Just Be

New York never stops, but occasionally it is forced to slow down. A two-day blizzard is one of those things that can force this electric, sparkling, ever-moving city to take a slower breath. And that's what happened. It snowed and snowed and then snowed some more, and the cabs and buses had to slow down, subways were delayed, schools closed down, some people couldn't get to work, and everyone looked out their window to see their familiar views coated with a blinding white dripping curtain that spelled, "stop, stay, be still."

If you were to ask me, I would say my life is not rushed. I don't ever overbook myself, I don't overwork myself, I do things every day to slow me down. I am intensely aware of how stiff New York can make me, and so I constantly keep my "armor" in check. I think I do a pretty good job of keeping an open heart and a soft exterior. I think I have not let New York City's sleepless rush get to me, for the most part.

And yet...

I was pacing around my apartment. I called my friends and no one wanted to do anything. I looked at my desk and there was no work to be done. I often read plays when I'm alone, only to end up acting them out by myself all over my living room, but I had done that the night before and wasn't feeling inspired. My nails were done. My hair was done. My apartment was clean. My laundry was done. There was nothing to cook. I wasn't upset about anything so there was nothing to obsess over. There was simply nothing to watch on TV, and I don't like watching TV anyway. I didn't even want to watch a movie. Somehow, I didn't even have a book I wanted to read.

Essentially, I had nothing to do but just be.

What a rare gift that is, and how little value is attributed to it, I discovered.

I sat on my big comfy arm-chair with a blanket. I sat there with myself and thought, Ok, I'll just sit here until the next thing comes up. Boredom can be a good thing, I thought, it doesn't necessarily have to be something I have to try to get rid of when it shows up. I can just sit with my boredom for a change. I can sit with impatience too. I can sit with loneliness. I can sit with silence. I can sit with the noise in my head and not try to change it. I can sit with lack of inspiration. I can sit with anxiety.

I found out that I am afraid to just be with myself and sit with all these things because I place my worth and the value of each day on how much I "get done". Even if what I get done in a day consists of talking to a friend over coffee for a few hours, going to yoga, and then cooking dinner for myself, it still makes me feel more accomplished than if I sit around doing nothing. It terrifies me to let a whole day go by where I've done nothing. To not even have a productive thought throughout an entire day. I am afraid that if that happens, it will mean that I am empty.

There is a famous acting exercise where an actor goes up on stage and stands in front of her colleagues and does nothing, usually for a few minutes. Or tries to do nothing. Tries to just be, in front of people. I have been made to do this exercise countless times in classes, workshops, rehearsals, etc., and I always felt that I am terrible at it. I get so anxious and afraid of doing nothing in front of people that I almost poop. I am filled with a fear of not being entertaining. Of being painfully boring. Moreover, because I am on stage, I feel an obligation to do something, to move the people who are watching me in some way. It feels completely unnatural to do nothing. I usually spend my whole time up there waiting for it to be over and wondering why the hell I am being made to do that.

So, as I was sitting around with myself, sitting with all the discomfort and anxiety of doing nothing, I was forced to face myself and all my fears and feelings. Soon enough a voice came up, that sounded like an older version of myself, saying, quite forcefully but not unkindly, Hey, sometimes, you're boring. Sometimes, you're not entertaining- not even to yourself. Sometimes, you don't have to do anything. Sometimes you're not patient or exciting or calm or any of those good things you like to be. And that's ok. That's part of being human.

This realization came as a relief, and I sat there feeling a tremendous weight had been lifted from my chest. I was able to breathe very deeply because there was so much more space inside me, I wasn't cluttered with the heavy need to do something useful or create something meaningful. I could relax. I could, finally, just be.

I can see now I was overdue for a day of slowing down. I needed a blizzard to hit the city and life to strangely yet perfectly align itself so that I could to spend a whole day with myself. And, as it turns out, allowing myself to do nothing ended up being anything but empty. In fact, I think it might have saved my life.

Love Of Park And Lake!!!!!!

Red Rose Petals

Withering Everywhere,'Coz Of

A Tremendous Lovely Breeze

Was Looking As Though A

Red Carpet is Spread For Special Couple!!

Nature Was Sooo Beautiful

Filled With Ample Varieties Of Birds

Beasts, Animals, Specially, 

Melodious Chirping Of Birds, Including Crow....

Humming Birds Were Balancing On   

The Flowers, For Its Nectar,

As Though They Are Silent Dancers!!!

 

Peacocks Were Extremely Excited

Shared Their Happiness, Excitement

By Spreading Their Beautiful Feathers 

Filled With Extra-Ordinary Colors......

In Mid Off All These,

Appeared A Clear Cut Image Of 

Hand In Hand, Stepping Melodiously

On The Red-Carpet

Without Spoiling Those Red Rose Petals!!

