Garden lights offer the ability to illuminate your garden and garden decor in an almost magical way, creating faux shadows, elegant backdrops, all the while highlighting the best parts of the garden for all to see.

Beyond this wonderful use of garden lighting, there are actually a few practical reasons to consider using them, even if you aren’t the garden type or consider yourself artistically inclined to set up such a thing.

What practical reasons am I talking about?

Safety! I mean this in two ways.

First, safety in the sense of providing light in areas where it might be dangerous or risky to move about if there were no light. This includes obviously the garden but also areas where garden lighting accessories or outdoor lighting accessories have become extremely useful; namely, stair lighting! Attaching solar powered stair lights is a brilliant idea. And even just having walkways and pathways in the yard lit up is going to make it easier and safer to walk around.

The other type of safety that garden lights provide is a deterrent for theft and burglary. Simply put, if your yard and things are lit up then you are less likely to find yourself the victim of a thief, who would just as well find it easier to move on to the next house that is shield in darkness. Of course, garden lighting is not a security plan in and of itself, but knowing that it acts a potential deterrent is a nice perk of a good lighting set up.

Another practical use of outdoor and garden lights is just so one can see in order to do other things when it’s dark. This sounds silly, but I’m talking about things like hosting outdoor parties, reading outside, even being able to see little things such as where the keyhole is when you come in and you’re trying to get inside. (This could be lit up by a garden in the front yard.)

So while garden lights of course offer the benefits of making for a beautiful garden set up, you also get the perks of having an outdoor area that’s safer for kids and adults alike to move about and see where they’re going, a home that’s not as easy as a target for burglary than it would be without the lights, and then the practical aspect of having lights which offers you the chance to entertain outdoors at night or just relax and read a book in the garden.

The candle is a very powerful symbol in human consciousness. There is something about that tiny point of light, flickering, existing and resisting a world that is dark and empty, which speaks to the deepest part of the human soul. This is one of the reasons that candles have such a profound significance in so many disparate religions throughout the world.

Judaism

The candle is a powerful symbol in Judaism, and one is lit every Friday night to celebrate the beginning of the weekly Sabbath. On Saturday evening, a Havdalah candle is lit to mark the end of the Sabbath. Candles are also used in the Chanukah ceremony, where a candle is lit every evening for eight nights, to commemorate the candle which miraculously burned for eight days, when the Jews recovered their temple from the Greek / Persian Invaders. For the Jewish people, the candles flame represents the ever burning flame of the divine being.

In Judaism a candle is also used to commemorate those who have passed away, and they are often lit to commemorate a loved one, or those who died tragically, such as in the holocaust.

Christianity

In Christianity the candle is used for both religious and decorative purposes. In its decorative function, it is a representation of the Creators light, or specifically the light of Jesus. For this reason you will often find a candle lit and placed on an alter. Ritually, candles are often lit and placed in front of pictures of icons in the orthodox tradition. A votive candle may also be lit to accompany prayer. Some churches also use a Paschal candle which represents Jesus, and is only lit on Easter and other very special occasions.

Buddhism

In Buddhism, candles are often placed in front of statues of the Buddha along with food or drink as a sign of respect. Symbolically they represent the light of the Buddha’s teaching and the enlightenment they added to the world.

Hinduism

In the Hindu tradition a diya, or clay lamp, is a very important part of any religious ritual. The lamp holds the candle during the ceremony, and acts as a symbol of prosperity and enlightenment. Every year they also celebrate Diwalli which is also known as the festival of light. On this holiday lamps are lit to symbolize life and hope and the conquest of good over evil.

The symbolic nature of a candle gives it significance in many of the world’s major religions. Whether it symbolizes the supreme creator, or the hope of mankind, its flickering light is an inspiration to many who behold its glow.

Even for those who have been modeling for a long time, finding your light can be one of the trickier aspects. Not only must you become proficient at being aware of where the light is at all times, you have to be proficient at finding the light even when in motion. In this article, I will discuss tips for ensuring that you are constantly in the right light during a photo shoot or on the runway.

