How to Behave on the First Date: Dating Advice for Women

Many girls as well as women want to know how to behave on the first date with men. The first date can lead to a beautiful and long romance, maybe even a marriage. It can also remain in your memory as one of insignificant encounters. If you get interested in the person and would like to continue your relationships, there are several things to pay attention to.

One question is whether it's allowed to be late for the first date. It all depends on how much your chosen one is interested in you. If you are sure of his interest, you can be 10 or 15 minutes late. If you are not sure, come on time. His interest in you depends on many circumstances. A lot depends on what has happened before. If you met each other in a bar, at a disco, you apparently looked very bright. And he was most surely in good spirits and relaxed. At the moment when you exchanged your phone numbers you looked attractive to him, because you were in your colorful gear. But in the day light, he may have a different impression.
Another important question is what to wear for the first date. In the modern society jeans look as attractive to a man as a dress does. But, for the first date, a dress or a skirt is the best option. If your legs are nice, to show them is a good idea. The same thing is true for the underwear. You never know how the date will end, and wearing pretty underwear will make you feel confident even if no one sees it.
Do not overdo with perfume. It is better to use body spray or lotion. There is no knowing how he will react to a certain smell. The fact is, we are still very close to the animal world and the meaning of pheromones is huge when it comes to the relationship between the two sexes. So, if your body smells cleanliness with a light hint of cosmetics, if your clothes are clean, elegant and your hair looks neat and cared for, this will make you attractive and desirable.
The smell is very important when it comes to dating. Remember about the smell of your breath. So many marriages have failed because of this delicate circumstance. Empty stomach, smoking and uncured teeth may create a hell of a breath when you start talking. Brush your teeth before the date or chew a chewing gum. But a mint caramel is always better than a chewing gum.

Eyes make an important part of your looks. Eyes transmit a lot of information about you to the other person, especially if this person is of an opposite sex. They say that eyes are the mirror of your soul. You can outline your eyes with mascara, shades and a liner. You can make them look brighter with the help of special eye drops. You can play with your eyes and thus seduce. If you look at a man half-turning your head, with tenderness and secretly, this action may attract his attention. He would react to it very instinctively, even without being aware of this. He will feel that you are interested in him. During the first date our unconscious reactions are very meaningful. That is why the first impression is so important. Later on, you will get to know each other better but the first impression will remain for a long time, maybe forever.
There are ways to make a person feel comfortable with you. But it is also important to avoid certain mistakes. The male worldview differs from that of women. Men spend a lot of time of their lives competing. If you start to show your superiority in something, be sure that from an attractive female you will turn into an irritator. Thus emotionally you'll become a rival to him. The more calm and delicate you are, the more relaxed your poses are, the more comfortable your companion is.
Would you like to make him interested in you very quickly?

Are you blue in the face already?

I can write this blog until I'm blue in the face. Guess what? I have learned this expression from an e-mail I get every week from English, Baby! Actually, I also discovered that I can blogpost their lessons. Here is one. And, you know, the contents of this post changes every day. Isn't that awesome?

Practice for TOEFL with English, baby!

A Color in Your Mind, Like… a Song on Your Skin.

Many events in the daily lives of each of us are accompanied by noises, sounds, rhythms, but also by colors, images, nuances. In the last century more than ever, music and color marked the beat of the moments of joy and pain, leisure and toil, to conclude with notes of hope. Because, as well as letting lovers dream, music also has the power to stimulate a greater creativity and efficiency, even in study. In sounds and music, “the color“ is manifested in different cadencies, in sharp, opaque and muffled tones: from the rhythms of tribal dance to the whirling Viennese waltz, to more complex instrumental orchestrations. Sky blue is dream, movement; it has prompted countless romantic pulsations, but it is also to be found in the ”Futurism” of Balla and Boccioni, who paint sculptural masses rich in rhythm and energy, which shift, flee, indicate a direction… Movement, dynamism are protagonist of the dream sphere, the search for a far-off goal, a road to travel, the journey to achieve it. Put a song on your skin… Put a color in your mind.

Stillness speaks

You come home. You wear your slippers. You sit on the sofa. The silence is all around you. And each of us decides for oneself what this is... Solitude, or freedom.

Why The Creation of Adam is The Most Perfect Religious Painting

The Creation of Adam by Michelagelo is almost as famous as Mona Lisa by Da Vinci. It is one of the frescos in Sistine Chapel and it makes part of a series of paintings depicting episodes from Genesis. On the whole, the painting of Sistine Chapel's ceiling represents the most complicated composition of European painting. Out of nine scenes that illustrate episodes from the Book of Genesis, the Creation of Adam is probably the most perfect and flawless.

