@AngryKoala

@AngryKoala 3 January 2023

Is there a better way to start a year than being in the nature and breathe deeply? These holidays are a perfect opportunity to seize the day and enjoy a beautiful view of the river. My New Year resolution is to spend more time hiking, wandering off the beaten track and exploring the surroundings. What's yours?

@AngryKoala 4 May 2021

Jelena Zigon – A Serbian Actress **An interview dating back to 2012.** If you google name Jelena Zigon, a lot of web pages and photos of this famous actrees will appear on the screen. Famous ''goody Jelena'' from the movies ''Zika's dynasty'' is also known as a wife of famous actor Stevo Zigon and as a mother of famous actrees Ivana Zigon. That icy winter day, I went down the steep streets of the old Belgrade-end covered with snow, surrounded by a row of similar, old, pre-war, family homes. Wrapped in my red coat, with a hat and a warm scarf, carrying my laptop, I knocked on the old front door of Jelena's house and she opened them smiling. She led me into a room with a high ceiling and old wooden window and turned on the light at the sumptuous antique chandelier with a lot of light bulbs. All the walls were filled with lots of pictures. The colors in the pictures spilled from one to another, from dark green to black and the dark blue to brown. That images made a room look darker than it was. Except paintings, the room was filled with icons, crowds of books on the shelf and sculptures. On one wall, above the massive old mirror, portraits of Jelena's ancestors, Montenegrin officers and women in wedding dresses and vintage costumes were hung and looked like drawings. Dozens of photo frames of different sizes and shapes stood on the commode below filled with black and white images from the past and the images of her grandchildren. With coffee in small porcelain cup, I listened carefully Jelena's striking voice as she told me about her life. In the middle of the interview, a black cat walked into the room and streched himself lazily, watching us. When we look famous people on TV or in the newspapers, we often wonder how much their lives are different from our own. But they also were children, playing, making mischief, growing up, falling in love and had no problems. Jelena began to recall those times in the first half of the 20th century. She was born in November 1933. in Belgrade family. Her father was a banker and her mother had completed studies of history of art in Paris. She had older and younger sister. Her name, Jelena is related to the origin of Jelena's mother Vjera, Montenegrin, in whose family in each generation there was one Jelena. Jelena grew up in a family house in Senjak. After World War II, in 1945, two families moved into Jelena's house, and they remained there for more than 10 years. The yard was full of plants, with three fruit trees behind the house, and concrete fence covered with pink roses. She liked most the entrance of the yard with twelve steps, where the sisters usually sit, jumped and talked. Jelena said that pink roses and lime scent in June in Senjak remind her on her childhood. Tunes that she has remained in the memory is the song ''Hvalila se zuta dunja pokraj mora'', which she sang with her sister at events. At that time, neighbors were like family, the sisters ran to their mom, when she would go to drink a coffee in the neighborhood, and they were most attracted by a Russian family, whose member was a little girl Ala. With them they learned the Russian language and Russian games. She esspecially loved her grandfather who was famous Montenegrin retired general, initiator of Balkan wars, and he narrated to her about his battles. Her father could not accept her being an actrees. At school, there were labor actions after the war, and that work with friends was time full of fun. The sisters were conducted in the summer of Kotor Bay, in Dobrota. Jelena is a question about a favorite cousin immediately branded as a very important issue for her. Jelena's uncle, Djuro Radonjic, the famous painter, led the girls every week to walk into the forest and told them about old legends or great literary works. He then asked them to draw it all when they get home - personality, castles, and people. Thanks to him, sisters committed to art. Aged 16, she enrolled in the Academy for Theatre and Film. Entering college had a rather large impact on Jelena's maturation, interrupted her childhood and her sport carrier . Jelena trained in athletics club Red Star Belgrade. At that time, in the 60's, when the Jelena started to get involved in acting, actors were popular as singers now. Jelena says she does not remember the first time she was recognized on the street. First, she worked as a model in Paris. In 1961, the first fashion show in Serbia was held in the Belgrade Fair. Jelena acted in over 50 films. ‘’Crazy years’’ made her famous, but she likes her less famous films best. Jelena remembers when she fell in love with the doctor, because of whom she ate tons of ice cream to make her throat hurt, so she could go to see him each week. Her first true love was Stevo, an assistant at the Academy. At the beginning they hid their love as a student and the assistant, but later they decided to reveal their relationship. She fell in love with him when he played Hemon in '' Antigone'', even though she had known him before that. Most embarrassing situation in her life as she remembers was shooting in Australia. At the break, Prime Minister of Australia, Mr. Wran came riding on a horse. Reporters who were there shouted to Jelena: '' Look at Wran!''. But, she thought the horse was called Wran and she started to cuddle the horse and Mr. Wran said smiling: ‘’Young lady, I’m Wran.’’ Jelena, although pensioner, still lives dynamically, and the family, friends, performances, make her day completely filled and now it seems more filled than ever, because she is slower. Nowadays, she likes to read and speak poetry. So, she says she doesn’t feel retired at all.

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@AngryKoala 4 May 2021

Morning Market Fairytale The ground was gray and lifeless, as a field in the winter, and the shallow cracks could be seen all around. The leafless trees jiggled in the strong wind. Strumbles made the branches wave in all directions, like some predacious big hands. The sky was gray and sombre. Droning. Colorful plastic bags fled like a mating birds in their play, running from boring ground. The fat gipsy woman waddled in her large dirty sweater, holding in her left hand big piece of greasy pie while mopping her fatty lips stained with cheese with her right hand. She looked at the ground with her squinted eyes framed with one big jet-black eyebrow. Her legs were in friction while she walked and her thighs undulted under the dark blue tights. She disappeared in the noisy crowd beyond the counter with the curtains which swinged like the veils of Arabian women. Snotty, dark-skinned child ran around asking for money and pulling people's sleeves. Piles of used commodity lied down dusty and arranged out of any order. Crowlike middle aged woman with sunken eyes took out the bags with pillows and bedclothes from the old van. A guy with big pursy lips, in a white,very narrow T-shirt which made him look as a body builder, packed large pieces of cardboard into the same green van.The pass between the counters was so narrow that people pushed each other through like animals. Two old hunched ladies with berets on their heads and shopping bags fell onto the ground when a young athletic man ran through the crowd with lady's purse, and a tufted woman screamed from the crowd: ''A thief! A thief! Catch him!'' The young athletic man whized through the market, and the rotten fruits spilled onto the dusty ground. The stir shortly stopped and the river of people flew into the gorge again. ''Buy fresh doughnuts at ''Leonardo's! Buy fresh pastry! Come on, people! Sweet as my Ramajana! ''Buy fresh doughnuts at ''Leonardo's!''- the smiling chubby Mr. Murina shouted in front of his little confectionery. An older scrawny man with long white mustache, dressed in bordeaux knitted bodice, with a green folk hat on his head slowly pushed his old bike next to him, while observing hammers on the counter full of tools. The merchandiser smiled artificially, holding his fat hand on his limp belly, persuading the poor grandsire to buy his bootleg. His black leather jacket glowed even there were no signs of the sun as like his golden tooth. And even his slicked black hair glittered, soaked with hair gel behind his fleshy ears. ''That must be Vita The God. He looks just like The Irony had described him. And he sells tools to hide his real merchandise – drugs. All matches. It must be him.'' – Nicola tought. Suddenly, she appeared in an antlike crowd crawling through the market place, in a white long coat with furry beige hood and brown suede boots, with her long blonde curls falling down her back in waves. Her skin tender and senstive, her face pale and her cheeks rosy from winter frostiness, her childlike green eyes sparkled in an angelic way. And then their upset glances met.

@AngryKoala 3 May 2021

Sex, lies and teenage girls www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/mar/11/sexualisation-young-girls-myth-or-reality https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/mar/11/sexualisation-young-girls-myth-or-reality This article starts in an interesting way that makes you want to read more. ‘’*Today's girls are reluctant victims of an intensely sexual culture - right? Wrong, says one American sociologist who claims our moral panic is based on urban myths that bear no relation to reality for most teens*’’. By giving this kind of introduction, the writer has a great hook that keeps readers attention, because he is negating the opinion that we all believe, so you are interested why your opinion is wrong. The title itself is hook, because it attracts attention right away. Being an interesting topic nowadays, with development of technology and Internet, it is suitable for many kinds of readers. In the next paragraph, the author of the article by sentences ‘‘*I'm the anxious father of a seven-year-old girl who is poised to join that scariest of demographics – girls aged between eight and 13. Just to read the titles of books targeted at the parents of these so-called tweenage girls is enough to send me into a conniption – The Lolita Effect, So Sexy So Soon, Girls Gone Skank, Where Has My Little Girl Gone?*’’ explains that he is personally involved with the topic, which gives us the friendly and personal closeness to him, so we can believe in his article. He has probably chosen this topic because he had been thinking about it personally earlier. In the next paragraph, the author describes his own emotions when he reads books about his personal problem: ‘’ *They all peddle the same terrifying idea, namely that my daughter is at imminent risk of falling into promiscuity, neglecting her school work and could easily wind up working for tips as a pole dancer in a sleazy bar. My dream that she'll be professor of clever studies at Oxford before I retire looks destined to be unfulfilled.*’’ And there’s one more proof that he is a father of young girl himself, as many of the readers, who probably chose to read this article because they have a daughter who is a teenager. This emotional and personal closeness of author to the topic is quite important, because the reader wants to read more and the tone isn’t formal, as like as the scientist’s. Readers can understand that the author is ‘’one of them’’ and that he perfectly understands the problems of parents who have teenagers in their own house. In the next paragraph, the author gives the article the informal form because he writes in a witty way about the problem: ‘’ *If you've ever paid your toddler to pole dance in a sexually provocative manner in your living room, please get in touch – so I can pass your details to the authorities.*’’ So, that’s one more characteristic of successful article – joke that makes us relaxed while reading. Next, the writer continues to write about his daughter and there is the perfect end of the introduction to the topic. In the next paragraph, the author is citing the scientist: "*It's a drip, drip effect,"* argues Linda Papadopoulos, the psychologist commissioned by the Home Office in 2010 to write a review on the effects of sexualisation on young people. "*It's seeped into the everyday: fake breasts, f*ck-me shoes … We are hypersexualising young girls, telling them that their desirability rests on being desired. They want to please at any cost.*" So, there we get some facts that are proved and we believe what we read more and more. Just author’s opinion isn’t enough to think that the article is true, but now we just want to hear what the scientists have to say. Later, the writer writes about other parents’ experiences and quotes the parents from media. Couple of next paragraphs gives the opinion of Allison Pearson of Daily Paragraph. She gives examples of girls and boys from whole society and the negative effects of the Internet. Her sentences are proofs to what the author says earlier and she complements the arguments of scientists. In the next paragraphs, writer even mentions David Cameron, the politician, and mixes this social fact with his personal feelings: ‘’ *who could fail to agree with David Cameron when he said before the 2010 election that he would, if elected, rid Britain of overly sexy clothes and toys for children, to ensure "our children get a childhood"? How could I not want to protect my daughter's innocence?*’’ In the next paragraphs, author introduces Egan, a writer who wrote a book on this topic. Here we have opinion of another writer and arguments that prove the ‘’theory’’. She also gives some statistics that are pure facts ‘’ *Egan points out that from 1998 to 2008, the teenage conception rate in the UK fell by 13.3% for under-18s and by 11.7% for under-16s. Similarly, while the median age for first intercourse has dropped in the last 30 years from 17 to 16, the frequency of intercourse among adolescent girls was very low, with 47% reporting they had taken part in no sexual acts, and 5.2% saying they had engaged in oral sex. Of teenage girls who had had sex, the majority (58%) had sex with someone they had already been going out with.* ‘’ The rest of the paragraphs is about mix of facts that Egan cites and personal opinions that author has as a father. And that’s a perfect mix, because there is compassion between the writer and reader and pure fasts not influenced by personal feelings of the author. So, reader can really believe what he reads. The conclusion is also based on both, facts and opinions and blend of them. ‘’*This thought is at least appealing to an anxious father. But it doesn't allay the anxiety completely. How could anything? When, for example,Diane Abbott says that we're living in a "pornified culture" that she claims has brought about a "striptease culture in British schools and society" it's hard for me not to feel that the next few years of parenthood will be more than a little bracing.*’’ It leaves us with an open end that only future can tell and great impression. The target audience, the parents, is influenced to do something about this topic and the writer succeeded to have an effect on the society. The article is generally very well written, because it contains both facts and opinions and blends of them, but also the topic that is general idea of how our society affects young girls is very interesting. The author’s style and so many quotations of other people give the impression that the author is really into the topic and that a lot of work and thinking have been behind this article, not just writing about it because he had to. So, there is a strong connection between the reader and writer, probably both parents. All Aristotle’s Appeals are represented, because the General Idea is supported by specific facts, statistics, anecdotes, quotations, scientific theories and findings, also there are some social phenomenon mentioned and the emotional contribution is sizeable. Sentences are long enough to keep attention and the mood of the article is personal. Many details are given and the reader is asked to imagine consequences and events in the future. Author keeps the reader interested by offering his own experience and some interesting new facts and anecdotes. Writer’s personality is apparent, so the reader can know that he is one concerned father and that’s very suited to the topic.

