Amanda Knox,an American student convicted of murdering her British roommate in Italy in 2007, addressed the jury in her appeal trial on October 3rd. Knox begged for her life back, and claimed she did not kill, rape, or steal. She spoke in fluent Italian, which she learned while spending four years in jail in Italy. Her former boyfriend, also convicted of the murder of Meredith Kercher, claimed he had never hurt anyone. While waiting for the verdict, Knox reportedly felt confident that she would be acquitted. Hours lateAmanda Knox Acquitted
 the jury overturned the murder conviction and Amanda Knox and her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were set free. One man remains in prison for the murder of the British exchange student.

Comprehension Questions

1.What was unique about Amanda Knox’s plea?

While in jail, Amanda learned italian and she could follow her

trial and speak very good italian to the court.

2.What was the jury’s verdict?

The jury changed the verdict, from guilty to non guilty

and Amanda and her ex BF were released

3.How long did Amanda Knox spend in prison?

She spent 4 long years in the italian jail.

Discussion Question:

The term “Amanda Knox” has been one of the most popular search terms online throughout the trials. Some people say that the media helped wrongly convict Amanda Knox and also helped set her free. Why would a case like this become an “obsession” for people to follow?

Well, because Amanda and her BF always claimed their innocence and thought there were no real evidences and no proves of their guilt, they we condamned in their first trial. That was enough for the medias and public to closely follow the trial and everybody knows that medias are powerful and that they can often make rain or shine.... and most people just follow them.

Hello friends,

Tara organized a new challenge for us; it's about comparing 2 photos. They must have similitaries, but at the same time, some contrasts too. So, your challenge is to compare the pictures and to answer my questions about them

So here are the 2 photos. First one wastaken in Rome, Italy the second one in Türkler, Turkey.





Questions:

1.What are the similitaries about those 2 photos ?
2.What are the differences ?
3.What can you say about the architecture of those 2 buildings ?
4.As you know that those photos were taken in Turkey and in Italy,
tell me what comes first to your mind when thinking about those
two countries.

If you wish to participate to this challenge, check this following link:
http://www.myenglishclub.com/profiles/blogs/compare-and-contrast

Last Bullfight in Catalonia


Approximately 20,000 bullfighting fans turned up for a bullfight in Barcelona on Sunday. This was the last bullfight of the season and likely the last fight that will ever take place in La Monumental arena. A bullfighting ban will take effect on January 1st in Catalonia. After the sixth and final bull was killed, three of Spain’s top matadors were carried out of the arena on the crowd’s shoulders. Many fans were protesting the ban outside the arena, while activists were celebrating their victory. Bullfighting has not been banned in other Spanish regions, though animal rights activists hope to extend the ban across the country. Others call bullfighting a Spanish art form that ought to be protected. While attendance had declined in recent years, tickets for the last show were sold on the black market for up to five times the price.

Comprehension Questions

Why was this the last bullfight in Catalonia?
Bullfighting has been banned in Catalognia and the ban will
take effect on January 1st, 2012. Therefore, the last Sunday's
bullfight on Barcelona was the last one in the La Monumental
arena and in the region of Catalognia.

What does the report say about the famous matadors?
After the death of the six bulls, the matadors were carrried out
of the arena on the fan's shoulders.

What hope do animal rights activists have?
The animals activists hope that bullfights will be banished in
the whole country.

Discussion Question:

Despite 180,000 signatures from people who call bullfighting cruel, one fan compared closing the Barcelona arena to “throwing a Picasso painting into the garbage”. What do you think about this comparison?

From my point of view, this comparison makes no sense. How can killing a bull in such a crual way can be compared to an art ? Even if bullfights have been part of the Spanish culture for more than 5 centuries, nothing justifies such barbarity against living animals. I'd rather say that, to kill three bulls at a bullfight is like throwing 3 Picasso in the garbage.

By chance, i found this article somewhere on the net and i found it so interesting that i thought that i would share it with you here. For a few years I protected myself by closing my heart to others and, with time,  i noticed that those to whom i was closing my heart to, were just doing the same to me. So to close our heart to people is not the right.

Here is the article. I hope you will find it intersting.

While you might believe that keeping your heart closed is the
only way to feel safe, there is a far better way of feeling safe.

Do you live your life with your heart mostly open or mostly closed? Do you spend most of your time protecting against rejection or being taken advantage of, or most of your time open to sharing love with others?

As children, many people had very heartbreaking experiences that caused them to close their heart. What experiences led to you closing your heart?

