Asylum Chapter Two From The Baltic

Writen by Dennis Siluk

[The Voyage] On the ship, during its voyage, Anatolee would reminisce, grieve his past, the old kerosene lamps on the wooden floors in his home became lit: which lit up the pathway to the bedrooms—kitchen, and out to the out-house at night; and those rugs, those old, old, old warn out rugs kept over the wooden floors, over them to keep in the heat from the cold drafts seeping in from underneath the house through the floorboards, the winds that try to sneak through, as long winters gave little mercy— through the windows, winds oozing over ice, in circles freeze up everything. He would remember his older brother whom would inherit the farm now, and the soldiers whom would go searching from farm to farm looking for the younger sons of the family to fight in the Great War in progress, he would not be there for them to take to battle, to be dragged from the farm should he refuse

Unbreakable Men
[Kirovsk: Yulie's Youth—l885-l889]

Yulie, in his younger days, his youthful days, had worked in the black factory one-hundred miles north of the Arctic Circle before becoming a farmer.

There the average climate was five below zero; he worked in the quarry that was part of a mountain. It became eventually, Stalin's Gulag in the coming 1920s.

But back in those far off days, apatite: a fertilizer component was the main source of income for the small town nearby the factory. He had told his youngest son that he had hired a man with a horse and wagon to ride him up the long stretched-out road to the factory that had three building structures in somewhat of a perpendicular alignment: the planted buildings facing one another in somewhat of a horse-shoe fashion.

Thus, they climbed the snow capped mountain—with its drudgery of pushing forward snow forcefully to the sides of the road, up to ones waist it was; between the men and the horse, they cleared the path, it was his taxi and he paid a fair price for it, even though it was but a few rubles; it was a matter of survival, there was no work elsewhere, and his father was likened to a peasant; and now with no pension, he collected bottles to sell for a living. That is what drove him inch by inch up that mountain through the arctic winds. His father was born in l851, and his grandfather was born in about l831, or thereabouts, he was Turkish—and like them, he went where the work was. It was the way things were.

If anything, one thing Yulie was witnessing, as Anatolee was now witnessing more so, was the industrialization of the world, yes, Russia included.

he had departed forever, he would never return—that would be his anecdote. His head back-flung, he leaned more of his weight on the ships edge overlooking the water as it swayed to and fro, his stomach a bit mucky: as he looked about the ship he saw an assortment of Catholic variety of lives on board, and some Russian Jews, a few Protestants, and gypsies to boot. Everyone going to America, he expels his breath, it is just a sign if anything of relief.

In days to follow even a worse depression would sweep over the Baltic area, and especially Lithuania to where his family would pack up whatever they had left of value in life, and move to Warsaw, Poland with relatives; there the older brother would find a job. But as Anatolee stood stone-still against the ships staircase, gazing into the waters-still gazing into the waters—his action being silent, for silence made him more comfortable now, the cold Atlantic filled his face; a pipe his father had given him, he filled with tobacco, he lit it, the eighteen-year old endlessly looked at the ocean, now with the lit pipe—fiddling with that pipe, a puff, a look at the pipe, the water, and trying to look beyond the water was impossible now, it was all water—henceforward, he had become a man, he would have to be sufficient or parish in the winds of the world, into the deep-blue; on the other hand this was an adventure of a lifetime, his new beginnings, opportunity. Things would never be the same for sure, nor would he want them to be, for sure.

He walked back and forth the ships wooden deck, pacing, as he would in future time—pace, it would, or seemingly would become part of his DNA, part of his genetic code I do believe, as it would be for his children to pace, his daughters and sons, none born yet. As he paced his voice became soft, reminiscent, lost now in a dream. America to him was kind of a postcard, a pretty postcard, a golden age postcard if you will.

In addition to his working on the farm he worked as a tailor in a city called, Grodno, he was quite young back then, but he liked working, it was part of life, as his father explained to him many times: "Get used to it; it will be your life's journey."

