Rules for keeping a domestic poltergeist

Last time I showed you how to keep a domestic dragon. This time I want to talk about poltergeists.

As you all know, there are two types of poltergeist: wild poltergeists and tame poltergeists. Be careful! Don’t mix up one with the other! It’s really dangerous. Wild poltergeists are uncontrollable and perilous!

Tame poltergeists can be dangerous too, if they are unsupervised. So if you decide to keep it, you should train it, and pay much attention to its breeding.
A well-trained poltergeist is a good friend and a defender of your house. It is quiet, invisible and polite. You can leave it alone at home while you take a long trip, and be absolutely sure that nothing will happen with your house.
Poltergeists have a good health and usually they don't need special treatment.
There is only one bad thing about poltergeists: they don’t like pets or children, so if you decide to keep it, be sure there are no other animals around or disaster will happen!

A Letter

Dear Life,

I want to thank you for our great new play. As you know, it was the First Night yesterday. All was wonderful: audience, actors and dancers. It was a true miracle.
Actually, I was only the photographer yesterday, but I really had joy. I'm very glad to take part in such a lovely and awesome project. Also, I want to thank you, dear Life for the opportunity you gave me. I mean an opportunity to work and play with such excellent people. Oh, if you only knew how beautiful and handsome they are!
I hope you let me be in this theatre forever, dear Life, because I can hardly imagine something else. Of course it is obvious that we would have success - we worked hard and put our whole soul into this show. I know now that the greatest things in you are possible only with the greatest love. You made me know this thing, dear Life, and I'm really grateful for this. You also taught me that I have to love what I do. And I love it very much.
And, my dear Life, I love you too, you know. I hope we'll be together for a long time. You'll give me your wonderful presents, and I'll give you all my love in reward.

Very cordially yours,
Anna

Today is my birthday

So it's time to summarize the year.
This year I've visited Chelyabinsk, Ekaterunburg, Kazan, Maikop, Stavrapol. Have you ever been in Russia? It's so wonderful and exciting to drive across the endless road, especially if you know, that at the end of your journey, you'll see the sea. You'll see it the first time in your life. I think, it's really great.
I've found a new job, also.  My colleagues are great and wonderful too. For example, today my friend Natasha (her pen name is Shade) brought a cake, which she made yesterday by herself . I must say that it was a really tasty cake.
Actually I think that I'm lucky to have such people around me. My friends, mates, colleagues are so nice, kind and interesting people! My boyfriend always has some fairy tales to cheer me up when I feel sad.
And my dance classes, of course. This year I feel, that I have some experience, that I could do something special if I want. I feel that I have enough strength and practice to do something great.  I hope next year'll show us what exactly I can do.

But the greatest thing is that I'm only 22.  I know that it's a long life in a future full of interesting discoveries and full of wonderful moments. And let it be!


P.s. Thank you very much for all of you who sent greetings for me! It was very nice of you!

My news

I haven't been here for a while, but I've come back now. Well, actually I have a lot of things to tell you. So many things to tell, that I don't even know with which one I should start my story.
Let's try to speak in order.
Firstly, I visited the Zilantkon festival at the begining of November. It was in Kazan, so I had to go there for a few days. Actually I like Kazan, and I go there every year (because of that festival, of course).
Also I should say that our party's show, which I mention below, was excellent!
My new job is still amazing, but I'm not sure that I will be able to keep up such rhythm of my life.
By the way, this weekend we have a first night in our dance school; a new play. It will be beautiful, I guess, but I'm not very fond of it. I wish I could love baroque dancing as much as I love Irish dancing.. To be truthful, speaking about this is sore spot for me, so I'd better speak about something else.
Our art director is off her trolley a bit because of this new show, so dance classes are not as amazing as I want them to be. I mean they are too short, because of rehearsals and so on..
Well, I guess this is all my news. I'll tell you about some of them in detail soon, but now, I just want to finish up this post ))

Have a nice day!


P.S. This a picture from Kazan. (Actually we spoiled our show, but I will tell you this story some other time))

Hard shoooeeeeeYES!

