Prince

Community web-sites in Nanjing

2010-09-04T07:47:00.000-07:00

Nanjingnow, HelloNanjing & Nanjingexpat

About one-fifth of the world's population or over one billion people speaking Chinese and lack of ability of most of the Chinese people to understand English, all most all of the Chinese domestic website are in Chinese. Keeping this in mind, to assist expats living in Nanjing and to help them understand more about this historical city, three English based websites are formed i.e. Nanjingnow,hellonanjing and nanjingexpat.

Nanjingnow is the eldest brother among these three English language websites. “Started as a blog to share useful information with people in the city in late 2005”. Along with the arrival of Nanjingnow there came a lot of hope and responses from expat and local people living all around the city.

It remain as one and only English language website dominating Nanjing through 2006-2008. But people expectation and hope all went to vain when web-sites one and only focus was jobs&classifieds. And failing to keep his promise of providing other useful information,member of Nanjingnow started to look for another options.

Today it is almost as good as closed. Administrator might have forgot his password or growing popularity of his little brothers or whatever might be the reason, most of the post from 2007-2008 can be found on their homepage. And no update has been made to the websites since long time ago.

No further information could be found for Nanjingnow despite the several attempts to reach the administrator. News is he has sold the web-site and left the town.

In April 2009 raise another English Based website owned and operated by Canadian media producer Anil Ramsey which was called Hellonanjing . According to their website it is “ Nanjing's first active social community that used online tools to promote offline collaboration.”

With 848 total member Hellonanjing is the second largest website especially based for expat community in Nanjing. It is very well-designed and user friendly website where you can find most of the information that you need or might need while staying and living in Nanjing.

“Hellonanjing is not my job at all. It is a free service for the benefit of the community because before this web-site, there wasn't one. We are the only english web-sites in Nanjing that produces original content. If you are looking for news that is reprinted from other web-sites,that's not what we do.”

“The frontpage of this website is reserved for articles – typically news and multimedia pieces that preview or review Nanjing events, or else feature articles that are relevant to Nanjing.” and don't be surprised if you find the same news for more than a week or two. With very few writer and maybe lack of resource or budget, don't expect to find update on 'original' local news either. Despite being second largest website and user friendly, it still doesn't have much fun activities to offer to its user.

To find further information visit Hellonanjing

“Sponsored by British School of Nanjing and administered by 4 people Nanjingexpat was revamped in march 2010 with 250 members and reached 1150 members within six-months which makes us the biggest website” says General Manager Keith Maguire of Nanjingexpat who is also responsible for all of their activities including their English magazine but he denied to provide the name of administrator.

According to GM of nanjingexpat “The main mission of Nanjing Expat is to become the hub of activities, news and events for NJ across print and online media. The website is a portal which will support our print activities. We welcome all visitors to Nanjing Expat but target the educated global worker. We try to appeal to all sectors, singles & families across all age groups.”

A lot of members mean lot of activities in the site and they have clearly failed to manage that. With lot of post on their frontpage and complexity to navigate their web-sites can make you little annoyed at first. But you will find almost every information and other local news with variation in writing style unlike Hellonanjing. But it might take you a while to find the information you are looking forward to.

If you are fan of reading books then this might be the perfect place for you. On their book club you can find the book you are looking forward to read, you can borrow or rent it from other members, But you need to be member first to use this facility and it might take you a while. Though registering to this website is free and easy.

To find further information visit Nanjingexpat

Hellonanjing and Nanjingexpat are similar in more than one way. They both are developed using same joomla software to produce more or less the same thing. And there was a time when they were going to submerge as a single site but deal broke at the last minute. You can find the same members on both of the web-sites,similar forum post,same events. But what if you want to stick to one web-sites. Then eventually it depends upon you,what kind of internet user are you and what do you expect from these web-sites.

Hellonanjing mainly focuses on promoting clubs,foods and beverages with occasional other outstanding news and article. All these can be found in Nanjingexpat t too and there are lot of other activities you can enjoy with. It might get a little while to get used to this website whereas Hellonanjing is way simpler.

Story of these two websites are like Facebook and Hi5. Facebook is simple and has lot more applications,Hellonanjing is like Facebook except it has fewer subject matter. Nanjingexpat is like Hi5,it's complex to understand but it has more subjects you might have fun with.

Nanjing is a small town with around 10,000 foreigners and with failure of Nanjingnow. It is very hard to predict the future of English language community web-sites but maybe we can see result in very near future than we expect too.

This article was originally posted here.

Internet and China

2010-08-31T05:18:00.000-07:00

The internet as we know it today,traces its origin back to defense department in 1969. But here we are. China being the number one consumer of Internet and world wide web with the active user population of approximately 420 million according to China Internet Network Information Center. High ranking government official says “China's Internet is open”.

Internet and China

The internet as we know it today,traces its origin back to defense department in 1969. In 1957, when Soviet Union launched the first satellite, Sputnik I, triggering US president Dwight Eisenhower to create the ARPA agency to regain the technological lead in the arms race and help protect the US against a space-based nuclear attack. Licklider evangelized within the IPTO about the potential benefits of a country-wide communications network, influencing his successors to hire Lawerence Roberts to implement his vision.

Lawrence Roberts led development of the network, based on the new idea of packet switching invented by Paul Baran at RAND, and a few years later by Donald Davies at the UK National Physical Laboratory. A special computer called an Interface Message Processor was developed to realize the design, and the ARPANET went live in early October, 1969. The first communications were between Leonard Kleinrock research center at the University of California at Los Angeles, and Douglas Engelbart's center at the Stanford Research Institute.

In 1990, the ARPANET was retired and transferred to the NSFNET. The NSFNET was soon connected to the CSNET, which linked Universities around North America, and then to the EUnet, which connected research facilities in Europe. Thanks in part to the NSF's enlightened management, and fueled by the popularity of the web, the use of the Internet exploded after 1990, causing the US Government to transfer management to independent organisations starting in 1995.