Hand In Hand Couple,
Enjoyed The Beauty Of Nature, 

Enjoyed The Fragrance, Chirping Of Birds

Shared Their Happiness By Salsa Dance!!!!!!!

Their Beauty Of Their Imagination

Was Such That, They Didn't Feel
Like Leaving The Park & Going Home!!!!

Park Didn't Had Life

But, Those Couples, Gave A Mental Beauty

And Many Started Visiting Each Weekend.

Each Couple Shared Their Sweet Memories,

With The Park & Beautiful Lake, 

Which Preserved The Footprints Of The Couple

In Depth Of The Lake!!!!!!!!

Such Is The True Love, True Affection

And Special Bond With The Park & The Lake!!!!!!

PS :- Dearies, Thanks A Lot For All Your Cherishable Compliments For Previous Post "STUDY". 

 

Scream

This famous painting, "The Scream", was created by the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch in 1893. Actually it is one of a series of very similar pictures that Munch made - all called "The Scream". It has come to act as a metaphor for modern living in which a stressed out individual screams out at the world around him - a world which threatens both to ignore and to crush him.

Back in 2004, when I paid the princely sum of £34 for a Ryanair return flight to Oslo, not only did I want to see Ibsen's hometown, I also wanted to walk by the still waters of the Oslo Fiord, see Viglen's famous sculpture park, Thor Heyerdahl's Kon Tiki Museum, the Viking Ships Museum and the Munch Art Museum. That summer the most famous version of "The Scream" was stolen so that when I got to the art museum on Oslo's quiet inner ring road, there was just a space where the original should have been. Fortunately it was retrieved in 2006

From what sort of inventive mind did this disturbing picture surface? Munch came from a creative middle class family. His father was obsessive about religion to such an extent that the painter once said that he had inherited "the seeds of madness" from his father. One summer night, it seems that Munch took a walk along a wooden promenade on the Oslo Fjord. Trying to explain the inspiration he felt that evening, he said:-

I was walking down the road with two friends when the sun set; suddenly, the sky turned as red as blood. I stopped and leaned against the fence, feeling unspeakably tired. Tongues of fire and blood stretched over the bluish black fjord. My friends went on walking, while I lagged behind, shivering with fear. Then I heard the enormous, infinite scream of nature.

At the Munch Museum I bought a poster-print advertising an exhibition of Munch's work in 1997. The central image is naturally of "The Scream". I had that print framed and it now adorns a wall in our living room. I like the way the paint strokes flow. I like the slightly alien appearance of the central character and I notice very clearly his lonely anxiety - as if the world has become too much for him - so much so that those fluent brush strokes seem to represent his inner turmoil. It is, in my view, a painting that was ahead of its time - drawn from the dark obscurity of Norwegian winters and from the sort of social repression that Ibsen explored with language.

Edvard Munch at 29

18th

Reading FC move up to 18th in the Championship following (last week's set back and) today's brilliant win. Mmmm.

20 Feb Blackpool 2 - 0 Reading
27 Feb Reading 5 - 0 Sheffield Wednesday

Oh and we mustn't forget their fantastic run in the FA cup continues. Next Sunday they host Aston Villa. Best of luck, boys.


And another thing... have recently discovered the wonderful Suzanne Vega will be touring the UK again this coming June. Better yet she'll be playing a gig one evening in the town where I'm now working. Guess I might be phoning the ticket line Monday...

STUDY!!!!!!!!!!

Sitting

Talking

Unlimited

Dreaming

Yawning :) :)

PS :- Dearies, Thanks A Lot For All Your Cherishable Compliments For Previous Post, "STUDY"......Dearies, This IS  Second Type Of Acro Of Study.....Still, Two More Are Left!!!!!!

PPS :- Wish You All A Very Happy Weekend Ahead :) :)

Folkfiende

Lucy Cohu and Antony Sher in "An Enemy of the People"

Sheffield has two great theatres. There's the Victorian splendour of The Lyceum with its traditional proscenium arch and balconies and there's the concrete nineteen sixties' Crucible with its big thrust stage. That building also accommodates a more intimate studio theatre. The Crucible, famous for the World Snooker Finals which are held there every spring, has been closed in recent months for refurbishment. The first major production after the makeover has been Henrik Ibsen's "An Enemy of the People", reworded by Christopher Hampton.

I took a semester long course on Ibsen at university and when I visited Norway six years ago, I made sure that I included his hometown of Skien in my itinerary. The country house he bought during a time of bankruptcy is situated a couple of miles north of the town. It overlooks a shallow green and peaceful valley with apple trees in its garden. The citizens of Skien thought enough of their most famous son to erect a statue in his memory and the house is now a seasonal museum.

