possible. He's managing all right.
The minutes pass in heated tedium. Charley is watching the visitors and glancing at the small alarm clock beside his wife's bed. He can hear its distant ticking and still recall the irritating ring when it dragged his wife from bed at the crack of dawn and moments later her breakfast sounds clattering in the kitchen keeping him awake, reminding him that there's a day's work ahead and children to be schooled and fed.

Tic-tic-tic-tic-tic-tic-tic.

The kids are all grown up now. Second grandchild imminent. Time is running out. A grey face in the shaving mirror reminding Charley of middle age and the rot ahead. Where's the point in having money if you can't enjoy it? Why can't clocks take their time? What's the hurry?
Ah - God have mercy! Dolly Dolorosa. How different might it have been without her?
Dolly's eyelids droop. Her mouth opens a fraction. She looks almost dead. Moments pass slowly.
'This must be very boring for you,' she says, without opening her eyes.
'Not at all. It does me good to see you.'
'It's not nice having to visit anybody in hospital. It's so depressing.'
'Nonsense.'
Dolly settles her dark head further back against the white pillows. Grimaces for an instant then braves a smile.
'You should leave now, Charley. I think I might sleep for a while.'
'Are you sure?'
'Positive.'
Charley bounces to his feet.
'I'll come in later,' he says.
'Please don't. With it being Saturday the wards will be crammed with people. Leave it till the morning. Come after Mass.'
'Is that's what you want?'
'It is, darling.'
Dolly opens her eyes, smiles like a child. It's been a long time since Dolly was a child.
'You look tired, darling,' she says. 'Aren't you sleeping?'
'I was a bit restless last night.'
'Try to take things easy.'
Dolly squeezes her husband's hand, presses her ringed finger against his gold wedding ring. Her fingers are light as feathers.
'Off you go, darling,' she says. 'Try to not worry.'
Charley bends and kisses Dolly's hot forehead.
'I'll see you tomorrow,' he says.
Dolly's eyes close. Her fingers slip from his.

Tic-tic-tic-tic-tic.

Charley walks along a polished corridor and finds the exit. Outside in the bright car park he locates his car and sits inside. He glances around at the visitors coming and going. Nurses walk past, reminding him of butterflies. Charley reaches for his mobile phone and taps in a number. The call is answered almost immediately.
'Katherine?' he says.
'Where are you? I've been waiting ages for you to call.'
'I'm outside the hospital. I've just been in to see her.'
'How is she?'
'All right. As well as can be expected, I suppose. Who really knows?'
Charley pulls down the sunshade to protect his eyes from the blinding brightness, then returns his attention to his new friend, Katherine.
'She'll be in for a while longer.'
'Will I see you later?' Katherine asks.
'I expect so.'
'Stay tonight,' she offers. 'If you like.'
Charley thinks of his own empty house, the quietness without Dolly and the dreadful silences she left behind.
'I'd like that, darling,' he says.
'Come now,' Katherine whispers with a smile in her lovely voice. 'I'll cheer you up.'
Charley says goodbye and puts the phone away. He smiles properly for the first time that day. He starts the engine and as he drives away Charley glances through the rear view mirror and sees the grey hospital building receding like a prison.
God help me, he thinks. God help us all.

A Glimmer of Hope

Hope is a light that never fails.

Hope is the thing with feathers

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chilliest land
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

Emily Dickinson

Hope

The Rose that Grew from the Concrete

Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete?
Provin nature's laws wrong
It learned to walk without having feet
Funny it seems but by keeping its dreams
It learned to breathe fresh air
Long live the rose that grew from concrete
When no one else, even cared

Tupac Shakur

“We wouldn't ask why a rose that grew from the concrete for having damaged petals, in turn, we would all celebrate its tenacity, we would all love its will to reach the sun, well, we are the roses, this is the concrete and these are my damaged petals, dont ask me why, thank god, and ask me how.”

"If you walked by a street and you were walking on concrete and you saw a rose growing from concrete, even if it had messed up petals and it was a little to the side, you would marvel at just seeing a rose grow through concrete. So why is it? That when you see some ghetto kid grow out of the dirtiest circumstance and he can talk and he can sit across the room and make you cry, make you laugh, all you can talk about is my dirty rose, my dirty stems and how i'm leaning crooked to the side, u can't even see that I've come up from out of that."

