• Motivating the young and impatient, amid a buffet of distractions, including web browsing, Facebook, parties, online games, shopping at the mall, and much more.
• Over-protective or uninterested parents.
• Students who have no interest in learning, and who have no respect for their teachers.
• School politics and jumping over many bureaucratic hurdles.

In the meantime, teacher unions keep losing their power, pensions become a thing of the past, and pay scales stay stagnant.

Good and Bad Teachers

Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.
~~[George Bernard Shaw’s Man and Superman]

Of course, not all teachers are exceptional or even good. Indeed, I have come across some teachers who do not know the material they are teaching, do the least amount of work possible, and worst of all, use their power and authority to put down or otherwise bully their students.

However, most of the teachers in my school were really just trying their hardest to do a good job, and give their students a good head-start in life. My favorite was my Chemistry teacher. She was very tough, independent, intelligent, and a single mother. Most of all, she was a great role-model, at a time where there were few strong women that I could look up to.

From her example I learned that girls can also grow up to rule the World and make a difference.

Teacher Pictures

Often, teachers are pictured to be spinster old ladies with tweed clothing that smell like mothballs. I suppose this projects the old-fashioned image of a serious educator, and reflects the usual myth that beauty does not mix well with brains.

Clearly, this caricature bears little resemblance to reality. In fact, many of my teachers in college were quite dashing and caused many of us to pay special attention during class.

In my teacher pictures I wanted to create an idealized version of the stylish teacher. She is modern, beautiful, confident, and not shy of her sexuality. She has no need to hide behind tweed or mothballs, and can command respect despite her obvious good looks.

Barbie can be good at math, Barbie can teach well, and Barbie can do whatever she sets her mind to!

• A long life. Elves live for several hundred years, or many human lifetimes. As a result, they are often depicted to have wisdom and patience.
• Enhanced senses. In addition to a long life, elves also have keener senses, including better hearing, eyesight, physical prowess, and sometimes stamina.
• Affinity with nature. Elves live together in harmony with nature. Their houses are within the trees, they only take what they need from the earth, and make sure to return to it to maintain balance. This is in contrast to humans who plunder the earth, and work to subjugate nature.
• Beauty. Elves have a refined and noble beauty. They are often depicted with smooth skin, sharper features, and long hair.

Elves and Humans

With elves we explore what life would be like if we had many of the things we wish for. For example, longer life may give us greater wisdom and patience, but it also results in less passion, a more rigid way of thinking, and a difficulty to adapt to change.

These differences between elves and humans are also well explored in the Star Trek universe with the Vulcan race, which shares many parallels with the elves.

Elves also share many similarities with modern vampires. Vampires have an ethereal beauty, immortality, and enhanced senses. However, being undead, they are unnatural beings who must prey on and steal life in order to survive.

Elf Knight Pictures

I am a big fan of the elven look. Elven men, especially, have refined features, a long-slim nose, canted eyes, and a sharp jawline. I tried to emphasize these elven features in the elf knight pictures above.

In addition, my elf knight has long blonde hair, tied in the style of a warrior. He wears jet-black armor which contrasts well with his light skin and hair color. Also note the warrior tattoos on his face.

As a knight, he is proficient with and wields various weapons and shields. Some stories link elves to the fae (fairies), and as such, they stay away from metal armor and weapons. However, there are also many other depictions of elves that do not have this restriction.

Certainly half-elves can wear armor and carry human weapons.

When I was in high school, the most popular girls were usually good at sports, rich, and of average height. The very tall girls are often self-conscious of their height, and end up slouching to compensate. The very short girls tend to get overlooked. Some compensate by having a louder and more outgoing personality.

Short girls may also wear heels, and more flamboyant clothing in order to attract attention.

Short Girl or Tall Girl – Does It Matter?

Today, it is a lot more politically correct to say that physical appearance does not matter. However, reality tells us differently.

Social psychology studies show that we cannot help but be affected by the physical appearance of others. In fact, we sub-consciously associate attractive people with positive traits including intelligence, honesty, and kindness.

This is why television and magazines are disproportionately peopled with beautiful women and handsome men.

What are some of the features of an attractive woman?

“We found that shorter, slimmer females with long slender legs, a curvy figure and larger breasts are more attractive,” said lead researcher Dr William Brown of Brunel University.

~~[The Telegraph]

Should height matter?

Probably not. But the fact remains that it does.

Short Girl Pictures

To create these pictures, I wanted to pair my short girl with a tall girl counterpart. This will help to magnify height as the differentiating factor.

In addition, the tall girl also has an updo hairstyle, which further accentuates her height. The short girl has shorter, flatter hair, that is tied up in a ponytail.

I also decided to dress both girls in school uniforms. During high school was when I thought about height and physical attractiveness most, therefore it seemed appropriate.

Instead of just featuring just the player, I wanted to create some mp3 pictures that are more fantasy inspired, with the bright technology hues of blues and purple.