Skien in Norway with Ibsen's statue in the centre.

Written in 1882, "An Enemy of The People" focuses upon Dr Tomas Stockmann. In The Crucible production his part was played quite brilliantly by Sir Antony Sher. Stockmann is a man against the world but motivated by selfless intentions. He has discovered that the town's water supplies have been polluted by local industries and is especially concerned about the new spa baths that are expected to bring in hundreds of tourists and boost the town's ailing economy. But because of greedy self-interests, nobody in authority will listen and he is ostracised by his community. At the very end of the play, in painful isolation he says "...the strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone."

It's not only the environmental reference that gives this play its modern relevance. There's also the issue of how thinking individuals operate within established social structures. Rocking the boat, even for eminently justifiable reasons, is frequently viewed with outright hostility. Stockmann speaks out against the "majority" and claims that fools are perpetually in control. These fools break his windows with small stones which he gathers in a heap.

I hadn't been to see any live theatre in quite a while and I must say that I did enjoy this production. With Antony Sher at the helm, it was as if the rest of the cast upped their game. However, I thought Lucy Cohu as Mrs Stockmann was too young for the role - she looked little older than her daughter Pietra and should have been a more careworn, matriarchal presence upon the stage.

Regarding the theatre's makeover, it seemed essentially the same as before - just spruced up. I was puzzled as to why it has been pretty much closed for a year and how even after that year and an expenditure of £15m the finishing touches "to do" list still has a way to go.

STUDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Sitting With A 
 
Textbook Without
 
Understanding
 
Dreadful Topics And
 
Yawning :) :)

PS :- Dearies, Thanks A Lot For All Your Cherishable Compliments For Previous Post "BUSY" :) :)

PPS :- Dearies, I Have Another 2-3 Acros For This STUDY!!!!!!! Very Soon Will Share With You All!!!!!

Its A Peak Time For Students.......Examination Month Is Fast Approaching.....So, I Try To Make Series Of Examination!!!!!!!!

The Story So Far...

Thought it was time to share a couple of images of my current work in progress. This is (yet another!) hand-built coiled pot I've been working away on for a few weeks now. You can only build a few coils at a time, then you have to consolidate and strengthen as necessary.







The piece is now finished and waiting to be bisque fired- I'll get it back in a week or so and can then decorate. Looking closely, you might just see the back is now carved: I used a wooden disposable chip fork for this effect.

Now how should I glaze it?

Best restaurants in Philadelphia.

The Fountain: Nestled in the lavish yet dignified lobby of the Four Seasons, with windows overlooking Logan Circle’s Swann Fountain, the oasis serves sophisticated American fare such as roasted duck breast with Asian barbecue glaze and hazelnut crusted soft-shell crash. A six course tasting menu is available.

Le Bec-Fin: The Fine Beak (more loosely, the Fine Palate) is arguably the best restaurant in Philadelphia. Louis XV furniture, apricot silk walls, and crystal chandeliers create a luxurious mise-en-scene. Owner chef Georges Perrier oversees every detail of the excellent haute French six course pirx fixe menu. For this restaurant reservation is a must.

Striped Bass Restaurant: A visually stunning room with 28 ft. ceilings is the background for such seafood specialties. Reservation is essential for this restaurant also.

Susanna Foo: contemporary Chinese artwork in a handsome dinning room sets the tone for chef owner Susanna Foo’s nationally acclaimed cuisine, which combines French technique and Western ingredients with pure, essentially Chinese dishes. Favorites include Hundred Corner Crab Cakes, tea smoked duck breast with grilled Asian pears, and rack of lamb with coconut sweet rice compote.

Runescape Cursors of the computers

The cursor is nothing but indicating the position of the mouse on a system screen. Generally the computers will be showing white or black cursor. The terms Run escape Cursors mean mouse cursors accompanied by a run escape picture image instead of usual white arrow which is a normal one. People who are interested in Runescape Cursors can have the same by searching for the above cursors through search engine i.e. via computer programme. This is made possible by information gathered through internet by typing the required topic. If the system is provided with necessary graphics programmes then one has to choose an image and save it and then proceed to control panel, pointers, mouse and fix the desired pointer and click the browser so the old cursor is replaced with new one.

Getting to nice Run escape Cursors one has to work for it by selecting a place and confirming the site on the lines of safety. When downloading these cursors the system should not get bogged down by the dishonesty methods that occur as hind sight. The next factor is the system hygiene must be relevantly updated. By the way the computer anti virus software and the concerned security protocols are responding well. So with due care taken one must be feel free to download different Run escape Cursors to the individual taste.

