Sunday 24 January 2010

Blog Project Reflection

The internet portfolio that we did as a project in the first semester of my final year in the college was a new and an interesting experience for me. I found it attractive in the way that we wrote the pieces online and posted them so that everybody could see them. I think this Is a very good way for socializing with another person, by reading what his done you can understand a little part of him. The other aspect which I enjoyed was that we corresponded and worked with a partner from the USA and more precisely from Kentucky. I was very intrigued to write with him and get to know him through the several e-mails we exchanged. This way I got to see how the life of a teenager looks like in a country very far away from mine and understand that the people in different places are not really that different. However, the most exciting part for me was the process of creating this portfolio. It was my first time to do such a thing and I was engulfed by it. In the process of fulfilling all the needed tasks I tried to be honest and reveal a part from myself for the world to see through my writings. I worked hard for each piece and dedicated it to some interest of belief that I have. As a whole this blog is a representation to my character and in it any person can see a little part of what I am, what do I believe in and get to know what type of a person am I. The blog does only have the meaning to be there and show what work I’ve done in order to get the high grade, but is also there to say “Hi, I am Georgi Irinkov and here is a little bit for myself”. As a whole the project we referred to as an electronic portfolio is very interesting and intriguing for me. It did not only provoke my creative writing and literary skills in me, but it also gave me the possibility to exchange my ideas and thoughts with other people and introduce them to myself.

Saturday 23 January 2010

Memories

In the morning she looked like a child to me. It was early May and the trees’ blossoms had already fallen as she, my younger brother, and I sat outside for brunch. When my younger brother tried to flirt with her, she didn’t respond, she just kept looking away. In her eyes I could see something my younger brother had failed to notice – the sadness, the longing for something that was evidently not there. Then she caught my eye and her lips curved up. I didn’t return the smile. I wondered what this girl was about, what my younger brother saw in her. She seemed so plain. Her black hair was braided; she had put on no make-up and was wearing a baggy white dress with long, long sleeves. My younger brother suddenly noticed that this girl he wanted to make his was smiling at me. So he quickly got up and suggested taking a walk.
In the afternoon she looked like a child to me. As we walked through the empty streets towards the meadow with the yellow flowers she and my younger brother playfully skipped about. I trudged slowly behind them. When we got to the meadow, her face lit up with delight. She ran around picking flowers and putting them in her hair. My brother was overjoyed. She laughed sweetly when he leaned toward her and tried to take her hand. But I saw how she pulled away as he did that. When he took her hand again, her eyes looked towards me instead of him. I then noticed that her eyes were a lovely turquoise. They seemed to ask for forgiveness. For what, I didn’t know.
In the evening she seemed to have grown up. My brother had gone out. He had wanted to go with her, but when she refused several times, claiming to be tired, he petulantly stormed off. She and I sat at the dinner table. It was heaped with food, but I didn’t eat. I was looking at her. She seemed so elaborate. Her black hair was long and wavy, she wore make-up that made her turquoise eyes appear even lovelier. She had a strapless purple dress on, which clung to every part of her. I watched her hands – she was putting grapes in her mouth. Abruptly she stopped and looked at me. Her eyes were smiling, laughing even. It seemed she was finally content. Without talking we got up and went to my room. She lay on one side of the bed, I lay on the other. And she fell asleep, with her long black hair all about her.
When dawn came I was awake before her. But I didn’t get up, I stayed beside her. As soon as her eyes opened, she leaned over to give me a kiss. I looked at her – her make-up was smeared, she had tied her hair back and the clinging dress was gone. She looked so clean, so pure, so immaculate. It was morning. She looked like a child to me. And I thought, “She’s so young, she’s so young, how can I take something so big from her?” As her piercing eyes looked at me, bewildered, wondering, searching for the answer around her, I got off the bed. I knew she was looking, but it wasn’t there. It wasn’t on the ceiling of the room, it wasn’t under the bed. And I knew for sure that it wasn’t in me and I left.

