Crossword Puzzles For Active Minds
November 30, 2009
Crossword Puzzles For Active Minds
by: Steve Thomas
Use it or lose it, most definitely applies to our brains. How many of us actually remember all we were taught at school. I know some would say that much of what we learned was pointless. I guess I don’t really need to know how many millions of miles away the sun and the moon are.
One thing I do know is that most of the elderly people I come into contact with, who still have a spring in their step, have one or two things in common. They have kept their mind and bodies active.
Completing crossword puzzles is a popular way to keep the mind active in ones latter years. Crossword puzzles certainly keep our brains ticking over and the more it’s used the better we become. The great thing with crosswords is that you can start work on easier puzzles and eventually progress to the more challenging.
Crossword puzzles are not just great mind activators for the elderly. Students can also benefit from themed crossword puzzles, as they are a great way to review a recently learned subject.
Planning a Spectacular Christmas Party
November 30, 2009
The holiday season is typically filled with large fancy parties, small intimate gatherings, and extravagant dinner parties. Planning your own Christmas party can seem like you’re competing with hundreds of other festive events during this time, but by adding special touches to every aspect of your party, its sure to be a success.
Magical Themes
A great party starts with a great theme. You may be thinking that your party theme is a given since it is Christmas time. But take it one step further and you’ll end up with a fabulous Christmas party that will be the talk of the town. Some theme ideas include:
- Black tie dinner party - Winter wonderland - Sophisticated cocktail party - Casual fireside party
These party themes are easy to put together and aren’t too far from the feel of the season to seem out of place as a Christmas party. People love to get dolled up around this time and so costume parties may be a little out of place. Each of your party themes should tie into all aspects of your party including any decorations, invitations, and even food. Choosing a theme may seem difficult at first but once you get started on planning your party it will make the entire process seem easier.
Ambiguity and Abstraction in Bob Dylan?s Lyrics
November 29, 2009
To many people contemporary poetry is a turn-off. The reason for this is that the majority of these poems are boring. They are so because they fail to enable people to identify with them. The bulk of modern poetry is no longer about reader identification but about information transfer, information that could just as easily be conveyed in a prose form. These poems are written merely to convey the poet’s thoughts and feelings about a specific event, situation or place he or she has experienced or is in the act of experiencing. The poet is not necessarily concerned with whether the reader is moved or not by the poem, so long as he or she understands clearly the information the poet is trying to convey. This may consist of some "important" insight gained from an experience, or it could be (as is usually the case) a jaded statement or commentary about some mundane aspect of contemporary life.
Make Your Scrapbooking Efforts Easier With a Journal
November 28, 2009
Make Your Scrapbooking Efforts Easier With a Journal
by: Vera Raposo
(We would love to give you a journaling-tip to help you along…..)
Journals are a great way to keep track of dates, places, and events that you wish to include in your scrapbooks. You can use a special notebook, PDA, or a calendar to keep track of your scrapbooking ideas.
A journal is also a wonderful way to remember special times in the lives of your friends and family. Amusing thoughts and sentimental feelings can be recorded in your journal to give you ideas for captioning and titles in your scrapbooks.
It is important to keep your journal current. This will save you a lot of time when creating your scrapbook pages. You can write the dates and times of family outings and special occasions such as visits to the zoo, visits from grandparents and other relatives, and make notes as to what each person experienced during these times.
Scrapbooks are more than simple photo albums. They are a chronological history of the places and people that shape our lives.
Scrapbooking And The Use Of Digital Photography
November 27, 2009
Scrapbooking And The Use Of Digital Photography
by: Vera Raposo
Digital photography has made scrapbooking easier than ever before.
Digital cameras allow you to view your pictures immediately instead of
waiting hours or days for film to be developed.
You will also know if you have captured the perfect shot as soon as you take it and you can discard unwanted pictures right away instead of wasting time and money having your film developed only to discover that half your pictures did not turn out the way you had intended.
Digital photographs can be uploaded to your computer immediately and
most photo editing software includes various borders, cropping tools, and
the ability to include captions.
Digital photos can be stored indefinitely and you may choose to have them made into a CD Rom as an extra measure of safety. You will be able to edit, touch up, and alter your photos as you see fit in just minutes thanks to the convenience of photo editing software.
Digital cameras have become inexpensive and some brands even offer disposable digital cameras that can be used once and developed into pictures or a CD Rom at your local retailers.
Fun Halloween Party Themes and Ideas
November 26, 2009
Halloween is the day of the year that has the most parties thrown in its honor. Everyone loves to dress up and attend Halloween parties with their friends. Most people end up getting several invitations to different Halloween parties that are often on the same night. If you are planning to throw your own Halloween party, how can you get all your friends to head to your shindig and not someone else’s? You need to come up with some unique and fun ideas that will get everyone on your list so excited about your party they won’t even consider going anywhere else.