• Various forms of physical and/or sexual abuse
• Various forms of emotional abuse, such as criticism, judgment, 
  blame, ridicule, or sarcasm
• Being neglected, ignored, discounted, unseen

• Being engulfed and smothered by a parent - pulled on and used to
  fill up their emptiness
• Rejection by parents, siblings, and/or peers
• Loss of a parent through divorce or death
• Loss of a beloved sibling, friend, or relative
• Physical defects that created limitation

As children, when you experienced any of these and other very challenging situations, and there was no one there to lovingly help you through the pain, the heartbreak may have been too intense for you to manage and you might have closed your heart to survive. You may have learned to be in your head rather than your heart.

However, now, as adults, keeping your heart closed has many negative consequences. While it was necessary for your survival as a child, now it is causing you a lot of pain. As adults, we all need to learn to lovingly manage our heartbreak without closing down.

What Happens Now When You Keep Your Heart Closed?

• I feel alone and empty inside
• I can't feel connected with others
• I turn to various addictions - food, drugs, alcohol, TV, sexuality, talking, anger, blame, and so on,   

  to fill my emptiness and take away my aloneness
• My relationships are unsatisfying
• Life is not fun
• I feel anxious and/or depressed
• I get sick a lot

These are just a few of the many negative consequences of keeping your heart closed.

Are you afraid to open your heart? Are you afraid of being hurt and rejected, controlled and used? Are you afraid that if you open your heart you will not be able to manage the heartache, heartbreak, loneliness, sadness, and sorrow of life?

How Can You Keep Your Heart Open And Still Feel Safe?

You will start to feel safe when you learn to take emotional responsibility - responsibility for your own feelings. As a child, your body was too small to handle the big feelings of heartbreak and loneliness without the help of loving adults. Today, your body is big enough to handle these feelings, but you still need the help of a loving grown-up. The difference is that now the loving grown-up needs to be you. You need to learn to be the loving person capable of managing the painful feelings of life so that you don't need to close your heart and turn to addictions.

The loving grown-up is who we are when we are connected with a powerful source of spiritual guidance. When we are not connected with our Source, we are operating from our programmed mind - our wounded self. Our wounded self, coming from many fears and false beliefs, is not capable of handling the painful feelings of life. This is the part of you that closes your heart to protect against pain, yet is now causing much of your pain.

When you move out of the intent to protect against pain and into the intent to learn about loving yourself and others, then you move out of your programmed mind and into your connection with a spiritual source of love and wisdom. When you choose the intent to learn rather than the intent to protect, your heart naturally opens. It is your intent to protect against pain with various forms of controlling behavior that keeps your heart closed.

By Dr. Margaret Paul

http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/safety_with_an_open_heart

Hello sisters and brothers,

Today Tara reminded us that September 21 is the day for peace. She asked us to share a quote about peace. There are a few quotes that i like so much that i could not decided for one. So i downloaded my favorite 7 ones. I hope it won't bother you with them.

You can share your favorite quote too and send it to Tara's blog : here is the link.

http://my.englishclub.com/profiles/blogs/share-a-quote-for-peace

Peace is the most powerful weapon of mankind. It takes more courage to take a blow than to give one. It takes more courage to try and talk things through than to start a war. - Gandhi

If you want a love message to be heard, it has got to be sent out. To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it. Mother Theresa

Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal. - Martin Luther King Jr

Peace is not something you wish for; it's something you make, something you do, something you are and something you give away.- Robert Fulghum

When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace. - Jimmy Hendrix

Lead me from death to life, from falsehood to truth, lead me from despair to hope, from fear to trust, lead me from hate to love, from war to peace ; let peace fill our heart, our world, our univers. - Satish Kumar

Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures. - John Fitzerald Kennedy

Dear EC friends,

Better late than never !!! I wrote this post more than 3 weeks ago and i forgot to post it. So here it is. I hope you will enjoy this little Turkish tour.

Today, everything is quite here, it's the third day of Bayram holiday and most people are with their family, relatives or friends. So i was thinking about something interesting i could do on my own and, all of a sudden, an idea came to my mind. Why wouldn't i go to the the open air « mini city » museum to make pictures of some of the most famous places of Turkey and to share them here with you. I thought it would be a fun way for me to spend my afternoon and, at the same time, a good way to show you more about this country i love so much. Sometimes, pictures talk more than words and, who know, maybe with this post, i will give you the urge to come to this side of the world for a few days. But watch out, this country is mesmerizing and, as me, you might become addicted to it.

Ready ? Let's go...

Our first stop will lead us to Istanbul the biggest city of the country ( more than 13 000 000 inhabitants) the city of my heart, the city that leaves no one indifferent, the only city in the world, built on two continents, Europe and Asia.

Every turn of the streets is an encounter with history, the history of our culture, one that starts with Hittites, the Greeks, the Gallic tribes, the Roman or Byzantine not forgetting the Ottomans.

Despite the turmoil of history, the city is still very cosmopolitan, at the muezzin's call, answer the bells of the churches or the pedestrians' indifference.

