Hello Dear Friends!

Here is a Noticeboard about latest activities in Calligraphy Group that Mr. Gabriel suggested that I make it. I must thank him for all of his help and arts in the group :)

Dear Friends, you are all invited to the group!

And latest activity:

Our Name Discussion

Please write your name both in English and in your mother language and then sharing it here with its meaning.

It is Mr. Gabriel's fantastic art:

What do you think about it?!

It is splendid, isn't it?

:)

If you like to see your other friends arts, please visit us here, and also share yours with us, too.

I love to see your arts so :)

Thanks a lot.

Hello Dear EC Friends :)

How are you?

Have you tried EC new tool bar for chat?

It is amazing!

It has a lot of parts.

You can check  Owais Sheikh's blog about it here.

(Thanks for writing about it Owais Sheikh)

But, please let me say about my first experience there.

When I opened EC this morning, I could talk for some of my nice friends and one of them was Scarlett. I'm sure that many of you know her and her kindness. She is a new face in EC who is very nice girl. I had a lovely time with her and by using one of parts of new chat room tool bar (Handwriting in private room) we could draw the heaven less than some seconds and go to it together.

If you let me I like to share it with you here:)

First Scarlett drew a beatiful heaven less than few seconds!

It is Scarlett's heaven:

It is fantastic!

And I also drew  Scarlett and me in this way:)

See please:

:)

Finally Scarlett made this nice dream:

It was one of the nicest heavens which I was in :)

I had very lovely time with this new production of EC, Today!

Thanks for upgrading EC such a nice way, dear EC Moderators :)

       Tonight is the last night of Autumn. We, Iranian celebrate it as the "Yalda Night", the longest night whole the year. Yalda has great significance in the Persian/Iranian calendar.

       "Yalda" is a time of joy. We gather around and enjoy a fine dinner. Many varieties of fruits and sweetmeats especially prepared or kept for this night are served. In some areas it is believed that forty varieties of edibles should be served. The most typical is watermelon.

       After dinner the older indi­viduals entertain the others by telling them tales and anecdotes . Another favorite and prevalent pastime of the night of Yalda is divination by the poems of  Hafez (An Iranian poet).

Yalda is celebrated on or around December 20 or 21 each year.

Top of Tower 

        Once upon a time there was a bunch of tiny frogs who arranged a running competition.
The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower.
A big crowd had gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer on the contestants.
The race began....
Honestly, no one in crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower.
You heard statements such as:
'Oh, WAY too difficult!!'
'They will NEVER make it to the top.' 
Or:
'Not a chance that they will succeed. The tower is too high!'
The tiny frogs began collapsing, one by one.
Except for those, who in a fresh tempo were climbing higher and higher.
The crowd continued to yell, 'It is too difficult!!! No one will make it!'
More tiny frogs got tired and gave up.
But ONE continued higher and higher and higher.
This one wouldn't give up!
At the end everyone else had given up climbing the
tower. Except for the one tiny frog that after a big effort, was the only one who reached the top!
THEN all of the other tiny frogs naturally wanted to
know how this one frog managed to do it?
A contestant asked the tiny frog how he had found the strength to succeed and reach the goal.
It turned out…
That the winner was DEAF!!

Our World

        Emmet fox -the contemporary writer- went to the restaurant for a meal when he had gone to America for the first time. He was waiting on the corner with this intention that he would be entertaining. But he saw that the waiter is not the slightest attention to him. Worst of all he observed that people were after him were sitting in front of plates full of food and eating!

        He went sadly to the man who was sitting near the table and said: "It’s about twenty minutes that I sit here without anyone pay attention to me. Now, I’m seeing that you have arrived less than 5 minutes but you are sitting in front of full plates! What is it? How the people of this country are entertaining?"

        The man said with surprise: "But here is self-service!!" Then He showed the place where food was abundant arranged and said: "Go there, take a tray and whatever you want and pay its money, then sit here and eat it!" he feels a bit silly, but he followed the man’s orders.

        When he put the food on his table he thought that life is like a self-service. All types of events, opportunities happiness and sorrow are in front us but most of us are motionless on our seat and we are looking at the others what they have in their plates and we are surprised why they have more! And we never think that we can rise easily and see what is available around us.

   EC Dream

        I always liked to be a millionaire, also I liked to travel whole the world. But one of my biggest dreams is visiting my EC Friends, and all EC members in the real world...

Now, this is my dream:

        I hope that we will be able to celebrate one day in a year as EC anniversary every year in one place in the world.

I also planned it in this way:

        I would be a millionaire then I would be able to prepare a party for all EC member in my country and invite them here, then EC annivarsary woulld be start like this:

• The first year it would be in United Kingdom , Mr. Essberger's Country. ( Josef Essberger is EC Founder)

United Kingdom:

It is also Heaven's Country, too. (Heaven is EC Chat room Moderator)

• The second year in Canada, Tara's Country. (Tara Benwell, EC Admin)

Canada:

It is also Nafis's Country, too. (Nafis is EC Forum Moderator)

• One year in China, Mr. Expector's Country. (Expector is EC Blog Moderator)

China:

• The other year in Japan, Junco's Country. ( Junco is EC Photo Moderator)
   

Japan:

• Once in Philippine,  Robbie's Country. ( Robbie is EC Video Moderator)

Philippines:

I also have many nice friends from Philipines. And I like to visit them a lot.

