You've got your mother in a whirl... (I don't really see how the title fits with the story, since I don't see any moms mentioned in here, but I mean, <em>technically</em>, it isn't wrong... :P)

Hi everyone! Today I realised that it's been almost 2 months since my first day at school and I haven't done anything useful. I'm useless. I'm lazy. I'm going to be homeless and to have no education. Okay, I'm fine.
I want to tell you another story! How many stories do I have? A million, I guess.
It was a long time ago. I was about 10 years old. I was at my grandmother's house sitting in a the kitchen and drinking tea when a neighbor came into the house by. (What you said wasn't wrong, I was just desperate to actually correct something, so I made it more colloquial-sounding. xD) I don't remember what he wanted. I remember that he talked to my grandma ("Grandmom" is not something I ever hear, yet "granddad" is... strange. xD And according to wiki, "grandmom" is a word only used in the US. I live in the US. I never hear it. Wiki's full of crap. :P) then he saw me and came up to me. He shook my hand. I don't know about other countries, but in Russia only men shake hands as a greeting sign. So that man shook my hand. I didn't understand why but I decided to ignore it. 'Maybe he just likes shaking hands, maybe it calms him down,' - I thought.
- Do you think they are beautiful? - he asked looking at me.
- What?
- Your earrings. Do you think they are beautiful?
- Um... Yes?
- They're awful! You're a boy! Do you realise that what people could think about you?
My grandma interrupted him and told him that I was a girl.
Let's take a moment and appreciate/take in (A suggestion, not a total correction, because "appreciate" is usually used in a positive context.) how offensive it was. Thanks.
Even if I was a boy, it's none of his bussiness. He had no right to tell me something like this. What's wrong with wearing earrings when you're a boy?
Sometimes it makes me sad that a lot of people are full of stereotypes. I often hear 'You shouldn't do it because you're a girl!' or 'No one will ever marry you because you doesn't look right'. Okay, no husband, I got it.
Life would be so much better if people stop using 'you have to' whenever they want to.
It's my life, and the only thing I have to do is do whatever I want to do to make myself happy. I may look like a complete idiot, I may do stupid things. Unless I don't hurt you it's none of your business. Sometimes I forget about it. Sometimes I think: 'What do are people saying about me? How do I look like? Don't they think I'm an idiot?'
Maybe one day I'll finally stop thinking about it.

It's been so long since I corrected something by you! I missed your ridiculous stories and I'm super glad you're back. :D This one, well... I can relate to. >.< Since this is the embarrassing story hour, I guess I'll share mine really quick: I was about 16. I had an irrational fear of barbers and hair stylists, so my hair was long and I usually wore a hat out of embarrassment whenever I went outside. One day I got a letter in the mail - apparently, one of my neighbors had entered me into a junior beauty pageant and I was supposed to fill out the application so I could be in it. U.U And since my name is Jamie, a unisex name, I guess no one at the pageant realized it was a prank. At least, I hope it was a prank. >.<

I never found out who did it, but if I had, I would have thanked them for thinking I'm pretty enough to compete in a beauty contest. :P I suppose that's still nothing like you experienced though. Stupid neighbors. u.u

And a note on your English: Fan-freakin'-tastic! :D I don't even have any advice or comments to make on it except it's great and to keep practicing it with, *ahem*, English speakers, in order to make it even better. ;) Excellent writing, thank you for sharing!

Without Title/Untitled (Please Correct It)

Maybe/Many(?) people have a hard time in order to appreciating those who are next close (The difference is "next" can only mean in a physical sense - emotionally, you can be close to someone but not next to them.) to them. I almost/nearly every day thank heaven, that it has sent me my the person, who has became my the best friend, my husband, and my son's father. And now, when I see his sincere concern and attention to subjects things, that are so important for me too, I realize that I am the luckiest woman in the world (although I know it always, not only in the difficult periods).

When I saw her laying on the ground, I have changed my mind. Before/Earlier, I was against the performing of operation, because she is too old (16 years old). However the main reason why I was against it is my fear, as our family has the a very sad experience in this matter. I saw her, waving me of her tail at me and greeting me. She even didn't ask for my compassion, she just was just glad to see me, but was too weak, so she continued to lie down. I petted (I looked this up - apparently, it's correct, but where I live, we would always say "I pet", even in past tense. But uh, I guess this is one occasion where you shouldn't listen to me? :P) her near/behind her ears and realized that maybe tomorrow she wouldn't recognize me. I returned in to our car with wet eyes and told my husband that we had to do something. We decided to take the risk, because her condition became more worse and worse so quickly.

