The Hump Effect

The Hump Effect is related to the idea that Wednesdays are considered days of hard work and making it through to the middle of the work week is just as getting "over the hump."



The Hump Effect, mentioned in Edward de Bono's book "The Happiness Purpose", is explained as getting people to do things which seem to go against their best interests at the moment. It may be a matter of preventing someone from doing something which is tempting, or making someone do something which is unpleasant, but eventually, this less attractive 'road" opens out into a wider one, with more, beneficial opportunities. A simple example would be the one about going to the gym. It may seem hard and/or boring, but if you succeed in constantly going, it will better your health and looks, which may prove exactly what you wanted for yourself in the beginning.

Spelling Bee

If you think you're good at spelling, try this preliminary test. I scored 17 and missed 3 because I didn't check the words at the end, so make sure you do that!

The Hole in the Elephant's Bottom

The funniest thing you may have heard :)



Jeremy Irons - The Hole in the Elephant's Bottom

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Proficient in English

If you are able to correctly solve this word - formation exercise, then your English has reached a proficiency level :)

For many people Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) is the most (0) influential (INFLUENCE) figure in the history of western classical music. His (1) ..... (ORDINARY) talent was already clearly evident as a young man, (2) ..... (MERCY) surviving a somewhat unconventional(3) ..... (BRING) during which his eccentric father would often force him to take music lessons in the middle of the night.

The young Beethoven's ability won him the admiration of the leading contemporary musical figures. Throughout the 1790s he worked hard to secure the interest of wealthy patrons. Such patronage (4) .....(ABLE) him to concentrate on becoming a successful composer.

Whatever his awe-inspiring musical (5) .....(ACHIEVE), however, his personal life was something of a disaster. His day-to-day (6) ..... (RELATE)with people invariably turned out to be rather turbulent. Although he apparently fell in love with a number of society women, the identity of the girl who lay closest to his heart remains (7) ..... (ELUDE)to this day.

However, just at the point when Beethoven was beginning to reap the rewards of his early endeavours, he had to come to terms with the crushing (8) ..... (REALISE)that his increasing deafness was (9) ..... .(CURE) From that point on, his music displayed a (10) ..... (STRIKE) change in style, becoming both heavier in tone and larger in scale.

Nothing Really Matters

I still can't believe this video wasn't included on CELEBRATION :(

Here's a remix I simply and totally LOVE.

Madonna - Nothing Really Matters Lukesavant New Beginnings Mix

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Le Premier Jour du Reste de Ma Vie

Friendship

"Friendship is like peeing on yourself: everyone can see it, but only you get the warm feeling that it brings." (via Internet)

To Die For ...

MORE SMOKING HOT PICS HERE.

In a Nutshell...

Click on the pic to see a bigger size...


Sorry, I thought you were an American :))

Liquid Love

Madonna - Liquid Love David Guetta Remix Edit

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Somewhere in Moldova

5 Reasons to see a French Movie

... and not just any French movie. I am talking about "Micmacs a Tire Larigot" ("Excessive Intrigues")



1. Former director of Amelie, a cinematic masterpiece - Jean Pierre Jeunet
2. Incredibly talented actors (3 of them also appeared in Amelie)
3. More realistic action than in "Mission:Impossible"
4. Deliriously funny but not stupid
5. Still serious and with a message at its core

Movie of the Month 2

"I AM A WOMAN!"
"YOU ARE RUDE."
RYNA

I am still amazed that it took me so long to actually see this movie, taking into account the fact that I've seen "Cum mi-am petrecut sfarsitul lumii" and I really think Dorotheea Petre is such a promising actress... But, here I am, years apart from its debut, realizing Romanian directors can make movies that matter.



RYNA is a movie about a 16 year old girl from a rural area around Tulcea. Nothing strange about it, except that she lives with an oppressing, misogynist father and too weak a mother. Ryna Biris longs to wear dresses and go dancing, she longs to be kissed and be taken care of, instead of always taking care of her drunken father.
How the story unfolds next? Well, there's a French guy who seems to like her, there's a mayor quite typical of these days, and a grandpa who sees things as they are.

Whole of the Moon

NO TIME FOR WORDS!


Waterboys - Whole of the moon

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PURE EMOTION

Tell me if you've seen something better than this! :)

(The One and Only) WHITE HORSE

This is how my (favorite) students sound like :)


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Dreams Are Not Negotiable

In a nutshell, 2 days ago I could once again loudly shout that I am extremely lucky when it comes to wishes coming true.

I am @funkymad from Paulo Coelho's blog post :)

Clever Women at Work

Here's a very powerful conversation between my one of my all time favorite writers - Jeanette Winterson - and psychoanalyst Susie Orbach. The two fascinating women talk about Bodies, our Bodies and everything connected to them.


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Elephant in the Room

Meaning

An important and obvious topic, which everyone present is aware of, but which isn't discussed, as such discussion is considered to be uncomfortable.

Origin

The expression is of US origin, although the precise source isn't known. The meaning, if not the exact wording, dates from at least the 1950s and is possibly some years older than that. The first reference to the phrase is found in The Charleston Gazette, July 1952:

"Chicago, that's an old Indian word meaning get that elephant out of your room."

It isn't clear quite what the author of that intended, but we can be sure he was being ironic. Chicago is a word coined by the people that now prefer to call themselves Native Americans. Their original meaning for the word isn't known, but we can be sure it wasn't anything to do with elephants.



The first known citation that uses the phrase with the clear intention of conveying our current understanding of the phrase is the title of Typpo and Hastings' book An elephant in the living room: a leader's guide for helping children of alcoholics, 1984.

The number of times that a variety of authors have called on the expression in recent years, whenever a topic that they thought was important and deserved more attention, has caused it to become clichéd.

A Red Herring

red herring:
a fact or idea that is not important but is introduced to take your attention away from the points that are important

The only thing that basescu is able to say, during these troubled times, is that 99% of Romanians enjoy "manele"... I can only add that his 100% does not equal mine! No wonder kids are school are not interested in maths... who would be with such a high-placed example of utter crap in one's head???