Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is celebrated annually with fervour in memory of martyrdom of Saint Valentine. It is celebrated on 14^th of February, every year. Initially the day was celebrated in USA and UK only. But with the globalisation and increasing technology and media coverage, there is hardly any part of the world where it is obscure. Though, there are many versions of the festival. In some countries it is related with commencement of spring, while in others it is celebrated as an agriculture festival.
The exact historic evolvement of the day is murky. There are numerous priests in the history with the name Valentine or Valentinus. It is hard to make a specific relation with any of these priests as little historical record is available about them. But the most commonly accepted version is that Saint Valentine was a priest of Rome in 3^rd century in the reign of Emperor Claudius II. The emperor had an opinion that bachelor men make a better army than the married one. So, in view of expanding his army base, he prohibited the marriage of young men and forced them to join army to serve the nation. Saint Valentine was however against his autocratic law and he continued to perform marriages of the young couples in secret. When Claudius discovered his actions and intentions he ordered death penalty for the priest. Therefore, the day is celebrated in remembrance of the martyrdom of the priest for love.
There is another version of the story. Saint Valentine was jailed in the rule of Claudius where he healed the blind girl and fell in love with her. The girl was the daughter of jailer. Valentine wrote his love letter from the jail to the girl and signed it as 'from your Valentine'. The phrase is followed in the present generations while sending a love message or greeting card in the same format.
The other version is that the day is nothing but the Christianised form of an ancient Roman festival known as 'Lupercalia Festival'. The festival is celebrated as the commencement of spring and purification.
While there is another view, according to which mid-February is the mating season of birds in France and England. Thence the day is thought to be derived from the same fact.
The oldest known reference of Valentine is a poem written by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife in 1415. He wrote it when he was imprisoned in the Tower of London after facing a defeat at Battle of Agincourt. The manuscript is preserved in the British Library of London.
In India, the day got prominence from the year 1992 only. It was the increasing effect of multi-national companies that mint a large profit in western countries on this day. It is the second largest festival celebrated after Christmas in the West. However, Valentine Day is gaining popularity among young lovers in the country also but it has been ardently opposed by various Hindu and Islamic traditionalists. They consider it as a threat to the values and cultures of their society. Some intellectuals also perceive it as the slavery mentality of the masses for western influence. According to them it only highlights the economic disparity in the society and creates a grudge among the urban and rural class of the society.

VALENTINE'S DAY OF 2011

What has been the most important Valentine's Day for you? For me, was on February 14th, 2011. My friends and I had never organized a good party to celebrate Valentine's Day, but in 2011 we did. We had prepared the party since 2 week ago. The party was special for me because it was fun and so exciting.

My friends and I were excited because of the party. We began the party at 2:00p.m and all my friends were there. We had prepared a lot of things to be fun. First, we began to play football, that was fun because we ha some accidents with the ball. Then, we took a break to talk. My friends and I began to be hungry; as a result, we decided to eat.We had bought pizza, soda, and beer. A friend started to put the pizza on plates. I drank a soda, and then some beers. The food and drinks were delicious. We had bought a chocolate cake, and after eating the pizza, we started to eat the cake.My friends and I did not eat the cake because a friend began a fight using it. All of my friends participated in the fight. Consequently, we were dirty. When we did not have more cake, we used water. We played for one hour, and we got tired. We cleaned ourselves, and we began to exchange gifts.I received chocolate and other gifts. My friends and I received gifts, and we liked them. Then, we continued with the party. We drank beer, and danced. Before finishing the party, we broke a piñata. We were having a good time.At 8:00p.m we decided to finish the party. I will never forget the party because it was special. I will never have another party like Valentine’s Day of 2011. I hope that one day I will have another good Valentine’s Day with all my new friends.