And here we are.

China being the number one consumer of Internet and world wide web with the active user population of approximately 420 million according to China Internet Network Information Center ( CINIC ).

China’s Internet industry, which will generate 6-7+ billion dollars in revenue this year from gaming, advertising and other sources, is growing 20% or more per year, and which has publicly listed companies with a combined market capitalization approaching 100 billion dollars (partial list here), and much more if including the value of private firms like Alibaba Group and its Taobao subsidiary.

Most of the Chinese Internet user spend at around 70% of their leisure time surfing the net ie 19.8 hours per week. And most of them spend their time downloading free music ,gaming,video, chatting,blogging,reading news,shopping etc rather than for work; or in many cases during work.

Though government officials like Jiang Yu spokeswoman from foreign ministry claim “China's Internet is open and the chinese government encourages development of the internet”. But Many world wide popular websites such as Amnesty International, Facebook,twitter, blogging and many others are blocked or sensored in China. And many articles get censored or blocked within few seconds of publication on domestic web-sites.

Very few in China Complain about Internet controls. It is maybe because copy-cat of most of the famous web-sites can be found in China which are based only for Chinese people such as Baidu, Sina,xiaonei etc.

“According to findings from the fourth and most recent of a series of surveys about internet use in China from 2000 to 2007,over 80% of respondents say they think the internet should be managed or controlled, and in 2007, almost 85% say they think the government should be responsible for doing it.” Source

Many global companies such as E-bay,Yahoo and lot others have failed on the local market. And recent action of Chinese website provider to abide copy right law and Google Inc retreating from China might have a huge impact on the Chinese Internet User.

Now days,Internet is also referred as Freedom and in China Internet Freedom is still in level 1 but China has clearly surpasses all other countries in using Internet and has become the number one internet user in the world,its a fact but who is it competing with? North Korea???

Summer in China

2010-08-18T06:56:00.000-07:00

SUMMER IS COOL

China is a vast country with the total estimated area of 9,758,801 square km with land territory of 9,326,410 square km and water for 270,550 square km. It has a wide ranging climatic conditions which is very complex to understand fully. But here is the summary.

Spring:10-22°C, Western suits, jackets, sports coats, woolen jackets, long sleeve shirts and travel shoes.
Summer:22°C and above, T-shirts, short sleeve shirts, skirts, sandals, caps, rain wear.
Autumn:10-22°C, Western suits, jackets, sports coats, light woolen sweaters, rain wear and travel shoes.
Winter:10°C or lower, overcoat, cotton clothes, lined coats. In very cold areas a cap, gloves and cotton-padded shoes are required.

China can be visited throughout the year because of the stretch of its territories and sites and activities it can offer. Deciding when to visit China depends on which places you wish to visit, what type of weather you enjoy, and how much a bargain you want. China is a huge country with many different climates and types of landscape.

Average Temperatures (Centigrade/Fahrenheit) in Major cities. Source

CITY	JAN	FEB	MAR	APR	MAY	JUN	JUL	AUG	SEP	OCT	NOV	DEC
Beijing	-4.1 25	-1.6 29	4.9 41	13.6 57	20.0 68	25.2 77	27.9 82	26.6 80	20.3 69	12.7 55	4.2 40	-2.2 28
Chengde	-9.2 15	-5.5 22	2.1 36	11.5 53	18.4 65	22.3 72	24.3 76	22.8 73	17.1 63	10.0 50	0.4 33	-7.2 19
Chengdu	5.5 42	7.4 45	11.7 53	16.7 62	20.9 70	23.6 75	25.3 78	24.9 77	21.2 70	16.7 62	11.4 53	7.1 45
Chongqing	7.5 46	9.1 48	13.8 57	18.4 65	21.8 71	24.7 77	28.3 83	28.3 83	23.4 74	18.4 65	13.6. 57	9.1 48
Dalian	-4.5 24	-2.9 27	2.4 36	9.5 49	15.6 60	19.7 67.0	23.0 73	24.0 76	20.0 68	13.7 57	5.8 42	-1.0 30
Datong	-11.0 12	-7.4 19	0 32	8.5 47	15.7 60	19.9 68	21.8 71	20.0 68	14.4 58	7.5 45	-1.4 29	-8.8 16
Guangzhou	13.2 56	14.1 58	17.8 64	22.0 72	25.6 78	27.4 81	28.7 84	28.5 83	27.1 81	23.8 75	19.3 67	15.1 59
Guilin	7.8 46	9.0 48	12.9 55	18.5 65	23.0 73	26.2 79	28.1 83	27.8 82	25.5 78	20.5 69	15.2 59	10.2 50
Hangzhou	3.9 39	5.2 42	9.3 48	15.4 59	20.3 69	24.3 76	28.5 83	27.9 82	23.3 74	17.7 64	12.2 54	6.3 43
HongKong	15.8 60	15.9 61	18.5 65	22.2 72	25.9 79	27.8 82	28.8 84	28.4 83	27.6 81	25.2 77	21.4 70	17.6 64
Huangshan	-2.8 27	-1.6 29	2.3 36	7.7 46	11.9 53	14.9 59	17.6 64	17.3 63	13.7 57	9.2 48	4.0 39	-0.6 31
Kunming	7.9 46	10.0 50	13.2 56	16.6 62	19.1 67	19.6 67	19.7 67	19.0 66	17.2 63	14.6 58	11.1 52	8.0 46
Lhasa	-2.1 28	0.9 34	4.5 40	8.1 46	11.8 53	15.7 60	15.3 59	14.4 58	12.7 55	8.2 46	2.1 36	-1.6 29
Luoyang	0.4 33	2.7 37	8.4 47	15.4 59	21.2 70	26.3 79	27.3 81	26.0 79	21.1 70	15.3 59	8.3 47	2.3 36
Nanjing	2.1 36	3.9 39	8.5 47	15.0 59	20.1 68	24.6 77	27.9 82.0	27.4 81	22.4 72	16.6 62	10.2 50	4.3 40
Qingdao	0.7 31	-0.4 31	4.7 40	10.5 51	15.9 60	20.0 68	23.8 75	25.2 77	21.5 70	16.1 61	8.9 48	2.0 35
Sanya	21.2 70	22.2 72	24.2 76	26.6 79	28.3 83	28.5 83	28.5 83	28.0 82	27.3 81	26.1 79	24.2 76	21.9 71
Shanghai	4.7 40	8.2 46	13.4 56	18.5 65	22.9 73	27.2 81	27.5 82	24.1 76	18.8 66	12.8 55.0	6.9 44	4.0 39
Suzhou	3.2 38	4.3 40	8.6 47	14.5 58	19.6 67	23.8 75	28.0 82	27.7 82	23.1 73	17.7 64	11.9 53	5.6 42
Urumqi	-13.9 7	-11.6 11	-1.8 29	9.8 50	16.9 62	21.8 71	24.2 76	22.7 73	16.7 62	7.6 46	-3.1 26	-11 12
Wuhan	3.2 38	5.2 42	9.8 50	16.3 61	21.5 71	25.6 78	28.7 84	28.2 83	23.2 73	17.4 63	11.2 52	5.4 42
Wuxi	2.8 37	4.0 39	8.4 47	14.4 58	19.6 67	23.8 75	28.0 82	27.6 82	22.8 73	17.2 63	11.3 52	5.0 41
Xiamen	13.0 55	13.4 56	15.5 60	19.7 67	23.2 73	25.9 79	27.6 82	27.2 81	25.5 78	22.2 72	18.6 65	14.6 58
Xian	-0.5 31	2.5 37	8.4 47	14.6 59	19.6 67	25.0 77	26.4 80	24.8 77	19.0 66	13.3 56	6.3 43	0.7 33
CITY	JAN	FEB	MAR	APR	MAY	JUN	JUL	AUG	SEP	OCT	NOV	DEC