Sunday 13 December 2009

Paralysis Essay based on The Dubliners

The Dubliners written by James Joyce is an Irish book which illustrates the nation’s society through a group of stories which all take place in Dublin. The author uses different characters in his stories that on first sight are not related, however, looked more thoroughly and precisely, the internal theme connection is seen. Joyce accurately uses the theme of paralysis in all his stories in a different manner. This way all the separate parts of The Dubliners create a bigger picture which is hidden behind the lines by the author. Using this theme of paralysis, Joyce truly reveals the problems which exist in the society and how destructive they can be, both physically and mentally, for any person no matter his social status, morality, or age.
Joyce uses separate stories in which he represents in a different way the theme of paralysis. This way there are numerous angles to this problem in the Irish society. Thus it is easier for the reader to portray to himself the situation and truly understand how the characters feel. The expression of the author also is easy to be understood and the stories are written in simple English. He commonly uses description and imagery, thus creating more interest in the reader. As a whole, the book itself represents a big theme scattered in each of the single stories. After finishing the book, the reader can finally see and perceive the real image of the society with its problems and values.”Ii had begun to snow again. He watched sleepily the flakes, silver and dark, falling obliquely against the lamplight” (The Dubliners 175). This quote represents the last story and its final scene. It can be interpreted as a new beginning, or as the end of something. Using the image of the snow, the author represents purification, however, in reality this is only a cover up for the society which continues to suffer with its “paralysis”.
The theme of paralysis emerges in every story in the book. Each newly introduced character is affected by it. Such examples are the boy in “Araby”, the girl which cannot escape from her life in “Eveline”, the young lady which cannot decide for herself in “The Boarding House”. These are only a small part of all the examples; however, the importance here is the theme itself. James Joyce reveals to the reader not only a single aspect of the society or a certain part of it, but includes in his short stories people of all kinds. This makes the motive extraordinary, a problem that is worth attention and affects everyone. The following quotes:”O, Bob! Bob! What am I to do? What am I to do at all?” (The Dubliners 60) and “When she addressed the first words to me I was so confused that I did not know what to answer. She asked me was I going to Araby. I forget whether I answered yes or no” (The Dubliners 31) support the idea of paralysis in the text. As they are analyzed, it can be observed very clearly the common problem of both the boy and the girl in the stories. They fortify Joyce’s thesis about the problem that exists in his society and reveal the message of the author, the cry for change behind the lines of the book.
James Joyce’s The Dubliners is a good example for a book which is aimed towards a certain problem in the society. The theme of paralysis is embedded in each of the whole group of stories and thus illustrated through a number of viewpoints. This way the author creates a very interesting novel that reflects a society affected both mentally and physically by a serious “disease” called paralysis.

Monday 7 December 2009

Book Review

Book review on “Bulgarian crime bosses: Georgi Iliev”


This is a biographical book about the great Bulgarian crime boss Georgi Iliev. It is written in third person and is created from the point of an observer which collected many different stories. Thus there are many different viewpoints from which the book is created and this makes it exciting and interesting for the reader. Also the language of the book is simple and easy to understand. As a whole the action in the book is based on the sequence of events all occupying and connected to Georgi Iliev. In the beginning there is an introduction with his childhood and early years in the mob society. The real story and meaning of the novel is to show his interrelationship and part of the Bulgarian crime business. The story continues with the mafia that he created and all the illegal transactions and deals which he sealed, the newly formed factories and companies made for laundering the money. Drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, insurance agencies, road companies, restaurants, shops, are some of the many areas that the mob boss had established himself. He built an entire empire within the state and had an extremely high position in the community. He even had control over some of the politicians and had connections in the police departments. Thus, his power in Bulgaria became unlimited. However, as every crime boss, he had a lot of enemies and eventually he was killed by an assassin. The whole book is filled with details and is based on the information taken by a numeral interviews from a huge variety of people, either in the crime world, or not. The book follows a certain pattern of events which occur in different places not only throughout Bulgaria, but around the world. The characters are not fiction and their personalities and deeds aren't imaginary, but real.This is one of the most intriguing aspects about the book, that everything happening in it is true and is supported by factology and evidences.The book Is very interesting and people should read it not only because it tells the story of the greatest crime boss in Bulgaria, but because it reveals how corruption and money can built an entire empire in the state having no limits in their power.