Story about ''Love''

                 Love is the answer to the heart. Without love there would only be hate in the world. We as people need to learn to respect ourself and others. Not only that but also learn to love one another as God loves us. My heart aches each and everyday to be with the one I love. But there is a wall that blocks us. This walls stops us from being Lovers. I continue to love anyway because that is what I have in my heart. I refuse to be like the brother beside me, hating and dying with a cold heart. When I die I you to know I died loving another with open arms. I love to love there is nothing greater than giving love and receiving it back. I will always love because this the right thing to do. Why hate because it takes to much to do. Love freely and love will be given back to thee. Hate greatly and you will live a hateful life. I am getting fustrated with this program cause it is really beginning to get on my nerves, but i'm still smiling and loving this world.
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a condition that affects the prostate gland in men. The prostate is a gland found between the bladder (where urine is stored) and the urethra (the tube urine passes through). As men age, the prostate gland slowly grows bigger (or enlarges). As the prostate gets bigger, it may press on the urethra and cause the flow of urine to be slower and less forceful. The word "benign" means the enlargement isn't caused by cancer or infection. The word "hyperplasia" means enlarged.

What are the symptoms of BPH?

Most symptoms of BPH start gradually. One symptom is the need to get up more often at night to urinate. Another symptom is the need to empty the bladder often during the day. Other symptoms include difficulty in starting the urine flow or dribbling after urination ends. The size and strength of the urine stream may decrease.

These symptoms can be caused by other things besides BPH. They may be signs of more serious diseases, such as a bladder infection or bladder cancer. Tell your doctor if you have any of these symptoms, so he or she can decide which tests to use to find the possible cause.

How will my doctor know if I have BPH?

After your doctor takes a complete history of your symptoms, a rectal exam is the next step. This exam allows your doctor to actually feel the size of the prostate gland.

It might not be possible for your doctor to be sure that your prostate problem is benign just by taking a history and performing a physical exam. Your doctor might need to look at a sample of your urine for signs of infection. Your doctor may also do a blood test. An ultrasound exam or a biopsy of the prostate may help your doctor make the diagnosis.

How will my doctor treat my BPH?

Once your doctor is sure that your symptoms are caused by benign growth of the prostate gland, treatment can be recommended. However, your doctor may suggest that you wait to see if your symptoms get better, because sometimes mild symptoms get better on their own. If your symptoms get worse, your doctor may suggest another treatment option.

Surgery is considered the most effective treatment and is used in men with very strong symptoms. This is also the best way to diagnose and cure very early cancer of the prostate. Surgery is usually done through the urethra, leaving no scars. Surgery does have risks, such as bleeding, infection or impotence. However, these risks are generally small.

Are there any drugs I can take?

Drug treatments are available. Finasteride (brand name: Proscar) makes the prostate shrink, but it does not help all patients. The side effects of finasteride are rare and mild, but they usually have to do with sexual function. They go away when the medicine is stopped. The prostate will enlarge again when the medicine is stopped, so another treatment may have to be tried.

Another kind of medicine, called alpha blockers, also can help the symptoms of BPH. Some of these drugs are terazosin (brand name: Hytrin), doxazosin (brand name: Cardura) and tamsulosin (brand name: Flomax). Alpha blockers have been used for a long time to treat high blood pressure, but they can also help the symptoms of BPH, even in men with normal blood pressure. These medicines may not work in all men. The side effects of alpha blockers are mild and go away if you stop taking the medicine. The side effects include dizziness, fatigue and lightheadedness.

The Ghost Story of Haunted Roads

The Ghost Story of Haunted Roads

The story of a haunted road in comes from a resident of the city. He is an Asian, male University sophomore. He told me the story in March at a very late hour. Among friends discussing plans to one day explore some supposedly haunted areas of the state, the storyteller spoke of a “rumor” he had heard from one of his college friends. The “late hour” previously mentioned is noteworthy since it affected the way the urban legend was told. There were four of us in a diner, eating at a time when most restaurants had been closed for hours already. Thus, we were all a bit tired, including the storyteller, who blamed the combination of hunger and the time of day for his lack of presentation skills. For example, he would eat and talk and restate certain parts.

He started by describing that the haunted road was “somewhere in the city, I think it was Marriott Road. Like the hotel, ya know?” He claimed that the road was close by because his friend said so. Later, we looked online and found a nearby street named Marriottsville Road. The storyteller continued by saying that the road is haunted because when you drive there at night, when the sun has completely set, the area seems to be pitch black. Even with headlights, it is supposedly unsafe due to the darkness that shrouds the pavement. He said that the trees there are so tall and the vegetation so thick that they “practically cover the road and form a tunnel around it” to block any light from entering.

