Wish you all!!

Attention!!

White Flowers

Season's Greetings!!!

Darfur, Sudan

The Last Waltz

How good a hug is!!

It's wondrous what a hug can do.
A hug can cheer you when you're blue.
A hug can say, "I love You so"
Or maybe, "I hate to see you go."

A hug is "Welcome back again,"
And "Great to see you! Where've you been?"
A hug can soothe a small child's pain,
And bring a rainbow after rain.

The hug, there's just no doubt about it
We scarcely could survive without it!
A hug delights and warms and charms,
It must be why God Gave us arms.

Hugs are great for fathers and mothers,
Sweet for sisters, swell for brothers;
And chances are your favorite aunts
Love them more than potted plants.

Kittens crave them, puppies love them;
Heads of states are not above them.
A hug can break the language barrier,
And make travel so much merrier.

No need to fret about your store of 'em;
The more you give, the more there is of em.
So stretch those arms without delay
And give someone a hug today!!!!

A No Reason Hug !
Hugs are very special things
Everyone knows it's true
There simply is no better way
To say, "I care about you !"

Between two friends it brings a smile
Or cheers a heart that's sad
It turns anger into laughter
And makes you both feel glad !

So today this greeting comes along
With a hug meant just for you
But there is no special reason;
I simply wanted to!

Street Art by Alexandre Farto aka Vhils

The 24 years old portuguese graffiti artist Alexandre Farto (Vhils) started with a traditional graffiti “bombing” and  later he passed on to the street art and has been doing this for the past 3 years. The whole world is considered to be his home town and the point of inspiration. The old town of Lisbon and his room are his most favorite places, where Alexandre loves to work or see the art of the others. At nights he explores the process of burning, and if got some more time he would finish one trick, visit some train watching spots and sleep for a long time…

Vhils oversteped the limits of graffiti. So now when going to a future work-of-art place he‘s taking not only spray bottles of paints, but also a perforator, a hammer and some scratchers. After spraying the drawing he “deepens” it taking off the plaster and paper in some spots. That‘s why his stunning works-of-art are considered to be the 2-D sculptures. His art is poetic, complicated, usually concentrated to essential things which we have abandoned for our short-time wishes. In some way they are saying that it is possible to come back and feel happiness again...

Vhils is creating on walls, wood, metal, paper, billboards, prints and art instalations...

Visit his site at:   http://alexandrefarto.com/

3 Stages of Life

 

Tulips Fields in the Netherlands

Johannes Vermeer

Johannes Vermeer, born in Delft in 1632 and buried in the same city on 1675, was one of the great Dutch masters of painting, though only about 30 paintings by him are known. He specialized in exquisite, domestic interior scenes of middle class life. Vermeer was a moderately successful provincial genre painter in his lifetime. He seems never to have been particularly wealthy, leaving his wife and children in debt at his death, perhaps because he produced relatively few paintings. Vermeer worked slowly and with great care, using bright colours and sometimes expensive pigments, with a preference for cornflower blue and yellow. He is particularly renowned for his masterly treatment and use of light in his work.

Source: Wikipedia

Happy Eid Mubarak !

To all my dear Muslim friends!

Die Slowly

He who becomes the slave of habit,

who follows the same routes every day,

who never changes pace,

who does not risk and change the color of his clothes,

who does not speak and does not experience,  

dies slowly.

He or she who shuns passion,

who prefers black on white,

dotting ones i's rather than a bundle of emotions,

the kind that make your eyes glimmer,

that turn a yawn into a smile,

that make the heart pound in the face of mistakes and feelings,

dies slowly.

He or she who does not turn things topsy-turvy,

who is unhappy at work,

who does not risk certainty for uncertainty,

to thus follow a dream,

those who do not forego sound advice at least once in their lives,

dies slowly.

He who does not travel, who does not read,

who does not listen to music,

who does not find grace in himself,

she who does not find grace in herself,

dies slowly.

He who slowly destroys his own self-esteem,

who does not allow himself to be helped,

who spends days on end complaining about his own bad luck, about the rain that never stops,

dies slowly.

He or she who abandons a project before starting it,

who fails to ask questions on subjects he doesn't know,

he or she who doesn't reply when they are asked something they do know,

dies slowly.

Let's try and avoid death in small doses,

reminding oneself that being alive requires an effort far greater than the simple fact of breathing.