Not Just Any Old Theme
Many people don’t bother thinking of a theme for their Halloween party since it seems to be somewhat of a theme already. But rather than just putting up some Happy Halloween banners and fake cobwebs, why not come up with a great theme party idea? You can do anything from a haunted house or graveyard to a monster mash or horror movie bash. Once you’ve chosen your theme apply it to everything from your invitations to your party food. Guests will love some guidance on what to dress up as, especially if you do something a little different.
The Animal and the Human
November 25, 2009
Recent DNA analyses have revealed that humans share a majority of our genetic makeup with other animals. Physically speaking, our similarities with our fellow beings far outweigh our differences. In the Western mindset, however, a sharp line is drawn between human beings and other animals. Because they do not communicate in our language, it is thought, we do not have much in common beyond physical structure. For Westerners, only humans have a soul, a wide range of emotions, and the unique capacities of reason, imagination, and the changing of our environment on a grand scale to meet our needs. Despite the division in our thinking, we still have intimate relationships with the animals closest to us and cannot seem to resist anthropomorphizing them. There are several societies whose conception of humans’ place in the animal world is far different from ours.
Although these kinds of belief systems are widely varied, many see us as more closely related to other creatures, both physically and spiritually. Here, I will examine a few of these non-Western ideologies and compare their conceptions of the human-animal relationship to each other and to Western ideas.
Start Up a Travel Photography Business
November 25, 2009
Too many people have the idea that being paid to take photographs of exotic places is the ideal job. It may take years of effort to be paid by magazines such as the National Geographic, but are there better ways to become a travel photographer. As most people have more leisure time, more holiday time, and more disposable income, the demand for travel photographs has increased dramatically. Not only are they in demand for travel brochures, but they’re also used extensively in other advertising copy.
Images necessary for sale and publication require rather more skill than those applied to standard holiday snaps. “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” Was a quote by the French novelist Marcel Proust, and it appears to be of particular use to the travel photographer.
Investigate the possibilities of becoming a contracted photographer at Lonely Planet Images. Lonely Planet Images is a digital library of travel photography. They have submission guidelines available for download at their website. They are a subsidiary of what used to known as the Lonely Planet Guide, and currently have 400 photographers on contract. You can also increase your chances of breaking into the very lucrative travel market, by entering competitions such as the Travel photographer of the Year . There closing date for submissions is September 5th 2005.
Inspiring Art Brings Caribbean Scenes to Life
November 24, 2009
Inspiring Art Brings Caribbean Scenes to Life
by: Jennifer Smith
Caribbean culture has always had a close relationship with the arts. As more and more artists from the region attract international acclaim and attention, the unique style of Caribbean painters is becoming accessible to wider and more diverse audiences.
Music and literature are, perhaps, the best-known Caribbean art forms. Famous names like musician Bob Marley and poet Derek Walcott have created works the whole world enjoys. But painting is growing as a recognized form of expression. Paintings that offer colorful depictions of island life and scenery in particular are popular, and Cuba, Haiti, and Jamaica are the best known among these artistic islands.
Art History
The unique sights and sounds of the Caribbean have always been an inspiration to any who experience them. The bright colors of the region’s landscapes and vibrant personalities of its people are particularly important in the region. The Caribbean’s art history does contain a few surprises. Both Camille Pissarro and John Audubon, famous artists, were born in the Caribbean. Although their styles are not typical of the area, they have been influential in the development of the region’s art.
Ode to: The Ice Maiden of Ampatos Summit [now in: English and Spanish]
November 23, 2009
Dedícate to Antonio Castillo. L. Of. Los Andes Universitario
Ode to:
The Ice Maiden Of Ampato’s Summit
English Version
Part One The Climb
In the spring of my life, in my village
By the Andes, I awoke one morning
To find I was chosen for a journey
How shall I say: to the summit of Ampato!
Ampato, our sacred mountain
I climbed with our holy priests.
I found myself twenty-thousand feet high;
I would be the sacrificial offering
Ordained so, by our celestial chief priest.
Once on top, death could scarcely be
Any bitter than its wild arduous winds;
And the icy cold Andean ceremony?.
And there I sat, within the clouds, and rested
With figurines of silver and gold,
And beautiful textiles adorning me
All dressed, in fine indulgent funerary,
I was to be, the Inca Ice Maiden
Now ready for death and burial.
‘I hoped the gods of Ampato,’ so I prayed
‘Are pleased today’; for my body,
Will be frozen soon, anyway.
Yet, I’m so very cold, and my hands clutch,