Impalpable dust, turned into daydreams, flagging Grodno into his mind for a moment:

Grodno
[The Milk bottle and the Taylor—1901]

He did not know it was a restaurant at first, he was only eight-years old, it was 1901, and his father had taken him to Grodno, a small town close to the boarder of Poland in Russia. But he'd not forget walking through those doors the first time, and his father outwardly being known by all the patrons there. All saying:

"Hi, Yulie, how's it going?" just nice old fashion greetings, that's all it was, but they make for lasting memories. It was his first trip to Grodno, and as I mentioned, his first in the restaurant for that matter.

Most of the folks in the restaurant were having soup, a few with a bottle of vodka hidden under their coats, pouring it into their coffee. Mostly they were older men, a few business types looking men, no children; Anatolee was the only child he could see. 'Papa pulled out a cigar, and like a few others in the eatery, filled it up with smoke,' he would tell his children of later years. The tables had very solid looking wood to them, but his papa didn't sit at the table, he pulled out a stool for himself and one for Tony, and Tony imitated his father as they both sat down, he putting his elbows on the long stretched out wooden bar.

"Milk and pie for the kid," he told the person behind the bar, as the barkeep told the waitress down a ways from the bar, "And for me, just coffee, that'll do."

Tony noticed the waitress pull the milk from under the counter out, it was warm milk in a bottle; it was how they drank it normally. Then she took the top off and poured it in a glass, and cut the pie in sections, giving him no more or less than the other pieces, pulling out a fork, and then delivered it to the barkeep, and on to the boy. Yulie had already gotten his coffee.

All of a sudden approached a short fat little man, half balled, cigar in his mouth,

"So Yulie, is this our youngest, the one you told me about, the tailor to be?"

"Sure is Ivan," said Yulie with a smile, and then introduced his son to him properly. Anatolee was a bit taken back, he didn't know he was going to be a tailor someday. He thought what a good surprise, 'Papa was thinking of me.'

It was a trying time for the country, a revolutionary spirit was in the air, and work was not plentiful, and a trade was the best way to insure the boy could make a living and Anatolee would practice at this trade in years to come.

This day would remain in Anatolee's head all his life for some reason it had taught him if anything, that one had to look at long term goals, instead of short term gains; that is to say, one must not grab, but rather plan.

Dennis Siluk's books can be seen at many web sites such as http://www.bn.com or http://www.amazon.com

Your Stars

Writen by Lisa Mills

Aries
March 21st - April 20th
It's time to start giving people the benefit of the doubt and being more accepting of those who have different ideas to you. So the next time someone in your vicinity answers their mobile phone to the sound of the Crazy Frog ring tone, try to convince yourself that they are not an unoriginal, brain dead, twat with the sense of humour of a six year old.

Taurus
April 21st - May 21st
Taureans are notoriously quick tempered, have a tendency to over react and commonly have an intense dislike of noodle based hot snacks. Try and keep some perspective on the situation then when your partner comes home from Tesco while you are cutting some trees down in the garden with a chainsaw, when they proudly announce that they took advantage of a fantastic '20 for the price of one' Pot Noodle promotion.

Gemini
May 22nd - June 21st
The most passionate, intense and sexually charged holiday romance is on the cards for you this month. And who would have thought that such physical ecstasy and fulfilment would have been likely when you first agreed to accompany the old people from the local home on their day trip to Bournemouth?

Cancer
June 22nd - July 22nd
An explosive argument with your partner results in both of you questioning your future together. If you want to save the relationship then consider the possibility that you may just have been wrong – Celebrity Love Island is not the greatest TV programme of all time.

Leo
July 23rd - August 23rd
A close friend plucks up the courage to confide in you about a highly embarrassing personal problem. Spice up what will otherwise be a terrible month for you by telling everyone that knows them and having a good laugh about it.

Virgo
August 24th - September 22nd
Cram in as much time as possible with your elderly relatives, watch your partner like a hawk and be extra vigilant when checking your testicles/breasts this month - and take some comfort from the fact that us astrologers are wrong two thirds of the time. Still not looking good though is it?

Libra
September 23rd - October 23rd
As Mars enters Uranus, what better time than to rush out and buy Marianne Faithfull's greatest hits?

Scorpio
October 24th - November 22nd
Prepare yourself for a roller coaster ride of a month featuring a smattering of quite good news, some indifferent news, mild excitement, occasional minor boredom, regular bouts of eating, drinking and excretion, and constant respiration and bladder control. It'll be a month to remember!