Rather than featuring the usual teenage girls listening to music, I thought it would be fun to have a robot girl with long bright blue hair and ruby red lips, listening and dancing to the music from her mp3 player.

MP3 Girl Backgrounds

There are several variations in terms of the picture backgrounds including-

• Science fiction landscape. I integrated my mp3 robot girl with various fantasy backgrounds from alien worlds. To fit in with the technology motif, I made sure to tint the backgrounds in a blue hue.
• Musical animals including birds and dolphins. Here I thought it would be interesting to soften the technology hardness of the pictures with something more alive and organic, but also musical. Both birds and dolphins are known for their singing voice and natural beauty, which make them great additions to our music and technology theme.
• Music notes, effects, and other musical elements.

I also used these mp3 pictures for my various technology related articles including an article on getting banned from Google AdSense.

MP3 Girl WordPress Theme

Originally, I created these mp3 girl pictures for my WordPress Media Library Plugin. Given that it is a media plugin, I wanted a technology and media inspired theme. Combining a girl robot, wearing an mp3 player, together with elements of music and movies in the background seemed to provide the appropriate imagery.

More importantly, the familiar Apple symbol is now everywhere, and recognized by everyone. We bring it with us on our iPhones, and we have it at home or at work on our iPads. Together, iPhone and iPad sales make up for about 70% of Apple’s $28.57 billion, third quarter 2011 revenues.

The Apple Symbol

Nevertheless, even before all this, the Apple symbol has long been used in popular mythologies, stories, and sayings. The Apple is often depicted as the Forbidden Fruit in the Bible. It also plays a role in the Trojan War, King Arthur, Snow White, and many others. The apple both plays the role of good, signifying love, youth, and fertility, as well as evil, signifying sin, lust, and discord.

Given the widespread popularity of ‘The Apple‘, I wanted to honor this fruit, this powerful symbol, with a series of Apple themed pictures.

Apple Pictures

For my apple pictures I wanted to feature the color red.

My Apple Goddess is dressed in red velvet and has long black hair with red tips for highlights. Her lips and nails are ruby red. She wears cord jewelry with rubies, and has a crucifix around her neck.

I also integrated the foreground figure with various apple themed backgrounds, including-

• Serpents, in representation of Original Sin.
• Clouds and stairs, in representation of Goddesses and Heaven.
• Trees, flowers, and fruit, in representation of fertility.
• Evening moon, in representation of the magical and mystical qualities often attributed to the apple.

Hope you enjoy these apple pictures.

Why the moon is so lonely? …

Because she used to have a lover.

His name was Kuekuatsu and they lived in the spirit world together.

And every night, they would wander the skies together. But, one of the other spirits was jealous. Trickster wanted the Moon for himself. So he told Kuekuatsu that the Moon had asked for flowers; he told him to come to our world and pick her some wild roses. But Kuekuatsu didn’t know that once you leave the spirit world, you can never go back. And every night, he looks up in the sky and sees the Moon and howls her name. But… he can never touch her again.
~~[X-Men Origins]

Chinese Moon Lady – Chang’e

Another popular moon lady story is from Chinese mythology, about Chang’e, the goddess of the moon.

Chang’e and her husband Houyi, were both banished from heaven for angering the Jade Emperor. To regain their immortality, Houyi goes on a long and perilous quest. At the end of it, he comes home with an immortality pill and stores it in a case, at his home. He warns Chang’e not to open the case.

However, Chang’e could not overcome her curiosity. Finally, she gives in, examines the case, and finds the pill. Afraid of being discovered, she accidentally swallows the entire pill.

Since only half the pill is required for immortality, she starts to float into the sky because of the overdose. She continues floating until she reaches the moon, where she still lives today.

Moon Lady Pictures

I wanted to create a moon lady that is different and out-of-this-world, but still beautiful.

• She has silver skin, and a mask for mystery.
• She has magical snakes for her hair, like Medusa.
• She has a whimsical and timeless quality, as exemplified by the merry-go-round and Ferris wheel. Both are symbols of youth, fun, and whimsy. They are also circular, with no end and no beginning.

Black & White Bunny Girls

In this picture gallery, I wanted to feature these bunny girls in a simple black and white theme. The background is of a simple Yin-Yang symbol which signifies balance. The foreground consists of –

• A blonde bunny girl with a Marilyn Monroe cut, bunny ears, and a simple white outfit; as well as
• A brunette bunny girl with a more modern updo, a bunny top-hat, and an identical black outfit.

Instead of the usual cotton-tail, I decided to use an outfit with a more prominent tail ruffle. I also decided to forgo the cuffs and traditional collar. Red is used to provide an accent color to the bunny girls, and is applied as lipstick and nail polish.

It is also interesting to note that I used the same face and makeup for both bunny girls, but they both look quite different mainly due to their very different hairstyles. In fact, there is evidence showing that just long or short hair can have a noticeable impact on our attractiveness.

I also used these images in my Easter card designs.