And aslo in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Azerbaijan which are  Nadira, Nadiyah & Ario and  Vega's Country.

Sri Lanka: 

Indonesia:

Azerbaijan:

And many other countries which have an EC member.

It is my dream and hope that it will come true so soon :)

     *****     *****     *****     *****     *****     *****     *****     *****     *****     *****     *****    

       After publishing this blog, some friends invited this dream to their country, too.

Thank all of you, dear friends :)

Please let me add these countries to the list, too.

India:

(Deepa and Rajesh's Country)

Riga:

 (Aija's City)

Writing Challenge: Nations and Nationalities

Expector Smith is EC modrator. He is from China. He is Chinese. He lives in China. His native language is Chinese. I think Chinese is a difficult language to speak! But I really like to learn it:). He speaks English, too.

hoat lives in Vietnam. He is Vietnamese. I have some Vietnamese friends in EC. Thety are really nice poeple:). His native language is Vietnamese.He speaks Vietnamese and English.

Dwika Meta is from Indonesia. She is Indonesian. I have visited her page just now. Her page is saying that she is a new member in EC. I would like to know more about her, because I like to learn  about Indonesian bculture more :). Her native languange is Indonesianes. She speakes Indonesian and English.

  Hello dear EC teachers and friends

          There are many kind teachers in EC who are so interested to share their experiences with others, and this is the reason of writing this blog.

I am a new teacher in university (a math teacher) and I need some experiences in this field.

I would be so grateful to you if you let me know;

-What do you usually say in the first of your class?

It is a poem by Sara Teasdale which I've written by my handwriting here.

I am not yours

I am not yours, not lost in you,
Not lost, although I long to be
Lost as a candle lit at noon,
Lost as a snowflake in the sea.
You love me, and I find you still
A spirit beautiful and bright,
Yet I am I, who long to be
Lost as a light is lost in light.
Oh plunge me deep in love -- put out
My senses, leave me deaf and blind,
Swept by the tempest of your love,
A taper in a rushing wind.

There are always some words that you like to say to your friends, something like:

"Have a Nice Day", "Have a Great Time", "Thank You", "Happy Birthday", "Merry Christmas", "Good Night", "Good Morning", and etc.

There are many cards for them, but maybe you like to make a special one for a special person, yourself.

And also if your friends know that you have made it by yourself, they would be much happier surely.

There are some simple ways for making a Greeting Card.

Let's make one together!

1- Find a colorful cardboard. I have chosen a pink one :)

2- Cutting it in every shape which you like by a scissors. I made it wavy!

3- Write what you like on your cardboard by a pen (It can be a colorful pen) .I have written "Have a Nice Time".

4- Choose a robin.  I found a pink robin :)

5- Then paste the robin to your card by glue.

That's it!

Now you have a Greeting Card in a shape which you like!!

It is for you all :)

Why don't you try to make one?!

It is really amazing!

Please share your Greeting Cards with us here or here.

Waiting to see your Greeting Cards!

:)

Answer of Idioms

*Sick to death of something 

**

1- All Mark talked about the whole evening was football! I was bored to death.

2- Please be quiet. I'm sick to death of your constant complaining.

3- My husband? Cook? You must be joking. He can't cook to save his life.

4- A:So you are going to bring Kev, are you?

    B:Not on your life!

Meaning:

sick to death of something: Very unhappy about something.

frightened the life out of me: Make somebody extremely afraid or nervous.

a new lease of life: New energy and enthusiasm or better health.

for the life of me: If you say you can't for the life of you understand or remember something, you are emphasizing that you can't understand or remember it, even if you try hard.

a fate worse than death: Something very bad that could happen to you.

not on your life: Used to say that you definitely will not do something.

dicing with death: Risk being killed by doing something very dangerous.

bored to death: Feeling dissatisfied

like death warmed over: Very ill or tired

to save his life: (Usually negative) Even with the great effort, at all

Hello dear friends

here is the answer of English Question (adjectives).

1. His love for her was hopeless/unrequired/unrequited. Sadly, she didn't like him at all.

2. There was blind/considerable/mounting excitement as the big day approached.

3. My sister felt nothing but gut/pure/intense hatred toward hr friend after finding out she'd deceived her.

4. The explorers kept searching even though there was only a faint/slight/dull hope of finding the treasure.

5. The last book I read was a novel which made a deep/long/lasting impression on me.

6. The detective acted on slight/gut/pure instinct and eventually caught the suspect.

7. Many young boys have a great/big/considerable passion for football.

Thank you for participating.