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@AngryKoala 3 May 2021

7 steps to keep your BCH safe Do you love your BCH enough to keep it safe? I'll show you how. You know that cryptocurrency hacking is on the rise and that a little carelessness and ignorance can lead to you losing all your coins. This will not happen if you follow the next steps: **1. Open a new email address.** Uses a strong password with uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. Do not tell about this email address to anyone and do not register on other sites. Use it only for the wallet. **2. Choose a wallet wisely.** It is best to use a hardware wallet like Trezor or Ledger. If you chose an **online wallet or mobile/desktop wallet**, make sure you use a strong password. Write down the password and do not lose it! **Now pay attention!** When you open your wallet, you will receive **12 security words,** these are your personal keys for the wallet. Write down your keys! Don't lose them! Don't forget, **not your keys, not your coins**. **3. Don't HODL your coins on the stock market.** Have only the amount of coins you trade on the crypto exchange. Some well-known crypto exchanges were hacked and people lost their coins forever. **4. Watch your wallet's web address!** Always make sure you log in to the right address! The link bar should contain the exact address of your wallet. If at least one letter is different, you can fall for the scam and give your information to hackers. **5. Watch out for fishing emails!** If you have listened to step one regarding creating an email address, you should not receive phishing emails. However, fishing can also happen through social networks, other email addresses you use, through banners and pop-ups on various sites. Be careful and don't fall for scams! Watch carefully and don't click on nonsense. **6. Watch out for various scam projects.** Don’t invest your coins in every project they offer you. Here's how to recognize pyramids and scams: - they promise you earnings of 20.50,100% per week or per month - they ask you to bring more friends who will invest so you can earn more or release your payment - they ask you to pay more in order to unlock the payment - You don't know who is behind the project - you are asked to enter something that has not yet begun to be built - they make you hurry (the offer is still valid only today...) - many other ways Know that there is no easy money, always google the project that is offered to you, ask around, think, and don't be fooled. **7. Always carefully copy the addresses to send or receive coins.** I heard that there is a new virus that works when you copy your address, it changes the address and so the coins go to the address of the hacker. Therefore, when copying an address, be sure to check that it is copied correctly. **LOVE YOUR COINS AND KEEP THEM SAFE!**

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@AngryKoala 2 May 2021

Tales of the (Belgrade) City **Story 1** -You know I said you to stop taking that. **Young** man with curly brown hair and maroon eyes, his beard untidy and his shirt baggy and creased, slowly took a smoke of marijuana. The blanket had slipped off the bed and the pillows were on the floor. The light of white winter day enlightened the modern student's apartment. McDonald's paper bag was full of garbage – paper cups, packs of cigarettes, leftovers of pizza and Chinese food. The journalist on the TV screen was talking about snow which had been falling for days and the weather forecast on the screen of silver gray laptop was showing that it was about minus five degrees outside. Desktop background was showing smiling faces of girls in the discotheque, which held glasses of colorful cocktails in their hands. The latest edition of ''The best shop'' magazine laid on the coffee table, next to navy blue man's whist watch and emerald nail polish. A number of photo frames stood on the shelf by TV, filled with hugs and smiles of nice dressed people. Thick heavy dictionaries stood neatly packed and the plumage of the dream catcher swayed by air condition which blew hot, sweetish air. New Year bulbs trembled in harmonized rhythm. -Are you satisfied now? – said the sleepy man extinguishing the rest in his hand. The answer was the brisk slamming of the door. Light blue jeans were hanged in the closet and red sweater was on the back of the chair. The pen'd fallen out of the big patent black bag, as like as little USB device with a sparkling crystal key ring. The papers winged when the window was being opened. Coldness filled the air outside. The snow was everywhere. But, it was warm in the new shopping mall. Popular music came out of the speakers and the dazed crowd sintered between the shelves full of expensive wardrobe. The black coquettish dress looked as if it was from 1930's, with all these pearls and fringes. It shone on the strong lights in shop with white walls. Or maybe the baggy pink jumper with a black bow is more beautiful? Classic black pumps were on the lowest shelf, together with red wedges and modern silver gray sandals. In the left, an azure pleated skirt and silk magenta shirt were on the mannequin in the window, and in the right stood massive biker boots. The mobile phone rang with a melody of popular Rihanna's new song. It took a minute to be found at the bottom of the chockablock bag. -Hello, Anastasia. I'm in the shopping mall, trying to find something to dress for New Year's Eve...Yes...Yes... I'm not nervous, I just had a fight with Dorian this morning... Well, when I finish shopping, I'm going for the manicures and then I'll be back home at about 6 p.m. OK. I'll call you. Bye. After ended conversation, the nice, smiled cashier charged the yellow long lace dress, shimmering top and elegant black jacket. The city was decorated with ornaments which blinked and winked in the early winter evening. Treetops were covered with golden candles and Santa Clause figures were on the Austro-Hungarian architecture type of buildings. Colorful advertisings on the walls invited people to welcome New Year in some of the most elite clubs and restaurants in Belgrade. The melodies of Christmas songs could be heard along the street that evening. A couple of children dressed as Santa Clause’s assistants ran across the crowded street. Door on the number sixteen in Cara Dusan’s Street were cumbersome and dark. The doorway in the building was creepy, illuminated just with weak yellow bulb. Small, low, slender girl in her twenties opened the door. She smiled as always, dressed in fuchsia silk peignoir, with bright green scarf around her head, and her tufts of her light brown hair were tied in sloppy ponytail. Her lips were colored in pink and she had striking green eye shadow. Range of her bight white teeth showed her good mood. The little flat was cozy and decorated with works of contemporary arts. Slender girl started to do her job carefully. She turned on music player and then started to file long nails. -My dear, you look gorgeous as always. Where did you buy that wonderful red sweater?- young manicurist babbled. -Oh, thank you, Susan. I bought it last year when Nate and I were in Prague. -Oh, you’re so stylish. But, darling, you are a bit quiet today. Do you have some problem? – Susan asked worried. -Nate and I had a fight this morning. I just cannot stand his drug addiction. He’s not going to stop using those things. I love him, but I’m tired of trying. -Poor girl.- Susan said comfortingly,- Such are man. I know you fell head over heels in love with him. And I’m sure that he only has eyes for you. I believe you are true soulmates. You must try to understand him and to convince him to obey. You have a bumpy relationship, but you get on like a house on fire. Isn’t that enough for you to do your best? **Story 2** ''**Arabian** Nights'' was warm, exotic cafe tucked in a little narrow street in the bohemian quarter. That part of the atrium building was made of red brick, overgrown in climber. The facade was rustic and the caption was written on the panel made of wood and it hanged above the door. The door had little window on itself, which consisted of stained glass. Light which outreached from the inside diffracted in numerous shades. Attractive young man in white shirt entered the bar. The sweet smell of hookah filled his nostrils. The bar wasn't crowded. Handsome man in his forties smoked his cigarette on the bordeaux sofa and looked thoughtfully through the smoke. An old hairless man with dark tan sat on the pillows with his legs crossed and smoked the hookah. Palm branches swinged barely noticeable. Irregular shapes painted on the walls of the bar hid behind the scarlet curtain. Copper little cups were ful with black coffee and embers shone in the ashtray on the low coffee table. Big chandelier was hanged in the center of the room, but the light was weak and it carried from little candles. The floor was covered with Persian carpet. Fat waiter with long black mustache offered young man a seat on the big soft pillows covered with a canopy in the corner of the bar. The man sat and ordered a glass of whiskey with two ice cubes. The waiter soon returned with the order and one plate of dish. -Arabian cuisine, Sir! Please, try. It's on the house.- he said kindly, smiling. After about an hour bar began to be crowded. Only men came into and a woman couldn't be seen there. All men had black hair and chocolate brown skin, and most of them had mustache and bushy eyebrows. One of the oldest of them played an Arabian music instrument called tabla. The rhythm that he produced was a dynamic, highly melodic and it simply forced the body to dance. Sough of Oriental languages mixed together overwhelmed the bar. Suddenly, the leisurely music stopped and the old man stopped to play his tabla. The fat waiter stood in the center of the bar and declared that the show may start. Sounds of loud music announced the catchy Arabian song and a girl with long black curls appeared behind the curtain made of pearls. Men could not see her face because she had a veil above it. They could only see the shade of her siluete through the curtain when she slowly started to move her hands to the rhythm of the susceptible music. Her fingers made the shapes of birds flying or the fishes swimming, harmonically and serenely. Her hips moved to the left and then to the right like a cobra coming out of the basket. She moved the curtain when the music reached its zenith and revealed her thinly dressed body to men. Her skin was dark and shinny and her feet bare. The red pearls and golden crystals on her bosom undulated and bounced. The darkness of her skin was disharmonized with little stain of irregular shape on her back. She had glistening jewel on her navel. Her turns and dance moves were vivacious, but sensual at the same time. She made circles and eights with her hips and made parts of her body vibrate. With her hands in the air, it seemed as calling somebody from the sky. Her arms looked like unfettered sea waves. The skirt was long, red, stratified and tremulous, with a big slit, so her legs were naked. A golden scarf with coins was tied on dancer's hips, so they clacked when she moved. With one brisk movement of the hand she removed the veil from her face. She revealed her big, juicy lips and snub, beautiful nose. Beauty spot on her left cheek made her face even more perfect. She had a lot of bracelets and big earrings and a tattoo of a bird flying with her wings widely spread. She swayed, shaked, jumped, swinged, waggled, jiggled and looked the men with her big olive green eyes. Men could not move their eyes from the dancer. The music stopped. The dancer bowed and took her scarf from the floor. She disappeared behind the curtain. The young man blowed out the smoke. **Story 3** **The** bride stood next to the altar. She was dressed in fluffy white wedding dress. Her veil was long and limpid and her gloves made of white lace. Petite silver necklace was on her pale neck and big ring on her finger. She was smiling. Her bosom moved slowly and she breathed excitedly. She nodded her head and said: -Yes. Applause pierced through the church. **Story 4** **The** sky opened. Stupendous rock fell on the ground. Than one more. And one more. The rock rain was destroying everything in the boulevard. People screamed, cried, ran. The chaos was horrifying. It was like a scene from those horror movies about the Doomsday. The wind was strong, so the trees flied like a birds in the sky. People could not see each other because the cloud of the dust and fire, and buildings were tearing down. A woman fell on the ground, hurt, with an injury on her left leg. Suddenly, a large rock fell and Ivan lost his consciousness. World disappeared into the blackness. **Story 5** **Small** cozy kitchen was rife with delicious smells of the food which was cooking on the stove. Old Mrs. Kostadinovic stirred the food in pot hurriedly. The garlic on the plate was white, finely chopped. Pepper was next to it, and a bag full of beets. Mashed potatoes cooked in the pot. Glass of milk was in Mrs. Kostadinovic’s hand and a bottle of vinegar was opened on the shelf. Big, gray cat jumped on the table and toppled the dish with the spice. -Oh, you are bad, bad kitty, Azrael! – Mrs. Kostadinovic said jokingly.

