One thing we love about Facebook is that it really does bring us closer to our friends and loved ones, especially if they are far away from us. It allows us to show our friends how we feel about them with one simple click and find out how they feel about us just as easily.

Now, there’s a new Facebook app that is as simple as it is beautiful:

The Give a Heart app lets you give a heart to your facebook friends with just two clicks – and send a little bit of love to those people that are special to you! Here’s how it works…

1. Go to the Give a Heart app and choose the heart you like best. We think the candy hearts are best for someone you are dating, the heart made of rosebuds is ideal for your boyfriend or girlfriend and the cactus heart is a great tongue-in-cheek sign of love for a friend.
2. Select the friends you want to send the heart to. You can repeat the process as often as you like, if you want to send different hearts to different people.
3. Click on the big pink button “Send heart gift” and you’re done. When your heart has been sent successfully, you will see a message that reads “Congratulations, you successfully sent (your friend) a heart gift!”
4. Repeat and give more hearts to other friends by clicking on “Send a heart to another friend”!

Here’s what your gift will look like on your friend’s wall:

If you ever want to return to the app to give hearts again at a later point, you will find the link that takes you directly to the app on the left sidebar next to your newsfeed (underneath your profile picture, about halfway down the page).

Now, whether it’s Valentine’s Day, a birthday or an anniversary, you know how to show your friends you love them: Give a Heart!

Most people don’t need or want to practice kissing – after the first few kisses, you find out what your partner likes and you get more confident. Usually, you learn to be a good kisser by kissing However, if you lack confidence, it can help to practice kissing before you kiss the guy or girl you are dating.

How can you practice kissing?

• There are many ways to practice kissing without a partner. Just always keep in mind that a real kiss will feel different from anything you can practice – and it will make you feel very different, too!
• You can practice kissing on your arm, the back of your hand or on a loosely closed fist. Imagine it’s the boy or girl you want to kiss. This has the advantage of letting you find out how the touch of your lips and tongue actually feels.
• Another way of practicing is with a ripe fruit like a peach, for example. After taking the first bite, explore the soft inside of the fruit with your tongue. You can increase the flexibility of your tongue by picking up sweets out of a bowl using the tip of your tongue.

Now put that theory into practice…

Kissing on a date:

1. Prepare your lips: You can only be a good kisser with soft, supple, relaxed lips. Regular peeling removes dry skin (there are lip peeling creams you can buy for this), lip balm makes your lips soft (ideally, use an unscented, neutral balm), and facial exercises relax your muscles (the same type as the exercises you do to warm up your vocal chords before a concert).



2. Fresh breath: Similarly, you can’t be a good kisser with bad breath. Brush your teeth regularly, especially just before a date, and also clean your tongue and use floss. Chewing gum or mints keep your breath fresh on the go. Only eat garlic if your date is doing the same, otherwise avoid at all costs.
3. Read the body language: There are conscious and subconscious signals that signal that a person is ready to kiss: open body language, turned towards you, hands touching body or hair, etc.
4. Move closer: If you feel that your partner’s body language looks inviting, you can slowly reduce the disctance between you and begin to touch casually – at first, by lightly brushing a shoulder or knee in conversation, then by holding hands or a similar, affectionate gesture. Should your partner pull away at any point, keep your distance.
5. Initiate the kiss: If the reaction is positive, however, you are ready for the kiss. Lean in carefully and slowly, tilt your head slightly to one side (most people tend do go for the right) and maintain eye contact.
6. The kiss: The first contact is lip-to-lip, slightly off-centre. For example, you can first kiss the lower lip (softly, not with tense, puckered lips), pull away a little, then kiss the upper lip. After a little while, let your tongue touch your partner’s lips lightly. If the lips open, push your tongue through carefully, until your lips are touching. Keep things interesting by alternating between moving your tongue around, first in one direction, then the other way. In between, return to a kiss on the lips.

