Wedding advice

1. One year ahead choose the date for the wedding and select bridesmaids and the best man.

2. Decide on lications for the wedding ceremony and for the reception and book the places which you've chosen.

3. Make a guestlist and send the invitations.

4. Six months ahead choose the dresses for the bridesmaids and select the flowers.

5. Choose the meals for the reception according to your wedding budget.

6. Organise accomodation for your guests.

7. Choose the best place for your honeymoon according to your budget and finalise all the arrangements.

8. If you're going to spend your honeymood abroad, three months ahead check if your passport is valid.

9. Organise a photographer who will have your wedding photographs taken.

10.  REMEMBER THAT YOUR WEDDING DAY SHOULD BE A HAPPY ONE!

"You are what you eat" - six ways to eat smarter

1. Food like bread, pasta and rice should make up a half of your diet. This kind of starchy food is the main source of energy and fibre.

2. Fruits and vegetables are very important for our health. Eat fife portions of fresh or dried fruit and vegetables every day. They're one of the main source of vitamins and minerals and, what is more, are low in caloreis.

3. Don't eat much food and drinks like jam, sweets, fizzy drinks. They contain a lot of sugar and are high in calories, so try to eat them in moderation.

4. Drink still mineral water not carbonated which is high in sodium. Remember too much sodium is bad for your heart!

5. Eat lean meat, fish and eggs because they're a good source of protein.

6. Limit fatty food. It is better to choose unsaturated fats than saturated because they are healthier and can be found in vegetable oil, fish, such as mackerel and salmon, and soft margarine. Also, it is better to drink semi-skimmed milk than whole milk.

QI

Some time ago at English classes at the University we were talking about a British comedy quiz show QI. The abbreviation QI stands for Quite Interesting. In the programme four people try to answer questions. Most of the questions are not very clear and that's why it's very hard to give the right answer. One section of the programme, which is called General Ignorance, is dedicated to questions which seems to be very obvious, but later it turns out that they're not so easy.

After this lesson I decided to look for some examples of questions which are obscure. I've found tree exapmles of questions which have obviously but wrong answers.

Firstly, it is generally claimed that the only human-made object which is visible from the Moon is the Great Wall of China, but that's not true. Neither the Apollo astronauts nor Earth-orbiting astronauts saw any human-made object from Space. Surprisingly, city lights are quite well visible from the Earth orbit.

Secondly, it is also commonly known that bulls react nervously to the red color. This is false. Bulls, like all cattle, are dichromats and they're unable to percieve the red color.

Thirdly, many people think that swallowed chewing gum is digested by seven years. This is also not true, because chewing gum is indigestible and passes through our digestive system with other food

Frankly, I have to admit that I've never thought that there are so many widespread but false beliefs. It was very interesting experience to get to know how little do we know.

Olga Boznańska

 During the long weekend I had an extraordinary occasion to see the exhibition of a Polish painter Olga Boznańska. She was one of the most eminent female artists who lived at the turn of 19^th and 20^th centuries.

The National Museum in Warsaw presented 150 works from various periods of her activity. Her artistic heritage was contrasted with paintings by such names as Diego Velázquez, Édouard Manet, Eugène Carrière, Henri Fantin-Latour and Édouard Vuillard as well as Japanese woodcuts so as visitors were able to see her work from the global artistic perspective. Boznańska is usually associated with the French impressionism what seems to be not entirely true. In the circle of her interests were still lifes, interiors, landscapes (views from the window at her atelier) and predominantly portraits of the members of her family, friends, high society and self-portraits.

Despite the crowd every sight at the each painting was mystic. Boznańska was a real master of emphasizing the spirituality and psychological expression of her models. The moderate technique based on a wide brush strokes, narrow but harmonised range of colours made her paintings nearly monochromatic. Thanks to the sketchiness of forms she was able to maintain intimacy and melancholy. Her paintings make impression of dematerialisation and eternity. Under the guise of austerity Boznańska's paintings hide a range of emotions and profoundness of feelings. Her paintings emanate sincerity.

With no doubt Boznańska's paintings are the masterpiece of it's kind. It was just astonished. It was a really good decission to spend some of my free time during the long weekend to see that exhibition. It was absolutely worthwile standing in a queue around two hours.