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@AngryKoala 2 May 2021

Small People of a Big City Zorana casually waved her dark hand with tattooed flamboyant letters on her thin wrist, catching her long blonde pressed hair at the same and dropping her hand straight on the smooth surface of the table covered with shadows of the nearby tree, so you could hear how her big ring with Swarovski crystal tapped on a hard surface of the garden table. She was calm and composed as always, in contrast to stirrings of green leaves under light summer breeze, and there was no-one who could upset the phlegmatic daughter of old Mr. Mujen. Her personality was definitely the strongest among all the personalities that Milica knew, so stable and always real , with both feet firmly on the ground. Zorana's decisions were always one hundred percent correct and it'd always seemed to Milica that all that desicions were perfect decisions. Sometimes, Milica thought that Zorana was the smartest person she knew, although it would often deceived her when Zorana's knowledge of grammar wasn't quite good,but it seemed like nobody else but Milica noticed that mistakes Zorana made and that the definitions Zorana made weren't the best. But, Zorana was far from stupid girl. She knew to cover up even her ignorance and hide it under a thick layer of charm and sophistication. Her subtlety and wisdom prevailed yet the lack of awareness or the idea of a rule, and that was no miracle, though she came out of the womb of Mrs. Mujen. There was the rumour about this rich lady that, once, she 'd been a girl for fun, smiling blond girl with long lean legs that barely received a degree in elementary school, and already enjoyed male company and outings that hadn't been allowed to her peers. Although much older, Mr. Mujen 'd already noticed on the evening dances beautiful, mischievous girl, always modern dressed , free and careless, while dancing and having fun. Already known as an entrepreneur, it wasn’t hard for him to get the attention of any girl with his latest car models, and besides, everyone had already widely known what wealth he managed, so his looks and appearance on the dances were just one proof of his power. Then the blue-eyed girl in the center of attention, and now the old lady Mujen, she could easily satisfy her boundless ambition by accepting a marriage proposal of Simion Mujen. Of course, one does not have to be a genius to understand that both products of their love, Zorana, and her older sister, Natasha, always had the perfect life filled with love, attention, and achieving all their whims. However, both were stuck to the family and Mrs. Tanja Mujen strongly ingrained in their personality that family nest is central and most important place in their life and that no one is more important than that. Family and its interests on the first, and everyone else was in the last place. As a faithful and devoted practitioners of Tanja's school, both, Zorana and Natasha, have thoroughly absorbed the ability to be nice to people, to be communicative enough that they would not be considered quiet, but at the same time, to talk with people about unimportant things and the problems of other people, while all their feelings, joys, sorrows and problems coveted for himself and opened them like a secret to each other or in the spacious living room in their house, furnished in the latest fashion from magazines about apartment arrangement , with their parents. The heavy feathered quilt was quietly rustling beneath warm sleeping body. Purple slippers were lying on the dirty parquetry. Silence reigned in the apartment. Washed crumpled clothes were standing on an armchair and fashionable women's boots, sneakers and shoes were scattered around the mess in the hall. The water in the sink was white, and the sink full of dirty glasses with alcohol remains, so the sour smell filled the air. Deep draft pointedly opened the balcony door. The cold descended the room. The curtains started to flutter. Water boiled in a kettle, and the lamp on the stove ceased to shine. White coffee was gliding smoothly in the ivory cup. Light of the grim, impersonal morning cut through the huge windows of skyscraper in whose sixteenth upper floor was the apartment. In the bathroom, towel fell to the chocolate brown tiles and stain of toothpaste was clearly outlined in the sink. The smell of the creams, makeup and expensive perfumes originated from open cabinets near the mirror, which reminded of the smell of perfume shops in the noble city center. Yellow vintage earrings beseemed well to little dark earlobes, which could be seen in the reflection in the mirror that morning. Postman rang twice. Ponderous door opened with a dull sound of friction, and the postman said nervously: - You should stick the number of the apartment to the door of the apartment. How the hell should I know this is number 16? There was a small pink bag in the postal dark blue bag. It smelled of freshly plastered vinyl. The key started to rattle turning around locks. Badges played at fingertips in a hurry. Running down the stairs echoed through the building. Taxi drivers, who were reading the morning papers, lazily turned their heads when the girls in coats passed by them. It was crowded at the bus stop. The red-haired high woman held in her arms a blonde baby with the green eyes and gently pink jacket and purple boots. The baby smiled gleefully watching the mother's face smiling. She cooed and waved her hands clasped in fists. Two little teeth were sticking out of her mouth, and her cheeks were rosy from the cold winter air. Her grandmother was talking to her and kept in her hands a rag doll. The trolley stopped. Redhead mother came out carrying a smiling baby. White-haired grandmother was coming out slowly, walking with the help of wooden stick, and the door of the trolley closed behind. -Mom! Mom! - shouted a woman with a baby. -Open the door to a woman! - yelled large elderly gentleman in a black coat. The girl sitting behind the driver read a book. Free newspapers lied on an empty seat. Windows on the trolley were sprayed with weak rain. In front of the faculty, there wasn’t the tobacco store anymore. The whole pavement was sadly empty. In front of the university buildings colorfully dressed crowd of young people stood in circles filled with ash and smoke of cigarettes. Draft ruled in the hall. Group of pigeons flied low and agitated landed in a corner of the hall. A long queue stretched in front of the elevator. No one came at the appointed place. A few more looks at the clock and it was clear that nobody would even come. Solid black boots returned by the same route to the stuffy kitchen. The light on the stove again shone. The water into shower cabin was hot, but refreshing. The bell was heard at the door. Wet hair squeezed, making a puddle on the parquet behind it. The young man in the olive-green baggy jacket entered the apartment, put down his suitcase beside scattered shoes and walked into the living room full of light. He dropped his keys, cell phone and a lighter on the low wooden coffee table, and lit a cigarette. He leaned back casually in an armchair and let out a heavy smoke at the ceiling. White cups of hot coffee steamed on the table, while playful images alternated on the TV screen. Professor was late to class 15 minutes of whole. Students had the grievous facial expressions, and silence filled the classroom. The needle moved slowly from number to number. The evening was full of fog. Because of sprinting, long hair was tangled and floral scarf moved. Crumbs and spices from rolls with Greek salad remained on the fingers. Only a couple of people were in the trolley. Blonde girl sat on the next seat with headphones in her ears. Gaudy shop windows along the street were visible through the window. The door opened on the bus stop on the Square. A man entered the trolley. He was smiling. He has not changed a lot. Just a couple of pounds less made him look different than 10 months earlier. -How are you? -Good. You? -Great. How's school? -OK. And your job? -Good. I work in a hospital now. -That's great. I thought you'd moved. -No, I still leave here. You still work in the dancing school? -Yes, but I'm thinking of leaving it. -Why? -I don't know. Boredom. Five years are long time. -Oh. -Yes. -And Marco how is he? -I don't know. I don't hang out with him anymore. -Really? I saw him with Sarah. -Yes...And you still live with Tea? -No. She left city about three months ago. I haven't heard of her. -Oh. Awkward silence reigned. Only the old trolley motor could be heard. On their faces still were just slight, strained smiles. Trolley moved slowly. Cars trumpeted in the cluttered streets. The street was filled with fog. It makes the foot to hover over sidewalks, parking lots, concrete steps. The apartment was warm and filled with sweetish tobacco smoke. On a soft sofa, black-haired young man and blonde girl giggled beside computer screen. Skinny pale girl with a tattoo across the narrow back stood at the window, smoking. She casually turned around, revealing behind her a dark, dark blue sky speckled with the lights of the city. She spoke: -We have to hurry up. Their bus started about an hour ago. Scores of people with suitcases came out of the bus. The high girl with the glasses copper-colored dropped her suitcase, but she raised it with fast movement of her thin arms. She continued to walk with the boys with shaved heads in tracksuits. They seemed to be younger than her. The group headed towards the exit of the station. The apartment was dark. With one click of the switch room became bathed in light. The room was dominated by cheerful murmur. Stephan P. liked your photo. – The notification appeared on the blue-white screen.

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@AngryKoala 2 May 2021

Sunday Reflections People should read books more, because nowadays there are too many reality shows and bad movies that ruin people’s taste. TV programmes have strong influence on human population, especially young people, so they should read good books more often. Everyday, I can see youth infected with bad taste, pap and trash and I feel sorry of them, because they do not appreciate the true value any more. Classics are books that can help people in their intellectual development. Because youth is becoming uneducated, they ought to spend more time reading about intellectual topics. Therefore, instead of wasting time on video games, cheap movies and vulgar shows, young people ought to pay attention on good literature. Discard contents which just waste your precious time and devote yourself to useful things. Read about topics you’re interested in, but sometimes you should give a chance to something what wouldn’t usually be your choice and maybe you’ll find out something new. Books include wide range of topics, so I believe there’s some topic for everyone. That’s a chance for young people to become young intellectuals, who are ready to be successful in their lifes. I had really strange dream last night. Before I fell asleep, I was upset because of my homework, but I still was very tired, so I fell asleep very quickly. My dream was like a movie. I could feel soft blanket in my hands and little helpless baby in it. The city was crowded with people and cars and there was traffic jam in the street. Suddenly, I started running with the baby in my arms and pushing people, sending them on the ground. I was running and running, without stopping. When I came to the traffic light, there was red light, but I didn’t care. Therefore, I decided to continue running. Everything was in a slowmotion, like in action movie. Baby in my arms was crying, because I was clutching her strongly. At the moment I was in the middle of the street, one car run into me. That’s when I woke up. I was shaking, covered with sweat. The dream had realy upset me and I stayed confused and in a bad mood. Sometimes I would call her in the middle of the night and sobbed over the telephone wires out loud, but I can't. I can not break that built picture of myself, because she can not lose her idol, someone who is powerful and strong, who knows the solution to all our problems, who is always happy, smiling and careless. Being an older sister to someone so fragile and gentle is tough role. Who will protect her from injuries and who will always be the smartest, if I show weakness and despair? Sometimes it seems as if my soul is torn apart and it's all black and hopeless, and I just want someone to hug him and tell him what's on my heart. Sometimes she is the ideal person to cry and scream until losing breath about my problems that bother me, because she knows me so well, because I know that she can trust her unconditionally, not as a friend or a guy who can turn and leave me tomorrow , but as a mother, as someone who has been there whatever happens, whatever I did. But, I can't. The mere thought of it to see me broken and defeated would erase the glow in her eyes that tells me I'm dominant, a wise counselor and the her best, safest mainstay. So, every time I thought in the midst of my resonate sobs to call her, I'd throw the phone as far away from myself and proceeded to stop my tears with the pillow, alone, far from home, and everything I had known a few months ago. And it seemed to me that everything was like the year before. I wrote the same one, but familiar phrases and sold them the same stories.I laughed on some of their more or less funny jokes and a bit of this, a little way,I was turning the same story again. That was still the same me and my ridiculous habits. Only, they weren't you. It was so hard to understand that all of my loved ones were miles and miles away from me, even my mother. And that they were in the other town.Even the fireworks were just a set of shinny sparks and I did not have any feeling that the New Year was and that someone was celebrating at that moment . My younger sister often asked me how I could be alone in an apartment in a large city, how I could sleep alone at night and not to be afraid.But, I did not feel lonely, as if my mother was next door and as if I could call her for help immediately when I needed it.I felt that that big city was full of people I knew and who I could call, but then again, I was afraid of the other types of loneliness. If some things had happen, it probably would have destroyed those that were occurring, but, still, I often wished that things were different. And of course I wanted to find someone after you, a better and more perfect man, who would protect me and cherish me more than you did. But something simply did not give me a chance to find in others that close, known, beautiful feeling that someone belonged to me, because headless man who was still lying in my bed, on his shoulders could handle only your head, just your character, your hair ... And I could not imagine someone else's fingers caressing my hand and someone else to be called mine. I know that these stereotypes were stupid and pathetic, but what I could do, but to begin to keep them to myself, because apparently at that moment I enjoyed my freedom. It's so strange when you know that vast, normal thing for days, months, years…And suddenly it doesn’t exist. There’s not that thing. As if it never existed. It fell apart. Disappeared. I looked in the mirror for days and tried to figure out what had happened to us, but all still seemed unreal, like a dream. As a dream when one day I would wake up and everything would be back as it’d been. He would be there again. Our ‘’thing’’ would exist again. I couldn’t believe he didn’t know what was happening to me at that moment. He didn’t know what I’d done on my exam. He didn’t know where I’d gone out the previous Saturday, when I’d argued with my mother and what I’d bought at shopping mall. I was looking forwards to tell him that joke we’d laughed on the night before and to tell him all details about our adventure which had happened on New Year’s Eve. I knew he would laugh. I knew how he would laugh, too. It would took the whole night to tell him about everything that had happened for all that time. Well, if I decided to tell him everything. Much of the important things would seem unimportant for me at that moment, because I would wish to hug him and kiss him more than to talk to him about that. I wanted to hear what he’d done on his journey abroad. I wanted him to retell me all that binges with his friends again and the new ones, which I hadn’t heard. I wanted just to know if he had been in that same street in the same old, ugly apartment or somewhere far away where I hadn’t ever been. And I couldn’t stop asking myself. But, the only thing I knew was that one day we would talk about all that. I didn’t suppose, I was sure. We had to. I had to tell him about all news and things that had happened, about everything I’d seen, heard or experienced. Because, only spoken to him, all that made sense.

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@AngryKoala 1 May 2021

The best way to learn a foreign language is to practice it through many different ways, at school, at work and in everyday life. The skeleton of one language is grammar. Learning grammar at schools is the hardest part of the process, but students should master it as earlier as possible. The second important point is enlarging the vocabulary. The best way to become skilled at it is to live among native speakers, and talk to them in different situations. Listening to music, watching films and TV without subtitles, reading books and newspapers can help a lot, too. Above all, motivation is needed to succeed in this demanding task.

@AngryKoala 1 May 2021

Nowadays, media is very important for all spheres of life. One of the most important contents of media are advertisements. Many things are advertised, but some of them should not be, because that can be offensive or unethical. Advertising is a good way to promote a thing, because people pay attention when a thing has good advertisement. One good advertisement can change people’s opinion about the product, person, service or phenomenon. Successful advertisement is worth a thousand words. Advertising can help the popularity of a thing. For example, some toys for kids can become very popular if they are seen on TV often. So, the advertisement affects the psychological unconsciousness of people. On the other hand, in many cases, advertising can be misused in the wrong purposes. Sometimes, the quality of the thing being advertised is put into question, because the advertisements claim that the specific thing has much better characteristics than it actually has. Advertising can mislead people. Nowadays, you can see and hear many bizarre advertisements about things you couldn’t ever imagine are going to be advertised. But, some things shouldn’t be advertised, because there are many living rooms around the world, watching advertisements which do not respect ethical, religious and political principles. For example, some of them can be abusive, vulgar or expressions of racism. To make matters worse, there are children watching that advertisements. Last day, I was shocked to see the advertisement which said that approval has been given for abortion clinics to advertise on the television and radio. What is our society coming to if abortion is to be advertised like perfume or packets of breakfast cereal? Moreover, I am usually disgusted because we have been watching to many advertisements about things which are really humiliating. As a matter of fact, we aren’t sure what the future brings to us in the field of advertising. So, who knows what will happen? However, we should hope that the situation is going to be better, with great effort. There should exist a strict law about media and advertising. Advertising should respect ethical, religious and political principles, in accordance with the law. Some things should never be advertised.