Quotations on "Hope"

http://thinkexist.com/search/searchquotation.asp?search=hope

The Man He Killed

Had he and I but met
By some old ancient inn,
We should have set us down to wet
Right many a nipperkin!

But ranged as infantry,
And staring face to face,
I shot at him as he at me,
And killed him in his place.

I shot him dead because—
Because he was my foe,
Just so: my foe of course he was;
That's clear enough; although

He thought he'd 'list, perhaps,
Off-hand like—just as I—
Was out of work—had sold his traps—
No other reason why.

Yes; quaint and curious war is!
You shoot a fellow down
You'd treat, if met where any bar is,
Or help to half a crown.

Thomas Hardy

Borderline

Download Borderline MP3

I'm standing in the station,
I'm waiting for a train,
To take me to the border,
And my loved one far away;
I watched a bunch of soldiers heading for the war,
I could hardly even bear to see them go;

Rolling through the countryside,
Tears are in my eyes,
We're coming to the borderline,
I'm ready with my lies,
And in the early morning rain, I see her there,
And I know I'll have to say goodbye again;

And it's breaking my heart, I know what I must do,
I hear my country call me, but I want to be with you,
I'm talking my side, one of use will lose,
Don't let go, I want to know
That you will wait for me until the day,
There's no borderline, no borderline;

Walking past the border guards,
Reaching for her hand,
Showing no emotion,
I want to break into a run,
But these are only boys, and I will never know
How men can see the wisdom in a war ...

And it's breaking my heart, I know what I must do,
I hear my country call me, but I want to be with you,
I'm taking my side, one of us will lose,
Don't let go, I want to know
That you will wait for me until the day,
There's no borderline, no borderline,
No borderline, no borderline ...

Chris De Burgh

War & Peace

Quotations on "War"

http://thinkexist.com/search/searchquotation.asp?search=war

Because I Could Not Stop For Death

Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;

The carriage held but just ourselves

And Immortality.

We slowly drove, he knew no haste,

And I had put away

My labor, and my leisure too,

For his civility.

We passed the school where children played,

Their lessons scarcely done;

We passed the fields of gazing grain,

We passed the setting sun.

Or rather, he passed us;
The dews drew quivering and chill;
For the gossamer, my gown;
My tippet, only tulle.

We paused before a house that seemed

A swelling of the ground;

The roof was scarcely visible,

The cornice but a mound.

Since then 'tis centuries; but each

Feels shorter than the day

I first surmised the horses' heads

Were toward eternity.

Emily Dickinson

Indifference

Indifferent Society and Human Suffering

Somewhere I Belong

When this began
I had nothing to say
And I get lost in the nothingness inside of me
I was confused
And I let it all out to find that I'm
Not the only person with these things in mind
Inside of me
But all the vacancy the words revealed
Is the only real thing that I've got left to feel
Nothing to lose
Just stuck, hollow and alone
And the fault is my own
And the fault is my own

I wanna heal, I wanna feel
What I thought was never real
I want to let go of the pain I've held so long
Erase all the pain 'til it's gone

I wanna heal, I wanna feel
Like I'm close to something real
I want to find something I've wanted all along
Somewhere I belong

And I've got nothing to say
I can't believe I didn't fall right down on my face
I was confused
Looking everywhere, only to find that it's
Not the way I had imagined it all in my mind
So what am I
What do I have but negativity
'Cause I can't justify the
Way everyone is looking at me
Nothing to lose
Nothing to gain, hollow and alone
And the fault is my own
The fault is my own

I will never know
myself until I do this on my own
And I will never feel
Anything else until my wounds are healed
I will never be
Anything 'til I break away from me
And I will break away
I'll find myself today

I wanna heal
I wanna feel like I'm
Somewhere I belong

Linkin’ Park

Mysterious Times

Life
Mysterious life
Where we're moving around, dancing the rhythm of life.

Time
Mysterious time
Where we're counting the hours and days to the end of our time.
And we're feeling the change and we don't know why
Choose one direction just one more time
Don't say I'm thinking too much if you see what's behind.