 In the streets, I came across a Gypsy in enticing cleavage, women in black tchador,

high school girls in schools' uniforms, grandpas wearing the kippa (little hats worn by Jews men ), Catholic sisters and Orthodox priests wearing their congregation's outfits, transvestite with high heels, bureaucrats in suits and ties or Kurdish peasants coming straight from the mountains.

In Istanbul, a chador does not shock, no more, no less than a miniskirt, in front of me a brand new shiny 500 mercedes 'rubs elbows' with a carriage full of garlic cloves pulled by a skiny donkey while a sophisticated woman, perched on her high heels, has tea with her well covered conservative colleague

Everything is possible here, Istanbul is an entire world in itself !

Guess what !!! After spending one hour walking around and taking photos in the museum-park the battery of my camera runned out ! Can you believe this ? I can't !!!

So i had to end my photos coverage .... until my next visit .

There are hundreds of other amazing things to photograph in Istanbul, but remember that I took those photos, you see here, in an open-air museum, so only a few of the "must see" of the city are represented .

I hope you enjoyed the journey :))

Vocabulary :

To mesmerize : verb (UK usually mesmerise)

[T often passive] to have someone's attention completely so that they cannot think of anything else

[T] old-fashioned for hypnotize

The turmoil : noun : a state of confusion, uncertainty or disorder

Enticing : adjective : Something which is enticing attracts you to it by offering you advantages or pleasure

Peasants : noun : a person who owns or rents a small piece of land and grows crops, keeps animals, etc. on it, especially one who has a low income, very little education and a low social position. This is usually used of someone who lived in the past or of someone in a poor country

From : http://dictionary.cambridge.org/ 

I found some informations on the following links. If you wish to know more.

http://www.minicitypark.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/İstanbul_Sirkeci_Terminal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helena_(Empress)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istanbul

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hittites

9/11 attacks -  10 years on.

9/11 attacks - 10 years on.

This 10th anniversary brings back a lot of memories. 

That 9/11/01 was supposed to be a great day as one of my friend and I had planned to go to Germany to spend a relaxing day.
So we headed to Aachen in the early morning and we spent the first hours of the day visiting the city. It was a beautiful fall day and the leaves on the trees were already turning yellow and red, the weather was warm and that special autumn smell was in the air. We were happy to have a full day away from our children who were back to school since less than a week after the two months of the summer holidays.

We had lunch in a typical little german restaurant at the foot of the cathedrale and then decided to go for a walk in the biggest pedestrian street of the city. The place was full of people and the atmosphere was happy go lucky.

A few minutes after 15:00 (09:00 in NY) my friends got a sms from her teenager daughter, it said : “mum, the twin towers of Manhattan have been hit by planes, they are on fire”.

Renee and i looked at each other quite suprised to read this, but as we didn’t know the details of what was happeneing there, we didn’t measure the severity of the situation. So my friend called her daughter and as she was talking on the phone with Virginie, i could see Renee’s face turning to astonishment.

She hanged up and told me what had happened there, so we both decided to go back home right away and to follow the news on the radio or television. At that time, we had no idea, yet, of what was really going on there, but we could see more nervosity in the street where, 10 minutes ealier, life was going on a peaceful way.

We arrived home 35 minutes later, ran to the livingroom and turned on the television just in time to see the first tower collapse. I was in deep shock and I remember that I could not believe what i was seeing on the screen, i could neither talk,I thought it was the remake of the movie “the towering inferno”, my mind was really mixed up, was it a nightmare or the reality ? After listening to the journalists comments, we understood then, that something very serious was going on in the States. 

My friend decided to pick her two daughters from school on her way back home and, instead of waiting for Joy and Andy to come by bus i headed to their school to pick them up.

I spent, without success, the rest of the day and the night trying to call some of my friends who were in NY, the lines were ‘out of service’ and that was the most stressful time I had to go through ; it took me 4 days before knowing they were extremely shocked but all alive.

As i am writing this review, i am watching the ceremony that is, right now, given in memory of all the victims and Paul Simon is singing an amazing acoustic version of his wonderful song... The sound of silence...

Dear friends, 

Here are some english words that gave me troubles when i first decided to learn this language.. I am so glad i found those online and that i can, now, share them with you.
I hope this post will help you.

All and ever

All and every can both be used to talk about people or things in general. There is little difference of meaning. Note that these two words are used in different structures.
Every is used with singular countable nouns. To give the same meaning, all is used with plural nouns.

Compare:

Every house in the street is yellow.
All the houses in the street are yellow.

Examples:

Every summer we have a holiday at the sea.

Every country has a national flag.

Every question has an answer.

They watch TV every evening.

I have invited every friend I have.

Steve’s job is very boring. Every day is the same.

°°°°°°°
It rained all day yesterday.

All children need love.

I was tired yesterday and watched TV all evening.

All of us are going to John's party next week.

I am not going out tonight. I’ll be at home all evening.