@AngryKoala 1 May 2021

Me, Myself and I – Back to 2012 It was late morning. Grey clouds covered the sky so the sun couldn’t find its way through. The cloudy weather made my bedroom murky. My apartment is positioned eastward so the windows in my bedroom have to be always covered up with curtains to prevent the flashing sunrays disturb my sleep. Shortly before brunch, my mother entered the bedroom, approaching the windows without making a single sound. She swiftly removed the curtains aiming to wake me up. However nothing happened. I was still in my slumber sleep. It was gloomy outside so her next decision was to turn on the lights. I hadn’t noticed a thing. She then put the music on gradually turning up the volume. As far as I remember I dreamt of myself trying to climb a gigantic tree. It was situated on a vast field covered with a perfectly cut lawn filled up with rainbow coloured flowers. A cat was trapped in the tree so I was determinately trying to climb it and rescue the cat. I was falling over and over again. Having taken a deep breath I jumped and finally fetched a thick branch. I suddenly felt a strong fatigue so I had to sit down and take a rest on that branch. Having tilted my head upwards I saw the cat. It started meowing and getting louder and louder. Then unexpectedly it went on singing my mother’s favorite song- My Heart Will Go On. I was dazzled. I instantly opened my eyes, not knowing what had just happened. I saw my mother and realized it was her struggling to wake me up. ***************************************** The story started in the car. My friends and I were headed for a Halloween party. After we had parked the car, we had to wait the rest of the group to come. I took a moment for myself and gazed into the sky. There was a full moon gleaming on October 31- at the Halloween. I felt a chill and was cautiously listening around to hear something creepy such as a wolf’s or whatever other creature’s holler. It was time to go to the party. Everyone had a different costume. I was a vampire. I had a crimson long dress and a black belt wrapped around my waist. My face was pale and my eyes were red. They were rimed with black eyeliner. My lips were also red and covered with blood. I had two huge fangs sticking out of the corners of my mouth. The dress was stained with blood. My friend, on the other hand, was dressed up as an angel. Standing by my side, her white clothing shone in the dark. She had vast feathered wings and a glittering halo around her head. After a while, I noticed a strange figure in the distance wiggling through the crowd. It was a “priest” who tightly held a cross in one hand and the Bible in the other hand. He stirred towards me making cross like movements. My friend not noticing the guy jerked out of fear. I was unsuccessfully trying to hiss at “the priest” attempting to imitate a bloodcurdling vampire. Instead of me being scary, everyone roared at me being silly. ***************************************** I was waiting for the guests to come. Meanwhile I opened my online book and read it sprawled in the armchair. The lights were off, making the lap top glare in the dark. I was completely dedicated to the story and thus forgot about time. Suddenly someone intensely knocked on the door. I knew that that couldn’t have been my guests because they would have first rung on the front door. I tiptoed to the door and glanced through the peephole. I saw nothing except the blackness in the hallway. I thought they wanted to tease me by putting hands on the peephole and blocking my view. I reached the switch with my arm to turn on the lights. The power was off. I felt a bit edgy, but I opened the door without asking who was there. A man jumped at me clenching my arms. I somehow managed to pull my hands back raising a fist to attack. But the man grabbed my wrist. He started giggling. I recognized that pitched voice- it was my best friend Milan. He took off his jacket revealing his big frame and approached to the fireplace. It was made of corals which my cousin had collected during his diving course. Each had a unique shape, colour and texture. Milan put the fire on. The room was finally illuminated. I placed myself on a chair in front of the fireplace to enjoy the heat for a moment. My cat jumped into my lap where it immediately began purring as I stroked its back. In the meantime Milan lit several candles and hung them next to the windows to brighten up the room. However in that very moment the power came back and the guests rang the bell.

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@AngryKoala 1 May 2021

Ljubav izmedju Ketrin i Hitklifa u romanu ''Orkanski Visovi'' "Orkanski visovi" su prvo i jedino delo engleske spisateljice Emili Bronte. Ona je jedna od tri sestre Bronte, koje su se sve bavile pisanjem, ali je Emili ostala najzapamćenija od njih, a njeno delo dozivelo najveću slavu. E. Bronte je veliki deo svog zivota provela u Havortu, u kome su surove pustinje, pa je verovatno zbog toga radnju ovog romana smestila u mesto kao sto je Gimerton, i samo ispunjeno pustinjama, sa specificnom i oštrom klimom. Kompozicija romana zasnovana je na jednoj okvirnoj priči u koju je smestena druga, a koja počinje godinama pre okvirne priče, da bi se na kraju njih dve spojile. Postoje dva glavna naratora-gospodin Lokvud, zakupac Hitklifove kuće Traškros Greindž i gospodja Din (takozvana Neli), dugogodisnja sluškinja porodica Ernšo i Linton. Glavna tema romana je ljubav izmedju Hitklifa i Ketrin. Njihova ljubav se radja još u najranijim danima njihovog detinjstva, kada Ketrinin otac usvoji nepoznato crnpurasto dete po imenu Hitklif, na svom putu po Liverpulu. Hitklif i Ketrin se sprijateljuju zbog neverovatno slične divljačke prirode koja ih oboje odlikuje. Iz tog prijateljstva postepeno se razvija obostrana i bezuslovna ljubav, koja ima sve one osobine koje i njih dvoje imaju. Još od detinjstva su se osećali kao da su njih dvoje sami protiv celog sveta, Ketrin se ponašala previše muškobanjasto za devojčicu, Hitklif je bio divalj i neukrotiv, sebičan i zatvoren prema svima osim prema Ketrin. Kada je stari gospodin Ernšo umro, Ketrinin brat Hindli je davao sve od sebe da razdvoji ovo dvoje, izdižući Ketrin a nipodaštavajući i ponižavajući Hitklifa. Ketrin se pod pritiskom postepeno pretvara u damu, menja način ponašanja i oblačenja, ali zadržava svoju divlju prirodu. Hitklifa, tretiraju kao slugu, te on zanemaruje učenje i sam počinje da se oseća nižim u odnosu na nju. Prelomni trenutak njihove ljubavi je kada ona treba da reši da li želi da se uda za svog novog udvarača Edgara Lintona, i o tome priča sa Neli, ali Hitklif čuje samo deo tog razgovora u kome ona kaže da bi udaja za Hitklifa za nju u tom trenutku bilo poniženje, ali ne i drugi deo njenog govora u kome kaže da bi se udala za Edgara zato što ima para, pa bi tako mogla da osigura i bolju budućnost za Hitklifa. "*Kao što raj nije za mene, tako isto nije za mene ni udaja za Edgara Lintona. Sad bi za mene bilo poniženje da se udam za Hitkifa, te on nikad neće saznati koliko ga volim, i to ne zato što je lep Neli, već zato što je više ja nego što sam i sama. Bilo od čega da su naše duše sazdane, njegova i moja su iste, a Lintonova se razlikuje od moje kao mesečev zrak od munje i mraz od vatre.*" Tada Hitklif beži do kuće i ne pojavljuje se narednih tri godine, za koje se Ketrin posle duge patnje i bolesti udaje za Edgara i odlazi da živi u Traškrosu. Kada se Hitklif vrati, dolazi kod nje, kao novi čovek, ali koji u sebi nosi staru ljubav. Ketrin koja ga i dalje voli ne može da podnese da se ponovo razdvoji od njega, te pokušava da s njim bude prijatelj. Medjutim ovo nije moglo dugo da traje. Okončava se tragično. Njegovo udvaranje Izabeli prouzrokuje svadju izmedju Edgara i Ketrin, koja će biti poslednja kap u njenom već uskovitlanom i nestalnom životu, punom patnje zbog razdvojenosti od Hitklifa, ali i zbog njene nagle naravi koja joj ponekad donese dobro, a ponekad zlo. Ona umire od upale mozga, uz plač, halucinacije i u Hitkifovom naručju, a radjajući Lintonovo dete-mladju Ketrin Linton, čiji se život opisuje u drugom delu knjige. Ketrinina i Hitkifova ljubav je strastvena, posesivna i divljačka, vrlo često sebična. Ona se ne uklapa u kalupe toga vremena, ali ni ijednog drugog vremena. Uprkos svemu tome njihova ljubav je istrajna, neponovljiva, jer su oni toliko slični, te imaju dovoljno spona koje bi ih vezivale do kraja života, ipak zbog te sličnosti u svim svojim mislima i osećanjima, njihova ljubav može dotaći granice pakosti i mržnje. Njihova povezanost je uzrok svih njihovih patnji i nemira, jer od samog početka njihovih života, pa sve do kraja, svi oko njih bili su protiv toga da se ta ljubav ostvari. Oni su uspevali da ovu ljubav održe i kada nisu bili jednog pored drugoga, Ketrin je Hitklifa videla kao jedinog muškarca koga će ikada moći iskreno da voli. Čak je i njen brak sa Edgarom u mnogome započela kako bi obezbedila Hitkifu bolju budućnost, ali nikako nije pristajala na brak uslovljen konvenicjama, niti mogla da zamisli život u kome Hitklifa nema. "*Moja ljubav prema Lintonu je kao lišće u šumi-vreme će je izmeniti, svesna sam toga, kao što zima menja drveće. Moja ljubav prema Hitklifu liči na večite stene ispod površine, izvor malo vidljive radosti, ali neophodne. I ja sam Hitklif.*" U ovim rečima Ketrin jasno oslikava svoja osećanja. Njena ljubav ide toliko daleko da se positovećuje sa Hitklifom i oseća kao da su jedno. Sve ono što je on, to je i ona. A njihova ljubav je, iako često uzburkana drugim osećanjima, i iako često kamen spoticanja u njihovim životima, jedino što stoji čvrsto i nepomućeno i što je jedino smrt mogla da rastavi. Hitklif posle njene smrti postaje još suroviji i sebičniji. Iskaljuje svoj bes i bol na sve ljude koje smatra krivim za njenu smrt, ili za ljude vezane za njih. Na trenutke krivi i samoga sebe, i njena smrt je greh koji sebi ne može da oprosti. On se pretvara u djavola na zemlji, koji se na obazire na to koliko patnje donosi, čak i kada je u pitanju njegova rodbina, ili Ketrinina ćerka. Po prirodi divalj, posle njene smrti gubi svaki osećaj moralnosti i njegov bol postaje bol svih koji ga okružuju. Zanimljivo je i to što posle njene smrti, on joj ne želi mir, već da ga proganja i uhodi kao duh, do kraja njegovog života, da bi makar tako bila s njim. "*A ja imam samo jednu molitvu-ponavljaću je dok mi se jezik ne osuši-Ketrin Ernšo, nemala mira dokle god sam ja živ!...Znam da duhovi lutaju po zemlji. Budi uvek sa mnom-uzmi kakav oblik hoćeš-dovedi me do ludila! Samo me ne ostavljaj u ovom ponoru gde te ne mogu naći! Oh, bože!ovo je neizdrživo! ne mogu da živim bez tvoje duše!*" Ovo su Hitklifove reči koje najbolje opisuju njegovo duševno stanje i agoniju posle Ketrinine smrti. Njegov život će se pretvoriti u pakao na zemlji, a on će zaista do kraja života vidjati njeno lice svuda i u svemu, u običnim ljudima, drugim ženama, čak i u pločicama na podu sobe u kojoj su se kao mali često igrali. Emili Bronte postepeno prikazuje njegovu promenu od sasvim dopadljivog, specifičnog lika koji čitaocu može lako da priraste za srce, do bezosećajne zveri koje bi se svako gnušao i čije bi postupke čitalac teško razumeo. Njegov bol dostiže vrhunac kada otkopa njen grob i želi da ostane u njemu, da i njega zakopaju, i da tako umre pored nje. Kada ga je umorila osveta, iako zdrav i jedar, Hitklif dozivljava nešto nalik na viziju, halucinaciju ili predskazanje, te vidi vrata raja. Ali to nije bilo koji raj, već samo njegov, u kome ga ona, kako se nada, čeka. On umire, iz razloga koje lekar ne može da utvrdi, i konačno okončava svoju agoniju. Ovde se završava njihova razorna ljubav, koja baš zato što je isuviše drugačija od bilo koje druge,ostaje lako urezana u pamćenje čitaoca. Naslov knjige "Orkanski visovi" se odnosi na kuću Ernšovih, koja je ovako nazvana zbog jakih vetrova koji u tim predelima duvaju, udarajući u zidove kuća, povijajući drveće i terajući ljude u zaklon. Ipak, mene ovaj naslov asocira na ljubav izmedju Ketrin i Hitklifa koja nije donela skoro ništa dobro, ali je ostala postojana, večna i zapamćena, baš kao što su i orkanski vetrovi.