With the end of rainy seasons in may starts the summer with scorching sun and blue skies that govern the later part of the summer. Summer in china traditionally can be summed with two words : hot, wet.

Summer by months: June,July and August

Northeast china experiences hot and dry summers whereas summertime can be quite hot with almost continual rainfall across northern and central china. Summertime in eastern china means not only heat but humidity. In the Yangtze River valley area including Shanghai,summers are long,hot and humid. The turban Depression in northwest china is also known as 'hottest place in china' with the maximum temperature of around 47 C. The Chinese have dubbed the cities of Wuhan,Chong quing and Nanjing “the three furnaces”. While Summers in Tibet and Qinghai Province are comfortable with average temperature of around 24 C.

There's a lot of things to do in the summer months and lot of great festivals to catch as well. Summer months are the perfect time to tour Tibet as the weather is the mildest and most of the festivals take place in July and August.

A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken. ~James Dent

And perfect summer day in China can be found in

Guiyang : An ideal place for summer holiday
Harbin: The pearl under the swan's neck
Kunming: It is spring year-round
Dali: Natural scenery with ancient buildings
Yichun: Green belt
Chengde: Delightfully cool place
Taiyuan: An ancient capital
Hohhot: A timeless area beyond the Great Wall

(According to People's Daily Online )

But that's not all. There are lot more place to visit during summertime.

Qingdao : The largest city in Shandong province is one of the most beautiful city in china and also known as green island. It also have beaches well known among Chinese people. Qingdao is well known for its brewery products and during August 14-29, Qingdao International Beer Festival is held at Qingdao International Beer City,195 Xiang Gang Dong Lu annually.
Xiamen : It is one of the clean coastal city of china and was recently voted as 2^nd most suitable city for living. Located in Fujian Province this island provide lot of fun activities all year round. It is most famous for its attractive seascape.

Sanya: Southern most city in southern Hainan province of china is also know as Cliff State. It has astonishing beach and The Deer Turns (Luhuitou Park) which made it famous among the Chinese lover. Sanya is a noted tourist resort with mountains, sea, river and city.
Hainan: Hainan is a multilingual,multiethnic region with wide variety of tradition and culture. It is the second largest ocean island and smallest land province in China also known as 'Hawaii of China'.

It's August 15^th , I am sitting on my couch and enjoying the rain and mild wind which is very unlikely in Nanjing, one of the most hottest place in China but still I can say Summer is Cool after all.

Dating,Marriage and Dating

2010-08-18T06:46:00.000-07:00

DATING, MARRIAGE AND DATING

I am referring to Wikipedia and different other site here because my idea of dating is really exciting and you don't want to know. And if I wrote it this article could never be published.

Dating is a form of courtship, and may include any social activity undertaken by, typically, two persons with the aim of each assessing the other's suitability as a partner in an intimate relationship or as a spouse. The word refers to the act of meeting and engaging in some mutually agreed upon social activity. Traditional dating activities include entertainment or a meal.(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

The main purpose of dating is to find a person that we're attuned with and to marry them.

According to Lynn Lauren “In high school and college dating is about forming new relationship with well-suited partners. Dating is a way to make new friends. You go out with a fitted person and have a great time together. Sometimes there is a great romantic relation;sometimes it doesn't work out.”

“One reason we date is to have fun,relax and get out from whatever we are doing but it has a serious side to it as well.