With Uncountable Nouns

We can use all with uncountable nouns. Every cannot be used with them.

I like all music. (not …every music.)

I like all food.

Both , Either, Neither,

Subjects connected by both meaning two take a plural conjugation.

Examples:

Both Steven and Anthony attended the training.

Mary has two children. Both are married. (both children are married)

Both Frank and Lisa are attending the conference in Chicago this weekend.

Both Sara and Melissa were late.

Last summer I went to Paris and Cannes. I liked both cities very much.

either … or

'Either … or' is used in sentences in a positive sense meaning "one or the other, this or that, he or she, etc." in other words it is used to offer a choice between two possibilities

Examples:

I’m not sure where Laura is from. She’s either German or Italian.

Would you like tea or coffee? - Either. I don’t mind.

There are two ways from here to the airport. You can go either way.

neither … nor

'Neither … nor' is used in sentences in a negative sense meaning "not this one nor the other, not this nor that, not he nor she, none of them etc." - in other words it is used to deny both possibilities

Examples:

Is your friend British or American? - Neither. She’s Australian.

Neither of the restaurants I went to was (or were) expensive.

Neither Mike nor my other friends care about their future.


Felt of fell

felt: past tense and past participle of the verb 'to feel'

Examples:

I felt better after I had a good dinner.

Never in their life had they felt so happy.


fell: past tense of the verb 'to fall'

Examples:

Mike fell from a tree and hurt his leg.

A bomb fell on the church and destroyed it.


It's and ITS

IT'S => is short for it is or it has

Examples:

It's been a long time since we saw each other!

It's been a long time since you were at school.

ITS => means belonging to it

Examples:

Our friends have had the same TV for twenty years now and it's really on its last legs. (on its last legs = in such bad condition that it will soon be unable to work as it should)

A leopard can't change its spots. (means a person's character, especially if it is bad, will not change, even if they pretend it does)


Much and Many

Much and many are mainly used in questions and negative sentences to mean 'a large number of'. There are, of course, alternatives to “a lot of” / “lots of”, depending on the context: “ a great deal of”, “large amounts of”, etc.

QUESTIONS

How much ....? + uncountable nouns

Examples:

How much sugar do you take in your coffee?

How much money do you want for this?

Do you have much work to do?

°°°°°°
How many ....? + countable nouns

Examples:

How many students are there in each class?

How many people are you expecting?

°°°°°°

NEGATIVE SENTENCES

Examples:

He doesn’t earn much money. (money => uncountable)

Not many people have heard of her. (people => countable)

Barbara doesn’t have many friends.

Past or Passed

PAST => used mainly for time gone by - past is an adjective or describing word

Examples:

During the past few months they have experienced several power outages due to the weather.

In the past, this sort of work was done by hand.

°°°°°

PASSED => moved by - passed is a verb or action word

Examples:

The car that passed us was going very fast.

Jack passed me on the stairs this morning.


PERSONAL AND PERSONNEL

personnel -> the people who are employed in a company, organization or one of the armed forces or the department of a company or organization that deals with its employees when they first join, when they need training or when they have any problems (=> Human Resources)

Examples:

For more information about the job, please contact the personnel manager.

Who’s the personnel manager in this company?

Personnel selection is the process which is used to hire individuals.

°°°°
personal -> private

Examples:

My letter was answered by his personal assistant.

I don’t want to discuss it, it’s a personal matter.


Quite or quiet

QUIET => making very little or no noise

Examples:

Keep quiet!

It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

QUITE => fairly, almost, rather, completely

Examples:

That's quite possible.

It is not quite correct.

I think it would be quite safe to go there alone.


Sell and sale

SELL verb (!) sell - sold - sold => to give something to someone else in return for money

Examples:

This page is intended to help vendors find out how to sell (verb) goods on eBay.

The shop sells (verb) drinks and snacks.

Mike buys and sells (verb) options and stocks to make money.

°°°°

SALE noun (!) => an act of exchanging something for money

Examples:

The building company gets 15 % commission on each house sale (noun).

The entire week following Christmas is a bargain hunter’s dream as stores deeply discount merchandise for quick sales (noun) at year end.


Whose or Who's

WHO’S => is short for who is or who has

Examples:

Who's got the dictionary?

Who’s that man?

WHOSE => means who does it belong to; used for adding information about a person or thing just mentioned

Examples:

Whose car is this?

Brian, whose contract expires in two weeks, is likely to move back to the States.

Quiet and still

till => staying in the same position; not moving

Example:

Young children find it difficult to sit still for long.

°°°°

quiet => making very little noise

Examples:

Please be quiet (= stop talking)!

It's so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Richard, could you keep quiet while I'm on the phone, please?


Made of – made from

We use made of if something keeps its form.

Examples:

Our house was made of wood with an iron roof.