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@AngryKoala 1 May 2021

Willing Dead There is only one rule for him who wants to break free from Hell: Not to glance behind him. But for me it was not possible, if only for a split second, not to glimce back just to take a squint of her face. I remain blameless, for it was her voltureus schemes that kept drawing me back. Her fragrance of sex and cum was the perfect recipe to distract me from my own burning flesh. I was in the embrace of another when my mind tricked me into mentioning her. I was happy for a split second. I don’t know why! I still talk about her with the yearning of a poet. She was my companion for the weekends. She was an aloof trickster, a shyster, a con. We met during weekends or in my trips to Tirana or when I wanted to run from home. She too had the same intentions as me. She acted as if she were Natasha Rostova, so consequently I had to be Anatole. Even though I am more suited for the role of Vronsky. And just like the aristocrats of the story we only cared about money, sex and our own mortality. She was not particularly beautiful but her mesmerizing charm could compel anyone. She had a naive face that reminded me of angels and a stunning body that could make you bow to Lucifer himself. She was always lurking in my subconscious but I never said a word to her. Every time we met I acted arrogantly, and treated her as a mere insect, as if she was my obedient servant. I acted inadequately so she wouldn’t recognize the lashing lust I got when I stared into her eyes. The sun caught up in her raven hair blazed me out of all control. She troubled and frightened me, but she also loved with a profound tenderness. I was the man keeping her warm when her husband was away. In short, we were victims of unsynchronized passion. Such was Arta. I used to wrap her in my embrace and imagine a flattering future with her, even though I knew that this was cause for disaster. Sometimes, I still do! I dream of a late-night evening together. I’d invite her for a fulsome dinner and we would talk all night about various subjects. Sometimes, a staggering kind of nostalgia of “Hows” and “What ifs” kept me stirred and awake all night. I muse at the idea of growing old together. She is seated in her shaky chair planning to write her next hit. She has her notebook and her favorite pen and she is trying to put our youngest grandchild to sleep. An evil voice in her head is telling her to forget the lullabies and read her recent writing because to her everything she writes is exhaustingly boring and can put anyone to sleep. She writes of me, of us and our lives in a dramatic postmodern way. She writes of every scummy detail, what a halfwit I have been and all the times fickleness ruined our relationship. While she is thinking that writing itself is so demanding, mentally challenging and sometimes it feels like a chore, she forgets to rock the crib and it wakes our grandson. But its ok cause I’ll always be there to help her. First, I’ll put out grandson to sleep and then reassure her that her writing is eloquent, with wisdom and class. I write her a verse, recite a joke with wit and perfect timing, I’ll share my heart, confess my sins and do it all by rhyming, till I see the flashing of her hypnotic smile. I pour us a glass of milk and I take it to her, she than presides to show me her writing. It probably is a scary murder story, because you know, she is a little psychopath. I stand there, drink my milk and pat myself in the back that I found the courage to hit on my younger literary student. During our stay in Tirana City all her underwear and her skinny ripped jeans were scattered in my apartment. All my friends knew about her and they referred to her as my “Call-girl” since I never mention to them the pristine and profound fondness that I felt for her. She was as beautiful and as crazy as Lady Godiva. This presumptuous young lady I meet while teaching poetry for undergrad students in my home city. When our short time together came to an end, we decided to just be friends. Friends who comfort each other with our naked bodies and simply having fun. Apparently using our tongues for other purposes besides talk was much more pleasurable. Or maybe we were too tired to argue after all that humping and grinding. From the moment I unhooked her bra I was under her summation. Every animalistic impulse dared me to strangle her, but I was a perfect gentleman. She would always mock my shyness and hesitation to take charge. I barely resisted the outdated tricks and hacks of my naked lady. But only when she was butt naked. My cold touch covered her body in goosebumps. She giggled and moaned at my awkwardness. Apparently, that weirdo liked my awkwardness. She used to throw all my books and papers on the ground because the bedroom was too far ahead the corridor. It’s fair to say that she was more experienced than I and we never climaxed at the same time. We could have continued that routine for years, but she died. She is dead. Her death was abrupt. It happened so fast, she was diagnosed, heavily medicated for months and just when I thought it was going to be better, she passed away. She was buried the next day but I didn’t have the heart to stay. After all I was nothing to her. Only when everybody left did I visit her grave. For the first week I visited regularly. Last time I went I sat on the marbled grave stone of her neighbor and stared at the stone where her family had written some beautiful words for her. In that crowd I was only one that was breathing. I and the red-coated man that was maintaining the graves. I continued to stare at the grave stones and at those blasphemous words that made you believe there lied one of the Jesus’s Apostles. “Who cares what they think when you’re dead! This is preposterous!” said I with an agitated tone in my voice. While I quietly sobbed, I felt something moving beneath me. The ten-year dead dude was waking up. It might have been the medicine I had taken but the dim darkness was calling out the dead to wake up. Not only he, but everyone was waking up. Is this the apocalypse. They weren’t bothered by me, they were fixing their preposterous grave stones. Each and every one found an iron stick and was removing those risible words like Jack Olivan had done before them. The dead don’t like deceiving and lying. I watched them as they examined the terrain; I wish I could tell you what was happening in their brain. they raised their heads to the sky as if they were asking for forgiveness and drew seven lines in their foreheads. The most frightening thing is that I wasn’t struck by their malevolence, my presence didn’t even faze them. “The dead don’t give a fuck about other people, I wish I was dead” I said with an inspired look in my eyes. They were the scared ones. They hurried up to fix their grave stones and lie comfortably under them. So was my dead lady. She looked so young, but so proud and serene. Instead of the poem she wrote “I, Nemo”. she looked me dead in the eye and from her muddy lips I could read “I’m sorry”. She then blew me a kiss and lied down under her cozy new home. I don’t remember anything after that. I blacked out completely. When I regained consciousness everything was the same as before. Nothing had changed. I went to the red-suited man and declared that the grave stones are all wrong. He then wondered what I was doing there and then ordered me not to bother the dead. I never went back there again. I don’t see the point of these visits. It is better to spend eternity in a deep sleep, cause life pales in comparison to dreaming, so In pace requiescat fellows! As I was walking away a song ringed in my head like e clumsy church bell. This was the song she used to hum when she would leave my apartment: I know it’s over It never really began But in my heart, it was so real Then she spoke to me and said: If you’re so funny Then why are you on your own tonight? And if you’re so clever Then why are you on your own tonight? If you’re so very entertaining, Then why are you on your own tonight? If you’re so very good-looking Why do you sleep alone tonight? Cause tonight is just like any other night That’s why you’re one your own tonight! With the triumphs and your charms While they’re in each other’s arms.

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@AngryKoala 1 May 2021

The Trouble With Being Alive Fast approached Ramadan and it was welcomed with apathy and nonchalance, at least by Atrid. While everybody was celebrating, he considered it no more than an obligatory day off. He loathed the idea of wasting the time in such trifle matters. The noise that was coming from the downstairs window commanded that the celebrations go as tradition had demanded for years, but that morning he was simply too exhausted to get up and give the drummers some change. It was three o’clock when he managed to put himself to sleep, of course after he had finished the bottle of wine and had translated some of his stories. While he was drinking his disgusting herb tea, somewhere in the background, other than his screeching cough, you could hear Primavera from an old vinyl record player that he found while he tried cleaning his house. His room was a mess, everything was embroiled into a big pile of wasted ink and paper from last nights failed attempts to write something. On his writing desk was placed an old radio. He found this radio collecting dust in one of the rooms upstairs while trying to free some space for his son’s annual visit. Ajant had skipped some visits because he was away for his post grad studies. It had been long since they saw each-other and Atrid was not going to dwindle his own expectation of this reunion. He was waiting forbearingly and with submission to make this day special. He was anxious to the point that he could scream. His hands were sweaty as he placed an ear to the door. He proceeded to repeat out loud everything he wanted to say when his son arrived. The air had already become unbearable so he started drinking frantically inside the blue walls of his house. He was nervous, very dreadfully nervous. This was uncharacteristic of him. He kept an ear to the door and was patiently waiting for the bell to ring. The previous day he went shopping and bought enough to feed an army. He had some other things to do but he just sat there drinking a beer and staring at the painting that was placed where the TV used to be. This particular painting is called “The surrender of Breda” and it’s a memorial of unusual noble conduct. It is of course not an accurate description of what happened, but by taking away the gore and the bloodshed of the war, it flatters us into wishing that this was the case. It generates the idea of modern civilised wars. He pondered some more, then found some old photos and placed them in the frames by the painting, just so his son could see he is not forgotten. “This will give him a warm feeling of belonging” he said it outload with a chuckle. Upon dawn there was a resounding knock on the door and Atrid hurried to open it. He turned the porch light on just to see who was knocking. Just when he was sure it was his son, he opened the door while trying to restrain his enthusiasm. –Hi Atrid. Said Ajant without a flair of care or apathy in his voice. –Happy Ramadan. How was the trip? Come inside, let me take the bags. I’ll put them in your room. –I’m fine. Replied Ajant with the same tone. –I have wine and rum, you can have whatever you want from the kitchen. The cake is in the fridge. I bought all the flavours, I couldn’t remember which one you liked. This pathetic encounter ended when they poured themselves a glass of Jack, sat down quietly in the living room and continued to stare at the painting that had replaced the TV. Atrid kept asking him about his studies and his life but all he got was a simple answer “Fine”, leaving him no room for deeper conversation. –Did you visit Alice’s grave? I plan on going there a bit later. –Didn’t have the chance, and you know i don’t go to graveyards. I don’t get along with the dead. –Yeah, the dead. –Don’t be like that, I am sure your mother would be very proud of you, as am I. Alice didn’t love anything but you. Ajant in the other end, rolled his eyes and continued drinking. It didn’t take a genius to figure it out that they weren’t so loving to each other. “I don’t have the slightest clue why he abhors me, why he despises me. I had nothing to do with Alice’s death. That filthy drunken whore committed suicide. How is this my fault? As I remember it was Ajant who found her body dangling from the chandelier of our old living room, but again I fail to see how is this my fault. This boy is dumber than his late mother. How pathetic! As I recall he tried to untie the knot but his eight-year-old boyish hands weren’t a match for the thick rope that was choking her out. His hands were shaking like lonely leaves and he retired his attempts to save his mother. The police found him at her cold dead feet. He was calm, still and mutely was praying for someone to come to his rescue. But this was a long time ago. Why did Alice’s anniversary have to fall on Ramadan’s day? All the fucked-up things happen to me. Urgh! Flashbacks of that time are rushing into my head. I used to stay for a very short time at home, even when I did stay, I was very busy, too wearied out or too drunk to function or to spend time with them. After all, I wasn’t obligated to do so, we already had filed for divorce, and it was all her doing. Most of my time I spent in Tirana where I would wait for my new girlfriend, who was almost ten years younger than me. Anyway, it seems like it doesn’t matter.” These were the thoughts that were running through his head while he was avoiding eye contact with his son. Atrid was done with his drink and went out to answer his phone when he saw five missed calls from his editor. He decided to call him back since writing was the most important thing in his life, it had always been. He promised Ajant that it wasn’t going to take long and went out to speak. –Twenty minutes, not a second more. Said Atrid and went out. Twenty minutes turned into an hour and Atrid kept talking till he lost the trace. In the other room something was gabbling like the house had swallowed a ticking bomb, but Atrid’s clangourous chatter was getting all the attention. After a while, vexed and irritated, he ended the phone call. He was partially mortified when he opened the door. Now the silence had isolated the room. A scary crippling silence reminded him of the void he could never escape. The walls were holding the door as if to prevent him from entering. The silence grew deeper, he could hear the wails of his ghosts screaming ‘Ajant’. Something bad had happened. The glass was untouched since Atrid had left, Primavera was still singing in the background. Everything looked normal except the note and the body dangling from the chandelier on an electricity cable. A real Déjà vu on his part! But this time he was the speechless young boy waiting for someone to help him. The suicide note was dignified, smart and simple. It didn’t mention anyone and it didn’t blame anyone ether. This was written in the note: “I’m fine!” That’s it! No whys or hows or wheres, nothing. Just a simple note. On the other side of the note, almost similar to Ciorans writing there was another sentence. But since this paper was taken from Atrids notebook, he couldn’t figure our whose handwriting was this, and if the second sentence was intentional or not. This was written in the back of that same note. “I failed on being an optimist” Atrid presided to read the second sentence while mumbling with anger and agitation: “Stupid boy. To think that even in his last moments he couldn’t grow some balls and finally become a man. Finally say his truth to me. This is disgraceful, this kind of shit doesn’t faze me at all. How pathetic!” This he said, throw the paper away and continued drinking. He chuckled for a moment. “At least he didn’t use some cliché like ‘Goodbye cruel world’ because that would really piss me off.” Because you know, nothing is more loathsome or odious than overly use clichés in a developing narrative. A second later he called the police and they came by. He calmingly explained the situation and then retired to just watching like everybody else. He was irrationally calm and dispassionate. This unsuitable behaver made everybody suspicious: is he shocked, crazy or a religious zealot. Three days later the authorities returned the body, after making sure there was no foul play. They organized a funeral and everybody came. It was an enchanting funeral. As enchanting as a funeral can be. Atrid on the other hand was not sad at all. This tragic death had given him the freedom to hate all this ominous world. Freedom to hate to his heart’s content. Freedom from unconditional love. Days later Atrid sold his house and bought a small apartment in the city where everything was at his palm. While he was removing his last books, he glimpsed and turned back to the place he had found the body. This was the first time he felt something, this moment also reminded him a poem from Elizabeth Bishop: The art of losing isn’t hard to master. —Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture I love) I shan’t have lied. It’s evident, the art of losing’s not too hard to master, though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster

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@AngryKoala 1 May 2021

13 easy steps to make a perfect profile on LinkedIn Good photo matters. Cover photo should show what you do. Maybe a CTA as well? About description – Start with a hook! Start with WHY (why that industry?); share what you have to offer (service, skills); say how to get in touch (email:or LinkedIn private message).  Ask colleagues for recommendations on LinkedIn – Copy them afterwards and create a photo and add to a job position mentioned Add video to experience section or Feature section – A teleprompter app like BIGVU to ensure that you don't stray off topic and keep the video short. Content Strategies: What makes me unique? What am I passionate about? What do I value most? Why do I do what I do? What is my goal? Who is my target audience? What do they want? What is stopping them? What are their problems?  Polls, documents (checklists, templates, PDF versions of blog posts, LinkedIn stories, share about the workplace or music inspiring for working, pets around while working) Post up to 1300 characters. Hook, story in paragraphs and end with CTA. #hashtags Use right hashtags!  Personal story, but linked to business (clear, concise, for your unique business) What happened to me? Why? Why is that important to the reader? What the reader should do next? Power words: You, free, because, now, new. Ask for podcasts people love, ask for the best book they’ve ever read, What is the one thing I wouldn't guess just by looking at your LinkedIn profile? LinkedIn stories are available only on mobile app, so post a story about podcast, book reading, pet ‘’working’’ Good luck!