But another, more useful purpose of dating is to learn what we want in our partner,what we don't want, how to communicate our needs,how to serve the others need without disrespecting ourselves,and what it feels like to love,be loved and even how to be strong enough to part when we know it's time.” says Kara Oh

Love as a feeling is very flimsy even though it's strong and unconditional. It's an action and like every action it also has its consequences. Unlike consequences of other action, consequences of love are sweet and lovable, not necessarily though. Some times they are very dangerous and many life has been lost.

Considering, He/She found the perfect guy for him/her. Or in other words hey found their “the one” , they will eventually get married.

Now,lets talk about Marriage,according to wikipedia

Marriage is a social union or legal contract between individuals that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found. Such a union may also be called matrimony, while the ceremony that marks its beginning is usually called a wedding.

People marry for many reasons, including one or more of the following: legal, social, emotional, economical, spiritual, and religious. These might include arranged marriages, family obligations, the legal establishment of a nuclear family unit, the legal protection of children and public declaration of commitment.[1][2]

A marriage entails different meanings. While the concept of marriage remain the same across the globe, the way of solemnizing it differs extensively. But mostly it's based on a loving relationship between a man and a woman in which they publicly promise to live together 'for better for worse, for rich for poorer, in sickness and in health until death do them part'.

Society puts so much emphasis on love,and marriage. Society also puts pressure on the female to get married. If a woman is not married by thirty,something is wrong with her,right?Is she dates a lot,then she is a slut and in Chinese society it is even worse. If a woman live with the guy, she is immoral and not a good girl. Isn't that how it goes?

Of course,it's on guys too. But it's not as bad as for woman as far as I have experienced. But there is greater problem for guys, they are supposed to be strong types. So they learn to be “strong,silent type”. Society tells woman to like that kind of guys. And men think that other men who open up say how they feel are a 'woose' and girls think they are 'gay'. And all this has impact on marriage. Marriage plays a crucial role in transferring the culture and civilization from one person to the other.

Again,as I have seen and heard, its actually difficult to last a long and harmonious marriage life. The reality of life,work and family overwhelmed everyone at some point. People start to wonder about the temptation they used to feel about their spouse and how they used to longed for his/her tender touch. You are happily married and settled down. Of course you are in love but the spark of romantic excitement start missing.

And we all can see,the rate of divorce is increasing rapidly. So what should individuals do to keep their marriage sound and safe. The key to successful marriage is love,understanding,mutual respect,trust,commitment and togetherness.

All this points refer back to the starting. Yes, dating. Literally dating means to find a person who is suitable spouse for you. And No,I don't mean you should start dating other girls to keep your marriage. All I mean is one of the most important key for keeping your marriage is starting to date your wife. And yes,i am in no position to give suggestion about marriage but that's what I found out.

“When was the last time you and your spouse went out together -- just the two of you, no kids, no friends, just you and your partner? If you have to pause even for a second to think, that's not good.” says Mrs Lori Palatnik

So I thought of asking Chinese and Foreign couples about the truth behind dating after marriage. And here are the three best answer I got.

“ Don't waste every night with a family or friends where you can't talk. Use your time to draw her out,talk with her,have fun with her,study her like you do the bible.” says a Chinese middle aged man who works for Italian firm and is happily married for 13 years. And he must have thought I am christian which I am not. This is little depressing but Chinese people are little misleaded. They think every foreigner with no beards and mustache are christian which is not true,guys with long beard and mustache are Muslim which is even not close to truth. No disrespect intended to any religion.

“You don't date a woman to marry her and stop dating her.You date a woman to marry her and you date her with more passion and creativity than ever”, said European man who was with his wife and children.

“Men,if you don't date your wife,sooner or later someone else may volunteer for the job” says Greg, Nigerian unmarried young guy. And I definitely agree with him.

Q: What's your best date night tip ,shouldn't be much expensive?

Teenager's Story

2010-08-06T16:33:00.000-07:00

This is the project i have been recently working on,it hasn't been completed yet .It's just a first draft and thought of publishing here and I know a lot of editing is left to do.You may find grammatical and spelling mistakes but over all i hope you enjoy reading the story..

Well first of all this is the story of teenagers, the state when they go through physical,mental,emotional and attitudinal change which will lead them towards their future. It's about Brandon Powell,Logan Watson and Kaitlyn Cox. It is about friendship, love, role of family and other person who are somehow responsible and for their role with teenagers. Being a teenager is a strange and yet exciting part of life. We are faced with tough and critical decisions each and every day- decisions that will affect our lives. Everyone goes through the teenage years, but as people get older, they seem to lose touch with their teenage experiences and feel as though they can't relate to anything that teenagers go through.

*********

Sun has probably made its way to horizon,it was starting to get little dark and with that the city of California was starting to glow with thousand of different lights,and after the end of winter rain California's hillside had started turning golden,their color intensifying in late afternoon which gives credence to the idea that California's nickname “The golden state” comes from the color of its hills. Though summer had arrived, it was raining today. People were starting to get little nervous with moody atmospheric change,they were starting to struggle with rain,struggling with the wind,wrestling with umbrellas,jumping or running around but at the same time some of them were taking a walk in rain while other were getting wet. “ Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain.”

But yet it was completely different world inside the yellow school bus of Highland High school,Bakersfield. Rain had no impact here. No one has really cared that it was raining outside though they could hear the sound of rain drops making musical sound over their bus roof and raindrops were rolling down the window as they were dancing with the same music.

Students were planning when and where to meet before they join other friends for the party. Hour earlier they had won their football game with Antelope Valley School by 4-2 .School hour was already over but their coach Zowie Duncan Bostwick,he was tall guy with clean shaved head,thick straight dark eyebrows,jade green eyes which always looked like they were full of mysteries,he has full lips which used to open in smile,inspirational,muscular,neat,competent,straightforward,atheistic and determined person has decided they should go to school before they could go to home and finally to the party.

Brandon Powell,who was wearing his team jersey,green shirt with white sleeves which has his name on the back and big H representing his school name in front, had played full 90 min of game and had scored 2 goals in today's match.