The vet didn't assure us, opposite in fact, he warned us that the consequences could be bad. We were ready to for that information. We know that anyway either way they will be bad, but if we perform allow the operation, we will still have a chance.

I'm trying to settle calm myself down myself. She is old, she has already had a good and long life. My baby is sick now, and it is really more seriously, so I don't have time to care about a senile dog. I can say that my own persuasions don't work. I admire my spouse, because he carries a lots of commitments/weight upon his shoulders. I admire his attitude. That dog belongs more to my side of the family, but he is attached to her and really worries about her. There The proof is not only in his words, there are but in his deeds.
Heaven, please give us the energy, faith and lucky in order to cope with all our problems. I believe and hope that these events will become just memories which will remind me, how excellent and lucky my choice is was.

A very tragic situation you're in, Ulyana. I feel awful for you. :( I can't say a whole lot about your predicament but I will say that you are one of the strongest people I know - if anyone can overcome this, it is you and your equally strong family. :)

It's been a long time since I corrected one of your entries - but it seems to me your English has improved. ^^ The grammar is great, it's just about sounding natural now - and that's something I have no doubt you will achieve with time and effort. You're doing great, keep it up! :D

Thank you for the movie suggestions, by the way. I will comment on them when I learn more about them and maybe even watch parts of them (hopefully) tomorrow. I'm wishing you all the best, stay strong (basically do what you always do :P). See you. ^^

Impressionability. What Is It?

From time to time something banal/trivial leaves a mark in your memory. Like you seeing through the bus window a little red flower and then you having a nightmare about big red extraterrestrials invasion invading. 

It is called impressionability. Rather, a kind of impressionability. It means that your brain remembers emotions which are related with some certain things or situations, and then repeats them in your dreams.
One of these days I've discovered that I am extremely impressionable. Whatever Whenever they say it's a feature of children, I am sure that they are mistaken. But maybe I am an adult child/child at heart.
Well then, it was a bright autumn day. I was walking with my dog through the town and I saw a plane which was too close to the ground. There was A thought raced in through my head: "Why is it so close?". Next was came: "They are flying so close to the ground just only when they're falling". It seemed to me really enormous, like it only just hopped took off from the roof next to me. Happily Luckily it had did not crashed and I got back to my walking.
By the evening, I forgot about that/it. But this that night I had a strange dream:
I was looking at my backyard through the window and saw that an enormous plane was falling to the ground. Sounds familiar, yes? In my dream, I was on the 7th or 8th floor, so I had to observe watch. After that, I appeared to be on the aircraft carrier. That was really strange because I've seen them just in the movies. There happened the same thing happened, but the plane was landing next to me. And the pilot had lost control.
So, how what can it be called, if it's not an impressionability?

Very interesting, thank you for sharing. :) I should point out though, that despite what looks like a lot of corrections, there was little grammatically wrong here. Most of the problems were just stylistic changes I made to make it more natural-sounding. Your English is not bad by any means, and I understood everything you wrote, and enjoyed it, too. Keep writing, please! :)

Should we appreciate what we have right now or do/should we find a way to get what we really want?

Hi my journal!

Today I want to write about Steve Jobs' quote, the one (This isn't necessary, just a stylistic change.) that goes, 'We've got to find what we love, and this is as true for your work as it is for your lovers.'

And this quote brings up some memories of when a year ago I was watching a Youtube video where a women would interview people on the street, asking every one the two questions:

1) What do you do?
2) Is this your dream job?

And for most people, and I want to say almost all, the answer to the second question was - No. This was very interesting to me, because I was and actually am stuck in the same situation, not only with in my job but in my relationship as well.

The question though is, what should we do in this case? Should we say something like, 'Oh, God, at least I've got this, and I should be grateful for this. You know, someone is just more successful than me, that's the way it is'.

On the other hand, if we are really not happy with some aspects of our lives, maybe we need to use the aforementioned quote from above? As Tony Robbins likes to say, 'You shouldn't be willing to settle for anything less than you can be'.

So many interesting quotes, ideas and tips from successful people, but no one, again no one, tells us where and how to start changing something.

Later.

Hey there Roman, I always really enjoy reading what you write. Very philosophical and always bringing to mind interesting questions. ^^

To answer this particular question, I think I already have what I really want. Well, okay, of course I don't, but that's typical human nature - to want what you can't have. It's important to always remember the difference between the things you want and the things you need. I need happiness, food, and Internet (of course :P). I have these three things. What do I want though? I want to travel and maybe even live in Russia first and foremost. But I already know soon after I get there, there will be something else I want. The cycle will always repeat. Humans have progressed so much and in so many different ways because we are never fully satisfied. But we can be content. And that is what I am.

