Imagine a widower with three children who has just lost his wife. He needs someone to take care of his children and no relatives are around to do so, even if they were around, this wouldn’t be a long-term solution. Now he needs to hire a nanny to do the job and this will cost him a fortune if he doesn’t want to remarry. In addition, in the case of hiring a nanny again something will always be missing and that is the love and care of a mother for her children, the coziness she brings to home even by her mere presence and so many other unseen factors which are usually not appreciated while they are alive.
I agree that with modern technology and the new attitude towards having fewer children, it is much easier for today’s mothers to deal with the difficulty of children’s upbringing and housework in comparison with the difficulty mothers had in older times to cope with, however; the main struggles still exist and life has become more complicated in other ways.
Most people believe that the real job is when someone works outside the house and even husbands expect their wives to comfort them when they get home without considering that she has worked as well during the day. Although this attitude is changing and it has changed to a great extent especially for newly married couples, there are still some mothers and wives whose jobs at home aren’t appreciated the way they should. Still there exists a great number of housewives whose hard work and even their existence are taken for granted. If that is not a job, why is our answer to the question, “What’s your mother’s job?” is: “She is a housewife!”
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
What does writing mean in our system and what should it mean to involve? Why?
Generally writing assignments are given to us as students for the purpose of assessment. Professors want to assess our abilities of deduction and inference due to our own knowledge background, but unfortunately if you don’t infer or deduce the same thing they did or in other words, the same thing they expect you to deduce, you won’t be able to get a good score. In isolation a good score may mean nothing to you, and it may not be important for you if the professor didn’t like your piece of writing, but in the long run, getting poor grades could ruin your future. Therefore, you gradually adapt yourself to the attitudes of the professors and your creativity will vanish forever. After a while you find yourself having no idea of your own anymore but just a copy of your professors’ insight.
Basically in our system they give you a topic and ask you to give your ideas and opinions on it. Sometimes a list of topics is given and you need to choose one among them which I think increases your freedom of choice; however, even in the case of the list of topics you may find none interesting. You often find yourself imitating other people’s styles or thoughts, when it is meant to involve your own thoughts. I think the reason why this phenomenon often takes place is that you are not taught how to think properly in the first place, so that when you are exposed to a topic, your thoughts are so disorganized that you can’t put them together and write a whole piece. Different ideas seem to be scattered in your head and you find it hard to organize them. In my opinion, the ability to think about a subject and come up with its pros and cons and also logical reasons to support them is an art.
On the contrary, when you want to write about a topic, first you need to learn a way to organize your thoughts and that can’t be achieved unless you do a lot of reading and familiarize yourself with the styles and patterns used in other writings. In order to get to know different patterns and at the same time in order not to copy the ideas you need to keep a balance between these two which is a hard task. This reading involves a lot of unconscious thinking and analyzing because without even noticing, you acquire what you need.
Writing should involve a lot of research and this research gives you lots of useful information. At the end of the day you need to have learnt something from all the time and effort you have put into the process of writing; something that is useful in your real life. The good thing about writing is that although writing seems to be a boring task to do, when you start it you can’t actually stop writing unless it is an uninteresting topic or you’re required to write a certain number of words for that specific topic. I think this uneasiness towards certain topics stems from the first writings you wrote. If the educational system makes this writing experience—I mean the first one—pleasurable for pupils, they will definitely wish to repeat such an experience in the future, and the more you write, the easier and more interesting it becomes to write. Writing must unravel the mysteries within you, so that at the end of a writing you come to know a new aspect of yourself that you weren’t even aware of before.
In conclusion, human beings search for reasons of each and every thing they do in life and writing is no exception; therefore, if they find a good and constructive reason for that and in fact if they find out how they can benefit from writing, there’s no doubt that they will commit to it.