Not only is the road a dark one, but there are two more supernatural elements to it. The first is a barn off the side of the road. The storyteller said that noises have been heard from the barn. When people go to investigate the noise, they eventually get close enough to hear whimpering animals. The sounds get louder until, as the storyteller claimed, “They sound more like screaming than whimpering.” At this point, any would-be investigators run away from the site of the barn.

Furthermore, there is an even more terrifying aspect of the road. As already described, it is hard to drive there. The darkness is just part of the difficulty. The road also has many turns and curves along with steep hills. At this point of the story, the teller used lots of hand gestures to help us visualize the severity of the road’s twists. He waved a flat hand like a rollercoaster to show us that driving there would be fun, but in a scary way. However, if one drives too quickly over the seventh hill, a ghost appears. This ghost is actually a monster-truck-like vehicle with extremely bright headlights. The ghost is supposedly that of a victim of a car crash. My friend said, “It was a driver who liked to be reckless, but bit off more than he could chew by racing along the road.” Therefore, he gets jealous of other people speeding and tries to run them off the road.

The urban legend clearly includes many typical elements of scary stories. There is a scary forest, a chilling building, and although the truck is a vehicular paranormal being, it is basically a ghostly figure. I could not find any stories about Marriottsville Road (although oddly enough, there is a “Marriottsville Road 2” off of the main road (“marriottsville road, Ellicott City, MD 21042”)), but there is a more well-known story regarding a road with seven hills. One website states,

“There are seven hills behind Historic Ellicott City, which is said; Supposedly, if you hit the seventh hill at midnight, you will be chased by a demon car that appears out of nowhere. Again this is a myth, and I don't suggest anyone try this! People have lost their lives on this road” (“Historic Ellicott City, MD – Haunted Ellicott City”).

Unfortunately, the above story is not talking about the same road since Marriottsville Road is not that close to Historic Ellicott City. Perhaps the two stories were similar enough to get grouped together. Despite the lack of text regarding Marriottsville Road, when I asked other friends from Ellicott City about a haunted road, they recognized the story. Some say that there is no barn or truck, others say that the truck was driven by two teenage girls, and many purport that it is not a named road that is haunted, but rather an unlabeled road near Marriottsville Road. Even so, they all agree that there is a haunted road north of route 40.

Clearly, the face-value moral of the story is to not be reckless. This rocky road is one that can attract thrill-seekers, but the moral of the story is that if one is careless, then a negative turn of events will occur. In this case, a supernatural automobile ensures one’s doom if he or she decides to have some fun by trying to cheat death. Also, the part of the legend concerning the barn plays upon fears that curiosity is not always a good trait and how one might be punished for it. This is consistent with a theme regarding exploration. There is a facet of the story concerning nosiness and snooping around. In the legend, explorers are penalized for their curiosity by getting scared away.

The summation of so many typical urban legend elements (a dark road, a scary forest, a frightening building, a supernatural being) is also noteworthy. It shows how urban legends can sometimes get more elaborate through word-of-mouth. The story of “Seven Hills Road” is a separate, distinct legend about College Avenue (Lake 180). The addition of the truck suggests that people tend to accept stories surrounding roads as a collective message because they all show society’s fear about driving: getting lost, crashing, losing control, and even aggressive drivers.

My First Surprise Party

My First Surprise Party

 

I am the one in the picture with the sloppy bun in my hair and the bright red cheeks. The one who can't stop smiling. With all my friends surrounding me, it was one of the best days of my life. All fifteen of us look happy; it was a night for many smiles. Everyone is crowded around the table. There are a lot of red cheeks in the picture; the room was as hot as a sauna. There was a strong smell of barbeque sauce in the air as well. The picture was taken right after dinner. The table we are crowded around is messy. There are a lot of cups on the table and bottles of ketchup and barbeque sauce, with dirty, green napkins piled up. The restaurant was as noisy as the circus when the clowns perform.

