Children Are ...

Amazing, ACKNOWLEDGE THEM.

Believable, TRUST THEM.

Childlike, ALLOW THEM.

Divine, HONOR THEM.

Energetic, NOURISH THEM.

Fallible, EMBRACE THEM.

Gifts, TREASURE THEM.

Here Now, BE WITH THEM.

Innocent, DELIGHT WITH THEM.

Joyful, APPRECIATE THEM.

Kindhearted, LEARN FROM THEM.

Lovable, CHERISH THEM.

Magical, FLY WITH THEM.

Noble, ESTEEM THEM.

Open minded, RESPECT THEM.

Precious, VALUE THEM.

Questioners, ENCOURAGE THEM.

Resourceful, SUPPORT THEM.

Spontaneous, ENJOY THEM.

Talented, BELIEVE IN THEM.

Unique, AFFIRM THEM.

Vulnerable, PROTECT THEM.

Whole, RECOGNIZE THEM.

Xtraspecial, CELEBRATE THEM.

Yearning, NOTICE THEM.

Zany, LAUGH WITH THEM.

Find a rainbow

Work hard at what you like to do
and try to overcome all obstacles.

Laugh at your mistakes and
praise yourself for learning from them

Pick some flowers and
appreciate the beauty of nature

Say hello to strangers
and enjoy the people you know

Don't be afraid to show your emotions
laughing and crying make you feel better

Love your friends and family
with your entire being
they are the most important part
of your life

Feel the calmness on a quiet sunny day

Find a rainbow
and live your world of dreams
always remember life is better than it seems .

A Perfect Guy

1. Knows how to make you smile when you are down.
2. Try to secretly smell your hair, but you always notice.
3. Stick up for you, but still respect your independence.
4. Give you the remote control during the game.
5. Come up behind you and put his arms around you.
6. Play with your hair.
7. His hand would always find your hand.
8. Be cute when he really wants something.
9. Offer you plenty of massages.
10. Dance with you, even if he feels like a dork.
11. Never run out of love.
12. Be funny, but know when to be serious.
13. Realize he's being funny when he needs to be serious.
14. Be patient when you take forever to get ready.
15. React so cutely when you hit him and it acutally hurts.
16. Smile a lot.
17. Plans a romantic date full of things he wouldn't normally do because he knows it means a lot to you.
18. Appreciate you.
19. Help others out.
20 Drive five hours just to see you for one.
21. Always gives you a kiss when you leave, even when his friends are watching.
22. Sing, even if he can't.
23. Have a creative sense of humor.
24. Stare at you.
25. Call for no reason.

Star to wish upon

I picked a star to wish upon
From all the stars above...
And closed my eyes and made a wish
To send you all my love.
So look up in the sky tonight
And find one special star...
The one that holds my wish to you
No matter where you are.
When you see that special star
My wish will come to you...
For stars were made to wish upon
And wishes do come true!

I ASKED GOD

I asked for a flower,
He gave me a garden.

I asked for a tree,
He gave me a forest.

I asked for a river,
He gave me an ocean.

I asked for my life,
He gave me "YOU."

I love you my everything

What You Are To Me
A quick glance, a tender smile
I am caught in a spell
A gentle touch, a warm embrace
I know that all to well
A soft voice, an unspoken love
Across the way I see
A kind face, an inner beauty
That's what you are to me.

Allow Your Own Inner Light to Guide You

There comes a time when you must stand alone.

You must feel confident enough within yourself to follow your own dreams.

You must be willing to make sacrifices.

You must be capable of changing and rearranging your priorities so that your final goal can be achieved.

Sometimes, familiarity and comfort need to be challenged.

There are times when you must take a few extra chances and create your own realities.

Be strong enough to at least try to make your life better.

Be confident enough that you won't settle for a compromise just to get by.

Appreciate yourself by allowing yourself the opportunities to grow, develop, and find your true sense of purpose in this life.

Don't stand in someone else's shadow when it's your sunlight that should lead the way.

Robot Etymology

The word robot was introduced to the public at large by Czech writer Karel Čapek in his play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots), which premiered in 1921. The play begins in a factory that makes 'artificial people' - they are called robots, but are closer to the modern idea of androids or even clones, creatures who can be mistaken for humans. They can plainly think for themselves, though they seem happy to serve. At issue is whether the "Robots" are being exploited and, if so, what follows?
However, Karel Čapek himself was not the originator of the word; he wrote a short letter in reference to an article in the Oxford English Dictionary etymology in which he named his brother, painter and writer Josef Čapek , as its actual inventor. In an article in the Czech journal Lidové noviny in 1933, he also explained that he had originally wanted to call the creatures laboři (from Latin labor, work). However, he did not like the word, seeing it as too artificial, and sought advice from his brother Josef, who suggested "roboti".
The word robot comes from the word robota meaning literally labor or work and historically applied specifically to serf labor, and figuratively "drudgery" or "hard work" in Czech,Slovak,Ukrainian, Russian and Polish. The origin of the word is the old Church Slavonic rabota "servitude" ("work" in contemporary Bulgarian and Russian), which in turn comes from the Indo-European root *orbh-. "Robota" in the sense of serfdom was outlawed in 1848 in Bohemia, so at the time Čapek wrote R.U.R., usage of the term had broadened to include various types of work, but the archaic sense of serfdom would still have been known. Robot is cognate with the German word Arbeiter (worker).
In Hungary, the robot was a feudal service, which was rendered to local magnates by peasants every year.