Writing Challenge: Live from the Penguin Cam

dialogue of Penguins

We have 7 penguins; Speedster, Complainant, Yellowish, Cheery, Rational, Crazy and Forgetful.

Please read this dialogue among them.

Complainant:

Please be quiet, Speedster! [swimming fast]

I'm sick to death of your behavior! You should get the brakes fixed on your head!! You're dicing with death every time you are swimming!

Yellowish:

Yes! Last time he frightened the life out of me!

Cheery:

But taking up swimming since he was here has given him a new lease of life.

It's really funny! I hope I can swim next to him [smiling]

Rational:

But It is a fate worse than death, Cheery! [nodding head]

You must learn the rules first, if you want to swim like this. I remember Crazy who swam in this way and he had to leave here soon.

Forgetful:

Crazy!! I remember his name, but for the life of me I can't remember his face!

Idioms:

sick to death of something: Very unhappy about something.

a new lease of life: New energy and enthusiasm or better health.

dicing with death: Risk being killed by doing something very dangerous.

a fate worse than death: Something very bad that could happen to you.

frightened the life out of me: Make somebody extremely afraid or nervous.

for the life of me: If you say you can't for the life of you understand or remember something, you are emphasizing that you can't understand or remember it, even if you try hard.

Today EC chat room, which didn't work for me about some weeks (months), worked again.

I was so happy and left there to prepare some good issues for chat.

But when I came back, I saw that it didn't work again!

What a disaster!!

A new problem was added to the pervious one!

A topic in my hand + Not working the room!!

But fortunately, I remembered blogs!

They always work very well :)

So, please let me say the topic here:

"Similarities between Friends"

What are the three important things for friends to have in common?

(Which similarities should they have?)

-Should be close in age, religion, personality and etc?

** A moral result from this story:

Never miss the opportunities which are in front of you otherwise you have to fight for it!

We all have some dreams when we sleep.

But have you ever thought that we can have these dreams when we are awake too?

Imagine that these events which you see, when you are awake, are just like those dreams.

Then how would you describe them for others?

For example, let me describe mine.

I saw these things:

1-I opened EC to add a blog.

2-The words were arranged one after another.

3-EC chat room was in the corner.

4-I wrote "Hello" and sent it.

5-It didn't work again…

6-Desire and disappointment

.

.

.

7-Clicking on "Publish Post" button.

(Good!

Blog always works)

That's it.

Now it is your turn.

Just now!!

Yes!

Exactly just now!

What is your "Open-Eyes Dream"?

Please tell us about it.

Hello dear friends

Would you please answer this question?

Tow of the adjectives in each sentence below collocate with the noun. Which adjective does NOT?

(Which adjective is WRONG?)

1. His love for her was hopeless/unrequired/unrequited. Sadly, she didn't like him at all.

2. There was blind/considerable/mounting excitement as the big day approached.

3. My sister felt nothing but gut/pure/intense hatred toward hr friend after finding out she'd deceived her.

4. The explorers kept searching even though there was only a faint/slight/dull hope of finding the treasure.

5. The last book I read was a novel which made a deep/long/lasting impression on me.

6. The detective acted on slight/gut/pure instinct and eventually caught the suspect.

7. Many young boys have a great/big/considerable passion for football.

Thank you for your participating.

Please check here for the answer.

We have many idioms in English including life and death.

Like:

frightened the life out of me

a new lease of life

for the life of me

a fate worse than death not on your life

not on your life

dicing with death

bored to death

like death warmed over

to save his life

*Can you complete this one by life or death please?

Sick to -----------

**Now please use those expressions in the following sentences:

1- All Mark talked about the whole evening was football! I was --------------.

2- Please be quiet. I'm --------------------------- of your constant complaining.

3- My husband? Cook? You must be joking. He can't cook ---------------------.

4- A:So you are going to bring Kev, are you?

    B:------------!

-Please check the answer here.

1. What odd number become even when beheaded?JJJJJJJJJJ

2. What is the difference between an elephant and a flea?JJJJJJ

3. What kind of umberella do most people carry on a rainy day?JJJ

4. What is it that everyone overlooks?JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ

5. What is full of holes and yet holds water?JJJJJJJJJJJJ

6. What is broken when you name it?JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ

7. What time is it when the clock strikes thirteen? JJJJJJJJJ

8. What does everyone have that they can always count on?JJJJJJ

9. What is the difference between a hill and a pill?JJJJJJJJJJ

10. What is it that you must keep after giving it to someone else?JJJ

       Please match the following idioms with the emotions they typically express.

Idioms:

1- raise one's eyebrows

2- shrug one's sholders

3- wrinkle (up) one's nose

4- lick one's lips

5- stamp one's foot

6- drum one's fingers

7- bite one's nails

8- clap one's hands

9- nod one's head

10- cross one's legs

Emotions:

a-distaste or disgust

b- nervousness or anxiety

c- surprise or disapproval

d- annoyance

e- being relaxed

f- impatience

g- doubt or indifference

h- eager anticipation for something enjoyable

i- approval of something

j- agreement