Feeling a bit better about himself today he was looking forward to finding time to relax with friends. However it was hard to swallow his disappointment that one of his teammate has let him down at the last moment. He could have scored one more goal if his team mate had passed him the ball instead of shooting it himself. But anything he has learned today was He don't have to take everything personally ultimately,its his choice. Giving other the same freedom of movement that you want yourself is the kindest thing you can do. He was one of Highland High School star player, and has managed to get a scholarship for his performance.

Bus has arrived at school premise,and after sharing their victory with everyone and with coach advice not to drink to much and not to do any illegal activities they were allowed to go home.Cars engine were starting to come into life with big roar sound and were headed out of parking lot.

Brandon house was 30 min drive away from school . He reached home after 50 min he had stopped on his way home to eat.No body were in the house,his mother and sister had also gone to watch his game and haven't returned yet. They have told him,they will visit Aunt Sara on the way home.

After quick shower and getting dressed he glanced before mirror for the final look before he could join his other friends at the party. All he could see at the reflection was tall teenager with spiky hair,bright blue eyes with golden lining around the pupils,square face with medium rich broad nose and well defined and inviting lips,tanned skin,broad shoulders and well built body with Gray jacket over the white T-shirt and jeans on the bottom. He is handsome guy with great smile. He was impressed with what he saw in the mirror he chuckled and murmured to himself “Not Bad”.

He is active and energetic guy,a little aggressive,strong minded,ambitious and friendly. He remembered what his girlfriend once told him when he asked her “what do you think about me?”He still remember it,her voice was calm,confident,serious and he could see gentle smile when she started “A guy who dresses in style,acts confidently and is polite to everybody,knows how to go up to a girl and talk with maturity and calmness,guy who feels someone more in soul than virile member. ”

Suddenly he could feel his jeans pocket shaking it was his mobile and he took out mobile calmly from pocket and saw MOM in caller ID.“HELLO” he answered “Hey Bran” he now knew it was his sister,again the voice came from other side “We are at Aunt Sara house,we will be little late so mom told me to inform you”“Oh” he replied “She also told me to remind you to return home on time”her voice was serious this time“I haven't forgotten” he replied again.“TREAT YOURSELF”,she told again“Sure I will,bye”And he hung up before she could say anything else.

“Treat yourself”he had heard this word many time before,his father used to say him this,He died in US-Iraq war on July 4^th 2003 serving his country,when Brandon was just 14 year old.

Hearing that word there has started unusual flow of air around him and blood inside his body,his blue eyes were starting to fill with tears and his ear has turned dark red as blood was going to flow at any instant. He could feel the unusual beating of heart like it could burst at any second. Now he was feel hurt,disappointed and sick.“I should calm down”he thought as he could feel his legs were growing weak,his hand has turned into fist.

He started to move around his room for few minutes. There weren't much things in his room. His room was rectangular with wooden floor,bed in the middle of his room facing the window,just beneath the window was his studying desk and chair ,his computer was lying above the desk and amp was underneath which was connected with four big speaker which were located on four corners of his room by the side of his table was his closet. Door was opposite to the window by the side of bed. Guitar was hanging on the one side of the wall and big poster of Lamborghini and Football was hanging on the opposite side. Lamborghini was his dream car and football his life,though he used to like other famous player,they were not his idol but football was. Unlike most teenager room,his room was clean and well-maintained.

“Time to treat myself” he thought. Closing the door behind him,he exit his room. His room was in second floor,opposite to his sister room and his mother room was beside his sisters,attached to his room was bathroom and next to it was his father office,but now it was empty. Around he corner was stairs,he climbed down the stairs,which led him to the living room. It was big room with big picture hanging on the walls and big windows opposite to it. Just beside was the translucent blue glass window through which you can see the kitchen and attached to kitchen was dinning hall. Opposite to kitchen and dinning hall on far side corner was bathroom. He walked across the room,picked up his truck keys and left the house.

It was still raining outside but now it was kind of cozy rain. His truck was parked just in front of the house on the road. There was nothing special about his car except it was Ford 90s model. He opened the door and climbed in.“Lets get started” he thought and turned on the engine,it made a big noise in the beginning but now it was running smooth with very small sound and he reached for the stereo and turned it on too. Phone rang again,it was his girlfriend this time. He turned down the volume of the stereo. Some hip-hop song was playing.

“Hey” his voice was clear and romantic,

“Hi,where are you?” a soft voice asked curiously,“In the car” he replied with a same tone,“you said you will pick me up for the party tonight”, she whispered calmly but her voice was uncertain.“I know,haven't forgotten,I will be there in 15 min” he replied gently.“OK,then,See ya soon” her voice came in joyful manner,she spoke again“Drive carefully” her voice was serious and cautious this time.“ See ya soon,I will,bye”he replied in neutral manner.

He buckled up,turned on the lights and started driving. It was still raining and road was slippery. Surprisingly there were very few vehicles than he expected when he joined the main road.

It was around 10 min drive from here to his gf house. He rode very carefully as he had said to his gf and was paying full attention on the road and luckily there was only one traffic light on his way and it turned green when he had just arrived.“One of Lucky day” he thought again. Now he has driven straightforward for around 7 min. And finally he was there. He has parked his car two house ahead his gf house. There was playing ground on the side. They always used to meet here.

His girlfriend Ariana Ross which was Greek name which means most holy one. She had explained this to him before they used to date. And at that time he had thought “what could his name possible mean” and he never tried to find out but neither he could forget what her name means.

Ari,this was her nick name was already there and was waiting for him.

She was average height though her thick wavy long blonde hair gracefully was falling down to her shoulders and encircles her diamond shaped face, thin lining of brown eyebrows above her bright blue eyes, a small upturned nose and large sensuous mouth which make her look very photogenic was wearing red t-shirt,blue jeans with big long boots.

