Two stories to have in mind

Every single time I go to a library, I usually come across a book that I have already read. I have read many books, thus I know a lot of different way of writing. Nonetheless, few authors have been able to catch my attention and my interest. One of those authors is the well-know American writer Edgar Allan Poe. I really love his stories since he has a very particular way of writing which makes you feel inside the scene. Although I love reading Poe’s stories, there is another author that also catches my attention. Agatha Christie’s stories are very captivating and entertaining. Both way of writing have a few similarities and differences. We are going to focus on two short stories; The Gold Bug which was written by Edgar Allan Poe and was published in 1843 and The Million Dollar Bond Robbery written by Agatha Christie and published in 1924.

A very important aspect to mention is the writer’s background and their way of writing. Both authors lived in a different world of ours. Poe lived in the XIX century, whereas Christie lived mostly in the early XX century. Agatha Christie is known for her novels and short stories of detectives. Her most famous character is the detective Hercules Poirot who appears in many of her stories and also in The Million Dollar Bond Robbery. In contrast, Edgar Allan Poe is known because of his horror and fantasy stories even though he also wrote some detective stories. We can mention another difference which is the vocabulary they use. Poe’s vocabulary is very simple and easy to understand. If a child or a teenager who is learning English reads Poe’s short stories, he or she will be able to understand the argument with no problems. Nevertheless, if the same child or teenager reads a short story written by Agatha Christie, he or she will need to use a dictionary twice or three times per page. The British writer uses a very specific language which is confusing sometimes. Furthermore, in the Christie’s story we are focused on, she uses a lot of French expressions which make the story a little hard to understand. A similarity both authors have in their way of writing is that the characters seem to be real. Every single character makes you feel inside the story; they make you feel as an observer that is witnessing everything, and then you can tell what you saw or lived to others. Another important aspect that we can compare of these both stories is the perspective of the narrator. In Christie’s story, the narrator is not part of the story; it does not perform as a character. It is only a witness who relates what it sees. In comparison the narrator in Poe’s short story is an unnamed character that has a very important participation in the argument. The narrator relates what he saw and lived but he cannot express the feeling of the other characters.

Both main characters, Poe’s Legrand and Christie’s Poirot, have some similarities and differences. Hercules Poirot is a very clever man what is demonstrated along the short stories he appears. He has the incredible ability to find the criminals out with few problems. His insight is very special since Poirot only need a few clues to solve every puzzle. Likewise, Legrand’s insight is very special. He discovered the secret treasure of Captain Kidd and the only clue he found was the piece of parchment. He was also a clever man as it is expressed in the first paragraph of the short story. Furthermore, both men were not alone when they made their discoveries. There was always a friend who was with the main character; Captain Hastings was with Poirot when he solved the mystery of the bond robbery, and the unnamed narrator and Jupiter were with Legrand when he found the treasure. Although they may be very similar in some aspects, they have also some differences. The first difference we can present is the psychological feature of both characters. On one hand we have that Legrand was a clever man, as it was established before, he had been rich before, but when he lost his fortune he became strange. We can assume that Legrand was bipolar, which means that he had depressive episodes and then he was very happy and talkative. The narrator thought that this mental illness was caused by the lost of his fortune. When we have advanced in the story, we will realize that Legrand is getting worst in his illness. Jupiter told the narrator that it is because of the bug bite but his master, but Legrand said that he is just excited and not ill. On the other hand we have the personality of the detective Hercules Poirot. In contrast with Legrand, Poirot was a very calm man, he was also very formal and polite with the people he met. Poirot never showed any sign of any mental illness, on the contrary, he seemed always very healthy. A second difference we can present is that the both characters lived in different environments. Legrand lived on a small island which was located fourteen kilometres from Charleston, in the USA. He lived in a hut because of his poorness, but he had a servant with him, the previously mentioned Jupiter. In comparison Poirot lived in London, but we do not know whether he lived in a house or in a flat. Even thought their physical environments are very different, their psychological environments may be very similar. Legrand and Poirot lived in an atmosphere of a kind of adventure. The first character was always in contact with the nature; that was always a kind of adventure. Whereas Poirot was always investigating about different crimes, he lived in excitement and it was also a kind of adventure.