The World In My Head

I don't remember how old I was when I read "The Little Princess", but I remember it had a profound impact on me for the rest of my life. The protagonist, Sarah, was a rich girl who was sent to a boarding school that was strict as hell, but she brought the place to life with her imaginative stories, which the girls would gather to hear. When her father died in the war, however, Sarah became a servant at the boarding school. She survived life's sudden harshness by returning to her stories, by living in her imagination, by transporting herself far far away from her reality.

Luckily I was never sent to boarding school nor did my father die in a war, but certainly- like most people- I had to survive the events that, one by one, took childhood away from me. And after I read "The Little Princess", I became my own version of Sarah, living in my imagination as often as necessary. It didn't take much to send me there- I was an extremely sensitive child- and my mind soon had a world of its own.

In my head lived endless possibilities. When my parents fought- which was always and never nicely- I could go be the most beautiful girl in the world, a princess, who lived somewhere beautiful and safe, where I could walk through jungles with giant waterfalls and have pic-nics with koalas. When I would see starving children my own age begging for money on the streets of Sao Paulo, I could disappear and go to a ball where I could wear long romantic lilac gowns and have curls in my hair and satin gloves. When teachers lost their patience with my shyness, I didn't have to sit through a lecture about social skills, I could go off and run through vast green meadows while the wind gently hit my face. I could do anything. I could be anyone. It was intensely freeing.

I would say I lived in my imaginary world quite often, and I would say it served me well sometimes. But it also worked against me. I was so used to detaching myself from anything difficult that I didn't know how to be present anymore, even when I needed to be. I couldn't focus, it became difficult to study for tests, I felt like a bad friend most of the time because I didn't really know how to listen, and I didn't know how to sit through or with any kind of pain. If I had grown up in the U.S., I probably would have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder and given drugs. I don't know if the drugs would have helped me though, because I was very attached to my imaginary world. But by the time I got to high school, I recognized it was getting in the way, and I was afraid I would soon be failing all my classes.

I went to an English teacher I kind of liked and told her of my "problem". I explained that my imagination would get the better of me, even in my favorite subjects, like English, and I couldn't bring myself back down to earth once I was off in lala land. She suggested that every time I start to drift off, I take out a notebook and write down where my thoughts were going as though I were writing a fiction story. I was a little disappointed to hear her say that- I was hoping she would just tell me I was normal and that it would pass. But I was desperate to find some solution before I simply failed out of school, and so I took on her idea.

You may have guessed what happened. The girl who lived inside her head brought her head to paper, and a writer was born. Journals upon journals were filled with stories, observations, images, poems, thoughts, essays, dreams and, ultimately, my pains. And once I had a place to put my thoughts, they started to get out of the way.

I still have a tendency to detach from anything painful, but I catch it quite quickly and try to breathe through it instead of run away from it. I still write things down though, but I don't have to, I can usually focus when I need to. I have learned that our painful experiences are our fuel. That which makes us feel weak in life can be our weapon in creative outlets. A paintbrush, a pen, a piano- those are all important tools, but without our life, without our pain, without our willingness to access it, we can not create.

I am really grateful to have had Sarah, that wonderful imaginative little princess, for helping a shy, overly-sensitive child find a world she could live in, then to have found the teacher who guided me towards my voice, and now to have the courage, every day, to face the reality of every moment, with a present mind and a working imagination. The World in my Head is not so much an escape now, but rather a way to understand reality and generate a creative force which gives me power, freedom, and presence.

BUSY!!!!!!!!

Building

Unwanted 

Stairs To  

Yield Senseless Arguments With Senseless People!!!!!!!

PS :- Dearies, Thanks A Lot For All Your Cherishable Compliments For Previous Post "FRIENDSHIP" :) :)

Seatbelts

Jimmy Saville - legendary British DJ - promoting seatbelt sense.

Up until 1983, wearing seatbelts in cars had simply been advisable in the UK but in that year it became mandatory. I passed my driving test without the protection of a seatbelt and began driving cars regularly in the late seventies. My first car didn't even have seatbelts and the next couple of cars were temperamental starters so I was often lifting the bonnet (hood) first thing on wet or wintry mornings - I needed to be in and out of those blasted cars and a seatbelt would have been a painful hindrance so I never bothered.

I watched the famous Jimmy Saville ads of the early eighties - "Clunk! Click! Every trip!" but when 1983 came I was an entrenched non-wearer. Subconsciously, I think I always set off still expecting my car to stall and to have to get out and fiddle under the bonnet. Obviously and logically, the wearing of seatbelts is eminently sensible. So many lives have been saved since the law became more insistent about them. However, non-wearing had become part of my psyche and most days I would set off having failed to clunk and click. First Shirley and then our kids would remind me to get my seatbelt on and I tried, really tried but I just couldn't establish the habit.