In this painting, the humanist concept found its ideal form. The impression produced by this marvelous fresco can hardly be put into words. It feels like some creative energy flows from this pictorial image into the viewer, who becomes a participant in this act of creation. With one arm, God embraces angels, leaning on them. They seem to carry not just one figure but the whole weigh of this world. This is shown by the character of the Lord's movement and His greatness that evoke a deep awe. His right hand is stretched towards Adam, who is painted so handsome, with such a skill, that he seems to be made by the Creator once again rather than painted by the painter's brush. 

Adam is created at the moment when the fingers of God, who is depicted here in His first hypostasis - that of God-Father, and the fingers of the first man touch in the gesture of love. According to the medieval typology, Adam is Christ's prototype because both were the first men, each of their era, or Testament. The touching fingers of God and Adam make the viewer think about how an electrical charge is generated. It is impossible to imagine that Michelangelo thought the same way. But the act of animation was depicted by the old masters either by the touch or by the inhalation of life by the Lord into the nostrils of Adam. 

Creation of Adam

 "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." - Genesis, 2.7.

It is very meaningful and convincing that here the eternal has the shape of an ellipse, symbolizing "the Cosmic egg."  This form is composed by the cosmic shawl inside which the Creator and the angels reside. In his turn, Adam is inside an incomplete oval. Life is given through the touch of the stretched hands: an atom jumps from one orbit to another. The faces of God and the man radiate love. God's desire is his child's becoming as great as He is. As if to confirm this, one creature from the crowd of angels carrying the Lord shows its face of an amazing beauty. It is this one who is embraced by God's left arm. This figure, definitely worthy of an explanation, has been intriguing commentators from the very start: some would interpret her as Eve uncreated, other would suggest Sofia, which is God's wisdom. Whoever she is, she definitely signifies blissful joy of creation. 

Time As We Knew It

So, when was it? Time ran deliciously, then it stopped in ecstasy, then ran again. Exciting time, full of life and meaning. The feeling of time itself was different. Every minute was a pulsing sensation, filled with sweetness and all shapes of beauty. Time was beautiful and beauty was timeless. It was such a fruitful time, that bore new emotions and new experiences, constantly. It was a cocktail of time. It made us drunk. We put our days on a string and counted them, as if to multiply them, and they seemed so multiple, and they appeared to last forever. And every time when we counted a day back, it gained again all its freshness and energy, with full delight, just because of our thoughts about it. Saying goodbye to the moment had never been such a joy. Time was rest, yet full of action. Time was dynamic and delicate at the same time. Time with no effort or tension, when it slowed down, it only meant to bring us a new kind of pleasure. Drop by drop, we drank the nectar of succulent moments, without thinking about the future. Yes, we had the time of our lives. Then future came, as it always does, sombre, sane, prose-like and tasteless. The future became our present and tore us away from ourselves, turning us into witnesses. Strange feeling, when you are not used to it. We joined the audience, we became part of the crowd. We turned into strangers. Time changed its character, too. Time began to escape. It became shadowy, obscure, secretive. It started to be devoured by something gray, impersonal, blind. Time became empty, still, silent, and killing. Before, we used to pass our time, enjoyed every minute. Truly, we had time to spend. Then, we had time to kill, and it began to kill us. We lost the thread of time. And we lost ourselves with no reason at all. It just happened. But who knows, maybe, one day, again, Time will be our prey, our garden, our abundant ocean to swim in. Maybe, one day, again...

Why Fish Is Ancient Symbol of Christianity

Often without realizing it, we pass our lives in the world of interlaced, interconnected and merging symbols that can suddenly outstand in a very meaningful way. We rarely think about ancient symbols as powerful things that resemble a case with a secret in it. Not the Pandora's box, from which all kinds of troubles popped out, but rather a musical box or Christmas box for presents: under the same cover there are tons of thrilling meanings, wonderful and exciting combinations. Symbols like water, cross, tree or fish are so familiar to our eyes that their interconnection does not occur to us.
To begin with, fish is one of the most ancient symbols of fertility, life that is newly born and cherished. These silent creatures are inhabitants of water, element, liquid examining everything, as Plato said. Water is liquid resemblance of light, blood circulation, the very life inside the womb of the body of flesh, in opposition to the dryness and stillness of death.
The Jews have an expression “Torah waters” meaning life-making waters of the sacred law, heritage of previous generations. For Buddhists, the flow of water symbolizes material world, and that is why the expression “passing through the stream” means overcoming illusions in order to get out to the shore and become enlightened. Also, in Buddhism, there are initial waters, from which the stem of the great lotus flower grows, which is the world’s axis. For Christians, one of the sacred vocations of water is to be the bridge between a man and a new life: a plunge in water symbolically means death and resurrection.

This is why one of the multiple symbols of Christ is a spring. It is the very spring that flows from under the Tree of Life in Paradise, the living water. It is this very spring that is mentioned in the Gospel of John: “…whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” 

Water is the sign of renewal and purity. But it is also the symbol of deep subconsciousness, its mysteries and obscurity. Probably, this hypostasis of it has something in common with the Chinese idea of the Moon element yin, the initial chaos, the black tortoise. Like any ancient symbol, water is ambivalent. It has two faces.