PUFFIN-THE BEAUTIFUL SEABIRD

Puffins belong to the Alcidae (Auk) family of seabirds. There are 4 species of puffins. They are:

a) Atlantic Puffin: The Atlantic Puffin (formerly Common Puffin) lives in the North Atlantic. It is the smallest of the puffins and is readily separated from the similar Horned Puffin by the steel-blue triangle at the base of its beak.

b) Horned Puffin: The Horned Puffin looks similar to the Atlantic Puffin however it is easily distinguished by its mostly yellow bill with orange tip (missing blue/gray section towards base of bill). The Horned Puffin receives its name from the horny projections that extend above its eyes.

c) Tufted Puffin: The Tufted Puffin is the largest puffin and is characterized by long, straw-colored feathers extending back from its crown during the mating season.

d) Rhinoceros Auklet: Although this Puffin differs noticeably in outward appearance from the other three species of puffin (which accounts for its misnaming), this sooty-brown bird is anatomically still a puffin. During the breeding season a pale knob projects upward from the base of the upper mandible giving a Rhinoceros-like appearance to its otherwise more narrow and shallower bill. This puffin usually comes to land at night.

Males are usually slightly larger than females, which is most noticeable only when a pair is standing together. Most puffins do not breed until they are 5 years old. Puffins lay 1 egg per year. They usually keep the same mate every season and use the same burrow as in previous years. The male and female share the duties of incubating the egg and rearing the chick.Puffins often live 20 years or more.

PUFFIN BURROWS

Puffins dig their burrows using their bills and feet. They prefer to make their burrows in earth or between rocks on steep sea cliffs so predators cannot easily reach them. They use their bills to cut into soil and then shovel away loose material with their feet. They dig dog-like, shoveling dirt out behind themselves. Most burrows are 2 to 3 feet long (70 to 110 cm), which is as long as the arm length of an adult human. At the back of the burrow the parents build a soft nest of feathers and grass where they incubate the egg. The burrows often have a toilet area at the first bend. The young chick uses this area as a bathroom so it doesn’t soil its feathers. As it matures, the toilet is moved closer to the burrow entrance, helping to keep the chick clean. If the chick became too soiled, it may damage it’s waterproofing, a fatal circumstance once the chick takes to sea.

..Beauty Thing..

Beauty is a thing seldom seen
No one sees it because no one looks
Or at least not in the right place
Beauty is held by all
Within the soul it lies
Waiting to come out to the surface
Only it can't
Beauty is suppressed by the evils of the world
Only love can bring beauty out
Once seen
Beauty never hides again
Not even hatred can deny beauty
Of it's true design
Beauty although possessed by all
Will only ever be truly seen by few
And fewer yet will ever see
One of the most beautiful sights
The beauty held by you.

The Taj Mahal

The world famous TAJ MAHAL stands on the bank of the Yamuna river and was built as a tribute to a beautiful woman and as a monument of enduring love.

Taj Mahal is regarded as one of the eight wonders of the world, and some Western historians have noted that its architectural beauty has never been surpassed. Taj Mahal is built entirely of white marble. Its stunning architectural beauty is beyond adequate description, particularly at dawn and sunset. The Taj seems to glow in the light of the full moon. On a foggy morning, the visitors experience the Taj as if suspended when viewed from across the Jamuna river.

The story goes back in 1607, when a prince of the royal Mughal household strolled down the Meena Bazaar, accompanied by a string of fawning courtiers, he caught a glimpse of a girl hawking silk and glass beads. Five years and a wife later (in those days princes did not marry for love alone) the regal 20-yr-old went to wed his 19-yr-old bride. It was a fairy tale union from the start, one that withstood court intrigues, battles for succession and finally, the grand coronation. And when she died on the 19th year of their marriage, he etched her story in stone. The Taj Mahal is the living symbol of the monumental passion of Shah Jahan and Arjumand Banu. Which other love story has so grand a memorial?


Construction of Taj Mahal began in 1631 and was completed in 22 years. Twenty thousand people were deployed to work on it. The material was brought in from all over India and central Asia and it took a fleet of 1000 elephants to transport it to the site. It was designed by the Iranian architect Ustad Isa and it is best appreciated when the architecture and its adornments are linked to the passion that inspired it. It is a "symbol of eternal love".