Understand How Lighting Works: First, it’s important to be aware of exactly what it is that you are looking for when trying to find your lighting. In general, there are three types of areas in an area: the strongly lit, the moderately lit and the weakly lit. Strong lighting is the light that comes from the bulbs themselves that are lighting you. Professional photographers try to diffuse the light as much as possible, but there is still an area that is most heavily lit. Moderately lit areas are those that are lit through the diffused light from the lights. Weakly lit areas are those that aren’t lit properly at all.

“Face in the bright; Nothing in the dark”: Try to adhere to the principle that your face should always be in the brightest part of the light, while no part of you should be in any of the weakly lit areas. It doesn’t really matter whether or not the rest of your body is in the strongly lit areas of the beams of light. Just make sure that you are never in the weakly lit areas.

Feel For Heat and Glare: It takes some practice, but eventually you’ll be able to tell right away whether or not your face is in the bright part of the light. There are two things to check for. First, check if your face feels a little more warm. Especially on stage, you can tell when you are in the beam of light by feeling the heat. Alternatively, check to see if the light is especially uncomfortable to look at. Move your head around, looking at the light, and you’ll find there is a spot where looking at the light hurts more – that’s the good spot. During shooting, you can’t keep looking at the light, so get some practice with checking using your peripheral vision.

Fotomoto, John Peel, and a dimly-lit bedroom in Stoke-on-Trent…

I first heard of Fotomoto through one of those random chances which seem to so influence our lives, kicking us off down an unexpected path.

My younger brother Richard had been living in North Wales for quite a few years, and I knew he had taught himself guitar in solitary flats and hotel rooms whilst earning a living as a chef in a string of establishments.

I even had some demo tapes he had made with a band appealingly called “The Scabbs”.

Through the North Wales musical set Richard hooked up with a band called Melys, and he played bass guitar with them. Melys had already enjoyed quite a bit of success with radio play and appearances on S4C. Their big triumph came at Christmas 2000 when they beat little know bands such as the White Stripes and Strokes to win John Peel’s legendary Festive Fifty with their single “Chinese Whispers”.

I was very impressed with this, having been a life-long fan and admirer of Peel since seeing him at the Hollywood (Staffordshire!) Festival, in summer 1970. I started listening again to J.P.’s late night midweek shows as a result, in the hope of catching some reference to Melys.

One evening John played a track by Fotomoto and commented that the band were looking for feedback and gave their email address. I emailed them and that started an email/internet dialogue which turned into much more!

My dabbling with the internet and web sites had extended to setting up a family name history research site, mostly for the benefit of American relatives, but also to keep abreast of the technology for my rent-paying job.

I offered Fotomoto some space on my isp and they leapt at the chance, as they were keen to be better known in the West and free webspace was hard for them to come by. They designed the site and I set it up, along with an email group for interested fans.

The first two albums, the eponymous Fotomoto and Fotomoto2 were manufactured by me burning individual copies in my bedroom late at night, usually after a hard day’s work. They were mailed all over the world – UK, Ireland, , Mexico, Germany…such is the power of the Internet, Mr. Peel’s reputation and recommendation, and word of mouth.

Moscow record label Snegin produced their third album, “suranov, a?” but only made a limited run. It sold well, it sold out, and after that it was back to making copies one by one for the fans who knew where to look.

In June 2004 a long-cherished ambition was fulfilled. Fotomoto had been invited to do one of the most prestigious things in the musical world – a John Peel session at Maida Vale in London.

They endured bureaucracy, lack of ready cash, and a forty-hour coach trip from Kiev to London to make that dream come true.

The session was a triumph, with John Peel raving over their sound. I even got a mention!

I had the privilege of meeting Fotomoto in London, albeit briefly, as I happened to be there on business the day before they left.

We met at the ‘Head of Steam’ at Euston for about an hour while I waited for my train back to Stoke. Their spoken English was somehow worse than the pidgin emails they sent, but we got along and parted with many hugs and good wishes.