Then one bright August morning in 1999, when I was travelling into school to undertake yet more hours of unpaid and unrecognised holiday work, the law finally caught up with me. A police motorcyclist spotted me in the Crookesmoor suburb of Sheffield and chased after me. He himself was of course not wearing a seatbelt. I believe I was given a fixed penalty fine of £30. You would have thought that this would have taught me a lesson and for a while I really did try harder to remember my seatbelt but it was not until we bought our Vauxhall Astra in 2006 that my seatbelt donning became quite habitual. And this is simply because the car whines at me and flashes a red signal on the dashboard whenever I forget. I am like one of Pavlov's dogs.

On Saturday, Shirley and I were thundering up the East Coast railway line to Doncaster at speeds well over 120mph. Neither of us were wearing seatbelts and nor were any of our fellow passengers. Recently, I jumped in a taxi at Hunter's Bar roundabout. The driver wasn't wearing a seatbelt and I didn't have to wear one in the rear of the cab - a strange legal exemption. Police, fire brigade and ambulance personnel don't have to wear them nor do delivery drivers. Riding on buses to and from the city centre you don't have to wear seatbelts - there aren't even any fitted. Cyclists and motorcyclists don't wear seatbelts. Car drivers are legally obliged to stop themselves from flying through windscreens like action heroes but it is okay for motorcyclists to head butt trees or slide on their leathers to untimely deaths at lamp-posts.

Here are some interesting facts. For every 100 million vehicle kilometres travelled in the UK there will be 121 deaths or serious injuries to motorcyclists compared with 2.6 deaths or serious injuries to car users. In 2004, 4008 motorcyclists died on roads in the USA. Such statistics suggest that motorcycles should simply be outlawed. Even though I struggled to become an instinctive seatbelt user, I know that wearing them makes complete sense. But if governments are going to use laws to protect us from ourselves then they should be more consistent - ban motorbikes, ban hang-gliding, ban cigarettes and ensure that seatbelts are fitted on all trains and buses. And that's just for starters.

Dinning Restaurants in Minneapolis and St. Paul, US

Minnesotans are known for the culinary traditions of their Scandinavian and German ancestors, the growing immigrant popularity is introducing ethnic food to the Twin Cities’ (Minneapolis and St. Paul) cuisine.

Minneapolis D’Amico Cucino. From the gleaming white linens to the marble floors and leather chairs, this is a haute place. The seasonal menu has a modern Italian acent and includes artistically presented pastas.

Minneapolis Good fellow’s: The changing menu at this plush restaurant includes regional game such as venison, pheasant and trout in season as well as excellent presentations of lamb, veal and pork.

Minneapolis Whiney Grille: In the lavish Whitney Hotel, the Grille has a flower filled garden plaza and a hushed main room with rich woods and muted floral fabrics. The regional American specialties change seasonally.

St. Paul Grill: The St. Paul Hotel’s stylish, contemporary bistro has a view of Rice Park. The menu is American with dry aged steaks, fresh fish, pastas, chicken potpie, homemade roast beef hash and weekly specials.

St. Paul Dakota Bar and Grill: The Twin Cites’ best jazz club also serves creative Midwestern fare, including grilled rainbow trout and salmon-walleye croquettes.

Best holiday Resort

Myrtle Beach Resorts are one of the best holiday spots that you should visit in order to chill yourself along with your family members. The beach resort by Price is equipped with all the top class facilities to make your visit very comfortable and highly enjoyable. The rooms are available in all size and the major highlight is site seeing with fresh air at your balcony. The beauty of the place can be enjoyed to the maximum and the dining facility with sea foods is one that you would love to have. You can also try your hand at the game of Golf and this place is a quite a famous one for that.

Myrtle Beach Accomodations can be checked by clicking the availability button in their site. The arrival date can be selected and you can mention the number of nights you would like to stay, along with the number of members and click Check the availability button. Myrtle Beach Accommodations will be a memorable trip for your whole family and you would like to come to the place again.

I would suggest you all to have a look at the photo galley so that you can all sneak in a preview of how pleasant and memorable your stay will be at Myrtle Beach Resort. Well after having a look at the snaps you would be raring to have a stay at one of the scenic beauties of the world.

FRIENDSHIP !!!!!!

Following Silent Flowing

River
 
In The Lovable Heart, To Hear

Echoing
 
Nano Seconds
 
Down The
 
Stream To
 
Help A Friend Who Has Lost
 
Inherent Strength & Fighting To Gain  

Peace of Mind!!!!!!!

PS :- Dearies, Thanks A Lot For All Your Cherishable Compliments For Previous Post "DEAR".