Basically in our system they give you a topic and ask you to give your ideas and opinions on it. Sometimes a list of topics is given and you need to choose one among them which I think increases your freedom of choice; however, even in the case of the list of topics you may find none interesting. You often find yourself imitating other people’s styles or thoughts, when it is meant to involve your own thoughts. I think the reason why this phenomenon often takes place is that you are not taught how to think properly in the first place, so that when you are exposed to a topic, your thoughts are so disorganized that you can’t put them together and write a whole piece. Different ideas seem to be scattered in your head and you find it hard to organize them. In my opinion, the ability to think about a subject and come up with its pros and cons and also logical reasons to support them is an art.
On the contrary, when you want to write about a topic, first you need to learn a way to organize your thoughts and that can’t be achieved unless you do a lot of reading and familiarize yourself with the styles and patterns used in other writings. In order to get to know different patterns and at the same time in order not to copy the ideas you need to keep a balance between these two which is a hard task. This reading involves a lot of unconscious thinking and analyzing because without even noticing, you acquire what you need.
Writing should involve a lot of research and this research gives you lots of useful information. At the end of the day you need to have learnt something from all the time and effort you have put into the process of writing; something that is useful in your real life. The good thing about writing is that although writing seems to be a boring task to do, when you start it you can’t actually stop writing unless it is an uninteresting topic or you’re required to write a certain number of words for that specific topic. I think this uneasiness towards certain topics stems from the first writings you wrote. If the educational system makes this writing experience—I mean the first one—pleasurable for pupils, they will definitely wish to repeat such an experience in the future, and the more you write, the easier and more interesting it becomes to write. Writing must unravel the mysteries within you, so that at the end of a writing you come to know a new aspect of yourself that you weren’t even aware of before.
In conclusion, human beings search for reasons of each and every thing they do in life and writing is no exception; therefore, if they find a good and constructive reason for that and in fact if they find out how they can benefit from writing, there’s no doubt that they will commit to it.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Why internet when you can’t manage?
Last year when we wanted to enroll, we went to Dehkade Olympic and everything was so organized that I did the whole procedure in less than 30 minutes, but this year there was a lot of advertising about the procedure of unit taking (I’m not sure if this is the right expression) happening in the cyber space. First I was so glad because this could save me lots of time; however, later on it proved wrong.
Since I have to pay for my units and it was mentioned in the site that all “shetab” cards are accepted, I decided to use my “sepehr” card for that purpose which didn’t work when it was supposed to. I hadn’t been able to deposit the amount needed; therefore, I only had 2000 tomans in my account (!). At the eleventh hour I managed to transfer the needed amount into my account. It was midnight and the procedure began right on time, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t deposit the necessary amount into the university’s account and therefore, I wasn’t allowed to take up any credits. I just kept refreshing the page and could see all the seats (vacancies) getting occupied—I had planned to take classes with certain professors and all my plans were going down the drain as time went by. The only bank we could transfer money through was Saman and I kept searching for someone who had an account there. Finally, at 12:20 I found someone—God bless him—who gave me his card number and password. I could take up what I needed at the very last minute—some of the classes had room for 2 or 3 when I took them! It was by the skin of my teeth that I took all the classes with my favorite professors. However, nobody was able to take up 4 of the required units and we had to spend nearly 4 hours Saturday to get away with the whole thing. I hope this doesn’t happen the next semester, because it was awful not knowing what to do and who to ask.