She was absolutely beautiful. She was no ordinary girl eaither Her father own one of the best IT company in whole California and her mother works for a famous fashion designer and addition for that she was cheerleader too.

Brandon was out of car,and walking towards passenger seat door,smile came across his face while she was approaching her from where she stood. After gently kissing her on lips he said “Wow,You look beautiful”. And opened the door of his truck for her. He was looking absolutely passionate at this moment. With a gentle smile on her face she thanked him and got on the car. “Well you look amazingly great as always” she said with a relaxed voice when he got into car. He smiled.

Both of their eyes were glowing brightly as if they were meeting their lost love after many years for whom they have waited years.

He had turned on the engine and has started driving. “Congratz for the win,it was tough game”with relieved tone and tone of her voice changed suddenly“ and you know you could have scored another goal too, if Peter had passed the ball” She sound little angry this time.“It was right thing to do at that time but yeah poor decision” he sounded little confused.

Rain has finally started giving up. They were heading towards the hill,today's party was organized at some youth group building which used to be church at some time.

They were listening to the music on the stereo and Brandon was explaining to her about the artist who sang that song. After several minutes drive on the zig zag road they had arrived at the place.

It was surprising for both of them that this place didn't look like it used to be church at some time.It was three story building which was painted white on the walls but it hardly has any walls at all. It was mostly covered with big white glass . They could see lot of their friends inside the building moving,dancing,drinking but they could hardly hear any music.“Must be sound proof” Brandon thought. “Nice place” Ariana told Brandon.“C'mon lets go in” Brandon suggested. Somebody opened the door and shouted “Party is inside”,Brandon nor Ariana could find out who he was as light from inside was making hard for them to see his face. He left the door opened and turned towards building and shouted “Our Star Player is here”. As they were walking towards the building Ariana put her hand around Brandon's and locked her to him and now they could hear the loud music playing inside. “Must be a hell of a party” Brandon spoke . “Hell yeah,you guys deserve this” she was laughing when spoke.

As they appeared on the door and entered inside everyone shouted and welcome them.Well I can't describe the environment of this place,at least not in words,there were lot of activities going on, there was many group of 6-7 people who were drinking beers , chatting with each other and watching other people dance. Some were playing games like who can drink more beers, who can drink beer in most awkward position. And looking at the people dancing it looked like they were competing for some sort of prize,they all were great dancers.

While Ariana was with her friends ,peter had arrived to Brandon to explained him that he didn't see him coming on the other side of the field and he had to make decision. And apologized for his mistake. Brandon assured him it was not his mistake though it was.

Ariana returned back and took Brandon by his hand out of the house and closed the door behind. “Everyone is asking about Kait”Ariana told Brandon,“What are they saying?”he replied. His voice was little anxious.“Well,as you know she is the heart of school and soul of the party” though she haven't been in party for last six months Ariana thought and spoke again “She missed whole week of school so Everyone is curious,Where is she?Is she fine?Is everything all right?”she asked suspiciously.“She is all right and everything is fine,she is out of town for a while”he was little nervous this time. But Ariana could not differentiate as they both were little drunk. “So I heard”her voice was not clear as if she was speaking with her lips closed.

They are here for about 2 hour. As most of them were starting to leave now and Few had already left. So Brandon and Ariana has also decided to leave. Brandon had entered inside to get his jacket and say good bye to his friend who were still enjoying the party while Ariana was outside talking with her friends who were leaving too.

************

Brandon had dropped Ariana to the house and now he was in front of his house door,he had seen his mother car parked in the garage and therefore he knew they were home so he opened the door very slowly without making any sound. He was walking to his room though it was dark inside as light were turn off but he knew his way. It was not his first time doing this so he was familiar with his way. He did it so quietly that even the sound of silence was louder.

Brandon was now lying on his bed,this party was not exactly what he was looking forward too,he wanted to spend some time with friends but his both best friends were missing in the party.Brandon Powell,Logan Watson and Kaitlyn Cox.,these three were best friends since childhood. There friendship is a Multi-faceted relationship,comprising of a mixed-bag of emotions. They had cried together,empathize each others agony,shared happiness and had a lot of fun. There was no lies between them nor was any hidden truth. They have understood what their friendship means to each other and had never let small disputes and misunderstanding strain their friendship. Well it may be easy to be friends with everyone, but it is hard to find friends who are really true to friendship and would stand by during the hardship of life. And not everyone is blessed with the friends and if you have even one,consider yourself lucky.

“True Friends are gift from gods”. And three of them have realized this very long time ago. They have never left each other even if one of them is walking on the wrong path of life. They have never minded when mistakes were pointed out,rather they tried to accept it and change themselves for the better. They were fiends for ever and have left their clear footprints in each other life.

It was Saturday afternoon, Mrs Powell had gone to job,she was doing over time, she has responsibility of whole family on herself but it wasn't the only reason though four year has passed but still she hasn't quite move on. It was still hard for her to face the reality that her beloved husband was dead. Nevertheless,its a challenge for everyone to leave their past behind. Of course denying or avoiding the truth is not an option but dwelling on a previous life had closed her doors on a lovely time before it even has a chance.

Brandon was in his room playing games on his PC, And the door bell rang,her sister was downstairs watching TV so Brandon didn't bother to go to open the door, he could hear his sister talking with someone and he could hear the other voice and it was not hard for him to recognize it was Logan.

He and his girlfriend had just parted away. And Logan used to really like her so it was very hard time for him. Brandon went to the stairs and shouted “Come up buddy” without even looking downstairs. He could now hear the footsteps closing towards him. So he went inside. Logan came up stairs and went to Brandon room.

Brandon shouted “ What the hell!!!”