          There were a lot of pictures taken that night, but out of all the pictures, this is the best one taken of everyone. Crouched down in front is brent Dana. He has a grin on his face more than a smile. Brent hates pictures, and he doesn't smile in any of them; he is wearing his red "Rag Tails" shirt that he always wears. Next to Brent is Jade Walker. She has her hair back and is wearing her red "North Face" jacket. Jade has an adorable smile on her face. Next to Jade is Mary Attaway leaning over the table wearing a flowered backless shirt with a black sweater. To the right of Mary is Laura Jones. Laura is slightly leaning her head toward her right shoulder and is wearing a blue shirt with a drawstring tie in front. Laura has her arm around Erica Farnsworth, who has a yellow shirt and white jacket on. She looks especially happy; she is smiling from ear to ear.

      Starting in the left hand comer (in row two) are Chad Phillips and Caitlin Pollock standing together. Chad has his arms around Caitlin's waist. He has this cute little grin, and Caitlin has a huge smile and rosy red cheeks. Brittany Wilkins is next to Caitlin with a puzzled look on her face, the face you would see in a hard Algebra II exam when you don't think you even learned what the question is asking. To the top right of Brittany is Katie Van Cleave. She looks as if she is stretching on her tiptoes as high as she can to get her little head in the picture. The person right in front of Katie is Katie Fogo. Katie looks goofy; she is hunched over and has the look of a kindergartener going off to the first day of school with a big smile. Next to Katie am I, and my cheeks are red because I have been running around. I have my arms around Katie Fogo and Christopher Wright. Chris's cheeks are equally red. Chris is bending over to be down at my height since he is so much taller than me. Above Christopher and me is Bailey Pratt. He's standing on a chair, and it took about five tries of this same picture to get one picture that he didn't do something silly to mess up. Below Christopher off to the right are Ricky Johnson and Phillip Cole. Ricky and Philip are like Brent and don't like to smile in pictures. They have tough looks on their faces as if they were posing for football pictures. Behind us you can see white window trim and reflections of lights in the windows. There is also a waitress over in the left hand corner working. We were all pretty crammed in the corner.

         You might be wondering what had happened when this picture was taken and why it was so important to me. It all started on the afternoon of March 31, 2000. It was cool outside, but you could feel the warmth of the sun on your skin as my friends and I sat in the grass. A lot of the girls and I had gone down to the baseball fields to watch the freshman baseball game. We were sitting in the grass watching the boys win another game, but what I couldn't figure out was why everyone kept talking off to the side. I felt as if everyone was leaving me out, just me for some reason.

         I was already pretty disappointed that day because it was Friday and I wasn't really doing much that night. It seemed as if all my friends had their own plans going. I finally decided to go out to eat with my sister, her boyfriend, Parker, and my friend, Laura Jones.

           When the game ended, everyone went his or her separate directions. I had to wait with Laura Jones at the Fieldhouse for a while till Lauren could pick us up. We had gone and gotten ready, but I hadn't worried too much about how I looked because I didn't think I would see many people I knew. As we sat outside waiting for Lauren and Parker, the weirdest thing happened. Laura, who was sitting about ten feet from me, sprang up and ran over to grab my face to tell me, "I want... to rent scary movies tonight!"

       All I could answer was, "...Okay." Lauren and Parker then picked us up, and we decided to go to eat at Sticky Fingers.

       The four of us walked in, and it was very crowded, yet we got seated immediately. When I turned the corner all these people suddenly jumped out and yelled "SURPRISE!" I was like a shocked deer in headlights. All I could do was cover my mouth.

      Everything made sense from that point on. March 31 is the day after my birthday, and my sister had decided to throw a surprise party for me. At the game the girls had been talking on the side without me because they were discussing the party plans. Laura had jumped up to ask me to rent movies because Lauren was driving by and she didn't want me to see the car drive by. Lauren was making her final round to pick up all my friends to shuttle them downtown. It's amazing how many times the secret of the party was almost blown.

      All the confusion of the day finally made sense, and this picture is very important to me because it captures the excitement of my first surprise party. It was a perfect night, and I am so glad that I have this wonderful picture to reflect on the fun my friends and I had.