Since I have to pay for my units and it was mentioned in the site that all “shetab” cards are accepted, I decided to use my “sepehr” card for that purpose which didn’t work when it was supposed to. I hadn’t been able to deposit the amount needed; therefore, I only had 2000 tomans in my account (!). At the eleventh hour I managed to transfer the needed amount into my account. It was midnight and the procedure began right on time, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t deposit the necessary amount into the university’s account and therefore, I wasn’t allowed to take up any credits. I just kept refreshing the page and could see all the seats (vacancies) getting occupied—I had planned to take classes with certain professors and all my plans were going down the drain as time went by. The only bank we could transfer money through was Saman and I kept searching for someone who had an account there. Finally, at 12:20 I found someone—God bless him—who gave me his card number and password. I could take up what I needed at the very last minute—some of the classes had room for 2 or 3 when I took them! It was by the skin of my teeth that I took all the classes with my favorite professors. However, nobody was able to take up 4 of the required units and we had to spend nearly 4 hours Saturday to get away with the whole thing. I hope this doesn’t happen the next semester, because it was awful not knowing what to do and who to ask.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
I had downloaded some movies from the internet when I had access to ADSL, but I hadn’t had the time to watch all of them. During last week I’ve had more free time and therefore, I’ve watched those I hadn’t seen among which was “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” It’s the story of a man whose growing up is backwards, meaning he gets younger instead of getting older; however, this doesn’t happen on the inside: emotion wise and maturity wise he becomes older. It’s a paradox, isn’t it? It reminded me how blessed we are to get old.
The actor in the leading role was Brad Pitt and the actress in the supporting role was Cate Blanchett. I think they acted perfectly well, especially Brad Pitt. No wonder why these actors win the academy award or get nominated for that; they’re geniuses in their field of work.
The bulk of the movie starts in a room in a hospital. A very old woman who’s on the verge of dying is accompanied by her daughter because the nurse has to pick her child up from somewhere. The old lady could pass any minute, but for the daughter it’s a blessing to be beside her and to have a chance to say goodbye to her beloved mother. They start talking and the mother asks her daughter to find a diary in her suitcase and read it aloud to her. The Diary had been written by Benjamin Button: how he grew up, what his life was like, and the complete story of his life. While reading the diary, the daughter finds out that the woman Benjamin had been in love with had been her mother and that he was her father and had to leave them despite loving them because he couldn’t do anything else. He had been forced to leave them and watch his loved ones live with a stranger because he knew at the time his daughter would be a teenager, he would become a teenager himself. He had to sacrifice his love.
Although the story was completely peculiar, the movie was so real and it was depicted so beautifully that I couldn’t help myself crying at some scenes. I liked the part in which Benjamin and his love were finally together; it was moving and romantic.
All in all, I recommend this movie to you; it sure is worth watching.
The actor in the leading role was Brad Pitt and the actress in the supporting role was Cate Blanchett. I think they acted perfectly well, especially Brad Pitt. No wonder why these actors win the academy award or get nominated for that; they’re geniuses in their field of work.
The bulk of the movie starts in a room in a hospital. A very old woman who’s on the verge of dying is accompanied by her daughter because the nurse has to pick her child up from somewhere. The old lady could pass any minute, but for the daughter it’s a blessing to be beside her and to have a chance to say goodbye to her beloved mother. They start talking and the mother asks her daughter to find a diary in her suitcase and read it aloud to her. The Diary had been written by Benjamin Button: how he grew up, what his life was like, and the complete story of his life. While reading the diary, the daughter finds out that the woman Benjamin had been in love with had been her mother and that he was her father and had to leave them despite loving them because he couldn’t do anything else. He had been forced to leave them and watch his loved ones live with a stranger because he knew at the time his daughter would be a teenager, he would become a teenager himself. He had to sacrifice his love.
Although the story was completely peculiar, the movie was so real and it was depicted so beautifully that I couldn’t help myself crying at some scenes. I liked the part in which Benjamin and his love were finally together; it was moving and romantic.
All in all, I recommend this movie to you; it sure is worth watching.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
My favorite song by Marc Anthony
ESCAPÉMONOS (con Jennifer López)
Escapemonos tan lejos de aqui,
distantes de todos, en la oscuridad
Donde no haya mas que ver en tus ojos.
Escondamonos de la multitud,
del absurdo dia a dia,
donde todas esas cosas que
perturben no esten mas en
nuestras vidas...En nuestras vidas.
Para que estemos solos amor
y el universo se nos quede en un
abrazo.... Donde se esfumen esas
dudas y esos miedos que nos
queden del pasado...