Oh, these days I have a lot of hard shoe training. Well, in all honesty, we have a genius of a teacher, but there is no teacher who can teach someone who doesn't want to be taught. So every day, after folk or classical training I stay one-on-one with my hard shoes and tap, tap and tap.

And now I know, that if someone wants to be slim they should start classical and tap dancing. Oh, yes.
My problem is that I go out at nine o'clock and return home only at midnight. The good thing is that I at last can do our number even blindfolded. Well, that's all my news for now, so I'll keep up my work.

The Dark Lord

"Well, do you seriously think that this is a reason to interrupt me?" - his voice was perfectly calm, and there was no sign of pleasantness in his intonations.
"But, my Lord, he will arrive in few minutes, what could I do?!" - he tried to smile while his voice was trembling.
The Dark Lord took a deep breath and immediately replied: "I can't stand one thing: I'm the Darkest Lord of the World, but why, please tell me, why my servants can't deal with an assessor without my interference?! Every year the same situation: bills and taxes! Even here I have no rest at all! It's settled then, take my clothes and receive the guest. Now, you are the Dark Lord, and I'm leaving, I've had enough!!"

I fell down

Today I fell down and sprained my ankle again. When I was a child I used to sprain my ankles every other week because I have very elastic and soft muscles and ligaments.
The worst part is that I sprained it during our rehearsal, so I had to finish rehearsal with my sprained leg.. and of course hard shoes.. I learned a new hard-shoes number, so I have no time to recover. I just tied my ankle with an elastic bandage went back to dancing again..
And there is a performance on 15th October. And a ball on 16th. And a festival in Kazan on 2nd November. And a parody show on 9th. Oh, how I hate my body sometimes!
The only good thing is that tomorrow I have the day off from dance practice, so I have at least one day to recover.

Dancing. New timetable

It's horrible!
They've changed a lot of important things.
There is only an hour of Irish dancing, soft shoes, a week. And only an hour and a half of hard shoes a week. But that's not the worst thing. The worst thing is on Sundays. On Sundays we start dancing at 11.30 and finish at 6 p.m (not to mention rehearsals!)!
These are our classes on Sunday:

11.30 Classical (ballet)
13:00 – Folk dances
14:00 - Baroque
15:00 - Flamenco
16:30 – Hard shoes Irish
18:00 (The first year students, thank God it's not me)
19:00 - Rehearsal time

Oh, yes, I almost forgot. We have two days off a week, now on Monday and Friday. Good Lord, I don’t know how I can go through with this schedule.

Three things

There are three things which are the hardest to say: "I love you", "forgive me" and "I need your help". (c)
As for me, I have no trouble with the first and the second, but really never can say the third. Even if I need help. Even if I need it too much.
It used to be very difficult, but these days I have friends, who can help, even if I don't ask. So, I think friends are the people who always know when you need help. And I am usually not asked for help - I just help if I see that I can.
So, three ideas:
1. Friends are people who know when you need help and help you without asking stupid questions.
2. If you see someone in trouble and can help out - just do it, without thinking or asking for reward.
3. I should finally learn how to speak about my feelings and worries, at least with people who are close to me.

A modern women (something about my life particularly)

What a difficult work it is to be a woman in our days!
There is proverb which says that some women are created for love, and other women are created for work. I'm afraid that in my case the truth is the second variant. Every day I have my job and university. It's a necessary part of life as there is no life without education and no life without money, unfortunately. (I don't mean that money is the most important thing in life of course!)
Then I have something for my soul, it's dancing mainly and some other things like reading, knitting, guitar, writing, photography, fancywork and so on. To be truthful none of these things take a lot of my time except dancing. As for dance lessons, I have them every day; to be more precise, every evening.
And of course, such things as housework. Frankly speaking, I don't like it very much (and who does? :) ) but I don't like chaos at my place either. So I have no choice but to clean and wash all this.
Then there are my friends. I can't say that I have a lot of them, but all of them are trusted, and I really miss them when we have no opportunity to meet.
But the main idea is, that I can hardly imagine a man who could stand all this things about me :D
I mean the reverse of such life is my absolutely business and being dead tired in evenings. I understand all this, but I cannot find the thing I can live without. On the other hand, I feel that I cannot be alone any more either! I just don't know what can I do.