Sagittarius
November 23rd - December 21st
Help yourself to deal with some devastating news this month by purchasing the latest Brian McFadden album – and smashing the poxy thing to pieces. If only there was a way of getting to Brian himself.

Capricorn
December 22nd - January 20th
Beware of arguments at home boiling over and dividing the house as food levels start to run low. Make sure you give your all to the tasks and rewards will come your way, and to those around you. Always keep your pants on when showering and don't let Maxwell's ridiculous catchphrases enter your vocabulary. By the way, can anyone recommend a TV repair man? I can't get anything else on my bloody telly other than E4.

Aquarius
January 21st - February 18th
You're going to win the Lottery this month!! Yes, really! The rollover jackpot!! It's what you've always dreamed of! A happening so unlikely, experienced by so few! It's never, ever going to happen again in your lifetime, or that of many others! Enjoy it and don't let splitting the money with the other 5 million Aquarians in the country, leaving you just £2, spoil it for you.

Pisces
February 19th - March 20th
It may well be time to broaden your working horizons and consider a career move – find yourself a job that's going to inspire you, utilise your talents and give you the long term career you've been craving. Not only that but unknown to you, your workmates can't stand the sight of you and love nothing more than ripping into you the moment you leave the room.

Your stars are available via http://www.24-7london.co.uk. They are written by a variety of people under the guise of 'Septic Peg'. 24-7 London is an online entertainment guide to London, England with a sense of humour.

Making A Cartoon Baby

Writen by Justin Grover

So you want to draw a cartoon baby, do you? Well, let me show you how. The process is simple. First, create a rough sketch. Next, draw in some details. Third, clean up the draft and finally color it in. Sound simple. Well, it is. If you have any kind of talent with art you'll be the proud parent of your very own cartoon baby in no time.

When you decide that you want to create a cartoon baby the most important thing to do is create a rough sketch. A rough sketch will allow you to get a feel for the design without taking hours to draw it. If you decide you want to change your design you just change your sketch without throwing away all those hours of work. I recommend that you try several designs and then choose the one that you like the best.

After you have the general design you should add the detail to your cartoon baby. It is helpful to make photocopies of your rough design so that you can try different variations to give you cartoon baby a character of its own. As you go through designs, save the old ones; they might be useful with other projects.

When the details are done clean up the draft. If you are working on paper trace your draft so that the lines are clean. If you want to digitize your cartoon baby this is a good time to do so. Once it is digitized make sure it looks exactly the way you want it to look before you move on.

Finally you can color your cartoon baby. Here again it is wise to make copies of your artwork and try different colors schemes. Try lots of different color combinations. The more combinations you try, the better your final color selection will be. Color selection is best done on the computer. Once the character is digitized you can change the colors with the click of a button.

That's it, now you have your own cartoon baby. How do feel to be the world newest cartoon parent? Okay, so he doesn't do much. He just sits there. If you want to bring your cartoon baby to life you have to animate him. I will give you the basic steps to do this, but if you need more information I have a great article on how to do that in flash. Bringing your cartoon baby to life is just a matter of dissecting him (I know that sounds gruesome, but it has to be done). What I mean is that you have to draw his body parts in many different positions. For example, if I wanted to draw his head in many positions such as: from the side, looking at me, and half-way in between each of these positions. I would do this so that when it became time to animate my cartoon baby, all I would need to do is put that the appropriate pieces together to make the baby appear to move its head.

After all of the parts are drawn in the various positions you need to make a story line for your character. If this is your first cartoon creation, make the story simple. Comic strips are excellent examples of simple story lines, because they are depicted in just a few frames and generally can be easily animated. Once you have your story you can actually start the actual animating.

Animation is one of the most fun and time consuming parts of the entire process. It can be done in many ways. A few people like to do it by hand, but most practical people do it on a computer using an animation program like Flash or After Effects. Now you know the process involved in creating your own cartoon baby. I wish you the best of luck in all of baby creations. If you are currently learning Flash, or would like to learn it, and need some helpful hints on finding tutorials go this article. Flash Tutorial

Justin Grover - 10xMarketing – More Visitors –More Buyers –More Revenue, if you would like to see more about a cartoon baby please visit Cartoon Solutions.