Para que estemos solos amor
en un dia sin fin sin preocuparnos
mas del que podran decir
donde durmamos abrazados y si
entonces nos sorprende el amancer
saber que estas ahi, que estamos solos
Escapemonos por necesidad,
nos debemos tanto
si el amor esta no hay porque esperar
el donde o el cuando.
Escondamonos de la multitud,
del absurdo dia a dia,
donde todas esas cosas que
perturben no esten mas en
nuestras vidas...En nuestras vidas.
Para que estemos solos amor
y el universo se nos quede en un
abrazo.... Donde se esfumen esas
dudas y esos miedos que nos
queden del pasado...
Para que estemos solos amor
en un dia sin fin sin preocuparnos
mas del que podran decir
donde durmamos abrazados y si
entonces nos sorprende el amancer
saber que estas ahi, que estamos solos
Para que estemos solos amor
en un dia sin fin sin preocuparnos
mas del que podran decir
donde durmamos abrazados y si
entonces nos sorprende el amancer
saber que estas ahi, que estamos solos
Escapemonos...
Escondamonos...
Escapemonos...
Escapemonos tan lejos de aqui,
distantes de todos, en la oscuridad
Donde no haya mas que ver en tus ojos.
Escondamonos de la multitud,
del absurdo dia a dia,
donde todas esas cosas que
perturben no esten mas en
nuestras vidas...En nuestras vidas.
Para que estemos solos amor
y el universo se nos quede en un
abrazo.... Donde se esfumen esas
dudas y esos miedos que nos
queden del pasado...
Para que estemos solos amor
en un dia sin fin sin preocuparnos
mas del que podran decir
donde durmamos abrazados y si
entonces nos sorprende el amancer
saber que estas ahi, que estamos solos
Escapemonos por necesidad,
nos debemos tanto
si el amor esta no hay porque esperar
el donde o el cuando.
Escondamonos de la multitud,
del absurdo dia a dia,
donde todas esas cosas que
perturben no esten mas en
nuestras vidas...En nuestras vidas.
Para que estemos solos amor
y el universo se nos quede en un
abrazo.... Donde se esfumen esas
dudas y esos miedos que nos
queden del pasado...
Para que estemos solos amor
en un dia sin fin sin preocuparnos
mas del que podran decir
donde durmamos abrazados y si
entonces nos sorprende el amancer
saber que estas ahi, que estamos solos
Para que estemos solos amor
en un dia sin fin sin preocuparnos
mas del que podran decir
donde durmamos abrazados y si
entonces nos sorprende el amancer
saber que estas ahi, que estamos solos
Escapemonos...
Escondamonos...
Escapemonos...
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Ramadan
This is the second day I'm fasting and it's getting easier and easier each day, although days are long and when you reach the end of the day it's like it's not going to end. Do you also feel it in the air? The difference I mean. I myself think I'm closer to God. What makes this difference, I don't know, but I'm sure something has changed within me. The great feeling you have at the time of Sahar and Eftar can not be exchanged for anything.
I've started my Spanish class from where I left off and I'm enjoying the class very much, for I hadn't been in touch with Spanish for at least two months. We watch Spanish movies, read Spanish books and the like. Recently I've been listening to Marc Anthony's songs and I try to write down the lyrics. Later I check the internet for the correct version of the lyrics and then I try to memorize it. That's how I did with English and I hope it works the same way. In the meanwhile--I saw this expression in Sherlock Holmes series instead of using "in the meantime"--I keep on reading the old book of detective stories mentioned in between the dashes to keep my English refreshed. Beautiful descriptions it has; Holmes and his vast knowledge in poisons, different kinds of cigars and their ashes, tracing different footsteps and so many other things that amazes me to a great extent. His way of backward reasoning instead of forward is really interesting. He's described in such a way that you nearly think he had actually existed in some era. I've finished "A study in scarlet" and nearly through with "The sign of four". There's a long way to the end of the book, but I can't wait to see what happens next. By the way I'm getting pretty absent-minded I guess with all that background I have from the book, there are many parts I don't remember at all!