Feeling blue

I returned to Moscow a week ago, and I feel so tired these days. Cleaning, fixing computers and so on - all these things must be done, and I hardly can find time to sleep and eat during the day. I've found a new job, and of course I still have my dance-classes. Today at last I can have some rest, and I'm quite glad, but I understood, that I'm feeling blue and lonely, there is even nobody to speak to. I guess It's the reverse of being busy - all your friends find somebody to communicate while you have other things to do. There is the only one decision - to go to sleep, after I finish my embroidery for today..

What is the right way to live?

The only right way to live is your own. Do you agree?
In my case, it's the only truth. Everything you do in your life is right, even if it is a mistake. Your own mistake, you know, and it means that you have an experience which nobody else in the world has.
Your life is an extraordinary one. Nobody has ever had such a life, and nobody will ever have it.
This fact doesn't mean that you have to forget the experiences of previous generations, no. All that you read, listened to and learnt are your own knowledge, so you act as only you can act, and you will live as only you can.
Don't try to build your fortune like "that successful boy" or "that talented girl" , otherwise you will lose your way. I think that's the only thing worth regretting.

Well, in my opinion dancing is the only thing worth living for.
But, unfortunately I started to dance too late. I mean there are no professional dancers who started their trainings at their 20th.
Many people start dancing as a hobby at an older age than me, I know it. But, they never become professional. As for me, I want more.
To be objective: I can do the splits, I have good instep, turnout and ballet step (Heh, I don't know how does it called in English. I mean the ability to rise one's leg in the femoral joint) I really work hard. Every day I have a class or two. But, to become a dancer I have to work even harder, but I can't because I have no place and time. That's really sad.
If I could only have a chance to dance more...

What is Life?

"Life.. What is it?" Yenka asked.
Ukka closed her book unwillingly and said: "Well.. what do you usually do everyday?"
"Me? Well..actually I enjoy the sun, race with the neighbor's chicken, go to a river bank.." Yenka started to say, counting his fingers "And what?"
"And what does our mother do" Ukka seated herself more comfortably and faced her brother.
"She... well, she raises us, takes care for the house.. We help her. And there are heaps of many other things. For example she rejoices at our happiness.. But I still don't understand What is Life?" - Yenka said.
"Life is all those things put together!" - Ukka smiled brightly.
"I understand!" - Yenka said as his face lighted up with happiness. "But, tell you what.. "
Ukka started to say as she looked at him with interest
"Life isn't just all those things, you know, Life is the joy of doing "all these things"

Dreams about Ireland

I wanna live in Ireland.
Seriously.
But what can I do to get here? Well, actually I know English, but that's all.
Yes I can dance, fix computers, take photos, teach Russian, work in Photoshop and some other things. But all these things are not useful for immigration.

What about my family? I'm single and all my relatives live far away (I left home three or four years ago. Now I live in Moscow and my grandma lives in the Urals)

But seriously, since my childhood I've been crazy about Ireland. I came from the Urals to Moscow to be closer to Europe.

Irish dance, Irish legends, Irish books..
Well, I love Russia very much, I like it's wide streets and spacious squares. But Éire.. Éire is my only love)

The only thing I'd regret is.. leaving my friends. Obviously it's a serious enough reason to be here in Russia. On the other hand... Some of my friends live in different parts of Russia and we don't meet often. My Moscow friends.. well, they would be really sad, if.. no, when I leave the country..

Rules for keeping a domestic dragon.

Instruction.

If you want adopt a dragon there are a few important things you need to know first.
Usually dragons are flammable, so never leave your dragon near a wooden buildings and any inflammable stuffs.
Most of the fire related to dragons happened because of unsupervised dragons.
Actually young dragons are playful and restless, so you must understand, that it will need all your attention and free time. Never leave the dragon alone - they may feel blue and grow sickly. Sometimes an unsupervised dragons may fly away and never return, so you should be very careful.
Never try to treat dragon for an illness yourself! If your dragon gets ill you should consult an expert immediately! Otherwise you might loose your pet!

Well, obviously these are all the main rules. Now you are ready to adopt a dragon. Everybody knows, that dragons are really good friends and the smartest pets. Get a dragon right now!

