Afternoon Pages

What would you say about Tom Ripley, judging by his behavior, in view of the fact that he has killed two people several days ago?Would you consider him as mentally ill person or an absolutely sane, cruel and calculating man?

I consider Tom Ripley as mentally ill person and absolutely sane,cruel and calculating man at the same time. A person who killed anybody for taking his or her place in a life has mentally desease, of course. But Tom Ripley understood quite well what he was doing and for what he was doing it. He didn't know why he has done it. The author tells that Tom has felt absolutely lonely, and that is the reason, I think. Tom didn't see any possible way to get what he wanted except killing. It poves that he is mentally ill. But his actions seemed very well-thought-out. It proves that he is very sensiblе,rational and cruel. And another fact, that shows his mental desease is his behavior after the crime. He doesn't feel any remorse,any regret, any blame.
When all these features are combining in one person it can be a disaster, like it is shown in "The Talanted Mr Ripley" by Patricia Highsmith.

Afternoon Pages.

How can you spend some time in such a place where is no civilization?

I guess, every pesrson in the world has been dreaming about being along. We always faced with problems and when they seem too difficult we wish to escape to a remoted place.
Of course, sometimes I want to find myself in a beautiful island in the Indian Ocean, but I understand that I can't live without any sights of civilization. I would die from boredom without books. And, of course, there must be a good company. I have to share with my thoughts with somebody, to talk to somebody, thus I can't live without any communication.
So, I think, I'm ready live in every condition, I don't want to forget about difficulties, because it's too tedious to live without them. No matter where I am, the company is important.

Sacred Writing.

If I would win a million of dollars, what would I do?

Probably, I would give 50% of these money for charity. We say: "Easy come, easy go." And I understand clearly that I could live by without these money that's why I don't need them for buying my own plane or an island in the Pacific Ocean. A plenty of money I would give for my mum for her agonizing with me. Actually, I would buy her a house on the seaside with a small garden lots of cherry-trees. And the residuary money I would spend for travelling through the whole world.

Afternoon Pages.

The extract from the book "Fight Club" by Chuck Palahniuk.

Only two guys to a fight. One fight at a time. They fight without shirts or shoes. The fights go on as long as they have to. Those are the other rules of fight club.
Who guys are in fight club is not who they are in the real world. Even if you told the kid in the copy center that he had a good fight, you wouldn't be talking to the same man.
Who I am in fight club is not someone my boss knows.
After a night in fight club, everything in the real world gets the volume turned down. Nothing can piss you off. Your word is law, and if other people break that law or question you, even that doesn't piss you off.
In the real world, I'm a recall campaign coordinator in a shirt and tie, sitting in the dark with a mouthful of blood and changing the overheads and slides as my boss tells Microsoft how he chose a particular shade of pale cornflower blue for an icon.
The first fight club was just Tyler and I pounding on each other.
It used to be enough that when I came home angry and knowing that my life wasn't toeing my five-year plan, I could clean my condominium or detail my car. Someday I'd be dead without a scar and there would be a really nice condo and car. Really, really nice, until the dust settled or the next owner. Nothing is static. Even the Mona Lisa is falling apart. Since fight club, I can wiggle half the teeth in my jaw.
Maybe self-improvement isn't the answer.
Tyler never knew his father.
Maybe self-destruction is the answer.
Tyler and I still go to fight club, together. Fight club is in the basement of a bar, now, after the bar closes on Saturday night, and every week you go and there's more guys there.
Tyler gets under the one light in the middle of the black concrete basement and he can see that light flickering back out of the dark in a hundred pairs of eyes. First thing Tyler yells is, "The first rule about fight club is you don't talk about fight club.
"The second rule about fight club," Tyler yells, "is you don't talk about fight club."
Me, I knew my dad for about six years, but I don't remember anything. My dad, he starts a new family in a new town about every six years. This isn't so much like a family as it's like he sets up a franchise.
What you see at fight club is a generation of men raised by women.
Tyler standing under the one light in the after-midnight blackness of a basement full of men, Tyler runs through the other rules: two men per fight, one fight at a time, no shoes no shirts, fights go on as long as they have to.
"And the seventh rule," Tyler yells, "is if this is your first night at fight club, you have to fight."

What is self-improvement and self-destruction for you?

The question is rather difficult for me, because I haven't chosen yet the definitions for these concepts, I wanted to see others people's opinions. That's why I'll try to explain these words in few nouns.
Self- destruction: laziness, misappropriation of your own soul, drugs.
Self-improvement: love, silence, understanding.

Sacred Writing.

Identity.

He looked at her with the eyes full of tears and said:"I don't know what i must say now, I'm so afraid of being wrong and been wrong understood, but I love you". She suffocated and swept. She wanted to jump from her wheelchair nad hug him but it was impossible." Jack, please, you should't... You know, that I'm inva...",she paused," disable. You can't love me.You must live your own life and not spend your time for me!" She finished ready to lose concesness. At that moment he kneeled in front of her and said:" Jane, look at me...Show me your wonderful eyes full of despair and desire to live and to be happy, the eyes which have the courage,the strength and the wisdom of the whole world, your pure blue eyes...those eyes which I fell in love for the first sight..."