Because I'm content, I appreciate what I have, and only seek out what I really want when the opportunity presents itself. I won't hurt anyone purposely to get what I desire, and I won't sacrifice my happiness, either. So I've found a happy medium where I kinda just go day-to-day in the same old routine, but to keep from being bored, I'm slowly working towards getting at least one thing I really want: The ability to speak and understand Russian. ^^ It's important to set goals, but reasonable ones, ones that don't make you lose the things you need, and preferably ones that can lead to other goals down the road.

Anyway, that's my take on the question. Your English, by the way, is excellent. Thanks for the intriguing article that I spent way too much time thinking and writing about. :P And please - don't let your job and especially not your relationship hold you back. The second you begin to constantly question why someone or something is in your life - that is the time to go get what you really want, and it starts with removing the problem or at least making it more bearable. ;) Good luck, man!

To what extent has information technology reduced social inequality?

People who live in highly developed countries often take access to information technology for granted. They find it hard to imagine a world in which this technology does not bring greater prosperity. However, as the IT revolution moves forward in some parts of the world, in other parts of the world the poor are falling further and further behind. Indeed there are many barriers to wider IT access and its potential benefit.

To begin with, illiteracy is a major obstacle for social inequality and IT is not acceptable for those people who cannot read even in their native language. And what about people whose mother tongue is not English? I live in Ukraine. Here it is normal to get primary education for everyone because it is free. But even my parents who are educated people can not use the computer and the Internet because they do not speak English. And being able to use/understand English at least at the levels A1-A2 is a must for accessing the Internet.

Moreover, basic infrastructure in some countries is inadequate. Again I use my own country as an example. In my region we face a problem of an irregular electricity/energy supply. Sometimes we do not have electricity for some several hours a day and sometimes we even don’t have it for some days.

And the last but not the least is a the cost of Internet access. In highly developed countries free WiFi in public places is a widespread facility. Here we enjoy free Internet only in a few places of a the city. And in order to get cable Internet for a home PC the one has to pay a sum which is quite high according to a typical salary. A monthly fee is equal to ¼ of a the average salary. So not every person who wants to access the Internet has such an opportunity.

To sum this up I would like to underline stress that the appearance of international technology has not reduced social inequality itself. It gave some more opportunities for poorer people but they not always can use them.

This is some mighty fine English you got there, Lina. :P Your knowledge of the grammar is impeccable! Most of the changes I made were just to make it a bit more natural, but nothing extreme. I'm really impressed. ^^

To comment on your article, I mean... I agree with it. :P In my country, Internet is everywhere, to the point where even the homeless can get online relatively easily... not that bums surfing the web is a common sight here, mind you. But still - just because one country has it easy, doesn't mean all of them do. I think we can both agree that food is perhaps the biggest necessity of all, yet even that can be hard to find for certain families in many countries.

I believe Internet should be something much more easily attainable for the poor in poorer countries, but the people in power don't. And until the poor don't starve, and have clean clothes, and have a free education available to them... easier access to the Internet won't be high on the priority list, I fear. There's so much wrong in this world, yet those who can fix the problems just build their fences higher and their houses farther away from the issues. There's no need to worry about things that don't directly affect them, or about things they refuse to see. >.<

Thank you for the thought-provoking report. ^^ And sorry for blabbing (= talking) so much. :P Whenever an entry on here interests me, I have to comment on it. And excellent job once again. :)

Everything Seemed Different...

Everything seemed different to Alien.
There was no particular reason for it. Or there was... she wasn't sure.
Alien was just sitting in the University library trying to do some of her homework. But she gazed at something.
The look in her eyes was empty. She was numb. The girl was trying to read the paragraphs but couldn't because she was thinking about something else.
At the first look glance, her life was completely different. The University, new acquaintances, a new hairstyle and now she wasn't so fascinated about by Literature as she used to be.
These changes are only the visible ones. There was something new in Alien's soul. But at the same time it was something old and so familiar. What was it? Old habits and fears.
They started to grow again. With new strengths. They weren't good, they were cruel, cold and terrifying.
Alien knew she couldn't overcome them this time. She hoped that they had disappeared from her life forever. But here are they. All. ARE.
They opened up her heart and almost shouted, "Just look! Here's It's so empty and cold without us. We definitely should come back. She needs us, our love and our presence. You need us, don't you?"

They started unpacking their suitcases. The/A book, an MP3 player, an old photograph and... a mirror. Just a mirror but it was the most dangerous and frightening thing ever. 

Alien whispered to herself, "Don't look. Don't. Look. Please. Please!" And then she cried because she looked.
Now she has a familiar cold look in her beautiful green eyes. She's back to her true self.

