The difference between infatuation and love

• Definition for infatuation according to the pocket oxford dictionary: "To have an intense passion for."

• Definition for love according to the pocket oxford dictionary: "a strong feeling of affection."

We have all been there before. Whether you are 14 or 80 you will get these insane crushes, where you start to think that you are falling in love with that person, but is it really love?

Despite those two definitions sounding similar, there is actually a  huge difference between the two.

Infatuation, in layman's terms, is nothing more than you having a crush on someone that you don't even know that well but you have fallen for their persona. These infatuations can actually be quite hurtful and obsessive if not dealt with properly. I know plenty of friends who have had their hearts broken simply because the relationship moved too quickly to begin with. A recent incident happened with someone that I knew, she met this guy on our first day of vacation and by the second day they were in a relationship and he was already telling her that she was the love of his life. A little over a week later she broke up with him because he was getting too possesive and in return called her some hurtful names and made her feel bad.

Love is different in the sense that it is more complicated. Too be completely honest, I am 21 now and have never been in love (in a relationship sense). Its a strong word, and I don't believe that it should just be thrown around. We are born to love our family members and love in friendships grows from bonding with that person. Love in a relationship sense, however, is meant to grow like a flower. It starts off with friendship, then from that grows respect and trust and then you learn to love that person for all their positive and negative aspects.

Be careful of using the word "love" as it is so powerful. Don't ever hurry falling in love with someone because it won't last. I personally don't believe in love at first sight as I believe that it is actually infatuation. Some people beliefs about love are different and I respect that, I am simply sharing my advice with you.

Next Monday's Blog: Friends With Benefits: Yay or Nay?

- Heather McIntosh

The Kite Runner - film review

 The Kite Runner Review – 4.5/5

Amazing. Terrific. Electrifying. Words do not suffice in expressing how I found this adaptation of Afghan American author, Khaled Hosseini’s novel by the same name.

The Kite Runner tells the tale of Amir – a young Afghan boy growing up in Afghanistan amidst tumultuous political events – the 1979 Russian invasion of Afghanistan, the mass exodus of Afghan citizens to places of refuge, namely Pakistan and the United States of America, and the genesis of the Taliban regime.

The story opens up to decades later- when Amir, having fled from Afghanistan with his father, following the 1979 Russian invasion, on the eve of a book tour of his novel, receives a phone call from a family friend, who asks him to return to his homeland in Afghanistan to help out the son of his childhood friend. 

The film is told in a series of flashbacks, tracing his childhood in Pakistan and the undying loyalty that bound these two friends together embodied in one of the most memorable quotes of the film : 

" For you, a thousand times over" 

This film had me cheering, sitting at the edge of my seat and metaphorically chewing my popcorn a little faster – in the metaphorical sense.  Everything about the film, from the actors, the cinematography, soundtrack and all those technical and artistic elements were great.

And what added to the authenticity of the film was that some of the actors were locals, despite most of the scenes being filmed outside Afghanistan (due to safety reasons). It is a beautiful piece of work and I would recommend this if you’re looking for a story of loyalty, friendship, betrayal, historical, actions, romance… heck, just watch it already!

Imani Dlamini

·         * Image : http://www.imdb.com/

My week as an introvert #1

This is a weekly diary series of the struggles of not being able to always speak your mind.

This week was a rollercoaster, and I'm not exaggerating.

Tuesday: 
 I returned to the gym classes on Tuesday where everyone was apparently in the mood for chit-chat and kept on asking questions about my mentorship, which is not the kind of conversation you want before a yoga session. Chit-chat is just the worst for me "what are your plans for the future" "how are the studies going" can't they ask me something a little more miscellanous like: "who is your favourite author?" or "Which Cary Grant film do you enjoy the most?". The rest of the day was fine, I stayed home and worked on a bit of my Afrikaans. "Hoe gaan dit?"

Wednesday:
Wednesday was a better day for me. I attended gym class with a big smile on my face as I found out that I passed all my exams and to celebrate I got 16 books for the low low price of R500. I also celebrate with nutella, enough said. It was one of those days where I felt confident and invincible.

Thursday:
This was probably the worst day for me. I got in a huge fight with my mom, I was stressing about my application for my degree in August and I had a huge headache. Not a day that should ever be repeated.