PPS :- Dearies, This Poem Is Dedicated To All My Student Life Friends, Blogger Friends, & To All Who Know Me As CREATIVITY Or By Any Other Name Or Reference!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I Tried To Relate Friendship With A River Because, When Our Friend Is In Severe Pain/Trouble, Need Someone's Help/Encouragement, Then, That Someone[Who Help] IS An Entire Universe, To The One Who Was Relieved From Pain/Trouble!!!!!!!! Friendship Is The Best Medicine At Critical Situations!!!!! I Feel That, This Poem Could Be Much More Better!!!!!! Suggestions Are Most Welcome!!!!!!!

Wired

Wired? Insulated? Excluded? I have even invented a new word - "techluded" with a definition that might run something like this "to be removed from everyday life through addiction to technological aids (e.g. mobile phone, digital music player, laptop)". It's not logical I know but I can't help bristling about certain aspects of the "digital revolution" to which we are all meant to subscribe like unthinking moonies. Let me elucidate with some examples from the last twenty four hours.

I am on a London bus riding from Golders Green station to Euston because the Northern Line on the tube system is closed for engineering works. A Russian student from Kings College plonks herself next to me and for the next forty five minutes, as we move sluggishly from traffic jam to traffic jam, she gabbles on in Russian to two or three different friends. On and on it went. Samovars and Pushkin, Siberian suitors and Crimean crimes. Somebody sharing my personal space but with her mind elsewhere - not caring a fig for her fellow passengers and probably oblivious to the unnaturalness of her mobile communication. She's grown up with it.

Near Hampstead Heath I notice Saturday joggers all wearing their obligatory white ear wires. Are they jogging to the beat of banality - Take That, JLS, Girls Aloud? Who knows?

Music is social - for sharing. Looking up my carriage on the 20.05 train back to Doncaster, I count sixteen people with tiny earphones in their lugholes privately absorbing their chosen tracks inside their own little dream worlds - voluntarily stepping away from everyday reality as if in a trance. It's always other people's music - never music they have made themselves. There are half a dozen tapping away at laptops. One might imagine important business deals but as I return from the lavatory, I see they're mostly on entertainment or news sites and one is playing solitaire. They are all wearing headphones. Doubly cut off.

There are bleeps from text messages sent or received and phone calls to friends and families. The railway carriage of 2010 is a much different place from the carriage of 2000. Just ten years and we find all this technological ease and absorption - I-phones, MP3 players, laptops, internet access even in transit. Instinctively I have partly excluded myself from this cult and see it with a mixture of curiosity and horror. Making this blog and being internet-savvy, I don't think of myself as a technophobe at all but this tendency for people to enter their own little technologically supported worlds - even in public - is one that makes me shudder. It's almost as if the real world doesn't matter any more. Woh oh woh indeed.

Walkin' about with a head full of music
Cassette in my pocket and I'm gonna use it-stereo
-out on the street you know-woh oh woh... Cliff Richard "Wired for Sound"

Superstar daughter Soundarya's Engagement stills/photos

On 17th February, Superstar Rajinikanth's second daughter Soundarya's Engagement held at Chennai in a grand manner. Kalingar Karunanidhi with his family members attended the function. Directors K.Balachander, Shankar, Rajini's best friend Kamalhassan, Vairamuthu, Singer P.Suseela, Ajith with his wife Shalini are some of the important personalities attended the function and blessed the couple. The marriage date has not yet announced. Ashwin and Soundarya are looking like made for each other couple. All the very best to them.

DEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Dashing

Energetic

Angel

Resting Forever In Our Hearts :) :)

PS :- Dearies, Thanks A Lot For All Your Cherishable Compliments For Previous Post "DOG".

Surya’s next film / Shruthi Hassan in Tamil film ?

Surya is going act again in A.R.Murugadoss’s direction again. As the shooting for his film “Singam” is over, he is going do again with his Ghajini fame director. After the amazing success of “Aadhavan”, Udhayanidi Stalin is the producer of the film. Sources close to the actor said that Harris Jayaraj is the music director and Ravi Chandran is the camera man for the next film.

Kamalahassan’s daughter Shruthi Hassan is the heroine of the film. After her first film in Hindi “Luck”, she is going to do in Tamil with Surya. Sources said that the shooting of film will start from April.

Best Hotels at Boston

Many of the Boston city’s most costly lodgings have attractively priced weekend packages. Consult the Boston Travel Planner for current rates. Bed and breakfasts can be a less expensive alternative.

Boston Harbor Hotel at Rowe’s Wharf. Everything here is done on a grand scale, starting with the dramatic entrance through an 80 ft. arch way. Guest rooms – with marble bathrooms, fresh flowers and custom made desks – have city or water views.

Eliot Hotel: The luxurious suites at the Eliot have two cable equipped televisions, tasteful pasted hue décor and Italian marble bathrooms. The airy restaurant, Clio, has been garnering rave reviews for its serene ambience and contemporary French-American cuisine. The Eliot is steps for Newbury Street and a short walk to Kenmore Square.