A Beautiful Mind

A Beautiful Mind

          This is a true story about John Nash Jr, who unfortunately was discovered in his adult life as having a terrible illness, paranoid schizophrenia. The story begins in 1947, with John Nash as a student at Princeton. He tries to portray himself as being really smart, but right off you can tell there is something wrong with him, by the look in his eyes. He finally he comes up with a game theory. This theory is thought to be incredible and he is offered a job at M.I.T. He gets married and has a child. This is when his world is turned upside down. The rest of the movie focuses on John's life in dealing with schizophrenia
Throughout this time the events are so very believable, that John is experiencing all these things, you then discover that most of it was in his mind. Thankfully with his wife's help he is able to deal with this illness and come out okay in the end. He even wins the Noble Prize in 1994. The message I received was to try to understand the different kind of illnesses that are out there, and to be more understanding towards people when they are displaying what I would perceive as strange behavior.
The main source of this movie was from a biography written by Sylvia Nasar. This film can be categorized as a melodrama, as it has strong emotional scenes. It has action and the character triumphs in the end. It has a serious  subject matter, but does end happily. This story defiantly has the seven characteristics of a Classical hollywood cinema. There is a story to be told and it's about not only about John being a brilliant mathematician but also dealing with his Schizophrenia.
John uses subjective points of views (pov) to illustrate his visual and mathematical abilities to perceive patterns and interactions. In a scene where John arrives at Princeton to begin his studies, one of the patterns through his point-of-view shot was when John connects his vision of bright lemons, a punch bowl, and the pattern of a fellow student's tie. In this sequence and others in the film, John uses flashes of light in his pov shots to point out his recognition of significant patterns in the world around him, such as the magazines and newspapers lighting up when he thinks he has discovered a code. In another scene, John visits a top-secret government center to decipher a code captured from the Soviets. In addition to the flashes of light, this scene uses close-ups, composition, and images to express Nash's exceptional subjective perceptions:
This film focuses mainly on one character, John Nash, but also a few distinct characters, such as his wife, and his three imaginary people, Parcher, Herman and Marcie. William Parcher, head of the Department of Defense. Charles Herman his roommate at the University, later on in the movie, Charles niece, Marcie. All of which end up being figments of his imagination.
There are definitely numerous goals for the main character, John. In 1947, John attends Princeton University; his goal at this time is to come up with a great original mathematical theory. In 1953 his goal, he thinks is to help the United States find a bomb, supposedly being built by the Soviet Union. He also ends up getting married in this year as well.
1954 John is working at M.I.T. and this is when his schizophrenia is full blown. He thinks he is a spy working for the Department of Defense. 1956, his goal is to figure out, how to deal with his schizophrenia. In 1978 he ends up back at Princeton and convinces his old friend, Martin Henson to give him a job. His goal at this time is to get out in the real world and later on to be a teacher/Professor. In 1994 he ends up winning the Noble Prize for his game theory. The goal of his wife Alicia is obvious. She just wants her husband back no matter what. She gives up a lot of herself to help him through this illness. The goals of his imaginary friends change as well. First Charles is his friend and helps him deal with different situations in his life, then he becomes someone who hassles him into believing he is a spy too. I am not sure what goal or role Marcie has, unless she is suppose to be his inner child or just having someone else who will love him. Parcher's goal is to get John to become a spy for the government. At the end of the movie he is angry with John for trying to ignore him and his goal is to get John to kill his wife and Child.
John defiantly has lots of obstacles and problems to confront. His first was when he was asked to play that board game with a schoolmate, Martin Henson. I feel he was asked by Martin to prove to the other men that John wasn't as smart as he made out to be, plus to get back at John because, when he first met Martin he insulted him. He then tried to fit in with some friends by going to the bars with them. John had to come up with a theory quickly or risk not being appointed a position with an important company. He finally does. He then agreed to work with the Department of Defense as a spy. It was very hard on him to try to keep this government information a secret from his coworkers and his girlfriend/wife, Alicia. Having to deal with his hospital stay and all the treatments he had to endure. Last but not least, trying to deal with his illness.
Yes there is a closure in this film, but probably not in his real life off screen. John goes through a lot during his time dealing with his schizophrenia. He had a lot of help from his wife, Alicia who would not give up on him. Because of her insistence he goes back to the University and meets his old friend Martin and asks him for a job, so that he can, not only get back in the public, but to start dealing with his illness. He has a lot of drawbacks during this time, because he still sees his imaginary people, but perseveres and ends up being able to ignore these people and get a teaching job.
In 1994, he is told that he is up for the Noble Prize and he meets one of the men from the Noble Prize review board. This man says he has come to interview him. While John Nash and the interviewer are chatting, one of the professors comes up and lays a pen down in front of him. Soon all the professors in the room were putting pens on the table in front of him. Helinger told John when this happens it means a professor knows he has earned the prestige of his colleagues, that he has been accepted. He does end up winning the Noble Prize; John just wanted to be recognized for something important dealing with mathematics and this does become a reality.
Some of the clear cause and effects of actions start off when he first gets to Princeton. He is in his room by himself and he was looking out his window. He witnessed a lot of schoolmates with groups of people. John was a loner and had said he did not like people and they did not like him. He suddenly turns around and Charles is there, claiming to be his roommate. It seems whenever he had too much going his friend Charles suddenly appears. It meant to me that he was lonely and afraid and needed someone to talk too. He use to keep his door open but suddenly he started locking it, which made things seem mysterious. One other scene made clear is when he finally receives the pens from his fellow professors, which we know meant he was finally accepted. The last cause and effect of his actions was his wife helping him through his illness.
Some techniques used were: point-of-view shots and perspectives from John. The different type of music for certain scenes. The dull yellow lighting for impressive effects, high and low angle shots, panning shots. The scene where Marcie runs around the pigeons, they don't fly away. I think this is when the director starts dropping small hints that John is having hallucinations.
Some of the composition features of Parcher and Charles were; John sees Parcher for the first time, John is in a well-lit room, he looks up and the scene shows just Parcher. Parcher is framed alone in a dark space, but below you see the ceiling light, he is often in the dark. The next time you see him he suddenly appears, on the doorstep. The area behind John is very dark but Parcher is shaded in the light. When you first see Charles he is always in well-lit areas. Charles also appears in the center of each scene we see him in, maybe indicating he is the center of John's attention.