Maybe, that was identity?

Afternoon Pages.

What is happiness for you and what do you need to be happy?

Somebody may think, that happiness is the "situation" when you have everything and do not need anything more. But I don't think so. For me, happiness could be a union of freedom, love and wind.
I can speak about happiness for hours, for days, for years... I can say, that happiness is the smallest event in our life and it mustn't last for a lond time, because it won't be happiness anyway. I also can say that I was happy once and I know that it will never repeat. But I show you two pictures which can show you few of my thoughts.
Have you ever seen the film "Pride and Prejudice". If you have, you must remember the moment when Elizabeth Bennet stands on the edge of the rock and the amazing view of green hills stretches in front of her,the wind plays with her hair, she enjoys the sence of being free. That is freedom me.
I don't need much to be happy. A small little cosy house in New Zealand, which will stand between ocean, lush green hills and high mountains.

Sacred Writing.

What makes a good teacher?

During the whole my life I 've met with a lot of teachers and each of them has been very individual. There are lots of features which pupils appreciate in teachers.
For me, on the first place always stands justice. The second is good knowledge of the subject. But it's also important to be well-educated in all spheres of life.When a person is interesting you usually want to listen to him/her, to learn something new. Teachers must have something to say. The third is respect for the children. A good teacher has to understand that a child has his /her own "I". A good educator must love people.
of course, there are lots of other points which I haven't mentioned. But for me there are the most important ones.

Afternoon Pages.

What does the the word "FAME" mean to you?

For me the word "Fame" means nothing. I think, that is absolutely useless concept in our lives. Is it a good way of earning money? No, because it takes too much force. Lot's of famous people don't understand that they can be "the face of their own community", for many children they are a kind of examples. Nowadays, popularity is based on bad reputation.
I believe, that to be populare is not a big deal. The main aim is to be acknowleged and respected.

Sacred Writing.

First money which I've earned.

To tell the truth it's hard to remember the getting of my first money, I guess, it was in my early childhood,and parents gave it to me like the pocket money.
But I can remember the first money for something that I've done by myself. It happened when I was 15. One of my mother's friend asked me to translate several texts in English for her brother and I agreed. I've spent 2 or 3 evenings for its' translation and by the end of my work I was given 3 hundred rubles and a box of candies. Honestly, I didn't expect such gratitude,because I also did it for myself. those text were very interesting: they told about the lives of famouse writers' and scientists'.It was some kind of practice for me.
So, that's how I was given lots of pleasure and plenty of money.

Aftrenoon Pages.

What is attractiveness for you?

Attractiveness has always been important in people's lives. Everybody wants to be beautiful and attracts others. But sometimes there's nothing more than visual beauty. It happens when we have an aversion for very pretty person.
For me, the most important attractiveness is hidden in person's soul. I like independent and simple peolpe, who don't care about what others think about them, who are not afraid of been discussed. What concerns features, I found out that I like boys who have blue eyes and only blue and then everything depends on character.
We feel attractiveness inside our heads or hearts - whether we like person or not.

Sacred Writing

If I could invent something, what it would be?

If I could invent something, I would invent the medicine that could save the Humanity from AIDS. Nowadays, this problem is very popular. Scientist and doctors have been looking for  it's decision for ages. But it needs time.
We are losing lots of lives every day. Nobody is saved from this desease, even Hollywood stars, famous musicians, artists, writers and VIPs. Almost 500 millions of people extremely need this medecine. People suffer, they die. I believe, that it would be able to stop their pain. I always feel sorry for them, and for me there would no more happiness than invention of the medicine for AIDS.

Afternoon pages.

What does the word "plastic surgery" mean for you?

For me plastic surgery is a way of harming yourself. I don't understand people who do it to prolong beauty and stay young. At first, it's very dangerous and can bring terriable consequances. Secondly, it can look unnaturally and be the reason of being talked about. I don't believe that plastic surgery can save a marriage, like it's showed in the text. There's aslo something else and if there wasn't any love, nothing could save you from the divorce.
As for me, I would never do this, because I enjoy everything natural. But I won't ever judge my relative or friend if plastic surgery is made in case of emergency. I don't understand Pamela Anderson and the men who admire her. I think, women who follow her example are "stupid chikens". Because for men there's nothing more wonderful than natural beauty. Of course, if they are normal.
I've read yesterday that there are 3 plastic surgery operation a day in the USA. Do you think it's a good way of changing your life? Eat more fruit, do exercises and love yourself. Please, stop thinking that it's sexy and beautiful. I find 90% of women who did plastic surgery ugly.

Sacred Writing

Change.

What is change? When something becomes different and loses it's previous condition, it changes.
People always change, life changes, the weather changes. It brings something new in our lives, it lets us not dying from boredom. It's always important because we would have nothing to do with ourselves if nothing happens. And, of course, it's also important, because changes often bring us happyness, for example - falling in love, changing a haircut or a place of living. We must have changing to feel more interesting and unpredictable emotions. 

Afternoon pages.