Rock journalist Matthew Collin took up the story. He had been fascinated by Eastern European rock for years and was intrigued by the tale of Fotomoto’s determination to play in the West. Matthew went to Ukraine to interview the band and it coincided with the Orange revolution in that country.

Music was mixing with politics and it was heady!

The resulting article in the Observer created a huge surge of renewed public interest in the band. John Peel’s untimely death added a frisson of tragedy to the whole issue.

Email and hits to the website went wild. Everybody wanted a copy of “suranov, a?”, the album Snegin had dropped. Following the Observer article I was interviewed by local fanzine editors and radio.

“How does a guy in Stoke get involved with a band in the Ukraine, and more column inches of interview in the Observer than John Peel..?”

I had the great honour of meeting John Peel a couple of times.

The first was the awesome live session played by Melys in 2001 on the night Liverpool won the UEFA cup. Richard blagged me an invite and John spoke to me because I was the only other guy in Maida Vale approaching his age…”

Naturally he was euphoric about the win, and threw his record list to the floor, commanding Melys to ‘just keep playing’. I was introduced as ‘the man who looks after Fotomoto’ and I felt proud of that. I have a much cherished photo of John, Rich and me – John is clutching a glass of celebratory red!

By now I had a standing invitation to visit live sessions at Maida Vale if I happened to be in London on business. I tried very hard to ensure my meetings were on a Tuesday. Bosses, if you’re reading, please forgive!

Fotomoto also had a standing invitation to do another session, but this was not realized till December 2005.

The world had not forgotten John Peel, but it had moved on. Radio Ones’s OneMusic now occupied Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights from 2300-0100 GMT.

Huw Stephens took up the cudgels for Fotomoto. I was invited to an early live session with Gryff Rhys of Super Furry Animals and went armed with the back catalogue of cd’s as J.P.’s originals were probably languishing with thousands of others at Peel Acres.

A date was agreed to record the session and this was December 7th 2005. Fotomoto also played the Progress Festival in Ghent, Belgium on the way to London. They also performed a live set at the Spitz club in the East End.

Once again I was fortunate enough to be in London the day after, though nursing a hangover from the company’s bash the previous night!

We met in Oxford Street, bustling with Christmas shoppers and sightseers watching the last red London Routemaster buses on route 159.

Try explaining to Ukrainians whose English is rudimentary, the intricacies of the extremely British eccentrics who are bus spotters. It certainly made my headache worse!

We got some great photos in Hyde Park, and parted sadly to await the broadcast, which went out on January 17th 2006.

The new songs, designed for live performance rather than studio recording or album, were brilliant.

Once again the internet switchboards lit up, buzzing with interest and delight. We can only look forward to the band’s new work coming out on cd – even if it means making every one with devotion, late at night, in a dimly lit bedroom in Stoke-on-Trent.

The new term fratire, or fraternity satire, was coined a year ago by Warren St. John of the New York Times, presumably because his editors did not approve of another term that rhymes with “chick lit.”

But somehow, fratire just doesn’t seem catchy enough. And that preoccupation with fraternity culture – is puking on your own shoes really all that interesting?

How about – boychik lit instead? Derived from the Yiddish word for a young man who has more chutzpah than brains? Boychik lit can be a counterpoint, alternative to, and parody of the hugely popular female-oriented fiction genre. Moreover, boychik lit defies the widely held notion that today’s young men won’t or can’t read, presumably because they’ve been conquered, co-opted, and rendered brain-dead by the video game industry and excessive self-abuse.

As to the population at large, even if they are not rabid fans of chick lit, the woman-on-the-street and her cowlicked male companion will both know something of Bridget Jones’s Diary and The Devil Wears Prada. An even larger audience of TV viewers will have eagerly anticipated episode after bodice-gripping episode of Sex and the City.

One need not stray beyond the lush pastures of HBO to find the demographic home of boychik lit. Entourage is a series about young men on the make in Hollywood. However predictably repetitive the subject of scoring in Babe-alon, not only young men but also men of a certain age who fantasize about being young never seem to tire of Entourage.