Monday 30 November 2009

Heaven is down on earth

To walk on the beach, to run on a magical road in the forest, to pass through a field filled with flowers... To walk on a street vivified by laughter, to live in a world full of delight… Then, you do not need the Garden of Eden. Heaven is down on earth – right here, right now. I believe in true happiness; I believe in real love as well. I believe in faith – man’s most incredible gift from God. I believe that heaven is here – on Earth, but to live in Heaven, we need to realize that it does exist. If man learns how to see the beautiful in the ugly, to embrace happiness in moments of unbearable grief, to feel the fiery love hidden behind hate and bitter anger, then he will understand what is like to be in Heaven. He will be blessed. According to a Thailand philosophy hate, anger and fear are familiar to the weak. Whoever is feeling them does not know happiness, his spirit will be miserable forever. I truly believe that for such people there is no heaven. If you do not see the good for yourself, if you do not appreciate beauty on your own, there is no one that can show them to you; as well as no one to teach you how to hope or love. Namely love and hope are our ticket to heaven; in other words, hope stops us on the way to unhappiness and love points us in the right direction to heaven. The beautiful feeling that you feel when you are in love, the feeling that makes your stomach feel strange, is familiar to many: the feeling that you can fly, that the one you are in love with is perfect, that the world is perfect… And if you do not feel you are in heaven then there is nobody that can help you. The dimensions of love are not limited to falling in love. Loving your parents and friends also makes you happy because you know that even if something terrible happens, you have somebody to count on; you know that everything will be just fine.
To be in heaven means to be happy. Different people experience happiness in different ways. For some maybe happiness is weighted in the amount of food and beer, for others – reading a good book or appreciating art and nature. But EVERY single person on this world, wearing a skirt from hay dancing around a fire or an astronaut costume, needs love and hope that tomorrow the world will be just a little bit wiser , just a little bit more beautiful. For me, heaven is not a space with margins where man has all he desires. Heaven is not somewhere in the future- after death, after catharsis, or after the Judjement Day. Heaven is right here and right now but in order to enjoy it you need to realize that first.

Analysis

The weapon called Jealousy




IAGO
You cannot, if my heart were in your hand,
Nor shall not, whilst ’tis in my custody.
OTHELLO
Ha!
IAGO
Oh, beware, my lord, of jealousy!
It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock
The meat it feeds on. That cuckold lives in bliss
Who, certain of his fate, loves not his wronger,
But, oh, what damnèd minutes tells he o'er
Who dotes, yet doubts— suspects, yet soundly loves!
OTHELLO
Oh, misery!
IAGO
Poor and content is rich, and rich enough,
But riches fineless is as poor as winter
To him that ever fears he shall be poor.
Good heaven, the souls of all my tribe defend
From jealousy!
(Othello, Act 3, Sc 3, lines 192-207)