Friday:
This day was chilled. Went to a circuit training class with my sister, ate popcorn and watched Episodes and hashed things over with my mom.


-Heather McIntosh
@heatherluvpink

Book Club: Paper Towns by John Green

"Quentin Jacobson has always loved Margo from afar. So when she climbs through his window to summon him on an all-night road trip of revenge he cannot help but follow. But the next morning, Q turns up at school and Margo doesn't. She's left clues to her disappearance, like a trail of breadcrumbs for Q to follow."

After reading Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars, I have to be completely honest by saying that I was a bit disappointed in this one. I actually started to get bored of the story after a while. Don't get me wrong, I love John Green, this novel just didn't captivate me like the other two did. But it is the perfect novel if you just want to chill out in your PJs all day and read.

Next Week: The Importance of Being Earnest and other plays by Oscar Wilde

Written by: Heather McIntosh
Twitter: heatherluvpink
Tumblr: mcheathermc
Instagram: mcheathermc

Book Club: Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler

Written by: Daniel Handler
Illustrated by: Maira Kalman

"This is the box, Ed.
Inside is everything.
Two bottle caps,
a movie ticket from Greta in the Wild,
a note from you,
a box of matches, 
your protractor,
Joan's book,
the stolen sugar,
a toy truck,
those ugly earrings,
a comb from the motel,
and the rest of it.
This is it, Ed.
The whole story of why we broke up."

The entire book is a fictionalized story of what could be a very real break up. The main character, Min, writes a letter to her high school boyfriend, Ed, about why she broke up with him. Accompanied with the letter is a box. The box contains memorabilia that Min collected throughout their entire relationship.

This was probably one of the most captivating novels that I have read this year, so far. It truly felt like I was breaking up with my boyfriend. I loved the film culture references that this novel contained, as well as my two favourite quotes from the book: "I'm a fool is what." and "You either have the feeling or you don't" by Hawk Davies.

This novel brought me to tears and the illustrations brought life and a sense of beauty to the story.

Book Club Tuesday: Middlemarch by George Eliot

Ok, I need to make a confession. I am a impulsive book buyer. Which means that I just buy books for the sake of buying books. A couple of weeks ago I visited a second hand book store and got 7 books under R500, which is a major bargain here in South Africa. I bought this book mainly because I was intrigued that a 854 page book only costed me R50. Now I have never heard of George Eliot, and I only found out that she was a female author when I did extra research in the middle of reading this novel. I also looked up reviews on Goodreads before I read it and I knew that I had to read it first.

This book had ups and downs but you can't help but fall in love with this book. I even took longer to read it so that I can soak up every word into my brain. I even loved the fact that my copy of the book had quotes for every single 86 chapters. It set the mood for the book. I love the themes that are discussed, especially with regards to religion.

If you haven't read this book already then go out and find it and enjoy the wonderful story that George Eliot created.

Twitter: heatherluvpink
Instagram: mcheathermc
Email: imaniandheather@gmail.com

Geektastic stories from the Nerd Herd by Holly Black review and April TBR

Stories included:

• Once you're a Jedi, you're a Jedi all the way by Holly Black and Cecil Castelluci
• One of us by Tracy Lynn
• Definitional Chaos by Scott Westerfeld
• I Never by Cassandra Clare
• The King of Pelinese by M.T Anderson
• The Wrath of Dawn by Cynthia and Greg Leitich Smith
• Quiz Bowl Antichrist by David Levithan
• The Quiet Knight by Garth Nix
• Everyone but you by Lisa Yee
• Secret Identity by Kelly Link
• Freak the Geek by John Green
• The Truth about Dino Girl by Barry Lyga
• This is my Audition Monologue by Sara Zarr
• The Stars at the Finish Line by Wendy Mass
• It's Just a Jump to the Left by Libba Bray

Ok, this title definitly attracted me when but to be completely honest, I wasn't as into it as I thought I would be, maybe its because I had a difficult week. The one story that I did enjoy though was I Never by Cassandra Clare.

April To-be-read

• Middlemarch by George Eliot 
• Just One Day by Gayle Foreman (re-read)
• Wide Awake by David Levithan
• The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa bank