This is where fish come from. As they say, fish survive after a flood. In Roman catacombs of the 2nd century on the walls there is a picture of a cross and an anchor, surrounded by two fish. You can see Greek words “fish of the living” over it. In Greek, the word “fish” also had another meaning – “Christ the Savior.” Images of fish often accompany images of a cross. Often, instead of fish, you can see dolphins – the kingly and joyful companions in chaos and disastrous depths, symbols of Christ the Savior. Pierced with a trident or attached to an anchor dolphin is the symbol of crucifixion.

The cross was considered a shameful instrument of execution and could diminish the value of Christ’s teaching. That is why it was replaced by an anchor and sometimes by a fish. The symbol of cross has also more than one meaning. It is related to the symbol of Tree of Life, from under which the spring of living water flows. This is how the sacred cycle comes to an end. 

Bread and wine

So, fish is the symbol of Christ, His torture, His resurrection and freedom from illusions of life, and that of prosperity. In catacombs of early Christians on the walls you can see an image of fish carrying a basket full of loaves and a bottle of red wine: this is how they depicted Christ with Holy Communion at that time. Actually, wine, bread and fish make part of a meal in different religions. Fish sacrifice was made when they worshipped Moon goddesses and all the gods of the underworld. Friday is the day of goddesses Ishtar, Venus and Isis, and is the day of the week to eat fish dishes: thus the fruitful power of underwater inhabitants penetrates the body and the bosom.

Together with Coming of Christ who made fishermen “men catchers”, citizens of earth also became “small fishes.” Thus fish became personification of those who are born to eternal life by plunging into the waters of font. This is why during first years of Christianity people wore on their neck glass, stone or nacre fish – what later on became body crosses. Fish is the prevailing symbol of the Gospel: Christ multiplies fish in order to feed the hungry, takes care of the richness of the take, mentions fish in his parables, and eats fish with his disciples after His resurrection.

One can say that fish becomes symbol of a secret freedom, complicity in new spiritual knowledge, crossing of a spring, leading to enlightenment. Speaking of the other, dark side of fish, it’s good to remember that stinginess, greed, indifference and sensual coldness, according to myths and legends, are also “qualities” of fish. It looks like in Christ’s love they transform in their opposites: generosity of heart, prosperity, tenderness and Eros – creative life of body and soul.

The Biblical tradition teaches us that the Second Advent will take place when Saturn and Jupiter meet together in the Zodiac sign of Pisces – fish. Messiah will get the fish and will share it with the righteous during a feast at the End of Times.

Goldfish, ducks, black turtle

For Buddhists, fish symbolizes freedom from limitations. Those in nirvana have no obstacles: they are free to choose any direction, like fish in water. The Chinese believe that the nature of fish and birds is similar: they come from eggs and become inhabitants of the elements unusual for any other creatures.

Some kinds of fish, as the Chinese say, turn into birds: they need to master a new element - that of a flight.

Let Us Live

I terribly want to live, I want our life to be uplifted and grand, like the vault of heaven. Let us live! The Sun does not rise twice a day, and the life is not given twice - so, grab tightly on the remains of life and save them...

Anton Tchekhov

Cherry Is Like a Heart of a Good Person

A cherry is like a heart of good person: fleshy and succulent enough on the outside to generously share its sweetness, and firm enough inside to meet courageously and overcome temptations, and to undergo severe trials. 

Japanese Ikebana: The Beauty of One Flower

The Japanese treat flowers in a very special way.  A flower is considered a living being just like a man; it has emotions, it can feel. A flower can take our troubles, our pain - it will die, but will bring us a relief. The life of a flower lasts for one day, maybe a little longer. But, in the space of one day, its life is as full as that of a man.  Is this why the Japanese Buddhists love the idea of reincarnation? A soul can travel from one existence to another, and, who knows, maybe by contemplating the beauty of a flower you can be born again but in the body of a rose or a lily. Buddha himself used the metaphor of a flower when he spoke of five senses comparing them to five flowers: blue, yellow, red, white, and black. This is why the Buddhist  idea of uniqueness is also present in ikebana. One single flower, one leaf, and one branch are supposed to transmit all the beauty and variety of the nature. 

Japanese Ikebana

Life and death of flowers

Ikebana means “giving new life to flowers”. When you cut a flower, you kill it. But, when it comes to the Japanese art of flower arrangement, ikebana, you also give it a new life by arranging it in a new way.  So, you resurrect it inside the composition. But this life you give to the flower will not bring it back to earth. In a way, you create a perfect form that you can never find in nature. In so doing, you affirm ikebana as some kind of ideal existence, in opposition to death.  In ikebana, we arrange one single branch and one single flower in the endless space of the Universe and in the endless flow of time. This work contains one’s whole soul, and, at this moment the single flower symbolizes the eternal life…