The focus of the Taj Mahal is the white marble tomb, which stands on a square plinth consisting of a symmetrical building with an iwan, an arch-shaped doorway, topped by a large dome. Like most Mughal tombs, basic elements are Persian in origin.

The base structure is a large, multi-chambered structure. The base is essentially a cube with chamfered edges and is roughly 55 meters on each side (see floor plan, right). On the long sides, a massive pishtaq, or vaulted archway, frames the iwan with a similar arch-shaped balcony.
On either side of the main arch, additional pishtaqs are stacked above and below. This motif of stacked pishtaqs is replicated on chamfered corner areas as well. The design is completely symmetrical on all sides of the building. Four minarets, one at each corner of the plinth, facing the chamfered corners, frame the tomb. The main chamber houses the false sarcophagi of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan; their actual graves are at a lower level.
The marble dome that surmounts the tomb is its most spectacular feature. Its height is about the same size as the base of the building, about 35 meters, and is accentuated as it sits on a cylindrical "drum" of about 7 metres high. Because of its shape, the dome is often called an onion dome (also called an amrud or guava dome). The top is decorated with a lotus design, which serves to accentuate its height as well. The shape of the dome is emphasised by four smaller domed chattris (kiosks) placed at its corners. The chattri domes replicate the onion shape of the main dome. Their columned bases open through the roof of the tomb and provide light to the interior. Tall decorative spires (guldastas) extend from edges of base walls, and provide visual emphasis to the height of the dome. The lotus motif is repeated on both the chattris and guldastas. The dome and chattris are topped by a gilded finial, which mixes traditional Persian and Hindu decorative elements.
The main dome is crowned by a gilded spire or finial. The finial, made of gold until the early 1800s, is now made of bronze. The finial provides a clear example of integration of traditional Persian and Hindu decorative elements. The finial is topped by a moon, a typical Islamic motif, whose horns point heavenward. Because of its placement on the main spire, the horns of moon and finial point combine to create a trident shape, reminiscent of traditional Hindu symbols of Shiva.
At the corners of the plinth stand minarets, the four large towers each more than 40 meters tall. The minarets display the Taj Mahal's penchant for symmetry. These towers are designed as working minarets, a traditional element of mosques as a place for a muezzin to call the Islamic faithful to prayer. Each minaret is effectively divided into three equal parts by two working balconies that ring the tower. At the top of the tower is a final balcony surmounted by a chattri that mirrors the design of those on the tomb. The minaret chattris share the same finishing touches, a lotus design topped by a gilded finial. Each of the minarets were constructed slightly outside of the plinth, so that in the event of collapse, a typical occurrence with many such tall constructions of the period, the material from the towers would tend to fall away from the tomb.

Taj Mahal was built by Emperor Shah Jahan (died 1666 C.E.) in the memory of his dear wife and queen Mumtaz Mahal at Agra, India. It is an "elegy in marble" or some say an expression of a "dream." Taj Mahal (meaning Crown Palace) is a Mausoleum that houses the grave of queen Mumtaz Mahal at the lower chamber. The grave of Shah Jahan was added to it later.

While the white domed marble and tile mausoleum is most familiar, Taj Mahal is an integrated symmetric complex of structures that was completed around 1648. Ustad Ahmad Lahauri is generally considered to be the principal designer of the Taj Mahal.

In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was cited as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage."
The Taj rises on a high red sandstone base topped by a huge white marble terrace on which rests the famous dome flanked by four tapering minarets. Within the dome lies the jewel-inlaid cenotaph of the queen. So exquisite is the workmanship that the Taj has been described as "having been designed by giants and finished by jewellers".
The dome is made of white marble, but the tomb is set against the plain across the river and it is this background that works its magic of colours that, through their reflection, change the view of the Taj. The colours change at different hours of the day and during different seasons. Like a jewel, the Taj sparkles in moonlight when the semi-precious stones inlaid into the white marble on the main mausoleum catch the glow of the moon. The Taj is pinkish in the morning, milky white in the evening and golden when the moon shines. These changes, they say, depict the different moods of woman.

As a tribute to a beautiful woman and as a monument for enduring love, the Taj reveals its subtleties.The rectangular base of Taj is in itself symbolic of the different sides from which to view a beautiful woman. The main gate is like a veil to a woman’s face which should be lifted delicately, gently and without haste on the wedding night. In indian tradition the veil is lifted gently to reveal the beauty of the bride. As one stands inside the main gate of Taj, his eyes are directed to an arch which frames the Taj. Different people have different views of the Taj but it would be enough to say that the Taj has a life of its own that leaps out of marble, provided you understand that it is a monument of love. As an architectural masterpiece, nothing could be added or substracted from it.