Fairmont Copley Plaza: The public space of this 1912 landmark are grand, with high gilded and painted ceilings, mosaic floors, marble pillars and crystal chandeliers; guest rooms have antique and repro-antique furniture elegant marble bathrooms and fax machines and more than 400 rooms are available for guests.

Four Seasons: The Four Seasons is famed for luxurious personal service of the sort demanded by celebrities and heads of State. It has huge rooms with King size beds and artwork. The restaurant is one of Boston’s best and the Bristol Lounge serves afternoon tea daily.

Tips to use Microsoft Office

Hi friends in this post I am going to give some tips for the new users of Microsoft word. In Microsoft office:-word, excel, power point, access etc. are available. Here we will see how we can use Microsoft word. If you want to type a letter or any document, you can simple type the matter in the new document. Those who know typing, it is very easy for them. The same key board is available in the computes also. Here it is very easy for you to make corrections. If you type a word wrongly, you will see the screen red underlining. By placing the cursor on the particular word then right click the mouse, you will see the correct spelling and you can choose word and place the cursor on the particular word and then click it you will see the correct word in the document. After finishing the work you can save the document by naming it in a separate folder. When you want to see the document again you can go to the particular document and open it and you see the matter and also you can make changes by adding or deleting some part in it and again you can save it in another name also.

In the Microsoft word, there are many facilities available like you can choose different font styles; font size, different font colors, check grammar, auto correct facility and you can also do calculations in the formula tool bar. There is a facility to add pictures, word art, etc. If you want to know the meaning of a particular word you can simple place the cursor on the particular word, then press (Shift +F7) you will see the meaning of the word.

Trapped Tears

I was 7 and I fell and hurt my knee. I wailed in pain as tears streamed down my face and I sobbed wildly. It was simple then: I got hurt, I was in pain, I cried. Not just "cried" with my eyes, but with my whole body. I sobbed hard, gasping for air, letting out whatever screams my body developed in response to the pain. It was a complete release of what I was feeling at that moment. There was no self-consciousness, there was no censorship, there was no control.

Then the woman who was taking care of me got down on her knees, took my face into her hands, and said, "Don't cry darling. A lady never cries."

Those words quickly and imperceptibly traveled from her lips and into my face, freezing themselves onto my cheeks, where they would cozily create an army base called Fort Larissa Shall Not Cry.

Our bodies are smart. They figure out what they have to do to survive and they remember it forever. On that day, when my 7-year-old self's ladyhood was threatened, my body was quick to help me: it froze my face so that no tears would cross it, no matter what.

Here's the thing, though, about our bodies deciding something for us when we're 7 years old: we're bound to forget the decision was ever made. It's possible I would not have been bothered by that, if I weren't an actress. But I am, and I found out that sometimes characters have to cry. So I soon realized that it was practically impossible for me to shed a single tear in front of other people, even if I was completely emotionally connected to a character's reality. And I really thought I would never be able to change that. I didn't know why that was the case- I figured maybe it was because I should only play "strong" women who never cry.

That could have worked for the rest of my life, if I were the kind of actor who only wants to play one kind of character. As you may have guessed, that was not the case. I went through high school and college trying out all sorts of tricks, reading all kinds of books, studying with many teachers. But to no avail. I couldn't cry. One day, shortly after graduating from college, in a moment of despair, thinking I would never be a great actress, I wrote a prayer, "Please, to the Powers That Be, I ask that you help me open up as an actor and be able to express every emotion necessary with truth and honesty."

A month later I was accepted to The Actor's Studio M.F.A program, and I went. I didn't know it at the time, but that would be the answer to my prayer. It was actually a simple phrase that did it. After one of the basic exercises in sense memory, I was frustrated with my inability to let go and be fully affected by the exercise, and my genius teacher said, "Your problems in life are your problems in acting. Your habits in life are your habits on stage. Your blocks as a person are your blocks as an actor."

Immediately I was transported back to that day, 14 years earlier, when my body made a decision that would become so permanent I would assume I had no choice over it whatsoever. As though the Fort Larissa Shall Not Cry residing in my cheeks had been made of solid ice, my teacher's words became the hot air that melted it, and I was free.

It was not an immediate process. I was able to let out a few tears, but there were simply too many years of repressed sobs for me to be able to suddenly let it all go. I would find myself, weeks later, lying in bed at night and suddenly sobbing, loudly, like a child, for no particular reason. I knew something had really shifted when I watched the movie, "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" and cried hysterically in front of friends who had never seen me cry before. At the same time that I was crying, and they were asking me over and over again what was wrong, I was laughing. I was so incredibly happy, I felt so relieved! I was crying, really really crying, with abundant tears and crazy child-like noises, in front of my friends!

