THE BIG MISH-MASH

In the ancient English church of St. Mary and St. Barlock, a mysterious slab whispers secrets from the past to whoever stops to listen. It's so shocking and unusual —an alabaster slab with a roughly incised effigy of a shrouded woman's corpse—, that when I came across the photo below I was intrigued. I've visited many churches and seen numerous ancient tombs in them, but nothing like it.

Gazpacho is a traditional summer blend of tomatoes and other raw vegetables that can be enjoyed as a beverage or as a cold soup with different garnishes. It's full of vitamins, refreshing... and delicious!

What can AI do for you? Many people demonise it. As an AI language trainer, I feel like I’m siding with the enemy to build a Trojan horse that will destroy us. But what if we try and find ways in which it can boost our abilities? Here's a practical example of how AI can help us.

Dear Max, I'm writing this letter to you because I miss you and I feel lonely. It's been a while since my last one. You used to tease me saying nobody writes letters anymore. Well, I do. I enjoy writing letters and cherish receiving them. However, for you replying mine seems to be a chore you’d rather avoid, you sluggish correspondent. [fond smile]

This is a delicious and nutritious traditional starter in Spanish cuisine that combines carbs, vegetables and protein. So it's a hearty dish on its own, but for the main dish you can should serve something light, like a red pepper or mixed salad with tuna or mackerel.

Who hasn't faked a smile to hide a bad day? Many human behaviours are not only cross-cultural —it's a small world indeed!—, but also...

It's better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all. This is a line from a 19th century poem by Tennyson in memory of his friend A. H. Hallam, who died at the age of 22. This idea that experiencing love, even if it ends in heartbreak, is worthwhile, ties to the bigger message that we should live fully even if it means getting hurt sometimes. This is a theme that runs deep in The Lady of Shalott, another Tennyson poem.

This is a delicious way to prepare chicken, served in a creamy sauce with vegetables and a starch. I’m using green beans and rice, but you can choose other vegetables (like mushrooms, roasted peppers, sautéed veggies, or a mixed salad) and starches (such as mashed, fried, or roasted potatoes, or couscous).

This book entertains, moves you without preaching with the themes it tackles (friendship, courage, justice, compassion...) and gets you thinking.

We cannot be judged by others for the things we don't say, so whatever thoughts and opinions we keep to ourselves, we will still hold control over them. But we are slaves to our words, spoken or written, no matter how long ago they were uttered or written down. They come back to haunt us from the past, or to hit us on the head, like a boomerang.

The tragedy of our times is that most of us no longer know what to believe in or even if we should believe at all. One has the sense that everything was simpler, less complicated, when as children we accepted things as they were—or as we were told they were—even if they later turned out to be otherwise. Today, you can’t be certain whether a food makes you gain weight or not, or whether God exists or we came about through a cosmic explosion.

A few years ago, I settled a debt with my conscience: I sent New Year’s greetings to each of my favorite university professors and to my high school Geography and History teacher. Truth be told, wishing them a happy New Year was just an excuse to thank them for what they’d taught me and for the passion they brought to their classes.

If life was a song, what kind of song would yours be? Have you ever felt stuck in the chorus of your life, waiting for the bridge to something better? That's what Music & Lyrics (2007), one of my fave films, is about. It’s a tale of two persons who feel stuck and, when their paths meet, realize that it’s never too late to rewrite your song.

Hey, bit of a bad day? Yeah, me too. Want to talk about it? Hmm... me neither. But you know what? I can invite you to a cup of hot cocoa. I have oatmeal cranberry cookies too. It's a bit late for anything else, but one day you could come over for a tea party. I've always wanted to hold a tea party, in the style of Anne of Green Gables, with homemade pies, plum-cakes, sandwiches...

These are some of my favourite works by American artist Jessie Willcox-Smith (1863–1935). Her illustrations for children's books have something unique about them, and her artwork for magazines portray the feminine universe through tender images of house chores and motherhood, while others hint at spunk and spirited determination, particularly in young girls, like the one sitting at her school desk or the one balancing on a wooden plank

The tiniest details hide profound secrets, but we rush past them every day. In the novel The 79 Squares, by Michael J. Bosse, a rebellious teenager discovers this truth through an unexpected challenge that transforms his life. Everything irritates and bores Eric, he feels his parents don’t understand him, and he hangs out with some troublemakers. One day he's caught trespassing in the garden of 82-year-old Mr. Beck, a former convict who served 40 years in prison.

This is an easy traditional Spanish recipe of seafood cocktail with vegetables and salad dressing that is normally eaten as a main dish in the summer. You can also use tuna or mackerel instead of seafood.

This dish, typical of the Andalusia region, is called "picadillo" because the ingredients are chopped. It’s normally a starter on Christmas Eve dinner, but it’s so delicious and easy to prepare that you’ll want to eat it all-year-round.