I saw a fantastic horror film last night. It was all about a village where strange creatures were attacking young people at night and carrying them off. No one knew what they were, or why they were doing it. But strangely, the attacks always happened near the cemetery, and people started to believe that the creatures were dead bodies coming out of the graves. Anyway one girl managed to get away when she was attacked. She said she though the creature had recognized her and let her go. Now this was strange and definitely needed to be investigated. Strangely, all was peaceful and clam on the days the investigating team visited the cemetery. A mild breeze would continue to blow and the team would sit up through the night waiting for something to show up. But all in vain... nothing unusual would happen. And in the end it turned out that the creature was her grandfather, who lived in an old people's home near the church. This mad doctor who ran the home had apparently discovered a way to make the old people young again, using blood taken from teenagers, and he was giving these elderly people an amazing drug which temporarily turned them into monsters, and was sending them out at night to catch teenagers for his experiments. But when the old man saw his granddaughter, he realized what was happening and told the others. And then all hell broke loose. The inmates of the old age home attacked the mad scientist. The mad scientist by this time had been downing a potion that would make him invincible. He fought like a man possessed and all the forty inmates could not hold him down. The fight continued for over 5 hours until the doctor finally succumbed to his injuries. I think that by the time I turn sixty, I will probably be surrounded by children and grand children. I have vision of my sitting out on a large verandah overlooking the immense garden. The garden would be a riot of colors, most of the plants having been planted by me. Flowers of every hue and color would adorn my garden. Bordered by a white wicket fence, my cottage would look quaint and picturesque. By this time I imagine I would have traveled and visited most parts of the world. I would have visited parts of Asia and most of Europe as well. I would have fulfilled my desire to visit the Latin American countries and bring home a Latino for a daughter in law. Crazy, you may think but it has been a lifelong dream to have a beautiful Latino as my daughter in law. I have always loved their gay abandon and zest for life. Growing older I see myself looking after the little ones - my grandchildren. I picture myself with a brood of four, two girls or perhaps three girls and a boy. I have always veered towards girls and with grandchildren it is no exception. I see myself joining in their games and reading to them I guess it will be difficult to match up to their energy and enthusiasm, but I guess I'll be active and on my toes. Well, you may ask why I am talking only of myself. I forgot to mention, yes, I would have my husband with me - a graying charming old man. I see us settling down for the end of our lives together. Walks across the countryside, an exciting game of scrabble, an occasional movie, these would perhaps be the things that bring us joy. Grammar is another area were things can be different between American English and Brithish English. One of those areas is with the use of prepositions. For example we would say on the weekend whereas in Britain it's at the weekend. With day of the week we often leave the preposition out altogether. So an American will say See you Tuesday rather than the British See you on Tuesday. And then there are some verbs where British people use a preposition but Americans don't. So in Britain people protest against high taxes whereas in America you simply protest high taxes. Likewise, in America you write someone and in Britain you write to someone. Another thing that I have noticed is that in Britain people say I like swimming or I love watching the TV. Americans prefer to use the infinitive instead. I like to swim, I love to watch TV. And there's a tense difference too with verbs. Where in Britain people say, for example, I've already seen him or he hasn't come yet, Americans will often use the Past tense instead. I already saw him. He didn't come yet. And also in America, the past participle of get can be gotten rather than got-so an American will say, I've gotten the tickets rather than I've got the ticket. Those are some of the main differences. Talking of pronunciation and accent the differences are striking. The American drawl is a strong contrast to the clipped accent of the British. But what irks most of us when we type especially, on our computer is the difference in spellings. Americans prefer to spell as they pronounce and do not appreciate double Is, for instance they prefer to spell travelled as traveled and color as color. One language and so many different approaches. What are logos? I would say that logos can be traced back to the Stone age. I am not talking of specific ones like the Addidas trefoil or BMWs roundel. But the idea, generally. The Stone age man depended on word pictures to convey information and even today your best designers to exactly that! Let us skip the prehistoric era and move into more recent times, perhaps time travel through the centuries. What would you say is the precursor to the modern log- tribal tattoos, battle standards, coat of arms, royal colors, battle ensigns, monograms or logograms. The coat of arms still continues to be in use and functions as cryptic visiting cards because they speak so much about the person's lineage. But with the fading away of the princely kingdoms, all of those are stashed away in museums or history text books. Typesetting has brought its own additions to the symbol family- type faces, logotypes and Word marks. Today typefaces are known by other name- fonts. With printing move to include color, logos also changed rapidly. Today, Web2.0 is the latest application. The challenge, then and now remains the same- be simple original and catchy in your use of text and pictures. Simplicity and readability is the key. One should not over design or work too hard on the logo. The more complex the logo, the harder it is to make sense, both for the client and the consumer. Word marks or stylized letter is another good option. It is fashionable and chic. The IBM logo is a good example. The story goes around that Fed Ex saved a few million dollars on paint after it changed its logo to FedEx instead of Federal Express. The brand world is full of gripping tales, most of them albeit unconfirmed! I think life is more difficult for young people these days. I think they have to grow up quickly, it's almost like your childhood is over and done with before you know it. Everyone is so eager to grow up and live an adult's life. Schools are not more fun places to be in. They are merely institutions of forced learning. It is as if with each passing year one has to cram and stuff oneself will all the progress that the world has made in that one year. There are facts to be learnt and new technologies to be mastered. Playing games for the joy of it is no more a part of a child's life. It the young ones learn a sport or a skill today it is with the ulterior motive of making it a career. The joy of doing something purely for the sake of enjoyment is passing. All of a sudden the years fly by and you are on the threshold of adulthood, eager to take that quantum jump into an unseen and cruel world. It may seem exciting at first, but in a couple of years, the humdrum existence, the monotony of a job coupled with a zillion responsibilities takes its toll. And now all you can do is reminiscence about those wonderful or was it simply because in comparison to a life full of stress, the day gone y seem a shade better. Think it over and decide what you would want your children to have. A carefree childhood filled with fun and happy memories or a troubled and traumatic childhood that brings back hateful memories? Te choice is in your hands- to go with the tide or against it.