The difference between a smile and a grin.

To a native English woman, the difference between a smile and a grin is simple. One is used exclusively in a positive way and the other can be used both in a positive situation or a negative situation. The first picture is a smile and the second a grin. Can you tell the difference.
Try finding some words to explain the feelings that might lead to a smile and then compare them to feelings that might lead to a grin.


When you smile, you are usually expressing positive emotions and feelings. Such emotions as happiness or love or appreciation are typical.

A grin might be more appropriate in a situation where you are self satisfied or happy that something bad had happened to an enemy. Grins tend on the whole to contain something behind the obvious. The classic example of a grin is the grinning Cheshire cat in Alice in wonderland. It's grin is ironic and a little disturbing without being overtly negative. A smile on the other hand is a completely normal facial expression that occurs in response to something nice or funny or that makes you feel happy. Or can you perhaps tell us something else?

3Bt for yesterday

1. I survived the day. I was so tired and having not slept the whole night I thought it was going to be a nightmare but in fact I had a really nice day at work yesterday.
2. The sky was on fire, the sky was on fire. (Or at least it looked that way - wow!).
3. I got my first feedback about the Internet learning portal. (OK, it wasn't all that positive but feedback must always be seen as being constructive and for the future I know where I have to improve on the learning portal to make it more attractive and easier to work with.
   

3Bt for Yesterday

1. The Friday morning girls group consisting of Heike, Beate and Anja were all on excellent form yesterday and we had a very pleasant and enjoyable 90 minutes together. Anja's new jacket (which she told me she had made her self was wonderful). Red and worn with a smart pair of black trousers she looked so attractive. I was positively impressed.

2. I was late for an appointment in Rhade yesterday and so with just 10 minutes to get there from Schermbeck I hit the Autobahn and pushed my little car to 170Kmh. It was exhilarating, to say the least.

3. Late at night, coming home from Cathrin's I had just turned into our lane when there on the road in front of me was a little bundle of spiky wonder. a baby hedgehog was taking the long way home and had evidently found the tarmac surface much easier going than cross country and so was busy shuffling his way along the lane. Problem was, there was not enough room for both my car and him and so I parked my car up, put the warning lights on and got out to have a look at him. He was gorgeous. His little long nose was wet and his tiny eyes were completely black and shiny. I was thrilled to see him but he was so spiky that I couldn't pick him up. In the end I make use of a couple of plants on the way side and using some hastily plucked leaves as make shift gloves I lifted him up to safety (the grass verge) and put him out of harms way. I do hope he got home safely. For me, the encounter was the perfect end to a long but enjoyable Friday.

On the subject of smiles

For the last entry in my blog, I googled to find images of smiles. Try it and see just how disappointing it is. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I think I was surprised at just how few really impressive smiles there were to choose from. Any ideas why? Answers on a post card please to Blue Peter at broadcasting house.......

Christmas is coming

I love being self employed, but it is so difficult to make ends meet. Now there is a wonderful English language idiom. make ends meet. Of course I know I simply have to pull my socks up and get stuck into building the business up but its all such a drag. I simply don't know where to start. It's a mystery to me how some people just seem to sail through life without a care or worry in the world and me, well I wake up every morning and find myself transported into a moment of madness and anxiety for which in truth, I have no real explanation. The Germans call it "existence angst" I call it bloody stupid, but it doesn't help any. Life is not plain sailing. It is an uphill struggle, its a can of worms and its bloody confusing, but - and this is an enormous but - isn't it wonderful

Fantastic Weekend

3Bt for the weekend
1. On Friday, Anja cooked a lovely meal for us and we all had a really nice evening.
2. On Saturday I had a great impromptu audience for a small unplugged concert.
3. On Sunday we finally got the lawns done and the cutting back and such stuff for the winter finished. Phew!

I hate chicken wings (I tell lies)

I ate chicken wings again today. Urggh, how terrible can one girl be? I don't want chicken wings for the next 6 weeks now. That is a self promise.

Three nice things that have happened today.

1. Sidney hadn't made a pee pee in my bathroom this morning when we woke.
2. A student complimented me on my teaching method.
3. Thank you God for the beautiful weather.

Now we are three

Last night, after a long work day I returned home with the idea of some chicken legs in the oven and a very large glass of wine. The dogs seemed to be OK, I made sure that they had been outside and I retired to my room. As I entered the house I shouted hello but nobody answered or if they did they didn't put much of an effort into it so I just assumed that they wanted to be undisturbed. Because it was so late I didn't ask if anyone wanted to join me in my late evening repast and while the food was cooking I prepared my room for the evening. Lights, camera, sound etc. No, but really, I set my laptop up and I chose the film "Ring of Bright Water" a film I first saw when I was a very young person. Over the years one forgets things but I have always remembered the role of Angus and his terrible deed. None-the-less, it still made me cry.