Many things nowadays seem to be made of plastic.

°°°°°
We use made from if the form is changed during the process of making.

Examples:

Paper is made from wood.

Wine is made from grapes.


Little and few - a little and a few

Little (=> not much or not enough) is used with uncountable nouns:

Examples:

They have very little money.
There seems little hope.
He ate very little at lunch.

Few (=> a small number, not many or not enough) is used with countable nouns:

Examples:

Only few people can afford to pay such prices.
I know few places that I could recommend to you.

Note: little and few have somewhat negative meanings:

Example:

I know few places that I could recommend to you = I would like to be able to recommend more places, but unfortunately there aren't more.
When we use the indefinite article a before little and few, it has a more positive meaning, similar to some.

a few is used with countable nouns

Examples:

We need to get a few things in town.
We've got a few cakes left over from the party. = We've got some cakes left over from the party.

a little - is used with uncountable nouns

Example:

With a little training Mike could do very well.


During and for

During is used to say when something happens and for is used to say how long it lasts.

Examples:

Her grandfather died during the war.

Kevin left during the meeting.

Examples:

It rained for five hours.

We will visit you for a few minutes during the afternoon.



If you wish to learn more about other confusing words, check this very intersting link :
http://www.english-daily.com/

This morning, i heard Dia's call about childen's hunger in Africa and i decided to write a longer post about this topic. There is a HUGE emergency in the African horn as thousands of people are dying of hunger there.

In sub-Saharan Africa, a child dies every four seconds of HIV/AID and extreme poverty,... 15 every minutes.... 900 every hours.... 10 800 every 12 hours .... and about 8 millions children die every year. More than 5O% of Africans suffer from water-related diseases such as cholera, infant diarrhea, dysentery...

More around the world, more than 800 million people go to bed hungry every day. More than 1 billion children do not have access to one or more of the basic necessities of life and 90% of these kids suffer from long-term malnourishment and micro-nutrient deficiencies. (Source : UNICEF)

It's true that we are often solicited to give money for charities and that not only Africa needs our help, but there are priorities and I believe that, African children dying of hunger are one among them. A gift of 10$ can feed an African baby for 10 days... Let us think, what can we have for 10$... 7€... 17TL.... 9AUD.... 64CNY....460 IRN....77 HKD or 41 ARS ?

Of course, we are not all equals with money, and the same sum does't worth the same value according to the country where we live, but i believe we all can do something at our level.

What do you think ? 

Here is a letter an african woman wrote about poverty : it's heart-touching...

« I know poverty because poverty was there before I was born and it has become part of life like the blood through my veins. Poverty is not going empty for a single day and getting something to eat the next day. Poverty is going empty with no hope for the future. Poverty is getting nobody to feel your pain and poverty is when your dreams go in vain because nobody is there to help you. Poverty is watching your mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters die in pain and in sorrow just because they couldn't get something to eat. Poverty is hearing your grandmothers and grandfathers cry out to death to come take them because they are tired of this world. Poverty is watching your own children and grandchildren die in your arms but there is nothing you can do. Poverty is watching your children and grandchildren share tears in their deepest sleep. Poverty is suffering from HIV/AIDS and dying a shameful death but nobody seems to care".

" Poverty is when you hide your face and wish nobody could see you just because you feel less than a human being. Poverty is when you dream of bread and fish you never see in the day light. Poverty is when people accuse you and prosecute you for no fault of yours but who is there to say some for you? Poverty is when the hopes of your fathers and grandfathers just vanish within a blink of an eye.  I know poverty and I know poverty just like I know my father's name. Poverty never sleeps. Poverty works all day and night. Poverty never takes a holiday"   

(One Poor African) http://cozay.com/

Donate now : http://www.supportunicef.org/site/pp.asp?c=9fLEJSOALpE&b=1023561

I found this list on www.world-english.org  i thought that it could interest some members here. All the words aren't new for me, but I had never heard those like "alacrity, arcane, brazen, demure"... 

I was surprised to see that some French words as "avarice" and "brusque" are also used in english with the same meaning and that many other have french roots. Amazing !!!

aberration

(n.) something that differs from the norm (In 1974, Poland won the World Cup, but the success turned out to be an aberration, and Poland have not won a World Cup since).

abhor

(v.) to hate, detest (Because he always wound up getting hit in the head when he tried to play cricket, Marcin began to abhor the sport).

acquiesce

(v.) to agree without protesting (Though Mr. Pospieszny wanted to stay outside and work in his garage, when his wife told him that he had better come in to dinner, he acquiesced to her demands.)

alacrity

(n.) eagerness, speed (For some reason, Simon loved to help his girlfriend whenever he could, so when his girlfriend asked him to set the table he did so with alacrity.)

amiable

(adj.) friendly (An amiable fellow, Neil got along with just about everyone.)