Only a burning patience will lead  to the attainment of a splendid happiness.

Pablo Neruda

Plain and Simple

"God made us plain and simple,

but we have made ourselves very complicated."
Ecclesiastes 7:29

"Fall of Giants" by Ken Follett

Fall of Giants is a magnificent new historical epic. The first novel in the Century trilogy, it follows the fates of five interrelated families – American, German, Russian, English and Welsh – as they move through the world-shaking dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women’s suffrage.

These families find their lives inextricably entangled as, in a saga of unfolding drama and intriguing complexity, Fall of Giants moves seamlessly from Washington to St. Petersburg, from the dirt and danger of a coal mine to the glittering chandeliers of a palace, from the corridors of power to the bedrooms of the mighty.

As always with Ken, the historical background is brilliantly researched and rendered, the action fast-moving, the characters rich in nuance and emotion. It is destined to be a new classic.

Brazilian Baby dancing Samba

Stop Human Trafficking - Denounce it!!

Know It

Human trafficking -- also known as "trafficking in persons" -- is believed to be one of the fastest-growing criminal industries in the world. Human trafficking involves the recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or obtaining of people for the purpose of various forms of exploitation. Victims are often controlled through force, fraud, or coercion. While it is commonly thought that human trafficking is the smuggling or movement of people, in fact, the crime involves exploitation and control. Victims of human trafficking can be men or women, adults or children, and U.S. citizens or foreign-born immigrants.

Human trafficking can be difficult to recognize. Human trafficking victims may be forced to work as prostitutes, domestic workers, landscapers, in restaurants and bars, as forced panhandlers, in cleaning and janitorial jobs, in nail salons, or in other roles.

See It
Victims are often kept out of sight and are afraid to reach out for help. The following may be signs that someone may be a victim of trafficking: 

• Workers who have had their ID, passport, or documents taken away
• Workers who show signs of physical and/or sexual abuse, physical restraint, confinement, or torture
• Workers who show signs of emotional abuse
• Workers who are being threatened by or are in debt to their boss
• Workers who are under 18 and are involved in the commercial sex industry
• Workers who are not free to leave or come and go from their place of work as they wish
• Workers who don't seem to be receiving payment

If you think you see a human trafficking situation, you should ask the potential victim the following questions. These questions were compiled by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

• Can you leave your job or situation if you want?
• Can you come and go as you please?
• Have you been threatened if you try to leave?
• Have you been physically harmed in any way?
• What are your working or living conditions like?
• Where do you sleep and eat?
• Do you sleep in a bed, on a cot, or on the floor?
• Have you ever been deprived of food, water, sleep, or medical care?
• Do you have to ask permission to eat, sleep, or go to the bathroom?
• Are there locks on your doors and windows so you cannot get out?
• Has anyone threatened your family?
• Has your identification or documentation been taken from you?
• Is anyone forcing you to do anything that you do not want to do?

Report It
If you are a victim of human trafficking or would like to report a tip regarding suspected human trafficking, contact police in your country.

Venus de Milo

 

Aphrodite of Milos, better known as the Venus de Milo, is an ancient Greek statue and one of the most famous works of ancient Greek sculpture. Created at some time between 130 and 100 BC, it is believed to depict Aphrodite (Venus to the Romans) the Greek goddess of love and beauty. It is a marble sculpture, slightly larger than life size at 203 cm (6 ft 8 in) high. Its arms and original plinth have been lost. From an inscription that was on its plinth, it is thought to be the work of Alexandros of Antioch; it was earlier mistakenly attributed to the master sculptor Praxiteles. It is at present on display at the Louvre Museum in Paris.

(in Wikipedia)

Simply... Miloš

 

 

 

 

 

 

Miloš really fascinates me! It delights, enchaints and makes me dream for sure! I'm in love since the first moment  I saw it. Its calm atmosphere as well as its warm, clear and transparent waters are so perfect for a restful and wonderful stay. Sometimes the world can be a real paradise!

Milos is the most western island of the Cyclades, Greece. It has 5.500 inhabitants scattered over 7 small towns. Milos total surface is 151 sq. km. The island is ample, due to the very large and beautiful gulf is in the very middle of it, which gives the island a horseshoe shape.      There are more than 70 beaches, each one with its own characteristic.   Milos is also known  to most people as the place where the statue of Venus, now in the Louvre Museum in Paris, was discovered.