Why I dance Irish dances.

Do you believe that Irish dances were devised by human beings? I don't.
Of course, you can ask me why.
Firstly, they are physically impossible. Have you ever seen the way Irish dancers hold their legs? Knees are facing forward, but feet are pointing in a different direction! It is an extremely strange, abnormal and inhuman turnout.
Then the dancer jumps. Well, actually every dancing culture in Europe has jumps. But their jumps are as abnormal, as their turnout. The rill jump for example. You have to fly and hover above the ground.
And, lastly. Obviously you have heard the legends of the Irish fairy. They were dancing in the fields, and any person who entered their circle would dance until they died. And so do I. I started Irish dancing last year. But, I can't stop it yet. Every other day I have a dancing lessons.

Do you still think that Irish dances belongs in human culture?

Dancing

What can be more exciting than dancing? Soft lines, lightness, natural beauty and... extremely hard work.
Every morning you wake up and you body hurts all over. Every muscle aches. But you make yourself get up, and try to walk step by step. At this very moment, you understand, that you really hate dancing with all your heart and soul. You can't stand your training sessions without a shudder. But you still understand, that dancing is your only life. True life I mean.
And you take your uniform and go for classes again. Stand up near the barre and feel, that you are completely happy again. You realize that you are the happiest person in the world. You dance.

And then a new day comes. And another morning starts...

Another day left.

I'm feeling blue, because of my weariness.

Today was a difficult day. We have are having holidays at the University, so this morning I had ballet class, then rehearsal, then folk class and then rehearsal again. We started at 11.30 a.m And I haven't eaten yet. It's terrible, if you ask me, but this day was without a moment's respite!
Now I'm really hungry, and want to sleep. Tomorrow will be another, absolutely identical "holiday".

Have a nice day!

Photography

This morning I decided to take some macro-photos. It was a serious quest, so I had to invent a new instrument for my camera.
Well. actually I have some lenses, but non of them is intended for macro. But I took kit-lens (Zuiko Digital 40-150mm) and old Russian Helios 44-2 and mounted them face to face. Thereby I get a monster-macro-lens, and all I needed to do was to find a thing I would photograph.
Actually in winter there aren't many interesting objects.. But winter means snow, and snow means snowflakes! Of course, I can't help trying to take some photos.
Actually the result isn't as good as I want.. but better something than nothing.

Mordred's lullaby (Heather Dale)

Actually it's one of my favorite songs. I've just found another lullaby, while I was serfing... and remember about this. Of course I can't help shearing it :)
The first time I heard it at "Irish and Celtic music podcast"



Heather Dale "Mordred's Lullaby"
Hush, child, the darkness will rise from the deep,
And carry you down into sleep
Child, the darkness will rise from the deep,
And carry you down into sleep.

Guileless son, I'll shape your belief
And you'll always know that your father's a thief
And you won't understand the cause of your grief
But you'll always follow the voices beneath

Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty, loyalty
Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty only to me

Guileless son, your spirit will hate her
The flower who married my brother, the traitor
And you will expose his puppet behaviour
For you are the proof of how he betrayed her
Loyalty...

Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty, loyalty
Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty only to me

Hush, child, the darkness will rise from the deep,
And carry you down into sleep...

Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty, loyalty
Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty only to me

Guileless son, each day you grow older
Each moment I'm watching my vengeance unfold
For the child of my body, the flesh of my soul
Will die returning the birthright he stole

Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty, loyalty
Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty only to me

Hush, child, the darkness will rise from the deep,
And carry you down into sleep,
Hush, child, the darkness will rise from the deep,
And carry you down into sleep.

The first

Well, let's start.
Usually people start a new life on Monday or the first day of a month. But It's me and I want to start right now.
What can i say about myself? I'm a crazy young girl, interested at dancing, photography, myths (esp. Irish legends and everything connected with Ireland) and many other things (like languages, painting, playing the guitar and etc.)

Heh, of course I also should say, that English isn't my native language,  so I make a lot of mistakes in grammar and spelling. But, I swear, I'll improve them all one day!

So, let's the new life begin!