The godfather of boychik was Peter De Vries, longtime New Yorker editor and (today) the lamentably deceased and mostly unsung master of the male-centered comic novel. For example, never one to shy away from topics in questionable taste, De Vries wrote Slouching Towards Kalamazoo, about a confused young man who elopes with his teacher, and Forever Panting, about a struggling actor who divorces his wife to marry his mother-in-law.

To summarize, in the boychik-lit story:

• The male main character is looking for sex and is bewildered by emotional entanglements.
• He is a hacker and a slacker, clever and resourceful but chronically lazy.
• He’s a dropout who can’t hold a steady job.
• Far from being the hero with a single tragic flaw, the boychik is riddled with worrisome flaws, with one or two possibly redeeming qualities.
• The tone is observational and witty, sometimes sarcastic.
• The boychik tells his story in a confessional, first-person narrative.
• At the end of the novel, the hero has almost managed to undo the complicated mess he’s made in the course of the story and thinks he has learned important lessons, which may or may not be valid.

Oh, and one more crucial distinction: The chick-lit novel is typically set in New York City, ironically where many people readily understand what a boychik is. The boychik novel is set in Los Angeles, where many people will mistakenly assume that boychiks wear wigs and stiletto heels and hang out in certain bars in West Hollywood.

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Viewed by many as an art form, the only requirements of literature are for readers keep an open mind to the ideas and lessons that are being offered by the artists, the authors. To ensure that you’re best equipped for each journey, I am providing you with valuable interpretation tools that could be used for any form of literature. By understanding the basics of literature, you’ll have a better understanding of the artist’s work-of-art and intentions, thus allowing you to connect with that particular piece of literature on a more personal level.

Rather than reinvent the wheel, I’ve decided to post a good educational summary of the basics of literature by Jennifer Jordan-Henley (1988) that’s still applicable today:

Short Stories/Novel:

Theme–The idea or point of a story formulated as a generalization. In American literature, several themes are evident which reflect and define our society. The dominant ones might be innocence/experience, life/death, appearance/reality, free will/fate, madness/sanity, love/hate, society/individual, known/unknown. Themes may have a single, instead of a dual nature as well. The theme of a story may be a mid-life crisis, or imagination, or the duality of humankind (contradictions).

Character–Imaginary people created by the writer. Perhaps the most important element of literature.

• Protagonist–Major character at the center of the story.
• Antagonist–A character or force that opposes the protagonist.
• Minor character–0ften provides support and illuminates the protagonist.
• Static character–A character who remains the same.
• Dynamic character–A character who changes in some important way.
• Characterization–The means by which writers reveal character.
• Explicit Judgment–Narrator gives facts and interpretive comment.
• Implied Judgment–Narrator gives description; reader make the judgment.

Look for: Connections, links, and clues between and about characters. Ask yourself what the function and significance of each character is. Make this determination based upon the character’s history, what the reader is told (and not told), and what other characters say about themselves and others.

Plot–The arrangement of ideas and/or incidents that make up a story.

• Causality–One event occurs because of another event.
• Foreshadowing–A suggestion of what is going to happen.
• Suspense–A sense of worry established by the author.
• Conflict–Struggle between opposing forces.
• Exposition–Background information regarding the setting, characters, plot.
• Complication or Rising Action–Intensification of conflict.
• Crisis–Turning point; moment of great tension that fixes the action.
• Resolution/Denouement–The way the story turns out.

Structure–The design or form of the completed action. Often provides clues to character and action. Can even philosophically mirror the author’s intentions, especially if it is unusual.

Look for: Repeated elements in action, gesture, dialogue, description, as well as shifts in direction, focus, time, place, etc.

Setting–The place or location of the action, the setting provides the historical and cultural context for characters. It often can symbolize the emotional state of characters.

Point of View–Again, the point of view can sometimes indirectly establish the author’s intentions. Point of view pertains to who tells the story and how it is told.