In my opinion The Gold Bug is better than The Million Dollar Bond Robbery due to the fact that the stories written by Edgar Allan Poe are very captivating and I would dare to say that they are more captivating that the stories written by Agatha Christie. The Million Dollar Bond Robbery is very interesting and entertaining but it does not have the ability to attract the reader in their first lines as Poe’s story does. The topic of this story is good but not amazing. Poirot adventures have been in my life since I was a child, but the way of writing of Agatha Christie does not make me feel exciting of continue reading. In contrast, I really enjoyed reading The Gold Bug. Every time that a saw a period I was jumping to continue reading the next paragraph. The literature written by Edgar Allan Poe pointed to an audience of any age. A little child, a teenager or an adult can be perfectly captivated by this kind of stories. In almost every high school in our country, the students are commanded to read a few tales from this author, such as The Black Cat and The fall of the house of Usher. They usually get attracted by his topics and his way of writing and what everybody says is that they feel inside the story. The Gold Bug presents us a topic that has always been in our hearth: the discovery of a treasure. We can partially feel identified with Legrand due to the fact that we have always feel excited when we are about to discover something wonderful. There are many aspects in Legrand and in the narrator that can make somebody indentify with them. The narrator was someone understanding and willing to help his friend. But apart from all this, the part that most make us dream is when the chest is opened and the shiny treasure is taken out. Everybody would like to be one of those characters that became millionaire with the help of a little gold bug.

Summarizing, we have just compare two short stories from two of the most important authors that the literature has had in many years. Agatha Christie, a British author who lived in the early XX century who gave us in legacy her stories of detective, mystery and clues. Her most known character is the inspector Hercules Poirot who appears in many stories of this author. The Million Dollar Bond Robbery is a story in which the amazing insight of Poirot is shown. He is accompanied by his friend Captain Hasting along the whole story. On the other hand we have the American writer Edgar Allan Poe who is famous for his fantasy and mystery tales that where written in the XIX century. The Gold Bug is a story that makes us dream about finding a treasure. The main character, Legrand, is a man that used to be rich but lost his fortune. He has some similarities and differences with the main character in the Million Dollar Bond Robbery. The similarity that is most noticeable is that both characters had a very particular insight that helps them in the story. I prefer the Poe’s story but it does not mean that I did not like reading Christie’s story. Both stories are wonderful and both should be read for everyone.

Scientists identify the cause of baldness

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American scientists say that they’ve discovered why some men go bald. They blame faulty cells which seem to produce hair that is so thin that it is invisible to the naked eye. They expect to find a cure for baldness.

For some men, bald is beautiful.

The iconic look may work for a few - especially celebrities - like the rugged Die Hard star Bruce Willis and Star Trek's Patrick Stewart.

For many though hair loss is no laughing matter, but now researchers in America say they've uncovered a cure.

An academic medical centre has found that hair follicles actually shrink, but don't disappear. Dr George Cotsarelis, dermatology professor at Pennsylvania University, found the discovery hair-raising.

“What we found surprised us. The stem cells were present but they were not doing their job.”

The discovery of invisible hair sounds too good to be true. But what does it mean?

“It really gives us hope that because the stem cells are present it lowers the bar for developing treatments that could activate the stem cells and get them to form a new hair follicle,” said Dr Cotsarelis.

Treating these faulty stem cells means that, rather than just maintaining hair, we could soon regenerate hair.

The visitor (Nightmares at Night Part 3)

Samantha had just woken up when someone went down stairs. She looked at the clock and realized that it was 5 AM in the morning. She wondered who had gone down stairs so early. It could have been her father but he was unemployed. She considered getting up although she was very tired. When she put a foot on the floor, she heard an unusual scratch, which she had heard some nights before, under her bed. A cold feeling of fear started filling her body. There was something under her bed! Samantha lay in bed and fell asleep again.