Jealousy has always been considered a destructive and in the same time deadly feeling. In “Othello” by Shakespeare it is embedded in the whole play and it serves maybe the most important role in the development of the action, such that in the end it turns to be annihilative as well. The passage above, a dialogue between Othello and Iago, has a very significant meaning and position in the novel as a whole. Its importance is that it introduces for the first time the theme of jealousy in the book clearly, which in the previous pages has been shadowed by the author with the purpose to increase the tension in the action and also to keep the reader in suspicion for the future happenings.
The passage analyzed has a great value for the story not only because it represents the theme of jealousy, but also because in it we can see the interrelationship between Iago and Othello and the strong manipulative behavior of the antagonist. The villain manages to hide his true goals and as seen is able to turn the noble and respected Moor into a marionette in his hands. His game is lit and supported by the internal feeling of jealousy that he has created in the husband of Desdemona towards her actions. Without any sweat and harshness, Iago creates a series of lies, all well connected, creating a web from which even the bravest and strongest men cannot escape. He does not feel respect or possesses any moral values. Thus he is free in his action and has no limits in the destruction he may cause not only for his master, but all the people around him. The quote:”You cannot, if my heart were in your hand”(line 192) support the idea that his cruelty and manipulative behavior has not only turned out to be stronger than expected, but also have been able to fool anyone he chooses. In this rather soliloquy of Iago we can see and understand clearly his goals and desires. By playing with the mind of his master and his only weakness-Desdemona, he is creating a conspiracy which end probably would be devastating. However, the writer very well describes the methods of Iago and even implies on them so they can stand out from the text. Phrases such as” Good heaven, the souls of all my tribe defend from Jealousy!”(lines 205-206) only reinforce the villain’s supremacy over the mental judgment of the people around him. Also the exclamation mark stands for a more dramatic meaning and emphasis of the words themselves. The acting of the antagonist can also be seen through this episode of the action. As a whole, Iago’s nature is illustrated very carefully and in details in this excerpt from the novel through his own words and actions and the theme of jealousy.
Jealousy as a theme on which Shakespeare depends and it serve a great importance not only for developing a certain situation or a motive, but to create a whole story. Its significance is very big, not only because by it an entire community is fooled and thrown into a conspiracy, but because it causes blindness and damage to the people who fell under his state. In this passage the theme is even named directly which lead to though that for the first time it is represented officially to the reader. Also it is called a “green-eyed monster” which only strengthens its meaning and consequences. From another point of view the theme of jealousy is not represented only in Iago’s behavior, but we can also see it in Othello words and expressions. It is shown how even only a though in the mind can affect someone so much and drive him to anything. In this particular moment the reader becomes a witness of the poisoning of Othello’s brain, thus turning him later on into one of the many marionettes. In the passage the author puts the bases of the newly developed way of communication between the different characters- through jealousy. Entered once, it cannot be removed by simple force of the will or though, it carves the person from the inside and drives him to his own psychological limits. As shown in the last few lines of the passage, the personage of Othello, one faced in person the jealousy factor itself, begins to change and later on develop in greater dimensions. It is clear that since the most noble and respected Moor has fallen into the hands of his own servant, there is merely no one who can resist the villain’s influence. Thus Shakespeare very well have chosen his weapon of choice, which in this case turns out to be a powerful feeling, capable of radical results. This is shown and supported by the passage not only because the theme itself is introduced in it, but because it serves a basis, the beginning of a new phase in the relationships between the characters

Sunday 1 November 2009

Boom.SHakAzOOm

Drug Ballad

This is for all that think dope is an answer,
I can say it is the life’s cancer…

I don’t know how a person can live like this,
Can’t he swallow his problems and clench his fists,
Can’t he live a normal life without an addiction
Or beggin’ his doctor for the next medical prescription?
Taking money from his dear friend
Only to buy the next doze over and over again,
Going insane, into a mental paralysis,
Hiding from the world his blood sample analysis.
Cocaine, heroin, weed, amphethymine,
Are only few of the players in this forsaken game,
This game which turn to be your own life…
You think they are your friend,
Better think again,
They will make you only suffer and strife.
Then eventually will come the point, from which you could never return,
Turning into a monster, living as you burn.

From now on it can never be the same as before,
Cause’ the person you were doesn’t exist anymore( x2)

Look at this drug addict, see his confusion?
Cannot distinct between reality and illusion,
Tearing his own soul into countless bits,
Roaming for money his home streets
For the white parasite to reach his nose
And make him feel joy from head to toes.
But the white powder does not fulfill any dream
It destroys and turns you into a cup of cream,
Into a big pile of blood and bone
Obeying the White Lord’s commands like a mindless drone.
Every size, every shape, every color, every taste,
Every boy, every girl, every person, every race.
In this realm of mortality,
Every needle turns into an escape from the reality,
Any pill is a new boom in the mind of every young goon,
These coke shots are lethal and ballistic
And everything that follows is far away from optimistic…

From now on it can never be the same as before,
Cause’ the person you were doesn’t exist anymore( x2)

It is truly the devil in disguise,
That drags you down to hell, but covers your eyes,
Making you feel like you are going to paradise