@AngryKoala 30 April 2021

Social Media Marketing Trends Burger King said *‘’Order from McDonalds’’* and changed the competitors narrative to emphatic and supporting narrative. But it has to truly reflect your brands values. Partnering with influencers (1 in 5 millennials and gen z buy product based on influencer recommendations) as 1-time partnership or on a long term. Think about the cost per engagement before signing a contract with the influencer. More and more people share privately on SNS, not publicly. People are more relaxed to post in a Facebook group with the members from the community than publicly. The communication is authentic there.  Shopping on social media (social shopping) by one click will get more and more popular (in China it already is). Promote that you are using this feature. Be an early adopter!  Stories are great to engage your audience.  Dynamic ads are personalized ads on social media based on the persons previous shopping behaviour are big advantage! Tiktok was established in 2017. Organic reach is still huge!  11 minutes is the average user time daily for YouTube.  Not only focus to attract customers, but to keep them attached. It costs more to attract a new one than to keep the old one.  People connect most with other people. And that's one of the best use cases of social media today, featuring the people behind your brand to help humanize your organization and form deeper connections with customers. Showcasing employees prominently on social media is important as it's one of the best ways to build trust with consumers and familiarity with the purpose behind your organization. Stars of the organization! Augmented reality is the next step? (Like snapchat filters) Social responsibility has never been more popular (eco-friendliness, caring about the social issues), but in accordance with your theme and brand. Don't do EVERYTHING. Select good measuring tools. Stories and reels are a good way to approach the issue. Use the famous Baltimore case as an example to CTA. Lives on SNS are grown for 70% because of the pandemic. Give an insight how your product is produced or interview the employees.  How do views translate to money? Plan the live video before recording. Addressing racism and discrimination is important nowadays. Beware fake news about your brand and report it to your manager. Meaningful collaboration with the influencers is crucial. Music is important, designed music, especially for social media, is the 2021 thing. Marketing planner is dynamic and innovative and you have to learn quickly, because things are changing every day!

@AngryKoala 28 April 2021

Hiring: Communication/marketing channels **Ideas (or what to do and make our lives easier in the future?):** **written from an Employer Branding enthusiast perspective working in Belgrade, Serbia* **Employer Branding Expert hiring** Hire a person interested in many different fields, passionate about the digital marketing and curious about new trends in the industry, eager to explore the organisation structure potentials and our target group. Additionally, dedicate to both, internal and external Employer Branding (approx. 60%-40% ratio) and tackle the challenges of your current employees. Dedication in the field of Employer Branding would reduce the costs of a single hiring campaign by a constant market research of the trends in Serbia (opposed to the European and world trends), constant learning in this dynamic field, strong cooperation with the marketing, communications and HR team. State holder management is not the same for everyone and not everyone in the company has the same expectations, understanding and time dedicated to the issue. Having one person in charge of the Employer Branding in the future, focusing only on it with Employer Branding Expert as their primary role would be highly beneficial for the culture and operations of the company. Since Employer Branding is still in its beginner development phase in our country (Serbia) and our region, implementing it would position our company as an innovative employer, benefit the company identity and have longterm results. EB would take the reality of our company and the perception about our company up to the next level. The following paragraph refers to tech talent acquisition, but it can be applied in the Google Ads field as well: *’’In the hyper competitive developer market, building a strong tech talent brand is an underrated strategy to garner more self-selected candidates into your talent funnel. This entails building public-facing assets, like engineering blogs, securing conference speaking opportunities, and creating a local community around the product you’re building. Some of the best tech companies, like Stripe, Slack, and Twilio have brands that developers love. Strong tech talent branding is a long-term investment. The stronger the brand, the more organic applicants you get, and the easier it is to attract talent in the future. The success of a strong tech talent brand is more dependent on engineering than recruiting; and yet, recruiters are almost twice as likely to invest in tech talent branding than hiring managers. There’s an opportunity to educate hiring managers on the merits of tech talent branding.’’ – HACKERRanks Tech Recruiting Report 2018.*

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@AngryKoala 28 April 2021

HR – Selection process (through stages) As there are many different theories how to approach the selection process, I would like to share the one I believe is the best: 1. **Scorecard** – a very good tool, very clear and structured, in order to make our process more objective and make sure that the chosen candidate fits the culture of the company and a role. I see the scorecard as a powerful tool to bring more information and perspectives to the discussion. 2. **Source candidates** – the ideal recruitment program is the one that attracts a relatively larger number of qualified applicants who will ’’survive’’ the entire selection process and accept positions within the organisation, when offered. It is important not to fail to attract an adequate applicant pool. 3. **Select candidates** - Screening interview, task, top grading interview, focused interview, reference interview. 4. **Sell the candidates the job once we find them** – do not under/over sell the company. **1. Scorecard** (a) **The Importance of being Earnest:** Detailed job descriptions and interview scorecards are hiring tools that together form the **foundation of the structured interviews**. I would invest a large amount of time to create a well-defined job description, in order to get a comprehensive scorecard. Determining clearly what our needs and expectations are, creating honest conditions, criteria and an effective scorecard can notably simplify our selection process. In the initial application screening phase, a scorecard can help us eliminate unsuitable applications very quickly and reduce time wasting - not only at the very beginning of it, but at the later stages as well. For example, using a scorecard as an interview evaluation form would allow job interviewers to score an applicant's interview in a consistent way, comparing candidates fairly. When you’re interviewing, a scorecard can help you remember each person, eliminating the mental blur recruiters can experience when they see too many candidates, which did happen during my previous interviewing experiences after a long day. Data is then transferred to a scorecard to determine which candidate, based on all interviewer feedback, is the best fit for the organisation and help the decision-making matrix stage. (b) **‘Make’or ‘Buy’**: This is how some experts refer to the decision if we want to hire less skilled Google Ads Specialist and invest in training and education, or we want to hire skilled professionals. If we decide to hire skilled labor, we will have to pay more for these employees. This will directly affect our campaign as well, because the tittle of the position has to be well-tought. For example, our Marketing team noticed that the number of applications we got for Google Ads Specialist position increased significantly (as well as the quality of the applications) after they removed word *’’Junior’*’ from the job tittle. Only when these goals are completely clear to me I can ask Social Media Manager to create an ad for the open position. 2. **Source candidates** Sourcing is where recruiting automation would be most helpful. 87% of talent acquisition professionals build their talent pipeline through sourcing according to *Entelo Recruiting Automation Report 2019*. On average, recruiters are actively sourcing for 66% of the open roles in their organisation: (a)  Network with the other A players – It is also mentioned in the report that *’’Referrals are* *the #1 way that recruiters and hiring managers find talent. While referrals can be a good source for talent, they can also lead to homogeneous teams and companies.’’* Therefore, I would base my Source phase on both, posting on Basecamp if there are any referrals we may get, but advertising the position externally as well. (b)  Get Ready (before you Let the Whole World Know!): Before we get official and start the Selection stage, it is important to be ready and have everything planned:  Time management: I would make Monday and Thursday priority days to answer applicants’ emails (but answer urgent ones no matter the day).  Prepare a few well-thought-out and constructed questions rather than too many vague questions.  Eliminate unrealistic expectations that can cause jobs to remain open for extended periods, negatively affecting a department’s performance. (b) Let the Whole World Know! Once a recruiting plan and strategy are worked out, the search process can begin. After we start advertising the job, the Selection process can start. **3. Select candidates** (a)  The first step in this stage is CV screening (CV screening must happen in less than a day). If the candidate’s CV meets the criteria, I would follow the well-known practice and do the screening interview via phone of about 30 minutes. Some of the questions I would use are:   What are are your career goals?   How did you decide to pursue a career of Google Ads Specialist?   What are you not/good at professionally?   Who are your last 2 bosses and how are they going to rate your performance on the scale? (After the answer, I would always ask ’’*How’*’ and *’’Tell me more’’*). (b)  Task: After the Screening interview went well, I would send the candidate a task that Marketing team came up with ( with a 5 days deadline). When hiring for Coordinators team, we concluded that pre-employment assessments – such as tasks– are good predictors of job performance. Not only that you can find out if the candidate is skilled for Google Ads Specialist position, but you can test their written English, structure of the task and effort they were willing to put in it. Once the task is evaluated by the Marketing team and if it meets the criteria, I would inform the candidate they are selected for the interview and what the process will be when the initial interview is confirmed. Also, I would indicate how long the interview can be expected to last. (c) Top-grading interview: Together with the Marketing team members, I would conduct the interview with the candidate. I would ask them about each relevant previous job: - What were you doing? - What were you proud of? - Have you experienced any low points at that position? - What changes did you make? - Why did you leave the job? Questions related to this position and our company: - How does our company make money? -How do you imagine one day at work on this position in our company? I believe it would be crucial to ask follow up questions, to listen actively since there is so much to explore about them. It is important to always look at them as a full person, with three dimensions, not be subjective if they are similar to me, don’t generalize one positive or negative trait of a person, don’t idealise one candidate because the previous was bad. (d) Focused interview: If the candidate performed well during the first interview, I would invite them to the next Selection stage, to talk about the outcomes related to our position, biggest accomplishments in the area and mistakes/lessons learned. There would be Marketing team members talking to them about the position. In this third round of the interview, I’d ask them behavioural questions and some of the questions from the Competency Based Interview sheet: - How did you react in a certain situation? - Hypothetical, but open-ended questions for the future situations: - Describe a task or project that you were responsible for that best demonstrates your ability to analyse information. - Describe how you have changed the way your business unit/department/group operates. What prompted you to make these changes? - What was the most useful criticism you ever received? - Tell me about a time when you were asked to complete a task that required the use of information that wasn't easily accessible. Describe the process you went through to obtain that information. Of course, during the interviews, I would pay attention to some of the red flags (if the candidate is more interested in remuneration than the position, if they talk poorly about their ex-bosses, do not mention any failures or can’t explain their previous job experiences). (e) Reference interview: If all the members were satisfied with the Focused interview, I would do the Reference interview as an integral part of the process. Some of the questions I would ask: -In what context did you work with the person? -What were the persons biggest strengths/areas to improve? -Can you rate *relevant skill* 1-10? (Again, I would ask them follow-up questions to learn more about the candidate). 4. **Sell the position**: The final step of the process, after we would decide that this person definitely fits our Google Ads Specialist role: job offer. I believe that informing the candidate about these great news and the email we send are crucial for their impression about the place they are offered to join. We have to make sure they know we consider them a perfect fit for the organisation, this position will benefit their professional and personal life, they will have a certain level of freedom at job, good environment fun and benefits and, of course, enough funds as a reward for their efforts. The recruiter is the first person they met, so the impression about our company will be built on this relationship. It is important to make sure they are well-informed at this stage: 1. If they are accepted: call to say they got the job, send an official letter, documents and all the necessary details. 2. If they are rejected: send an email, use the template which is polite and informative, make it highly personalised and clear about the decision. However, point out some positive things and give feedback. In this way, the candidate may apply for some other position in the future and be a good asset in some other sub-team. 5. **Follow-up:** (a)  I believe that the Follow-up stage is of an atmost importance for the HR team and for the entire company. It is important to have all the necessary feedback, so we can develop our process and learn from our own mistakes. For example, don’t forget to write on Basecamp for the teammates to be informed why we rejected a certain candidate. It can be simple, but informative: ‘’English is not the level we want’’ or ‘’Interested only in remote work,’’ so if they reapply, we know if to take them into consideration. (b)  As a person who strongly believes in the power of evaluation as the best tool for development, I would to a complete analysis of the hiring campaign and processes. I would use the Recruitment Metrics: o Time to Fill=Total Number of Days Job Is Available and Unfilled, Time to hire; Time passed from approaching the candidate (replying to their application) to hiring the candidate; o Source and sourcing channel effectiveness and cost - Facebook, LinkedIn, Referrals, Internal Candidates, Company Careers page – using Google analytics for measuring effectiveness – funds spent per channel/number of applicants per channel; o Hire Success Ratio - Number of A players (job performance, cultural fit)/Total number of candidates hired, Response speed, Applicants per opening; Days passed from applying to approaching the candidate; o Pass through ratio - A metric that would tell us how many people go from first to second round, second to third, etc – and which stage needs improvement; o Candidate satisfaction/Candidate's opinion on the whole interview process - using questionnaires/surveys; o Candidate job satisfaction – If accepted, checking whether the expectations match the reality – using surveys; o Measure how popular a certain job is –using Google Analytics; o Selection ratio - Number of hired candidates per opening/number of applicants per opening; o Cost per hire:In the end of the process, what were external and internal costs: advertising costs, time spent by recruiter, time spent by hiring manager, new hire onboarding time, hiring manager productivity costs during onboarding, equipment, travel expenses; o Offer acceptance rate - Number of offers accepted/number of offers sent – this can indicate a lot of issues/good sides - mostly compensation, if we are certain that the expectations are set realistically. o Retention rates - Number of employees still employed at the end of a period/total employees at the start of the period.