The Truth Of Dreams

Dreams, what are dreams? For many years I have wondered what dreams are made of. After much thought and deliberation I have stumbled upon three possible answers to this question. First of all, I think it could be a period of total escape from reality and all of the problems that reality brings with it. Second, I believe that dreams provide a time of contemplation of past mistakes and what would have been the outcome if a different choice would have been made.

Third, I think dreams may contain the simple answers to difficult problems which the mind overlooked and disregarded as to basic of a solution for such a complex problem.The day is stressful, and through the day one does not always have a time to rest and relax. Dreams provide a way to relive this stress. It does this by allowing the mind to escape to anywhere it desires. Thus allowing eight hours to be anything one’s heart wants and needs.

Dreams may be the only way for one to live out their “dreams.”We all know we make mistakes, we can not help but to make mistakes, it is human nature. Dreams provide us with an open opportunity to look back and analyze the mistake and choice. Looking close at a mistake and its eventual consequences along with the choices one did not make and consciences one did not receive provides us with a golden opportunity to not make the same mistake again.Answers, everyone needs answers to one’s problems to live. Problems from where one will find one’s next meal to what sort of life is in the outer most part of the solar system. All day long the brain thinks of very complex answers to these highly complex problems. Sometimes, and only sometimes the simple answer is better than the complex answer, but if one is looking for the complex answer how can one find the simple answer?

Dreams, while asleep one’s brain can not function on the same level as when one is awake. Therefore, when one is asleep and is still looking for the answer one will not have any other except the simple answer to think about. This will show one the correct answer so one will have it when one wakes up the next morning.There they are, my three most likely theories on what dreams are for. As one reads this paper one probably had a feeling of deja vu. More than likely one has had at very least one of these three things happen to one while one was asleep. This should show one not to disregard one’s dreams as nothing important. Dreams are very important to life. They can relieve unneeded stress as well as analyze and solve life’s most difficult problems.