appease

(v.) to calm, satisfy (When Jerry cries, his mother gives him chocolate to appease him.)

arcane

(adj.) obscure, secret, known only by a few (The professor is an expert in arcane Kashubian literature.)

avarice

(n.) excessive greed (The banker’s avarice led him to amass an enormous personal fortune.)

brazen

(adj.) excessively bold, brash, clear and obvious (Critics condemned the writer’s brazen attempt to plagiarise Frankow-Czerwonko’s work.)

brusque

(adj.) short, abrupt, dismissive (Simon’s brusque manner sometimes offends his colleagues.)

cajole

(v.) to urge, coax (Magda's friends cajoled her into drinking too much.)

callous

(adj.) harsh, cold, unfeeling (The murderer’s callous lack of remorse shocked the jury.)

candor

(n.) honesty, frankness (We were surprised by the candor of the politician’s speech because she is usually rather evasive.)

chide

(v.) to voice disapproval (Hania chided Gregory for his vulgar habits and sloppy appearance.)

circumspect

(adj.) cautious (Though I promised Marta’s father I would bring her home promptly by midnight, it would have been more circumspect not to have specified a time.)

clandestine

(adj.) secret (Announcing to her boyfriend that she was going to the library, Maria actually went to meet George for a clandestine liaison.)

coerce

(v.) to make somebody do something by force or threat (The court decided that David Beckham did not have to honor the contract because he had been coerced into signing it.)

coherent

(adj.) logically consistent, intelligible (William could not figure out what Harold had seen because he was too distraught to deliver a coherent statement.)

complacency

(n.) self-satisfied ignorance of danger (Simon tried to shock his friends out of their complacency by painting a frightening picture of what might happen to them.)

confidant

(n.) a person entrusted with secrets (Shortly after we met, he became my chief confidant.)

connive

(v.) to plot, scheme (She connived to get me to give up my plans to start up a new business.)

cumulative

(adj.) increasing, building upon itself (The cumulative effect of hours spent using the World English website was a vast improvement in his vocabulary and general level of English.)

debase

(v.) to lower the quality or esteem of something (The large raise that he gave himself debased his motives for running the charity.)

decry

(v.) to criticize openly (Andrzej Lepper, the leader of the Polish Self Defence party decried the appaling state of Polish roads.)

deferential

(adj.) showing respect for another’s authority (Donata is always excessively deferential to any kind of authority figure.)

demure

(adj.) quiet, modest, reserved (Though everyone else at the party was dancing and going crazy, she remained demure.)

deride

(v.) to laugh at mockingly, scorn (The native speaker often derided the other teacher’s accent.)

despot

(n.) one who has total power and rules brutally (The despot issued a death sentence for anyone who disobeyed his laws.)

diligent

(adj.) showing care in doing one’s work (The diligent researcher made sure to double check her measurements.)

elated

(adj.) overjoyed, thrilled (When he found out he had won the lottery, the postman was elated.)

eloquent

(adj.) expressive, articulate, moving (The best man gave such an eloquent speech that most guests were crying.)

embezzle

(v.) to steal money by falsifying records (The accountant was fired for embezzling €10,000 of the company’s funds.)

empathy

(n.) sensitivity to another’s feelings as if they were one’s own (I feel such empathy for my dog when she’s upset so am I!)

enmity

(n.) ill will, hatred, hostility (John and Scott have clearly not forgiven each other, because the enmity between them is obvious to anyone in their presence.)

erudite

(adj.) learned (My English teacher is such an erudite scholar that he has translated some of the most difficult and abstruse Old English poetry.)

extol

(v.) to praise, revere (Kamila extolled the virtues of a vegetarian diet to her meat-loving boyfriend.)

fabricate

(v.) to make up, invent (When I arrived an hour late to class, I fabricated some excuse about my car breaking down on the way to work.)

feral

(adj.) wild, savage (That beast looks so feral that I would fear being alone with it.)

flabbergasted

(adj.) astounded (Whenever I read an Agatha Christie mystery novel, I am always flabbergasted when I learn the identity of the murderer.)

forsake

(v.) to give up, renounce (I won't forsake my conservative principles.)

fractious

(adj.) troublesome or irritable (Although the child insisted he wasn’t tired, his fractious behaviour - especially his decision to crush his jam sandwiches all over the floor - convinced everyone present that it was time to put him to bed.)

furtive

(adj.) secretive, sly (Claudia’s placement of her drugs in her sock drawer was not as furtive as she thought, as the sock drawer is the first place most parents look.)

gluttony

(n.) overindulgence in food or drink (Helen’s fried chicken tastes so divine, I don’t know how anyone can call gluttony a sin.)

gratuitous

(adj.) uncalled for, unwarranted (Every evening the guy at the fish and chip shop gives me a gratuitous helping of vinegar.)