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@AngryKoala 27 April 2021

Radical Candor – A Book I Loved! Firstly, I was pleasantly surprised by the book. I did not expect it to be as interesting as it turned out to be. Kim’s writing style is crisp and articulate and the book is suitable for people from different business spheres, even though it’s based on the work life of the Silicon Valley. I find her to be a figure of authority, since she has worked for such big names like Google, Apple and Twitter.  It can most definitely influence the work environment and health of the individual teams and company as a whole and in turn increase the overall productivity. Bellow are some of the details I have found most important: Giving proper and valuable feedback is as important as creating a pleasant and productive work environment. The problem with giving feedback is that when you tell people they are making mistakes or not doing their job right, it usually damages the relationship you have with them (it’s difficult for anyone not to take criticism personally). Kim calls this a vicious cycle between boss’ responsibilities and their relationships. The way out and a move in a positive direction is the new management philosophy Kim call’s ‘Radical Candor’ which improves communication, resolves resentments and helpsl people love their job, coworkers and company. Radical Candor has two dimensions: ‘Care Personally’ (we are all human beings with human feelings and need to be treated as such by the boss and the peers, so as not to feel as just another cog in the machine) and ‘Challenging Directly’ (pointing out the goods and the bads to your boss, peers and direct reports is the key to overall business success and trusting relationships). The two dimensions are entwined and one will not work without the other.  Honestly, I believe these are already partially present in my team at work. We for sure care about each other, sometimes a bit too much, so we avoid challenging one another. I feel the challenging requires time - we need to get to know each other well in order to learn how best to praise and criticize the work of each member.  “Radical Candor works only if the other person understands that your efforts at caring personally and challenging directly are delivered in good faith.” Now there’s the catch - it needs to be understood that you are being radically candid for a good reason, not to be malicious. Radical candor needs to be on the company or team level, not just the boss being candid and employees not getting it. Another dimension that needs to be taken into account is different nationalities within a company (which Kim exemplifies with her experience with Japanese team). Radical candor just wouldn’t be the same for a British and for a Slavic person in a company. Kim differentiates between two types of workers: ‘rockstars’ and ‘superstars’. Rockstars are the foundation as the name says, people who develop gradually and love where they are; they are not over-ambitious and are often undervalued, which results in them often feeling unappreciated and unhappy. Superstars have a steep growth trajectory, they are zealous and always biting for more. Now, an individual doesn’t have to be one type during the whole course of their career, but more often than not these phases interchange and the boss and team need to adapt to changes. Kim stresses the importance of a boss recognizing the type of worker, but I feel it is also important for an employee to recognize who they are. This is difficult because nowadays everybody feels the pressure to be a superstar and not settling for rockstar, especially financial pressure.  Kim goes on to explain how best to get, give and encourage guidance and the key is creating a culture of open communication. To create it both ‘challenging directly’ and ‘care personally’ dimension need to be present. Failing in challenging directly leads to ruinous empathy (avoiding pointing out mistakes so as not to create discomfort). Failing in caring personally leads to obnoxious aggression (criticizing without taking the time to care about the person - belittling, embarrassing in public). Failing in both leads to manipulative insincerity (not challenging directly because you simply do not care for whatever reason). The most common of these that I have seen is ruinous empathy. Everybody wants to be liked and there is often more than enough stress going around as is, so nobody wants to cause more by accusing the boss or peers of being wrong. Kim points out that Radical Candor starts by asking for criticism and I believe we have already developed that culture in both the team and the company and to keep pushing it will not be a problem, but again it takes time and emotional effort. It is crucial to balance the praise and criticism and never criticize without pointing out the good sides and vice versa.  A good section of the book is devoted to helping the boss find out what motivates each person on their team. This is not as useful to an individual  team member as it can be to a team lead, but it can be in the future :) The lesson from this section is - talka and observe, see your peers and reports each day with fresh eyes because people constantly change.  GSD (Get Stuff Done) wheel - the key to collaborative work. Pretty straightforward, but Kim stresses the importance of not diving in, but going through all the below steps in a manner appropriate to the size of the team, company and idea.  Listen Clarify Debate Decide Persuade Execute  Learn Perhaps the most useful sections of the wheel for me are the Listen and Persuade. Listening doesn’t just apply to the boss listening to the team members, but them listening to each other. I do believe we may solve many issues just by listening to each other more attentively, without having to involve the boss. It is of utmost importance though, to listen to understand not to listen to respond. Persuade section covered can be applied not only within a team, but in our relationship with captains. When persuading somebody that your idea is worth their time, you must take into consideration their emotion, you must demonstrate credibility and the logic of your idea (which may be obvious to you, but nonsensical to others). The part two of the book provides techniques that can be used to create a radically candid environment.  The one that I would point out for creating a relationship with a coworker is respecting the boundaries. The boundaries vary from one person to another depending on their personality and work attitude, but once you figure those out for each team member, that is when you can have a sound relationship with them.  When it comes to guidance - giving, getting and encouraging praise and criticism, the most valid point that Kim makes, in my opinion, iis the importance of impromptu guidance. Saving praise and criticism for later will diminish their strength and usefulness. I really believe that guidance given or received on spot is the most honest and the most valuable one you may give or get. Career conversations and growth management plans are an important topic mentioned in the book, that may be further explored and introduced to our community. I believe everyone feels more comfortable knowing where they are heading and what they should expect in their future.  Techniques that keep the GSD wheel turning like 1-on-1, all-hands, big-debate meetings and similar are already introduced and well received in our culture, so the only aspect that each team should work on is time-management and not letting the above influence productivity. Overall, there are useful and interesting topics and issues raised in the book, that everybody may find useful, no matter whether they are in a managerial or a subordinate position. There is a lot to be learned from Kim’s experience and the book is not a bad vacation read either. :)

@AngryKoala 26 April 2021

Sibel Kekilli – Inspirierende Frau! **Wer?** Sibel Kekilli ist eine deutsche Schauspielerin. **wann gelebt/geboren?** Sibel Kekilli wurde 1980 in Heilbronn als Tochter eines Arbeiters und einer Putzfrau geboren. Ihre Eltern, die 1977 aus einem Bergdorf in der türkischen Provinz Kayseri nach Deutschland gekommen waren, waren modern.  **ihre Kindheit/Jugend/Familie:** Sie hat eine zweieiige Zwillingsschwester und zwei jüngere Brüder. Sie sollte nach dem Willen ihrer Eltern aber kein Abitur machen und durfte auch nicht mit ihrer 10. Klasse an der Abschlussfahrt ins Schullandheim teilnehmen. Aber sie war die beste Schülerin in ihrer Klasse. 1999 beantragte sie die Entlassung aus der türkischen Staatsbürgerschaft, um die deutsche Staatsangehörigkeit annehmen zu können. **ihre Ausbildung:** Von September 1997 bis Februar 2000 absolvierte sie bei der Heilbronner Stadtverwaltung eine Ausbildung zur Verwaltungsfachangestellten und war bis Juli 2002 in der Verwaltung der städtischen Entsorgungsbetriebe tätig. Sie zog nach Essen. Sie arbeitete dann als Verkäuferin, Türsteherin, Reinigungskraft, Geschäftsführerin eines Nachtclubs, Kellnerin, Promoterin und als Model. **besondere Ereignisse in ihrem Leben:** Sie wurde als Shae in der US-Fantasyserie *Game of Thrones* bekannt. Sie spielte in vielen Filmen. Zum Beispiel Gegen die Wand, der Holocaust-Film Der letzte Zug, Winterreise, Bloody City, Die Fremde, What a Man.  Kekilli arbeitet auch als Hörbuchlautsprecher.

@AngryKoala 19 April 2021

Cryptocurrencies – My First Time Some time ago, there was a traditional, old-school politician in our Parliament asking ''What are these [cryptocurrencies] and whose money is that?!'' I could join him in his questioning some time ago. Entering the world of cryptocurrencies (especially if you are not tech-savvy as Gen Z) can be challenging. Mining? What? Some coins I can't hold in my hand? Duh. Exhausting! I still remember the summer school in Slovenia I attended in 2017. My workshop was about the finances and I was a student who wanted to manage my finances better. You know, the things you never learn at school and you really need them in life. To be really honest, I have never been an enthusiast in this topic. Numbers and Excel did not sound like anything I'd invest my time in. Arjun is a millennial from India who was travelling Europe during his Master Studies in Vienna. He is a typical nerd, but the fun one. Just a lovely guy with big glasses and thick accent. He was the first one to mention this wonderful word: ''**Bitcoin**!'' I remember being puzzled and wondering how come there is *a virtual money* now (?!) However, after I heard the word for the first time, it just kept appearing all around me. Speaking very honestly, it was not so simple at the beginning to grasp the methods, technologies and purpose of this ''*new money.*'' Moreover, it was all confusing and very complex. Therefore, my interest in the topic grew even more. How wonderful is it that we have no idea what the future will bring. Can cryptocurrencies completely replace our old-school money? Are our grandchildren going to see banknotes and real coins only in museums as some old artefacts? Am I going to tell them: ''*Back in my days, when we were all using real money*...''? Let's see! I am so excited to see the changes that take place every day and every MINUTE! Long live the Cryptocurrencies!

@AngryKoala 18 April 2021

I Got Fired in the Middle of Pandemics When looking at my photos from the March 2020, I remember the last ''normal'' day in my city – it was the 8th of March and we were in the streets, protesting for Women Rights. We could not even imagine what the world will look will look like in a year from that moment. I believe 2020 was the most unusual, stressful and unpredictable year for all of us. The statistics of the unemployment rates growing look gloomy. Workers in hospitality, retail and entertainment have been badly hit. These jobs have seen the biggest impact from Covid restrictions. As an employee in the tourism industry, I experienced a year full of turbulences. There were many ups and downs, but the company survived in the end, with the higher growth than expected. I felt safe again. It was March 2021 and our company made a decision to automatise the processes. Being redundant was a surprise and not a pleasant one. **Day 1**: I'd just received the news from my Team Leader. I closed my laptop, started at the white wall of my kitchen, where I used to work from home. I was not ready to say it out-loud. **Day 2**: Still not able to talk about it. **Day 3**: Told my sister about the news. And, instead of saying ''I am sorry,'' she said ''I am so happy for you!'' At first, I was confused. She was happy I was made redundant? Why? But then, I realised. Eureka! I was given an opportunity to start over, to commit myself to something I really care about! That was such a relief. I had my eyes opened after two years of feeling secure and cozy under the umbrella of: good salary, great benefits and wonderful colleagues. But, did I care about the cause and company's vision? No. Was that my dream? No. **Day 4**: I created new CV and dived into my job search. I has always been my dream to move to Berlin. Why not? This is the perfect time! **Day 35**: After a couple of interviews, many emails and even more positions open, here I am, unemployed and **happy**. To be continued...

@AngryKoala 15 April 2021

Are Our Parents Always Right? Growing up as an only child can sound nice. However, only single children know how is it really like to be in the spotlight all the time. I grew up with my mother and father. Their marriage is not like any other marriage. Their marriage is perfect. Love. Unity. Communication. But, how did I feel in that family? As an intruder. It is really hard to explain and not so often heard, but being the only child meant they are 2 and I am alone. They've always referred to themselves as ''*we*'' and made the decisions together, actively listening to each other. Sounds like a couple from a Hollywood movie? However, feeling lonely and alone in a fight against them when our opinions are different is not so cozy and nice. Being in such a situation throughout my entire childhood, I developed a feeling that I am alone in my wishes and dreams, so I often doubted the validity of my goals and emotions. My parents acted as if they were always right. Their decisions could not be questioned, because they are my parents and parents always know the best, don't they? But, things are usually not so black and white. My parents' values are organised in a way that is sometimes not in accordance with the rest of the modern world. Following in their footsteps, I wanted my life to be perfect as well. Mistakes are prohibited. No risks. Feeling secure is most important. There is no place for spontaneous decisions and trial and error processes. Failing would be the end of the world and the guilty one are only YOU. I grew up. Entering the adult life, functioning with different friends, colleagues, authorities, experts and partners, I realised my parents' life philosophy may not be the right one. There are as many ways as there are people. Trying, failing, learning from your error, everything is allowed. And no, you are not guilty if you risked and the things are not perfect in the end. You learned and gained experience. And, who knows what tomorrow will bring?