The next morning, she went down stairs carefully. Nobody was in the house; she was completely alone. The experience she had last night was stunk on her mind. Now she was alone and vulnerable. The phone which was in the kitchen rang. She ran to answer the phone but it stopped ringing before she gets in the kitchen.
-It wasn’t important. –Somebody talked behind her. –Nobody is important now.
-What are you doing here? –A young man was sat in a chair –It’s supposed you should not be here.
-is that the way you greet your brother? I’ve been escaping from the police.
-I don’t want to know what you’ve been doing. You are a criminal now!

Her brother Sam had killed a man two months ago when he was escaping from the asylum. Two doctors, who had witnessed the murder, declared that he had beheaded the guard. Her mother told Samantha not to allow her brother in the house. Even though she loved her brother, she had to obey her mother. Sam wasn´t allowed to be there.
-I’m so sorry Sam, but I can’t allow you to…
-I can help you. –Sam interrupted his sister. –I know what is going on here.
-What do you mean? –She was getting scared again.
-I know you feel strange things at night. Steps, scratches, everything is the same.
-It was you! You’ve been here all those nights! –She got angry.
-Please listen to me! Don’t get upset so that I can explain everything.

Samantha felt her blood going so fast through her body. Her legs were trembling since she was nervous, angry and upset. It was all a mixture of feelings. She wanted to know what her brother knew but her pride and fear were stronger than her. Her brother, whom she loved a lot, was staring at her. He wanted a chance. Those eyes, which made Sam look crazy, were trying to convince.

-You’ve got five minutes. – Samantha said to her brother.
-Thank you. Well, let’s come to the point. What you’ve heard all those nights is not from this world.
-Sam, please! You’re crazy. You should have left this house when you arrived. – It was clear that Sam was insane.
-What I lived that night was real! What you have felt is also real! –Sam was going out of control. –You must believe me! Those things that appear at night are not from this world!
-I haven’t seen anything! You are insane. You are not the man who used to be my brother!
-I don’t care!- Sam had said everything he needed to say. - When you need me, I’ll be here. –Sam left the house and her sister stayed in the kitchen crying.

She wanted the life she had before all those accidents. When she stopped crying, she took a decision. The noises that she heard the previous nights would be her sign. She would investigate everything about this mess.

Me and my writing

It has taken me a long time to decide how I can start this piece of writing. I have though very hard about it and many ideas passed through my mind. Finally I decided to put all those ideas as an introduction to the topic, since it is very related with it. This is how I usually write. I always spend a lot of time trying to take a decision about how I can start my writing. That’s why I decided to start my first paragraph with those words. This whole entry will be about my way of writing, my reasons and everything related with it.

Writing for me is a very important part of my life. I write at least five times a week. That’s too much for some people, since they don’t really like use their skills in the daily life. The most of the people always use writing for academic and labour purposes. They do not appreciate the importance of writing in every single minute. We were all tough to write when we were five or six years all. Now my question is: why don’t we use this ability every day? If you remember those first years in the kindergarten, you will remember that it was so hard to learn how to write. If it was so hard and you succeeded, why isn’t writing an important part of your life to? Writing is more that take notes or write three words to indicate you something you have to do. Writing is to put your feelings, your emotions, your thoughts, your life in a piece of paper. It is something deep and personal that should be shared, at least with you.