I've started my Spanish class from where I left off and I'm enjoying the class very much, for I hadn't been in touch with Spanish for at least two months. We watch Spanish movies, read Spanish books and the like. Recently I've been listening to Marc Anthony's songs and I try to write down the lyrics. Later I check the internet for the correct version of the lyrics and then I try to memorize it. That's how I did with English and I hope it works the same way. In the meanwhile--I saw this expression in Sherlock Holmes series instead of using "in the meantime"--I keep on reading the old book of detective stories mentioned in between the dashes to keep my English refreshed. Beautiful descriptions it has; Holmes and his vast knowledge in poisons, different kinds of cigars and their ashes, tracing different footsteps and so many other things that amazes me to a great extent. His way of backward reasoning instead of forward is really interesting. He's described in such a way that you nearly think he had actually existed in some era. I've finished "A study in scarlet" and nearly through with "The sign of four". There's a long way to the end of the book, but I can't wait to see what happens next. By the way I'm getting pretty absent-minded I guess with all that background I have from the book, there are many parts I don't remember at all!
Saturday, August 15, 2009
North
I went to the North of Iran this week; it was amazing. I needed a vacation for so long and I hadn't been to the North for five years; therefore, I enjoyed every minute of my trip. We packed our things on Monday and we hit the road at 11. It was quite hot during the first two hours until we reached Kandevan tunnel and from there after it was like heaven; foggy and cool so that I put on a rather warm cardigan. When we got closer to our destination, there was some traffic, but it didn't bother us at all since we were enjoying the view. We chose Chalus road and the scenery was breathtaking as you know. We stayed at a hotel in Namak Abrud region-actually right in front of the main door to Namak Abrud recreational facility. The premises of the hotel were green and very beautiful; full of life and colors--you could see the different shades of green there. The leaves were wet with dew. The weather was cloudy all the time and you know how romantic it is. I love the humidity despite the difficulty it causes, I mean with your hair and with your washed clothes not getting completely dry. I had taken my swimsuit but the sea wasn't calm and I couldn't go for a swim. The weather wasn't sunny and it was even quite cold; therefore, I couldn't get a sun tan either, but all in all it was so good that I don't regret not doing some of the things I had planned. We arrived there at 6 in the evening. Right after we checked in, we went for a drive near the hotel and found Laico-a big shopping center-very close to the hotel and as you know how shopaholic women are, we bought some bedsheets and a flask to preserve hot water.
I started the book "Sherlock Holmes" which I'm sure you're familiar with--The complete novels and stories in 2 volumes--during this trip. It's still startling to me although I've read the whole stories in Persian and I've seen the series on TV twice. It's a descriptive, detective book written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I bought this one from the book fair and its English is helping me improve my writing and knowledge of vocabulary. However, I have to confess that there are a lot of words I don't know and at first this matter distracted me, but I eventually managed to ignore it except for some very interesting expressions or words that I intentionally look them up in the dictionary. Reading aside, I went bike riding twice in that wonderful weather, we went walking every night, but despite this exercise I gained two kilos(!). I'm much of a glutton and with that delicious breakfast of the hotel how could I resist. Today I was viewing the photos of our trip and I really missed it: it was good but not enough; I could stay another whole week.
I started the book "Sherlock Holmes" which I'm sure you're familiar with--The complete novels and stories in 2 volumes--during this trip. It's still startling to me although I've read the whole stories in Persian and I've seen the series on TV twice. It's a descriptive, detective book written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I bought this one from the book fair and its English is helping me improve my writing and knowledge of vocabulary. However, I have to confess that there are a lot of words I don't know and at first this matter distracted me, but I eventually managed to ignore it except for some very interesting expressions or words that I intentionally look them up in the dictionary. Reading aside, I went bike riding twice in that wonderful weather, we went walking every night, but despite this exercise I gained two kilos(!). I'm much of a glutton and with that delicious breakfast of the hotel how could I resist. Today I was viewing the photos of our trip and I really missed it: it was good but not enough; I could stay another whole week.
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