@AngryKoala 8 April 2021

3 Things Millennial Job Offer MUST have The company is offering a great salary and vacay days? Their office is really well-organized and their clients are renowned? Well, that might not be enough to attract a skillful Millennial! You may wonder why? Millennials are a new generation and very soon (if not already) they will make the vast majority of the personnel EVERYWHERE. However, besides good working conditions, they need something more in order to be attracted by the job offer: They need a cause – ethics is very important to this generation. They will question the company's mission and vision. Human rights – Millennials want to fight for equal rights for everyone. They will appreciate the company which values gender equality, fights against racism, and offers jobs to people from disadvantaged groups. Ecology is our future – This generation is well-aware of the need to take care of our planet. If a company is polluting their surroundings or treating the people around poorly, Millennials will not be inspired to profit. If you are a Millennial (born between 1980-2000), let me know if these are correct! If not, do you agree?

@AngryKoala 4 April 2021

6 Steps to Build Employer Brand You find it hard to find an ideal candidate for your new job posting? The salary an employer offers is not the only thing potential employees find important in the 21st century. There is where a well-developed Employer Brand campaign helps! Here are 6 simple steps on how to establish an effective Employer Branding: Create a company page on LinkedIn. Be sure to state clearly what is the company's mission and vision. Be creative and share about your company culture using videos or/and photos of your employees and your office. Sometimes perks and benefits are even more valuable than the wages. Make sure to brag about them! Your current employees are your best representations. Their testimonials on how great is working in your company are invaluable! FUN, FUN, FUN! Everyone wants to feel they are working with real people who are productive and hardworking, but they also know how to have fun. Share content about the games, outdoor activities, or team-buildings of your company. Acknowledge your employee's efforts and tell everyone how great they are! And, don't forget that a good company is just like a good family – a happy group picture will always be something people are thriving for!

@AngryKoala 7 January 2021

Bitcoin makes your dreams come true - a new ATH of $40.000 Bitcoin from a terrible fall in March last year, hit by covid-19, rises from the ashes and reaches a new ATH. I am happy to say that **BTC today** surpassed and broke its own record and today his worth is over **$ 40.000.** The ongoing BTC rally is proving to be unstoppable, with the leading cryptocurrency now hitting another **ALL-TIME-HIGH.** The world's largest crypto with a market capitalization of **$740 billion** has now surpassed the **$40.000** mark. Bitcoin's strong rally in the recent past was fueled by massive demand from globally renowned investors and institutions, who put their weight behind this highly volatile digital currency amid unprecedented economic and geopolitical uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Bitcoin growth has been influenced by many factors. To begin with, I will mention **PayPal** which introduced the method of paying and storing cryptocurrencies. Then, the big companies, **Tesla** and **SpaceX**, decided to turn part of their capital into Bitcoin. U.S. billionaire **Paul Tudor Jones** has also invested a significant amount of money in bitcoin. Such investments of well-known and large companies and investors, encourage significant growth of bitcoin and also affect the popularity of bitcoin itself. We must note that today **many more people know about cryptocurrencies** and unlike previous years, **many more people invest and believe in cryptocurrencies**. What is certain is that **BTC is slowly fulfilling the wishes and dreams** of many people who have invested, who have held, and have been patient. Tell me for a start what are your expectations from bitcoin? What do you think is the ATH that will reach BTC during this year? Do you have any wishes that you have fulfilled through bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies? What is the deepest wish you want BTC to fulfill for you? **So far, cryptocurrencies have fulfilled some small wishes for me, these are some electronic devices and gadgets. Also, BCH gave me a nice holiday trip.** **I keep dreaming and imagining wishes because cryptocurrencies are my goldfish and my midnight wish. I am sure that everything will be fulfilled for me, because BTC and BCH continue their race and growth, and thus fulfill the wishes of those who believe in them.** *I wish you a lot of bitcoins...*

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@AngryKoala 6 January 2021

Fear of sex - what can you do about it Have you heard that some people have a fear of sex? Are you worried or scarred about having sex? Read below about sex-related phobias, reasons for fear, and how to get rid of fear of sex. **What is FEAR OF SEX?** Fear of sex can show in different ways and can relate to different aspects of sex. **Genophobia and erotophobia** refer to a general fear and dislike of sex, but there are fears relating to nudity, intercourse and even the opposite sex. If you are experiencing negative emotions towards sex or a part of the sexual experience, you are not alone, you are not broken or weird, it is surprisingly common and there are treatment options. **TYPES OF FEAR:** GENOPHOBIA - fear of sexual intercourse NOSOPHOBIA - fear of getting disease or virus GYMNOPHOBIA - fear of nudity (seeing others naked, being seen naked, or both) HETEROPHOBIA - fear of the opposite sex HAPHEPHOBIA - fear of being touched as well as touching others TOCOPHOBIA - fear of pregnancy or childbirth PHILEMAPHOBIA - fear of kissing **REASONS OF FEAR**: There are many reasons someone could have a fear of sex. It can relate to physical issues such as pain during sex or emotional, such as past trauma, or it could be a combination of both. The first step in overcoming fear of sex is to try to identify the root of the fear, and you can work better with doctor and psychologist. In this article you will learn about most common reasons, but there could be many more, so if you feel none relate to you, it is still worth seeing a doctor to work on this. **CULTURAL** Many people grow up in a strict cultural or religious background that teaches fear of sex. Many are taught that sex is painful, brings diseases and is only for marriage, so it is incredibly common for people, even after leaving that background, to still have feelings of fear. If you or your partner are in that position, be patient, be sensitive and be understanding. A lifetime of being told one thing, takes a while to get over, but it can be unlearned with proper support. It can help to talk to people from a similar background to understand how they overcome their fear. **VAGINISMUS** Medical issues that cause pain during sex such as vaginismus and endometriosis can result in someone developing a fear of sex. It is normal to fear the thing that causes you pain and you are entitled to feel that way. If your partner is pressuring into having sex despite that, please know that is not okay. It can be difficult for someone to fully understand the depth of your pain, but you do not need to convince someone. If you do not want to have sex, that is okay, and your partner must accept that. **TRAUMA** Sexual and physical abuse can trigger fear of sex, touching or any kind of intimacy. It may even present itself years later in life so it may not be immediately obvious how trauma may be affecting you. If you are experiencing something like this, please do not force yourself to have sex with your partner. Your feelings are valid and sex is not something you are expected to give to someone just because you are in a relationship. You deserve to put yourself first and when you are ready, seek medical and psychological help. You are not weak for doing so, it is actually a sign of strength and you can work through this with support. **BODY IMAGE** Sex comes with a lot of pressure, especially on our first time. We might feel like wo do not look sexy enough, or we do not know what to do, will we be good in bed, do we smell weird, or is it our penis big enough. Society has given everyone body image issues and it can be really difficult to get over that without proper love and support from ourselves and our partner. If you feel that way, do not stress, it happens to us all. Know that sex is not meant to be perfect, we all make weird noises and we all not having a perfect body. **PREGNANCY and DISEASE** We have all been taught of dangers of sex, so it is not surprising when those teachings leave us with a fear of sex. If you want to have safe sex, learn about all sexual diseases, learn about pregnancy. Educate yourself about contraceptive methods, and be prepared. Education will give you the tools to have safe and enjoyable sex without fear. **TREATMENT** There are many options to deal with fear of sex: There are **medical treatments** to help reduce physical pain during sex. Also, use lubricant, go slow, try non-penetrative sex position. See a **psychologist** and join a support group. Having a safe space to talk about your fears and traumas is so important. Do a **self reflect.** Ask yourself how you feel during sex, is there something or someone who causes you stress? **Put yourself first**, no matter what. You do not need to do something you do not want. **This all are a common and understandable, and you do not ever have to have sex if you do not want to, that is also okay.** **It’s perfectly okay to be an asexual person.**

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@AngryKoala 25 December 2020

The first woman in war - Serbian Joan of Arc History is full of the names of men who proved to be heroes, who were good warriors. I believe that many of you know how to list a few names of men who were warriors. But what about women? Have you ever heard of a woman who took part in wars? Who was a real warrior and heroine? Let me introduce you to **the first woman in Serbia who went to war** as a brave girl and came out of the war as a brave heroine and soldier. Her name is **Sofija Jovanović**. The younger ones wanted to meet her, shake hands, congratulate her on her heroism. The elders knew about her exploits from the Balkan wars when she caused a lot of trouble to both Turks and Bulgarians. She was a high school graduate when the first Balkan war broke out. She is only nineteen years old; she doesn't think about studies, much less about marriage: she would like to go to war! She reported to the National Defense, but they didn't even want to hear it there. They told her, jokingly, that it would be the greatest sin for her death when she was so young and beautiful because Serbia sends heroes to the Turks, not high school graduates. She returned penitent but came again the next day. When a major saw her, he said: - **What do you need, girl?** - **I want a rifle and a war schedule!** She said firmly. - **I'm not leaving without a rifle. If I give up or get scared of the task, kill me. The whole of my family is in the war, I will not sit at home either.** - **All right, girl!** The major told her. - **You can't go to the front, but we can take you for a nurse. To see the wounds of heroes.** - **I want a rifle!** She repeated. - **Take nurses for nurses. I want to beat the Turks too!** They had nowhere to go: **they received her**. She cut her hair, put on a uniform, and, together with other volunteers, practiced for a few days how to shoot a rifle and how to throw a bomb from thirty meters, and then she went towards Kumanovo, Macedonia. She passed behind enemy lines, carrying out diversions and sudden attacks. She started **receiving medals** decorations, and French reporters called her "**Serbian Joan of Arc"** (Serbian: Jovanka Orleanka). There was talk and writing about her heroism. The decorations on her heroic breasts also testified to that. She was the first woman fighter in the Serbian army. Proud to have had women like this in our ranks!

@AngryKoala 14 December 2020

The nun with a rifle Nun **Ilarija** spent almost 30 years in Kosovo and Metohija in the Mushutishte monastery, and then she became the abbess of the Pokajnica monastery. The monastery was under constant attack by Albanian terrorists, robbers and rapists. After constant verbal and physical attacks and threats, numerous thefts of forests and cattle while the nuns of this monastery were helpless and had to defend themselves. They did not have any help from the state and state institutions such as the police. The nuns in the monastery were in constant fear of attack and rape, so Mother Ilarija was forced to always **carry a rifle with her**, especially when she would go to the fields with other nuns to cultivate the land. In addition, it can be freely said that she defended the monastery and the monastic community in this monastery on a daily basis, so she was the last bulwark of the defense. The monastery in Mushutishte was unfortunately mined and only the bell tower remained. A **film** about her was made in August 1980, but it was banned due to the realistic and true depiction of the situation in that place and the monastery. The documentary "**Ilaria - Nun with a rifle**" is a cruel story about the suffering of Serbs in Kosovo That film was not shown until the break-up of Yugoslavia and the demolition of this monastery. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjqW7b84nog&feature=emb_logo There are no words to describe the courage of this nun and woman who was guided by the thought that man must be combative and that God has given us the mind to fight. She was not afraid of anyone or anything. Several times she had to physically deal with the attackers. So she spent 10 days in jail for hitting a man who cursed while complaining about excessive taxes. Ilarija (1918 - 2003), was and remains the most famous nun of the Serbian Orthodox Church of recent times. Her photo with a rifle in her hand, in a black monk's dress, traveled all over the world and was remembered as a Serbian heroine. She heroically defended, bravely, as a woman of her caliber knows and knows how the Serbian monasteries in Kosovo and Metohija from Albanian terrorists. She was fear and trembling, a beacon and the last bulwark of the defense of Orthodoxy.

@AngryKoala 13 December 2020

Shameless visit to Hilandar Monastery The Hilandar Monastery was visited by only three Serbian rulers after the visit of Emperor Dusan in 1357. The visits were made by the following rulers: 1896. King Aleksandar Obrenovic, 1910. King Petar Karadjordjevic 1991. President of the Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic. The first two visits to the Hilandar monks remained in the fondest memories. The arrival of Slobodan Milosevic is considered as t**he most indecent visit in history** and a bad memory. After visiting Corfu and touring the island of Vido, **President Slobodan Milosevic** landed a helicopter directly into the monastery garden unannounced. The helicopter landing completely destroyed all the vegetables the monks were growing. Since that day, nothing has ever been planted in that desecrated garden again. According to the testimony, most of the monks withdrew to their chambers on that occasion, because such arrival was considered humiliation and inappropriate behavior. On this occasion, the bells did not ring as they had in the two previous visits. Eyewitnesses say that the president greeted abbot Pajsije with the words "Hello, comrade", which is **very rude**. The president stayed in the monastery for about two hours, he did not follow the religious customs prescribed by the Orthodox faith. In addition to to the inappropriate behavior of the president, the abbot Pajsije presented the President with a Bible and advised him to rule according to this book in order for success. This act only shows the kindness and selflessness of the people from the monastery. **Slobodan Milosevic** was born in 1941 in Serbia. He was a lawyer, politician, president of the League of Communists of Serbia, and president of Serbia in the period from 1910-2000. The rule was authoritarian, he took part in the wars that took place on the territory of Yugoslavia. In 2001, he was arrested and extradited to The Hague. He did not receive a verdict, he died in 2006. `The text is written on the basis of a circulating story, I do not guarantee its truthfulness.`