Logan was standing in his room and went for the bed to take a seat. Well he was average height guy with curly brown hair, wide stretched forehead, thick dark black eye brows and his light brown eyes covered with water like fluid and black circle was stretched below them. His round face with normal looking nose and small mouth with short thin lips was looking very sad. He was wearing blue check box blue shirt and black jeans. He was sweet and cute looking guy .

“you look like you haven't slept for years” Brandon spoke again. Logan replied “Haven't slept all night long” with sad,soft and small sound.

He reached for the Cd disk which was lying in the bed and spoke again “were you playing this game” with a surprized voice and showing the Cd cover to Brandon, Brandon laugh and replied “this ain't that bad” he was still laughing when saying this, Logan lips were stretched and he was smiling. This was the Cd given by Logan to Brandon few months ago. And Brandon had told this game sucks at that time.

“I'm Sorry man” Brandon spoke with sympathetic voice.“Ah,its all right” but still he sounded sad. “I stood all night long thinking about it,thinking about what did I do wrong” with a depressing tone in his voice. “You did nothing wrong and you know that right?” he sounded little reassuring and he looked in Logan face to find out how successful was he. There was no expression in his face.“I figured out that, it was not my mistake,that we broke up but there was something missing in our relationship and it didn't work”,Brandon mouth was opened with surprised when he heard “relationship” word. but Logan voice was quite optimistic when he spoke. “Yeah, convertible and green papers in wallet,that was what was missing” he told angrily.

She had left Logan for a guy who had convertible and was son of some actor.

“ Yeah, I came to that point too but I don't know exactly why she left me?” Logan spoke with angry voice.“girls are complicated” Brandon spoke softly and sighed after as he have faced this problem too.“I have heard that before but now I think I understood what they mean” a smile came across his face while saying this.

Brandon was looking at Logan face and thought humans are complicated.

“But I am not going to run after her,for that I am sure,she is the one responsible not me” Logan replied confidently.“There are plenty of fish in the lake, right?” Brandon replied.“Yeah,sure for star player with six pack abs body” Logan replied. “You are intelligent than me,you are mind blowingly good with computers.”Brandon replied happily. “wasn't talking about you”,Logan replied with a smile on his face,he seemed bit relaxed and his voice confirmed that.

“So you sure are okay” he replied,he was still laughing. Brandon asked“What if she comes back to you again?” confusedly. “screw her,she don't deserve me,no more” he was grinding his teeth while he spoke.

“when will kait return back?” he asked again with soft voice.“Next week, that's what she told me, didn't she tell you?”.“She told she will call me before returning back”there was long pause then “Did you tell her?” Brandon broke the silence with uncertain voice.“Nah,she is going through a lot now,i will tell her after she returned back.” he told calmly.

He spoke joyfully “Let me play,haven't played for a long time” and signaled Brandon to move from the chair. Brandon stood up and shifted for the bed as Logan was moving towards the desk, his phone rang. He took out the phone from his jeans pocket, it was text message from his another friend Tom and moment later Brandon phone rang too. It was same message forwarded to both of them. “It's ready come to Roach place”, they both understood what it was about.

Logan and Brandon were not expecting for this. Though they both has little knowledge that it could be happening today or tomorrow. Logan and Brandon both face was full with surprised and excitement. They four used to smoke together and no-else has knowledge about this except for Kait. Brandon Sister knew he used to smoke but have no idea how often , where about or with whom.

“Get dressed , let's go” , Logan spoke with excitement. Logan was always ready for this kind of stuff though Brandon has introduced this for him a year ago. “Are you sure”, Brandon asked surprisingly. “Of course, tell me you are not thinking its because what happened” , “No” he replied instantly. He had know Logan for long time so there was no doubt that this may be because of bad days he is facing these days though it may have some role in it but Logan was fond of this thing. “But you know” Brandon was speaking when Logan cut him off in the middle “And I need to get out to the world” he replied restlessly. “Hurry,I will be waiting downstairs” he spoke cheerfully and walked out of the room closing the door behind him.

Brandon mom won't be home till 8 PM and he could be back before that so he didn't have any problem but Logan family was in the house but it was not a problem too. Though Logan was fond of this thing,he knew his limit. He never used to smoke a lot.

Logan was walking towards a couch in living room, Brandon sister Michele was sitting on next sofa,she was tall,beautiful girl with exact same eyes as Brandon with similar facial pattern,anyone who see both of them together will tell them they were twin despite the fact they weren't. She was two years older than Brandon and Logan. She has been great moral support for Brandon and as well for Logan and Kait. She was much more mature for her age. She has also known Logan and Kait from childhood and has supported them in every possible way. She was into Literature and had very different prospective and definition of life. She was brilliant in her studies since childhood and got scholarship to go to Harvard University. She was here on vacation.

They were talking about the TV series Michele was watching when Brandon finally came down. “Let's go” he whispered to Logan. “We are going out,I will be back before Mom” he told Michele in calm and soft voice. “You better” she suggested. Brandon grabbed the keys and they both hurried towards the Brandon car. They both knew there was no time to waste.

***************

It was already six pm. They have started to smoke since 3 pm. By now Logan was out of the trip. And was preparing to leave while Brandon was high and smoking for last time before they leave. “I need to be home in thirty minutes or I will be in lot of trouble.” Logan shouted tying to break the sound of big loud music and water Bong. Brandon has just finished inhaling. Logan was standing and watching Brandon to finished. He then gave a min or two for Brandon to organize himself.

Brandon stood up but couldn't balance himself. Logan caught him before he could fall down. He then took few deep breathes so he can catch his balance. Now they were both ready to leave. They walked outside the room and stood outside for a minute or so they could adjust to the atmosphere outside of the room. Bright light were hurting their eyes. Let me drive Logan again broke the silence while walking towards the car. “I'm fine,I got it”, Brandon insisted. And went for the driver seat. Logan went for his seat. And he was not confident of his drive though he has Driving license. Brandon has drove in more worse condition and they have both reached home safely but it wasn't the same everyday. Though records showed Brandon has crashed his car once,he may have done it more than half dozen a time.