After the film and one or two glasses of wine I was ready for bed but before retiring I had to take the dogs for a walk. There is a beautiful autumn full moon at the moment and last night the skies were clear and the light was magical. The girls had less enthusiasm than I, but the cats made up for the dogs reticence by escorting us with a loud meow and an elegant swagger as we went along. We came back to the house and it was just too delicious to go back inside and so I sat on the door step and the girls sat around me and we just looked into the night. What was going through the minds of the animals as we sat there in the middle of the night starring at the stars in the sky I can't imagine but it was a very nice moment. Eventually of course we had to go in. I let the dogs in and then went to the toilet. When I came out I locked the door for the night and started for my room. To get to my room I have to climb the little staircase from the hall to my room and I was surprised to see Luna sitting there instead of being snug as a bug in a rug in her basket. Then, when I looked into her basket I could see why. There in the half light I saw a neatly curled up figure of the tortoiseshell cat. (I don't have a name for her). I didn't have the heart to move her. She is really rather poorly at the moment with a bad eye and she seems to be very old and more than a little blind. In my tipsy state I made the split decision to let her stay in for the night. I climbed the stairs to my room, collected the dog's day blanket and took it into the hall to make a new bed for Luna. She obediently lay down on it but gave me a look to kill. Something of mix between total shock and obtuse disbelief. A cat, and in her basket to boot! Well, it was enough to make me laugh and so I did.

This morning I awoke somewhat too late to extricate the cat before anybody saw her and so later when I was coming out of the toilet Lisa commented that the cat had been inside the whole night. I decided to play dumb and didn't really say anything other than to ask if the cat had done anything terrible in the house during the night. It was clear that Lisa was telling me in no uncertain terms that the cat should not have been let into the house but I really wasn't interested in hearing her opinion. The poor cats have to sleep outside every night and it is getting colder now ans she is old and well, what the hell do people have pets for?

Tomorrow I will put a picture of the cat on this site.

So for yesterday my three beautiful things were:

1. Giving a poor old cat a wonderfully warm and safe refuge for the night snuggled up in the dogs basket.

2. Seeing the most beautiful display of colours and weathers all in the space of a few minutes of each other. Washy blue cloud encrusted skies, black/blue cloud banks of menacing moments and oh, how the sun picked out the golden tops of the trees. It was the most beautiful sight to see.

3. Watching a lovely film and seeing that gorgeous scenery of heather land, mountains, sea, rivers and whitewashed cottages. I felt positively homesick.

My three beautiful things for yesterday!

1. I slept really well yesterday and woke refreshed and ready for a new week.
2. I had a nice meeting with the bank manager yesterday. I think I like him.
3. I got a nice warm hug from Bina when I got home. That was nice (and thing 3 and a half was being able to sit with Lea while I was eating my supper and talking about her school day and some other unimportant but nice stuff.

I survived

I have just returned from my first day with the children at the Kindergarten in Erle. Phew, it was actually really nice and I am learning all the time. It is good fun but definitely hard work. The children have little respect for adults and I am not used to having to negotiate with six year olds. Still, it is definitely a funny experience and one which I will enjoy recounting in times to come.

Thanks to Bernhard for making my day especially hard, but I know that deep down inside he only wants to teach me something. I just wish I knew what it was.

3Bt site - worth a long look

Have a look at a really cool blog that I fell across just the other day. It is really simple and really lovely. I wish I had thought of the idea. Respect!

Google is the new oracle!

Thank you Google. I have googled and just found out that as I suspected, excessive drinking and peeing is a very bad sign. It may not necessarily mean something deadly but does need to be addressed. I will wait for Bina to come home and then we will take her to the vets. If she won't do it then I will.

Sidney is not well

I have actually known it for some time now, but it is becoming blatantly clear that she is ill and getting worse. She peed in my bathroom yesterday and this morning again. She has a unbelievable thirst at the moment and that cannot be a good sign. Let's look on google to see what they say there about such things.

Reading lamp questions

Yesterday I bought myself a nice little reading lamp from Ikea. Yes, I know what some of us think about Ikea but this was just what I wanted/needed and it was dammed cheap. 13€

Now I am faced with the question of what lamps to put inside it. I am used to halogen lights and in truth I prefer these to normal bulbs but the lamp is fitted out with normal screw in lamp fittings and I don't want to go to the trouble of replacing the whole electrical wiring system and so I am stuck with the choice of which form of lamp to buy.