What is luck, in your opinion, a pure accident or it depends only on you?

The question to discuss is very interesting and, to be honest, is very difficult.
I will try to speak from my own experience. I can't say that I'm a lucky person, actually, I've always thought that I'm a loser. But sometimes I meet with luck and feel happy.
For oneself luck can be the result of his\her efforts, for others it's just  a game of fortune. I think, that luck is a pure accident, because I can't call my might " a magic". Luck should come unexpectedly and bring lots of positive emotions. I'm not fatalistic but I believe, that it doesn't depend on someone's dids.

Sacred Writing

If you were to stay at a certain age for the rest of your life what age would you choose and why?

When I'm looking back at my life and remembering all that I've done, I understand that the happiest time was my childhood. Several days ago I was dreaming about getting back to school, doing Maths homework, playing a fool with my classmates, doing nothing at physics lessons, eating tasty pancakes in a dinning room.
I choose exactly this time because I don't know what it's going to be in my future.

A letter to a friend

Kalinigrad
Russia

September 18th

Dear John,

Thanks for your letter. I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to reply but I’ve been really busy looking for a job and preparing for the classes in my university.
As you know, I’m a fourth year student of the Faculty of Linguistics and Cross-cultural Communication. So you can guess that I’ve been used to everything during these years. I thought so too. However, I was wrong. The expression of my first day of this year in the university was awful. As soon as I made a step on a porch, I started to hate all this stuff again. And it’s not because of I don’t like to study. I do like, you know. But the reason was that nothing had changed. Everything was the same like 3 years ago when I came here the very first time: dirty walls, burning dustbins, muttering crowd of smoking students, traffic jam, plenty of cars, small doors and dangerous ladders where you can come a cropper. It seemed so ugly. No independence, no individuality. I felt disappointed. Moreover, the first class was given by a teacher who seemed to us not very satisfied with the life. She taunted our brains the whole hour and a half, then gave impracticable assignment and left the room. I was able to burst into tears, I didn’t like everything at all, and “everything” didn’t like me. Thanks God things started to get better during the break. I was very glad to see my friends again and to learn their news, to remember our old jokes and to tell them about my vacations. Also I did like one of our new subject – ‘the History of Old English’. So now I’m really interested in studying it very carefully.
Maybe, one day I will discover…mmm…Excuse me, I’m dreaming too much :)
Anyway, what can I say about my first day? I understood only that I wasn’t ready to get new knowledge again. I still wanted to transform people’s boring lives into amusing holiday, to shock the public, to play the fool and do not worry about anything. But life is hard…thus I’m preparing to go through the 9 months of hard work.Well, that’s all about me for now.
And how are you getting on? How did you spend the first day at your university? Was your experience the same as mine or no?

Looking forward to hearing from you,  
                              
Sasha

If I would be an actress, I would be shot in the film “Fight Club”.

When I was a child, I dreamed about Hollywood, billions of dollars and actress career, like every girl. My first choice was the film “Titanic”, but I changed my mind. I thought very carefully what character I would like to play and understood that it’s Marla Zinger from one of my favorite films “Fight Club”.
I felt in love with this character when firstly read a book. In film her role is acted by Helena Boghnem Carter. I think that the director’s choice was exactly right because this actress played excellent. And maybe she didn’t play, she just lived.
I like “Marla Zinger”, because she is crazy, independent and fearless. Also she is quite strange, she doesn’t think about people’s opinion, she hates everything and laughs at the life. She doesn’t afraid of death. I believe, we have a lot in common. And for me it would be so exiting to show to audience the example of independent, obstinate but loving woman.
Moreover, who can be against of working with such men like Bred Pitt and Edward Norton? They are wonderful actors and also handsome men.
Finally, this film shows us the idea of the freedom. For me the freedom is the most important thing in the life, that’s why I choose this film.

Afternoon pages

How do I see the future of Humanity?

To tell the truth it's not very easy question for me. I don't want to believe that machines are going to lead in our lives. Also I am not very sure that there is going to be the robot industry in the world.
Of course, people creat more and more technical stuff to help them to do some dirty work. We are lazy, but I want to be optimistic. In future, we will remember about the Earth, it's nature and start to care about it. We will stop using electricity, will take water from cells and will close all fabrics.
Anyway, I can dream.=)

Sacred writing.

The need of the forthcoming flight scared me to death.

I can't say that I'm very brave person. I just think that to be afraid of something is stupid. This words are taken from the well-known film "Knocking on the Heaven's door".
That day there was no imagination of a plane crash in my mind. Everything was simple: I didn't want to leave New Zealand and come back home. I knew that this country was for me and loved it so much. I was afraid of being misery and missing this "dream'. But I had to go...
That's why the need of the forthcoming flight scared me to death.

Sacred writing.

There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.

The wind was so cold, the rain was so strong that we couldn't just look outside.Everybody was afraid of this awful weather could be harmful even when we were at home. There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.But Julie was ill, she was lying in her bed, waiting for some help, dreaming about a cup of hot tea with honey or milk or a piece of lemon.
John stood up, he looked very serious, took an umberella and went out. We knew, he was in love with her.