They have been driving for twenty minutes listening to the music and were in their neighborhood now. They haven't spoken much and has maintained silence through out the road,it was comforting both of them. They were in front of Logan house and Brandon tried to stop a car in side of the road. He broke the side view mirror of car which was already parked at the road side. And smashing of the mirror made a quite a big shattering sound and it was followed by the Security sound which was installed in the car which broke the pleasing environment of the area. It was Logan neighbors car who probably heard the sound and was trying to come out but turned on the door light before coming out.

They both spoke at same time “Shit!!”, Logan studied the situation for a moment and suggested Brandon “Come to passenger seat” with worryingly voice. “Why??” Brandon spoke , “there is no time do it now,c'mon” he whispered and started moving to driver seat. There was very small space so it was hard for them to exchange seat but have managed before neighbor could see them.

Logan opened the door and stepped out. His neighbor was already there by now and was inspecting the car. And it was pretty clear that mirror was hit by tail gate of pick up truck which was meter ahead in the road. “ Oh! I am so sorry Mr David”, Logan spoke with a Ironic cracking voice. “Logan,what the hell” he spoke angrily. Logan spoke with same voice “I was trying to stop it by the side of the road but I don't know how” and then he paused. There was no more damage to Mr David car and Logan inspected the truck and there was no damage to it except for a small scratch. “ Are you guys hurt ??” Mr David asked formally. Brandon was standing by the side of car taking the support on car door. They both replied “ No,we are fine” neutrally.

Logan parent were coming out of the house. There was going to be a long discussion now,Logan has realized the situation so he spoke “It's all my fault, is it all right if he go” now looking at Brandon he spoke again “ he need to be home by now,his sister had called few minutes ago”he lied. Brandon also has realized the situation by now. It was going to be bigger problem if they found out that he was high. Looking at his smashed mirror,Brandon and turning back to see Logan parents he spoke gently “All right but drive carefully!”. Logan breathed heavily when he heard the words. And turned back at Brandon. Brandon understood and hurried towards Driver seat dragging his hand through the Bonnet of the truck and got in. He had started driving and was already on his way to home before Logan parents has arrived. They were analyzing the situation while they were walking.

Mr Watson and Mrs Watson were looking at the truck that had turned right and had stopped. Logan read their face and spoke “It was my mistake,I was driving” he spoke sadly. Mr David confirmed by nodding his head.

Mr Watson, average height guy with hair turned silver has a oval shape face with medium size black eyes, wavy nose,big lips and indeed fitting mouth with silver short beards was a understanding guy. He had also pulled a lot of crazier acts when he was teenager so he exactly knew how to treat kids. And he was also a teacher in middle school.

Mrs Watson how ever was Passive Aggressive,over bearing,selfish,Neurotic woman. Its hard to understand why the guy like Mr Watson ever married Mrs Watson and how can he sticked with her. She has the dominant qualities. She was kind of leader and has the perfect job. She used to work for insurance company. She was executive officer.

“I'm extremely sorry for my son reckless behavior,It shouldn't had happened” he spoke so politely and feeling ashamed for himself. “Yeah,right, shouldn't had happened but it did happen” Mrs Watson spoke disgustedly. “ wouldn't have happened if you had listened to me and didn't let him out”, she spoke with a same tone. “We will pay for your damage” Mr Watson offered. Mr David stood with out speaking anything. And gently nodded his head. “ We will talk about this tomorrow” Mr David spoke boredly. “Yeah,sure”,Mrs Watson cut him in the middle.

“All right,have a good night” he spoke looking at Mr Watson “ you too kiddo” he tapped the shoulder of Logan. “ Good night” Watson Family replied.

“I'm sorry Dad,I should have been little more carefully” ,Logan spoke depressingly. “It's all right, accidents happen and I should let you practice more Driving but I didn't,It's my fault too” he spoke , Logan could feel the guilty voice of his father. “Listen to you” Mrs Watson spoke with her evil mouth. “And you are grounded” she gave a look at Logan and continued “ Now get inside”.

“I don't understand why you need to hang out with that guy,anyway” she was probably offended by Logan's today's act. But she always is. Logan entered house quietly. He went straight to his room.

Brandon has just finished explaining to her sister what happened. “You know how Mrs Watson is and still you guys” she paused “ Yes, I know exactly how she is, evil” he said ironically. “ She is nothing like that, She is just, her determination has made her so stubborn that she would rather deprive herself of any pleasure than settle for less than true desires. She don't keep open mind: maybe she haven't yet understood that people can't always get what they want” she spoke idealistically.

She took some deep breathes put her hair behind the ear which was hanging on a side of her face and spoke “ She may not mean to do any harm but yes her sharp words cut deeper than she intended.” realistically this time. “And Keep in mind that everyone has different values and others may not share your keen eye for perfection.” her voice was more imploring than she intended. “Being less judgmental now will increase the possibilities for a more meaningful connection” her voice was perfectly calm. “It's easy saying than done” he spoke. “who can better understand than me” she replied immediately.

Brandon phone disturbed their conversation. “ Hello buddy” “Is everything all right” Brandon spoke restlessly. “I'm grounded for a week” Logan replied sadly. “You have been through hard time and I gave you one more trouble to deal with” Brandon spoke apologetically. “Give me your damn phone too” Logan mother shouted.

Those words and that voice woke Brandon from his sleep. He suddenly realized he was dreaming, but it was so real,more real than his other nightmares he used to have. And may be it is because it has happened only a week ago,Brandon thought. He used to have nightmares about the war and people dying. So it was better . It was dream for him not a nightmare..........