Nowadays there’s a tension between two types of writing: handwriting and typing. It is usually said that both are almost the same. Furthermore, it is said that typing is easier and more comfortable than handwriting, due to the fact that typing in a computer is very simple. You just need a basic knowledge of grammar and syntax, the text processor helps you to check and correct you orthography and the most necessary knowledge you need is to know where each keyboard key is placed. Sometimes technology is a helpful tool that allows us to make our activities quicker, but it also brake us in our, learning. When we prefer typing to handwriting we are fomenting the lack of necessary knowledge to write. We are allowing machines to do our work and we are not trying our mental abilities. There is also a physical problem at typing. We use and exert our eyes that we can cause a loss of vision is any of our eyes. On the other hand, handwriting makes you feel in control of your writing. I have always thought that when you are writing something, the movement of your hand is also expressing something. If you are tired, your handwriting will be very untidy, if you are anxious to do something your handwriting will show your eagerness and if you are relaxed, your handwriting will be very tidy and understandable. I really love seeing those sheets of papers in which many corrections are made. They are original and male you feel that a real human made that job instead of a machine. What is more, I usually make my assignments by pen and then I type them.

When I was eleven years old, I started writing. By those years I had read the four first books of Harry Potter’s saga and that story really inspired me to write the fifth part of the story. I managed to get a notebook and to keep it in secret. Everybody wanted to know what my secret was, but I didn’t want them to know. Maybe I was so shy during those days or I wasn’t interested in make my stories famous. Then I began writing poems and short “fan-music” which are stories inspirited in songs. When I got older I changed my interests and I decided t write my thoughts about the life its advantages and disadvantages. That was very exciting because I knew things about me that I didn’t know.

Nowadays, my writing is more elaborated that before. I continue creating characters of different worlds; each one of them has its own personality and story that is linked with the different parts of my life. In addition I love writing my opinion about every single event that calls my attention during the day. Sometimes I just get a piece of paper and a pen, and, by the time that I finish I destroy the paper. As I work in church as a “companion” of a group of teenagers, I have to write a lot. Every weekend I sum up ever what was said during the meetings and I upload a document to our blog. There’s another way of writing in my daily life is when I have to transcribe the notes I took during the day at the university.

As writing is so important for me, I can’t just use any kind of instrument. I may seem vain, but that is not my intention. Actually, I just use one brand of pen to write. I really love the fine point pen bic. The point is so soft that you can feel the real shape of the paper when you write. The pen slides on the paper what allows you to write quicker. Nevertheless that is not the reason why I like to use those pens. The real reason is that I use those pens because the blue pen is blue. It is to say, there are many blue pens, but the colour of those pens is not blue; for me it is like a violet instead of blue.

I like writing because I can feel that I have the control of the world for some minutes. It may seem strange but I feel like a God. I create my own world, my own people and I decide if they are happy or not. Many people use writing to escape from their lives and their problems. I dare to say that sometimes I use the same method to avoid some problems, or, what’s better, I use this method to solve the problems. Writing makes you think a lot, due to the fact that your brain is working so hard trying to find ideas, events and thoughts from your past. If you are lucky, you will come across with a solution or a piece of advice that will be very helpful.

I actually expect nothing from my writing. I don’t want to make money with it, but if there’s one opportunity I will take it. The only thing I currently expect from my writing is to find some calmness. I have always said that I have a lot of problems expressing my feelings by speaking, but when I write, I am the boss.

To summarize, writing is one of the most important thing we have. The real problem is that the most of the people do not take advantage of the opportunities that writing gives to their lives. I do love writing, thus it is an important part of my life. Sometimes technology helps us to create lovely and good pieces of writing. Nevertheless, we abuse of them and machines are in charge of our lives. I use writing for many reasons, but the most important for me is to create new stories and to express my feelings. I just need a piece of paper and a fine point pen for this. As writing has been almost in my whole life, I don’t think that I will give up writing. I started writing when I was a child and I expect stop writing when I lack movement in my hands.

An interesting story

Agatha Christie is one of the best examples when we talk about mystery and suspense. Her stories have the ability of catching the readers and make them part of the scene which is been. She wrote many books along her life and all of them have been well know in almost every country. Her stories are so famous that a TV series, called Agatha Christie’s Poirot, was made some years ago. The main character of the series was the detective Hercules Poirot, who also is the main character in many of her book. The Million Dollar Bond Robbery is a short story in which Poirot is the main character and it is also a chapter in Agatha Christie’s Poirot.