[Chorus]
And these are Mysterious Times
Mysterious Times
No trick of the mind
For this moment I feel like we live in Mysterious Times.
If you see what's behind, these are Mysterious Times.

Soul
I feel my soul
For this moment nobody can stop me from flying so high.

Real
Nothing is real
In a world of illusion you only see what you feel.
And we're feeling the change and we don't know why
Choose one direction just one more time
Don't say I'm thinking too much if you see what's behind.

[Chorus]
If you see what's behind, these are Mysterious Times.

SASH ! (feat. Tina Cousins)

Value Speech Topics

Value speech topics includes more than 100 general on personal growth. You can state facts or values in order to get your listeners change their views or to convince them to act. This page shows you many various sample themes and ideas for conversation. Persuade that something is moral or immoral, good or bad, valuable or worthless, etc. Appeal to the beliefs, morality and values of your listeners. Discover which value speech topics you like to explore.

· A Will to Succeed
· Accomplishment
· Accountability
· Accuracy
· Achievement
· Adventure
· Affection
· Altruism
· Appreciation
· Assertiveness
· Attitude
· Authority
· Autonomy
· Balance
· Beauty
· Being Truthful
· Caring
· Change
· Charity
· Chastity
· Civic Duty
· Civic Pride
· Civil Rights
· Collaboration
· Community Welfare
· Compassion
· Concern for Others
· Confidence
· Conformity
· Consciousness
· Consensus
· Consumer Rights
· Cooperation
· Courage
· Courtesy
· Creativity
· Critical Thinking
· Culture
· Curiosity
· Democracy
· Dependability
· Diligence
· Diplomacy
· Diversity
· Duty
· Ecological Awareness
· Effort
· Empathy
· Empowerment
· Endurance
· Enthusiasm
· Environmental Protection
· Equality
· Etiquette
· Exactness
· Excellence
· Fairness
· Faith
· Family Values
· Fast Living
· Fidelity
· Financial Gain
· Flair
· Flexibility
· Forgiveness
· Fraternity
· Free Will
· Freedom
· Freedom of Initiative
· Friendship
· Generosity
· Gentleness
· Goodness
· Government Power
· Gratitude
· Hard Working
· Harmony
· Healthy
· Helping Other People
· Helping Society
· Heroism
· Honesty
· Honor
· Honor Parents
· Hope
· Hospitality
· Human Rights
· Humanism
· Humility
· Humor
· Idealism
· Improvement
· Independence
· Individuality
· Inner Harmony
· Innocence
· Integrity
· Intellectual Status
· Intuition Kindness
· Justice
· Learning
· Lifestyle
· Love
· Majority Rule
· Meaning of Life
· Meaningful Work
· Mercy
· Merit
· Minority Rights
· Moderation
· Modesty
· Morality
· Never Give Up
· Non-Violence
· Nursing
· Nurturing of Children
· Obedience
· Open-mindedness
· Optimism
· Participation
· Patience
· Patriotism
· Peace
· Personal Development
· Personal Growth
· Physical Challenge
· Piety
· Pleasure
· Positive Attitude
· Preservation
· Privacy
· Promotion
· Proper Behavior
· Public Access
· Public Service
· Purity
· Pursuit of Happiness
· Reasoning
· Religion
· Reputation
· Respect for Law
· Respect for Other People
· Responsibility
· Right to Education
· Right to Express Grievances
· Rituals
· Romance
· Sacrifice
· Safety
· Satisfaction
· Satisfying Other People
· Self-Awareness
· Self-Discipline
· Self-Esteem
· Self-Givingness
· Self-Improvement
· Self-Interest
· Self-Reliably
· Self-Reliance
· Self-Respect
· Self-Worth
· Sensitivity
· Serenity
· Seriousness
· Service to Society
· Sharing
· Simplicity
· Sincerity
· Social Status
· Sophistication
· Spirituality
· Stability
· Stability
· Strength
· Success
· Sympathy
· Tact
· Taking Responsibility
· Temperance
· Thinking
· Tolerance
· Tradition
· Truthfulness
· Understanding
· Unity
· Unpretentiousness
· Unselfishness
· Wealth
· Well-Being
· Well-Mannered
· Wisdom
· Women's Rights
· World Unity