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Anna91

Anna91

Poland

November 21, 2011

SLIMY - covered with a thick wet unpleasant substance e.g. slimy rocks

DEVOUR - to eat something very fast because you are hungry e.g. She devoured three burgers and a pile of fries.

RECOUNT - to say what happened e.g. a TV film recounting the war years

CENSUS - an occasion on which government officials count the people who live in a country and record other information about them  e.g. statistics from the 2001 census

ATTAIN - to succeed in achieving something, especially after a lot of effort e.g. More women are attaining high positions in business.

PERILOUS - very dangerous e.g. a perilous journey



September 12, 2011

Vampire - when you hear this particular word what comes to your mind? Of course you would think of a dead (well not entirely) person who walks by night, haunts for people to feed on their blood. But have you ever thought how the image of vampire has transformed since Ancient times?

In Ancient Greece there was a myth about a woman named Lamia, woman that fed on the living energy of humans. These kinds of mythical entities can be found in many different cultures all over the world. To put simply - where there are people there are vampires.

The creatures [vampires] were described in old folk stories as people who were dead but somehow still alive and their only wish was to kill and drink human blood. Everyone could become a vampire provided they committed suicide, were a witch or a warlock, evil by nature or died from a vampire's bite. To prevent a dead body from becoming a vampire, people cut off its heads and put it between its feet so that it would not be able to rise from the grave. Another way was to turn the body face down in the coffin, so that if a newborn vampire would like to rise it would only dig itself deeper into the ground.

For people in Middle Ages, and a short period after it the figure of the vampire was repulsive. They were imagined as reddish creatures [because of the blood] with an unhealthy complexion, blood on the lips. Some people believed that to become a vampire one must have two hearts. After death, the human heart and the human soul vanished from the body and left behind a devilish heart and impure soul. That is way one of the ways of killing a vampire was to pierce the second heart with a wooden stake [so good known nowadays]. There was also one very odd way. If somebody wanted to keep one of the undead in the grave one could scatter a handful of poppy or some other seed next to the grave. Apparently, when the vampire woke up to his new demonic life, it felt compelled to count all those seeds. This process kept the creature occupied till morning when it died in the sunlight or retreated into the grave again. People also hang garlic next to the windows and door and remembered not to invite strangers to their homes.

But with the passing of time the image of the vampire changed [and it sure will]. One of the best known vampires in the world is Bram Stoker's Dracula. From the moment Dracula started to exist, vampire is no longer perceived as reddish, repulsive monster but a mysterious stranger. He lives in an old castle in Transylvania. He possesses many characteristics of folkloric vampires but unlike them he is not a brainless, blood-lusting creature, but an intelligent immortal. Still he is a murderer who has to kill to satisfy his blood lust. Since then, one can also notice that a vampire can change shape and has no reflection. But one detail has been discarded - vampire can sleep only in soil from motherland.

A hundred years after Dracula a new kind of vampire was brought into existence. In the "Interview with the Vampire" [1976] by Anne Rice, the vampires are a mixture of sexuality, sensuality and darkness. It is a tale of a mortal that is given a choice between life and death. What we can learn from this tale is that it is no longer enough to be bitten by a vampire but you need to drink a vampire's blood. Rice's vampires are still demonic creatures who can't survive without blood, but they seem to be upgraded version of human beings. They are immortal, intelligent, have acute senses, they are not afraid of garlic and crucifixes anymore. They are incredibly seductive and deadly good-looking.

But a real vampire-boom has been launched by Stephanie Meyers' "Twilight". When Rice's vampires were only seductive, Edward Cullen has become obsession of teenagers [not only] all over the world. He is drop dead gorgeous, and sunlight cannot kill him anymore [isn't that fantastic...]. Twilight's vampires have a lust for blood, but however it is not so intensive, and they can live happily [mostly] among unaware people.

Since the vampires were in fashion, books were transformed into TV series. 'The Vampire Diaries' is a very popular show about two sexy vampire brother - The Salvatores who fight for human girl. They can walk in sunlight as well, but they have to wear special spelled rings, which protects them from burning and true death. While The Salvatore brothers live still secretly, in another show "True Blood" [also based on book] vampires decided to reveal themselves to the world. Synthetic blood was invented by Japanese, so people don't have to worry about bloodsuckers. Of course some vamps aren't fond of true blood, so murders are still present.

Image of vampire has changed through decades. They used to be disgusting, brainless creatures in the past but nowadays people dream of becoming a vampire. To be vampire today, means to be sexy, to has acute senses, be extra strong and fast, and simply to be immortal.

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February 14, 2008

Let me introduce myself. My name is Valentine. I lived in Rome during the third century. That was long, long ago! At that time, Rome was ruled by an emperor named Claudius. I didn't like Emperor Claudius, and I wasn't the only one! A lot of people shared my feelings.

Claudius wanted to have a big army. He expected men to volunteer to join. Many men just did not want to fight in wars. They did not want to leave their wives and families. As you might have guessed, not many men signed up. This made Claudius furious. So what happened? He had a crazy idea. He thought that if men were not married, they would not mind joining the army. So Claudius decided not to allow any more marriages. Young people thought his new law was cruel. I thought it was preposterous! I certainly wasn't going to support that law!

Did I mention that I was a priest? One of my favorite activities was to marry couples. Even after Emperor Claudius passed his law, I kept on performing marriage ceremonies -- secretly, of course. It was really quite exciting. Imagine a small candlelit room with only the bride and groom and myself. We would whisper the words of the ceremony, listening all the while for the steps of soldiers.

One night, we did hear footsteps. It was scary! Thank goodness the couple I was marrying escaped in time. I was caught. (Not quite as light on my feet as I used to be, I guess.) I was thrown in jail and told that my punishment was death.

I tried to stay cheerful. And do you know what? Wonderful things happened. Many young people came to the jail to visit me. They threw flowers and notes up to my window. They wanted me to know that they, too, believed in love.

One of these young people was the daughter of the prison guard. Her father allowed her to visit me in the cell. Sometimes we would sit and talk for hours. She helped me to keep my spirits up. She agreed that I did the right thing by ignoring the Emperor and going ahead with the secret marriages. On the day I was to die, I left my friend a little note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty. I signed it, "Love from your Valentine."

I believe that note started the custom of exchanging love messages on Valentine's Day. It was written on the day I died, February 14, 269 A.D. Now, every year on this day, people remember. But most importantly, they think about love and friendship. And when they think of Emperor Claudius, they remember how he tried to stand in the way of love, and they laugh -- because they know that love can't be beaten!