Our story starts when Captain Hastings and Poirot comment the news of the recent bond robberies in their office. A young lady named Esmée Farquhar is ushered by the landlady. She asks them to investigate the bond robbery that his fiancé, Phillip Ridgeway, suffered. He works in the London and Scottish bank and was in charge to carry the bonds from the United Kingdom to New York aboard the Olympia. During the travel, the bonds were stolen. Later, the men and the lady meet Ridgeway in a restaurant where he tells them how all happened. He says that the lock was forced, but according what Poirot knew, it was opened with the key. After this conversation, Poirot and Hastings go to the London and Scottish bank to talk with the two joint managers: Mr. Vavasour, the uncle of Ridgeway, and Mr. Shaw, who tell them that they already had an inspector, McNeil, working in the case. They told Poirot there are just three keys, one for Ridgeway, other for Vavasour and the last for Shaw. The uncle of Ridgeway also adds that Vavasour was ill at home the day that the bonds were sent to New York. By the time they leave the bank, Poirot says that he had solved the matter. Poirot waits for the return of the Olympia for questioning a steward about a man who slept in the room next to Ridgeway’s. He finally concludes that Shaw was the thief. The bonds were sent in other ship which arrives before so that they were sold in New York. Shaw lied about his illness and planned everything to steal the bonds.

The chapter of the series Agatha Christie’s Poirot is very similar to the story of the written version, but if we compare both of them we will appreciate many differences. Let us start from the beginning. In the series the story starts in the London Underground where Mr. Shaw and Mr. Vavasour meet each other. As you can notice, this is one first difference, but here we have another difference: Mr. Vavasour’s appearance. If we quote from the book it reads: “Mr. Vavasour had a short white beard, Mr. Shaw was cleaned-shaven”. In the series, both men were cleaned-shaven. Then Mr Shaw is knocked down by a car. As you read before, this situation was never mentioned in the book. Other difference is that the London and Scottish Bank contacts Poirot instead on Ms. Farquhar, who is the secretary of Mr. Vavasour. She also has another interesting difference: her last name in the series is not Farquhar, it is Dalgleish. Mr. McNeil is not an inspector of Scotland Yard, he is the head of security. This character may be the one who has one of the biggest differences when we compare the series and the book. In the book, McNeil is just mentioned, but he never appears “corporeally” in the book. On the other hand, in the series, McNeil may be tread as a main character, since he has a very important participation in the argument of television adaptation of the book. Getting back to the argument of the chapter of the series, we will realize that it is almost completely different from the story of the book. In the written version, the bond robbery had already happened. In the series we can watch to Poirot travelling on the ship, which also had a different name, and looking after the bonds. This part of the story was completely changed and sometimes makes some people confused. We can also watch a beauty and young lady on the ship who never appears or is mentioned in the book. The last difference which deserves being mentioned is about Mr. Shaw. As the summary above indicates, Mr. Shaw was the thief of the bonds and he pretended being ill to reach his purpose. In the series he was also the thief, but his nurse, who disguised as the beauty lady on the ship, help him. In the series he did not pretend being ill, he pretend being poisoned. There are many other differences between the series and the book, but here were mentioned the most important details of both versions.

I have always considered that the written version of movies or chapters of series are better than the recorded versions. The same happened with many other famous books like Harry Potter, The Lord of the Ring and The Chronicles of Narnia. Reading a short tale or a novel is like swimming in a dream. You are part of the story. You stop being a real human being and you start being a character that participate and witness how everything happens and then can tell other what he or she experienced. Nevertheless we also must understand that a book is not a movie. A film or a series needs to captivate people. It cannot be monotone and slow like a piece of reading might be. It needs movement and action to attract people and keep them in the front of a screen.

Agatha Christie is one of the best writers and it is demonstrated by reading the Million Dollar Bond Robbery. She had the ability of keeping you swimming in a sea of letters which catch you and do not let you go. If you have read this author’s job you must tell other to do the same, because her work is so interesting that everybody should know her name. Poirot may be considered a real person, his talent as an inspector is wonderful and you might think that the author should have seen everything before. The Million Dollar Bond Robbery is a very good option to start reading detective stories, but be careful if you want to compare these stories with a television series, because you will find many differences or a complete change of argument.