Well, Julia, excellent job once again. :) I know these stories are pretty much just for practicing your English but you always manage to make them interesting. And I swear every time I correct one of your entries it feels like the mistakes are less and less. ^^

Keep studying and writing, you're doing awesome. :D

5 Sure Steps to Avoding an Argument

N.B. I was asked to write a tip sheet, using a simple, straightforward style. So, here's my piece of writing.

We all have arguments with people. Are you wondering how to prevent it them? Then use these five simple steps and they will help you.

1. Be ready to say you’re sorry (Depending on how you present this article/tip sheet, capitalizing the proper letters in these headers or "mini-titles" might look better. It's not wrong though to leave them uncapitalized.)
Apologize for anything you can possibly be sorry for. Even if there’s nothing wrong, you can apologize for the way your actions or words affected someone. Sometimes an apology is enough to disarm a person's frustration or anger. In many cases, an argument dissapears as soon as a sincere apology is given. (Very good!)
2. Don’t raise your voice
Yelling isn’t the best way to resolve the problem. It will only make the problem worse to deal with. Instead of shouting, express yourself using a calm and friendly tone.
3. Stay calm
If you become angry, keep in mind that you won’t be able to think calmly. Moreover/More likely, you’ll probably say or do something you might regret. Words, once spoken, cannot be taken back. During that time try to relax and keep listening to your partner carefully - whatever he or she is saying. After your partner has made his or her (You can also use the pronoun "their" in this situation to cover both genders, but it's not completely "correct". I don't see the problem with it though and use it for that purpose all the time. :P) point, explain your side of the story.
4. Explain your side of the story in detail
Put across your idea in a clear and easy way so that your partner will get the main point. Also be ready to accept criticism because very often the other person’s opinion is not the same as yours.
5. Try to make a joke
Laughter is the best medicine. You should understand the purpose of using humour in a particular situation. Its aim is about helping to help both of you to not take yourselves so seriously, even if the topic itself is very serious. Used in the right context, it helps keep both sides cool and stops the escalation of an argument from becoming worse.

Follow these five easy steps and you’re sure to find yourself in a harmonious and loving relationship.

Excellent article, I was really impressed with your vocabulary and natural writing style. For a while I seriously wondered if you didn't have someone write the steps for you. :P Cool subject too. Though I've tried the humor method when arguing with someone before - I now believe that should be used only as a last resort. :P In conclusion: Great English and advice, man!

A Poor Attempt of at Creative Writing

He never liked going down into the basement. But every time he stepped on the staircase memories immediately came over him and he just could not resist. Although he did not like coming down to the basement, he always tried to find an excuse for going there.
This time, for example, he was going there to get a pair of warm shoes. It was still warm outside, but last days recently it had been a little more windy and rainy, so the need was urgent.
He opened the door and switched on the light. The air was damp and musty, and he could feel the smell of the rotten wood. The shoes were somewhere inside the huge box that stood in the far corner, but he had to pass the tall shelves filled with junk in order to get there.
He took the first photo album that came to hands he could grab. It was an old family album, which belonged to his parents and was filled with pictures from their youth. He knew each one of them by heart, he knew exactly what he would see when he turned over the pages. He saw faces of his family members, most of them were smiling. His mother was the only one who never smiled at the camera when a picture was taken. But she was always smiling in the real life. She rarely laughed, but she would constantly give you a smile and a keen look whenever you came into her sight. Even now, from the picture, she was looking straight into his eyes. She was looking at him as though she knew exactly was what he was feeling and what he had been going through. He just could not conceal hide anything from her. He felt ashamed of his weakness, of his inability to fight the circumstances. But she was not blaming him. She could not be blaming him, because she knew that the circumstances were stronger than him and they could not be overcome.

He looked at the black and white photo again. Could he remember the colour of his mother's eyes? Of course, yes, because he tookit over got his from her. But what colour were his own eyes?...
He looked up and saw a faint ray of light seeping through the dusty glass of a narrow window. The watch showed that it was already time to go to work. He put the heavy album carefully on in its place, took the shoes from the box and headed upstairs, leaving the door behind him open.

Do I even need to tell you how good your English is? :P Seriously, I had to really look hard to find something to correct. By being so darn smart and making so few mistakes, you'd think my job would be easier, but no - I had to read through this three times to find enough mistakes to actually feel like correcting this was worth it. So good job, no, amazing job, but next time Zilia - don't be so perfect. Please? :P

Of course, I'm just joking. ^^ But really, wow. This could have been the first draft of a story by a native English speaker. You write fantastic. Keep it up. :)