haughty

(adj.) disdainfully proud (The superstar’s haughty dismissal of her co-stars will backfire on her someday.)

hypocrisy

(n.) pretending to believe what one does not (Once the politician began passing legislation that contradicted his campaign promises, his hypocrisy became apparent.)

impeccable

(adj.) exemplary, flawless (If your grades were as impeccable as your brother’s, then you too would receive a car for a graduation present.)

impertinent

(adj.) rude, insolent (Most of your comments are so impertinent that I don’t wish to dignify them with an answer.)

implacable

(adj.) incapable of being appeased or mitigated (Watch out: once you shun Grandmother’s cooking, she is totally implacable.)

impudent

(adj.) casually rude, insolent, impertinent (The impudent young woman looked her teacher up and down and told him he was hot.)

incisive

(adj.) clear, sharp, direct (The discussion wasn’t going anywhere until her incisive comment allowed everyone to see what the true issues were.)

indolent

(adj.) lazy (Why should my indolent children, who can’t even pick themselves up off the sofa to pour their own juice, be rewarded with a trip to Burger King?)

inept

(adj.) not suitable or capable, unqualified (She proved how inept she was when she forgot two orders and spilled a pint of cider in a customer’s lap.)

infamy

(n.) notoriety, extreme ill repute (The infamy of his crime will not lessen as time passes.)

inhibit

(v.) to prevent, restrain, stop (When I told you I needed the car last night, I certainly never meant to inhibit you from going out.)

innate

(adj.) inborn, native, inherent (His incredible athletic talent is innate, he never trains, lifts weights, or practices.)

insatiable

(adj.) incapable of being satisfied (My insatiable appetite for blondes was a real problem on my recent holiday in Japan!)

insular

(adj.) separated and narrow-minded; tight-knit, closed off (Because of the sensitive nature of their jobs, those who work for MI5 must remain insular and generally only spend time with each other.)

intrepid

(adj.) brave in the face of danger (After scaling a live volcano prior to its eruption, the explorer was praised for his intrepid attitude.)

inveterate

(adj.) stubbornly established by habit (I’m the first to admit that I’m an inveterate cider drinker—I drink four pints a day.)

jubilant

(adj.) extremely joyful, happy (The crowd was jubilant when the firefighter carried the woman from the flaming building.)

knell

(n.) the solemn sound of a bell, often indicating a death (Echoing throughout our village, the funeral knell made the grey day even more grim.)

lithe

(adj.) graceful, flexible, supple (Although the dancers were all outstanding, Joanna’s control of her lithe body was particularly impressive.)

lurid

(adj.) ghastly, sensational (Barry’s story, in which he described a character torturing his neighbour's tortoise, was judged too lurid to be published on the English Library's website.)

maverick

(n.) an independent, nonconformist person (John is a real maverick and always does things his own way.)

maxim

(n.) a common saying expressing a principle of conduct (Ms. Stone’s etiquette maxims are both entertaining and instructional.)

meticulous

(adj.) extremely careful with details (The ornate needlework in the bride’s gown was a product of meticulous handiwork.)

modicum

(n.) a small amount of something (Refusing to display even a modicum of sensitivity, Magda announced her boss’s affair to the entire office.)

morose

(adj.) gloomy or sullen (David’s morose nature made him very unpleasant to talk to.)

myriad

(adj.) consisting of a very great number (It was difficult to decide what to do on Saturday night because the city presented us with myriad possibilities for fun.)

nadir

(n.) the lowest point of something (My day was boring, but the nadir came when my new car was stolen.)

nominal

(adj.) trifling, insignificant (Because he was moving the following week and needed to get rid of his furniture more than he needed money, Kim sold everything for a nominal price.)

novice

(n.) a beginner, someone without training or experience (Because we were all novices at archery, our instructor decided to begin with the basics

nuance

(n.) a slight variation in meaning, tone, expression (The nuances of the poem were not obvious to the casual reader, but the teacher was able to point them out.)

oblivious

(adj.) lacking consciousness or awareness of something (Oblivious to the burning smell emanating from the kitchen, my father did not notice that the rolls in the oven were burned until much too late.)

obsequious

(adj.) excessively compliant or submissive (Donald acted like Susan’s servant, obeying her every request in an obsequious manner.)

obtuse

(adj.) lacking quickness of sensibility or intellect (Political opponents warned that the prime minister’s obtuse approach to foreign policy would embroil the nation in mindless war.)

panacea

(n.) a remedy for all ills or difficulties (Doctors wish there was a single panacea for every disease, but sadly there is not.)

parody

(n.) a satirical imitation (A hush fell over the classroom when the teacher returned to find Magdalena acting out a parody of his teaching style.)

penchant

(n.) a tendency, partiality, preference (Fiona’s dinner parties quickly became monotonous on account of her penchant for Indian dishes.)