As my teacher predicted, as soon as I started letting go of my armor in life, I was able to open up on stage, and my prayer was answered. Bringing that day when I, at 7, learned that a lady never cries, to consciousness, gave me a choice over it. I told another teacher of mine about it and she said, "well, ladies can't be actresses, so you better give that up anyway." And I did. I cried. I cried in front of people- and not gracefully. I was no lady.

I still have to soften my face and give myself permission to cry, every day, and certainly every time before I act. It's funny because people who have only known me within the past four years think I'm a cry-baby; they think I have absolutely no problem whatsoever accessing my vulnerability and releasing emotions. I'd go so far as to say I'm known for my ability to cry. I was even recommended recently for a part that demanded a lot of crying, under the premises that "Oh, Larissa can totally cry on cue." I have to say it's still hard for me to believe that something that was nearly impossible for me for 14 years is now only a breath away, but it is, and I am forever grateful.

As I have said in a previous post, I aim to be an open vessel for every character I play to live through me. It is a gift, not only to me but to every character I play, to have this block removed from my face, history, and heart. In life, too, I find the moments when it's appropriate to sob, scream, thrash, gasp for air, and cry ferociously, uncontrollably- like a 7-year-old who has never been told a lady never cries.

It's delicious, it's precious, it's choice, and it's freedom.

Fashion

From Peru to You...

Wanna be snug but stylish? The fashion hit of the moment with bloggers all over the world is the Peruvian Alpaca Herder's Hat. You'll be square if you're seen out and about without one! This stylish head garment comes in a range of designs - all hand-woven in the foothills of the Andes. The Peruvian Alpaca Herder's hat has already been a massive hit with a range of celebrities and fashion trendsetters but in the blogging community it is fast becoming an essential fashion accessory. Here's what a selection of leading bloggers said:-

"I can only blog when I 'm wearing my Peruvian hat. It seems to give me inspiration. Mine is beige with white stripes and has some stylised alpacas on the earflaps. There's also a big beige bobble on the top" - Daphne "My Dad's A Communist"

"Here in Georgia, all eyes look my way when I walk into the local Wendy's or Denny's wearing my Peruvian mountain hat. Other customers smile broadly when they see me. The pink, green and chocolate stripes are exquisite and when it's cold I simply tie the earflaps under my chin." - Robert "Rhymes With Plague"

"I dispute that these hats are Peruvian at all. I always thought they were from Wales. I was wearing mine long before Peru was even invented. It's in Welsh colours with a big green dragon on the back and a knitted yellow daffodil in place of a bobble." - Jenny "Demob Happy Teacher"

"Up here on Westray in the Orkney Isles, I have two Peruvian Alpaca Herder's hats. There's the bristly pink pig-coloured one I wear when mucking out my pigs and there's the old gold and black one I wear for special nights out with the missus. She overknitted the word WOLV across the rim. There wasn't enough room for the "E" and "S" ". - Malc "The Edge of Nowhere"

JOIN THE IN-CROWD

So what are you waiting for? To purchase your own unique Peruvian Alpaca Herder's hat send a cheque for £17.50 to Yorkshire Pudding Enterprises Ltd. Remember to state your preferred colours and ask for a special 2% bloggers' online discount!*

Legendary blogger Brad the Gorilla

*you can ask but you won't get it.

DOG !!!!!!!!!!

Darling
Owning
Golden Heart :) :)

PS :- Dearies, Thanks A Lot For All Your Cherishable Compliments For Previous Post "MY HEART SAYS"!!!!!

Best Laid Plans

Due to a dramatic change in my work pattern this week, for one week only, I rather thought I'd have loads of spare time and be able to get lots of little jobs done. Instead of which I've been getting in at 3am, getting between 4 and 6 hours sleep (not enough for me) and then returning to the office at 4pm, feeling generally like death warmed up.















Needless to say not a whole lot has been achieved outside of work and "important" projects like updating my iPod play list will just have to wait. Again.

Good job it's only for a week.




17 Feb:
Crystal Palace 1 - 3 Reading.

Up to 18th in the Championship. That's more like it.

Superstar daughter Soundarya's Engagement still

Superstar daughter Soundarya's Engagement took place yesterday. The marriage engagement took place in Chennai’s famous Hotel Park Sheraton. Sources said that this is a arranged love marriage and when Soundarya first met Ashwin in Goa sets they became friends and later they decided to marry. Ashwin is looking very smart and he is the son of famous construction company owner Ramkumar. Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Mr.Karunanidhi and his family members attended the function and blessed the couple. After the release of Soundarya’s dream project “Sultan the warrior”, the animation movie, the marriage will be held.