• Narrator–The person telling the story.
• First-person–Narrator participates in action but sometimes has limited knowledge/vision.
• Objective–Narrator is unnamed/unidentified (a detached observer). Does not assume character’s perspective and is not a character in the story. The narrator reports on events and lets the reader supply the meaning.
• Omniscient–All-knowing narrator (multiple perspectives). The narrator takes us into the character and can evaluate a character for the reader (editorial omniscience). When a narrator allows the reader to make his or her own judgments from the action of the characters themselves, it is called neutral omniscience.
• Limited omniscient–All-knowing narrator about one or two characters, but not all.

Language and Style–Style is the verbal identity of a writer, oftentimes based on the author’s use of diction (word choice) and syntax (the order of words in a sentence). A writer’s use of language reveals his or her tone, or the attitude toward the subject matter.

Irony–A contrast or discrepancy between one thing and another.

• Verbal irony–We understand the opposite of what the speaker says.
• Irony of Circumstance or Situational Irony–When one event is expected to occur but the opposite happens. A discrepancy between what seems to be and what is.
• Dramatic Irony–Discrepancy between what characters know and what readers know.
• Ironic Vision–An overall tone of irony that pervades a work, suggesting how the writer views the characters.

Poetry:

Allegory–A form of narrative in which people, places, and events seem to have hidden meanings. Often a retelling of an older story.

Connotation–The implied meaning of a word.

Denotation–The dictionary definition of a word.

Diction–Word choice and usage (for example, formal vs. informal), as determined by considerations of audience and purpose.

Figurative Language–The use of words to suggest meanings beyond the literal. There are a number of figures of speech. Some of the more common ones are:

• Metaphor–Making a comparison between unlike things without the use of a verbal clue (such as “like” or “as”).
• Simile–Making a comparison between unlike things, using “like” or “as”.
• Hyperbole–Exaggeration
• Personification–Endowing inanimate objects with human characteristics

Imagery–A concrete representation of a sense impression, a feeling, or an idea which appeals to one or more of our senses. Look for a pattern of imagery.

• Tactile imagery–sense of touch.
• Aural imagery–sense of hearing.
• Olfactory imagery–sense of smell.
• Visual imagery–sense of sight.
• Gustatory imagery–sense of taste.

Rhythm and Meter–Rhythm is the pulse or beat in a line of poetry, the regular recurrence of an accent or stress. Meter is the measure or patterned count of a poetry line (a count of the stresses we feel in a poem’s rhythm). The unit of poetic meter in English is called a “foot,” a unit of measure consisting of stressed and unstressed syllables. Ask yourself how the rhythm and meter affects the tone and meaning.

Sound–Do the words rhyme? Is there alliteration (repetition of consonants) or assonance (repetition of vowels)? How does this affect the tone?

Structure–The pattern of organization of a poem. For example, a sonnet is a 14-line poem usually written in iambic pentameter. Because the sonnet is strictly constrained, it is considered a closed or fixed form. An open or free form is a poem in which the author uses a looser form, or perhaps one of his or her own invention. It is not necessarily formless.

Symbolism–When objects or actions mean more than themselves.

Syntax–Sentence structure and word order.

Voice: Speaker and Tone–The voice that conveys the poem’s tone; its implied attitude toward its subject.

Please note that my goal is not to take the fun away, or intimidate, you about literature. Instead, my only intention is to provide you with additional information to assist you with scientifically dissecting literature further in an effort to understand the true intentions from the artists – authors.

As an author myself, I wanted to do my best to avoid litter and brain pollution by filling people’s mind with useful information highlighting the actual power of literature. That literature has many faces, roles, and countless benefits applicable to readers. In fact, the impact of literature is long-reached, and exorbitant, because it can affect all aspects of the reader’s lives. Not only can the long-arms of literature instantly grab the readers by capturing their imagination in an effort to connect with them on a personal level but also change their attitudes, habits, beliefs, and lives altogether.

With this in mind, I’ve decided to provide the community here at Success Pen Pal with the necessary tools needed to positively take control of their literary lives. Hopefully this post has provided you, the reader, with the right bifocals to correctly interpret the different elements of each literary masterpiece that you encounter.

Until next time my friend, cheers and let’s continue to fight brain pollution through education and other literary works!