I shouldn't be here

The waiting room was crowded by many children and pre-adolescents. Some of them were crying, it seemed that they were trying to be the loudest people in the world. A weird girl was shaking her fingers strongly. Her pro-homosexuality t-shirt caught my attention. She also wore many rings on her ears and a dark blue lip-stick. The other people looked very normal for being waiting for a psychologist assistantship.

I didn’t even know why I was there. My mother said that I was behaving in a hyperactive way. That wasn’t strange, at least for me. She also said that “my problems” started when I met again my ex-girlfriend, who was atheist. In a very catholic family, having a relationship with a non-believer was unacceptable. But my mother wasn´t the only one who wanted me to go to treatment, my teacher also agreed with her.

I stared at the doctor’s office door waiting for my turn. I was so eager. This situation made me feel hopeless and hopeful at once. It made me feel hopeless since I didn’t wanted to be here, but it made me feel hopeful because I was sure that I wasn’t insane. The handle of the door started moving and a woman in white appeared under the threshold. She called my name and I went in the room automatically. When I was inside I examine its perimeter. It was almost completely white except for a big pink stain, next to the window, that needed to be repainted. I sat on a large blue sofa and she started talking and asking me questions. She wanted to know why I was sad and upset.

-That’s a disadvantage. -She told me.
-What? - I asked. - What do you mean?
-You’re in a deep sadness.
-That’s impossible. - I replied. - I’ve never been in depression.
-Actually you are. - She told me.

I felt the blood going up to my head. I took my things slowly and left the room. This had been a very bad idea and I was pretty sure that I didn’t need to be there.

New in my job

Family and Work. What should I do?

In our lives we have some responsibilities. When we are children we have to study, when we are young we have to learn and get some skill for our future jobs and then try to get one, and when we are older, I mean, adults we have to work. As you can see, the most part of our lives we are working or preparing ourselves for working. Working is an important part of our lives, because we use round forty years doing that activity. It is a huge amount of time and we are not considering the time that we spend studying.

But there is another thing which is with us during our whole life. I am talking about the family. Our family is with us since the moment when we were born and probably it will be with us when we die. Our whole life is shaped by these two aspects. Some people have a lot of problems trying to join both of them, for that there is not so much people who success in this.

A problem of our current society is that if we spend time with our family, we have less time for working, and if we work more than usual, for example work overtime, we have less time to spend with our family. What should we do? This is a very hard question if you think quickly and try to find an answer, but if you think over, you will see that the answer is pretty easy.

There is a very funny movie which is called “Click”. The argument has and important topic, but I will not explain the whole story, I will just explain the main part of the movie. What I want you to do is to notice a sentence which is said at the end of the movie, it says: “family is first”. If we meditate this sentence and if we have ever seen the movie, we can conclude that the family is the most important thing in the world, in our whole life. The work is not first and it must not be first, due to the fact that we can change our job, but we will never be able to change our family and our family will always be supporting us, do you think our boss or our workmates will support us? I do not think so.

In the story “The Jack Randa Hotel”, we can read that Gail did something similar: she put the family before the work. Gail had a shop and she designed clothes. We can assume that her job was neither bad nor boring. When Will went to Australia, she decided to sell everything she had for going after him. Gail did it right, although her acts were not good, although she made a lot of mistakes trying to find Will, she did everything because of love, she loved her husband, her family and she did everything because of them. Doing everything for the ones who we love is the most beautiful thing that you can do, but we must be careful about how we perform our acts. I disagree with Gail’s acts, but I do not disagree with her acts.

If we cannot get a balance between work and family and we have to choose one of them, I advocate choosing family, since the family will give us love and protection and work cannot give us love or protection. If we lose our job we can find other, but if we lose our family it will be too hard to get other, or maybe it will be impossible.