To die or to choose your time of death

I am currently listening to the bbc and the theme is about how to kill yourself when you are terminally ill. There is some Australian guy who has gone to England to give lectures about how to kill yourself. To counter him there is a stupid woman who is playing the good cop role and who is trying really hard to protect vulnerable people. In my eyes she is just wining on and on and she keeps talking about people not having the right to decide when they die. She says she wants to protect people's rights but is in my mind purely a self appointed representative of the bleeding hearts and artists brigade who believe that we are all morans who, having been to such a seminar will run out kill themselves.

It is a really fascinating how the argument runs from side to side. I beleive in free choice and live and let live. Or do I actually mean live and let die? Mmm, good question huh?

Don't eat eggs that taste funny. Oh, why didn't you tell me that sooner?

Let's play a game. What can you discern from my post title? Answers please on a postcard...

Strange, but true

We here we are on an exceptionally murky autumn day in North West Germany and my thoughts are turning to the idea of a holiday. The thing is, I have just spent more than an hour surfing the Internet looking for a nice deserted Greek Island. I looked at the little Cyclades and especially Iraklia but what puts me off is the realisation that I would have to fly to get there. Not my favourite pastime.

Then I thought about the idea of going off on my around the coast of Europe tour and then, well, I ask you, what the hell is all this about? What the hell do I want to go off on a holiday for? I hate the whole idea of the packing, the organising and the worst thing of all, belonging to that hoard of pre ambulant morons who go on holiday only because it has become the accepted thing to do with your non-working time. I am getting stupid in my old age. Stop it, stop it, stop it. It's ok. I'm over it now and I hope I don't have to face up to that old chestnut again.

So, here is the report from Germany. It is grey and dismal but not cold. I took the girls for a walk this morning at around 5 o'clock and it really was exceptionally mild. I came back and did some work and then at about 6:30 I went back to bed. I slept fitfully and felt uncomfortable. I guess going to bed too early is really stupid. I was actually in bed at 21:30 last night and so I suppose it is no surprise that I was awake so early. I changed the bedroom around yesterday and put my bed in another position and that means that I am sleeping in a more south to north direction but I don't think this is good for me. We will see if it is any better tonight. I do hope so.

Outside, autumn is really coming into it's own. The trees on the other side of the river are all crowned with gold and yellows and reds and the two oaks outside are beginning to look utterly beautiful. There are giant spiders everywhere and they are gorging themselves before the onset of winter. I don't know, do they hibernate for the winter or do they simple die out? Big question huh? I am going to have to go and find out.

Back to life - back to reality

Well, what a wonderful long weekend. I have really enjoyed myself the last few days. From
Thursday until today, I have had a long weekend of just lazing around and having an easy time of it.

Eeri and somewhat chilling

I just woke up to find that it is past 11 o'clock. I came home from work quite early today and settled down on the sofa to have an hours reading and rest. I have been feeling a little strange the whole day and felt like lying down. Having woken up and put on my heavy suede coat and shoes I opened the door for the two dogs to get out and was shocked at just how crazy Luna reacted. It was as if someone or something had been outside the door and she seemed to be chasing it down the lane. It made for a bit of spooky feeling. I'm not quick to freak out and so decided to concentrate on keeping my wits about me and in an effort to distract myself from such negative thoughts I looked to the sky. It is truly beautiful out there tonight. The ink black star encrusted sky is bordered at the horizon by a milky white wispy bank of cloud. In contrast to the endless blackness of the sky, the horizon looks like something out of a science fiction film. Astounding.

Suffice to say, we didn't go far and the girls (at least Sidney) didn't seem all that inclined to free their bladders and so we came back quite quickly. Luna disappeared and after having brought Sidney back I locked the door once more and in utter darkness and with more than a sliver of trepidation I walked back into the all enshrouding blackness to find her. After walking little more than twenty metres she came running out of the invisible shadows and straight past me as if to say, "come on slow coach, let's get back in". I was pleased to see her although I disguised my pleasure with scalding and recriminations I was very glad that she was ok. In the darkness of the middle night and having just awoken from a strange dream filled sleep, I seemed to be in a particularly perceptive state and had difficulty in controlling my imagination. I came in, brushed my teeth and felt the need to write this entry. 'Funny stuff' huh? Sleep well whoever is out there.