perusal

(n.) a careful examination, review (The actor agreed to accept the role after a three-month perusal of the movie script.)

plethora

(n.) an abundance, excess (The wedding banquet included a plethora of oysters piled almost three feet high.)

predilection

(n.) a preference or inclination for something (James has a predilection for eating toad in the whole with tomato ketchup.)

quaint

(adj.) charmingly old-fashioned (Mary was delighted by the quaint bonnets she saw in Romania.)

rash

(adj.) hasty, incautious (It’s best to think things over calmly and thoroughly, rather than make rash decisions.)

refurbish

(v.) to restore, clean up (After being refurbished the old Triumph motorcycle commanded the handsome price of $6000.)

repudiate

(v.) to reject, refuse to accept (Tom made a strong case for an extension of his curfew, but his mother repudiated it with a few biting words.)

rife

(adj.) abundant (Surprisingly, the teacher’s writing was rife with spelling errors.)

salient

(adj.) significant, conspicuous (One of the salient differences between Alison and Helen is that Alison is a couple of kilos heavier.)

serendipity

(n.) luck, finding good things without looking for them (In an amazing bit of serendipity, penniless Mark found a $50 bill on the back seat of the bus.)

staid

(adj.) sedate, serious, self-restrained (The staid butler never changed his expression no matter what happened.)

superfluous

(adj.) exceeding what is necessary (Samantha had already won the campaign so her constant flattery of others was superfluous.)

sycophant

(n.) one who flatters for self-gain (Some see the people in the cabinet as the Prime Minister’s closest advisors, but others see them as sycophants.)

taciturn

(adj.) not inclined to talk (Though Magda never seems to stop talking, her brother is quite taciturn.)

truculent

(adj.) ready to fight, cruel (This club doesn’t really attract the dangerous types, so why was that bouncer being so truculent?)

umbrage

(n.) resentment, offence (He called me a lily-livered coward, and I took umbrage at the insult.)

venerable

(adj.) deserving of respect because of age or achievement (The venerable High Court judge had made several key rulings in landmark cases throughout the years.)

vex

(v.) to confuse or annoy (My boyfriend vexes me by pinching my bottom for hours on end.)

vociferous

(adj.) loud, boisterous (I’m tired of his vociferous whining so I’m breaking up with him.)

wanton

(adj.) undisciplined, lewd, lustful (Joanna’s wanton demeanor often made the frat guys next door very excited.)

zenith

(n.) the highest point, culminating point (I was too nice to tell Emily that she had reached the absolute zenith of her career with that one top 10 hit of hers.)

 1. Change
“You must be the change you want to see in the world.”
“As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world – that is the myth of the atomic age – as in being able to remake ourselves.”

2. Control.
“Nobody can hurt me without my permission.”

3. Forgiveness
“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”
“An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”

4. Action.
“An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.”

5. The present moment.
“I do not want to foresee the future. I am concerned with taking care of the present. God has given me no control over the moment following.”

6. Everyone is human.
“I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and to retrace my steps.”
“It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.”

7. Persist.
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

8. Goodness.
“I look only to the good qualities of men. Not being faultless myself, I won’t presume to probe into the faults of others.”
“I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people.”

9. Truth
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”
“Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well.”

10. Development.
“Constant development is the law of life, and a man who always tries to maintain his dogmas in order to appear consistent drives himself into a false position.”

If you wish to know more :www.speakingtree.in/public/.../blog/Gandhijis-10-golden-thoughts

My you and your families always be healthy, wealthy and happy and May Allah always 

keep you in the palms of His hands

Your friend,

Manuela.

Many times i have been in Phaselis, where three millennia ago, in roman times there was a prosperous port town from where oil rose was shipping all over the world. A wonderful archeological site situated in the middle of a forest and along three perfect little bays where to swim, a dreaming and romantic place where to rest away from the crowd.

Many times i have walked there, fascinated by the ruins of that old harbor, but never before i saw that amazing heart mosaic, and as i was walking first in the ruins, my angel behind me, this heart suddenly appeared with my love's head's shadow in the middle of it. We both took it as a sign... and i took this picture to immortalize that magic moment.

Next time i will go there, i won't probably see this heart anymore as it should be covered again by the sand and the pines needles that are so present in that place. 

For those who want to know more about this place we love so much, check this link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phaselis

Maybe if I swim in disguise the kids won't make me play Marco Polo. (dixit Tara)

Dear friends,

Here is my worldess Wednesday # 4 challenge.

As you know by now, the caption that will appeal me the most will be choosen next Wednesday. Sorry for posting this photo so late but i have many internet connections problems.

Be inventive and make me laugh :)) 

Ok, never easy to choose one caption, but the one that really made me laugh was Tara's; as a mother, i know what she meant  as, sometimes we should disguise so our children forget a little about us :))