This film has more tips on how to practice kissing:

Obviously, the most enjoyable way to practice kissing is with a real partner, but this online game is also a fun way to “practice” kissing.

>>>If you are still looking for someone to practice kissing with, find them now at be2!

Love exists – in this piece of Spanish graffiti art on a wall in Barcelona….

In the mood for reading? In the mood for love? Let yourself be inspired by these famous couples in literature! We have put together a list of famous couples in literature and selected a quote from each work that you can use as a love quote:

The 8 most famous couples in literature:

1. Romeo and Juliet

No surprises here – Shakespeare’s star cross’d lovers belong on every list of famous couples. Despite – or maybe even because of – the fact that their love has no happy ending, they are firmly rooted in collective memory as THE most famous example of a love that knows no boundaries and that no earthly forces can dicorce.
Love quote from Romeo and Juliet:
“Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, That I shall say good night till it be morrow”
William Shakespeare, Romeo und Julia

2. Tristan and Isolde

The myth of the couple that falls in love doe to a mix-up involving a love potion and a royal couple destined for marriage, is one of the most famous love stories of all time and has been written and re-written countless times. But this famous couple isn’t granted a happy ending either: Tristan dies due to a deceitful ploy and news of his death kills Isolde.
Love quote from the film Tristan and Isolde (2006):
“If ever any beauty I did see, Which I desired, and got, ’twas but a dream of thee.”
Tristan und Isolde

3. Cathy and Heathcliff

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë deals with the passionate love between Cathy and her adopted brother Heathcliff. Both feel an intense bond, considering each other soul mates, but their love is as destructive as it is indestructible. The Twilight-Saga recently brought Wuthering Heights new popularity, as the heroine of the vampire story is constantly reading a battered copy of the novel.
Love Quote from Wuthering Heights:
“He shall never know how I love him: and that, not because he’s handsome, but because he’s more myself than I am.”
Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights

4. Pierre Bezukhov und Natascha Rostova

At the moment the Oscar-nominated “The Last Station” is about the couple Leo and Sofia Tolstoi. In War and Peace, Tolstois historical epic, there is more than one love story. Pierre and Natascha are the most prominent couple, and they are actually granted peace as a couple, after many years of war and emotional turmoil.
Love Quote from War and Peace:
“Love hinders death. Love is life. All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love. Everything is, everything exists, only because I love.”
Leo Tolstoi, War and Peace


5. Cyrano and Roxane

In Cyrano de Bergerac the hero donates his romantic poetry to a rival, for fear that beautiful Roxane could never love him anyway, due to his unattractive exterior. She falls in love with the words, presented by the other man, but when she finally recognizes the inner beauty and that Cyrano is the man she truly loves, it’s too late.
Love Quote from Cyrano de Bergerac:
“A kiss is a rosy dot over the ‘i’ of loving.”
Edmond Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac


6. Rhett Butler and Scarlett O´Hara

Gone with the Wind is mainly known as a film, but the novel was already a bestseller and the couple Rhett and Scarlett was already famous before they made it to the big screen. Even if their love story is turbulent, the ending is open enough to allow for a bit of hope.
Love Quote from Gone with the Wind:
“I wish I could care what you do or where you go but I can’t… My dear, I don’t give a damn.”
Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind

7. Orpheus and Eurydice

The love of Orpheus is literally stronger than death, which has contributed to the fact that this story has inspired many poets, artists and composers, along with the fact that Orpheus was an artist himself. After the death of his wife Eurydice, he descends to the underworld to bring her back. The only condition: he mustn’t turn around until they reach the surface. When he does turn to check on her, he loses his love forever.
Love Quote from Orpheus and Eurydice zum Valentinstag:
“No crime was thine, if ‘tis no crime to love.”
Alexander Pope, Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day

8. Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet

The most famous example of the proverb “The quarrel of lovers is the renewal of love.” or rather: The sarcasm and wit of lovers (in this case Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth) is the renewal of love. In the end, they live happily ever after, as do most couples in this Jane Austen novel.
Love Quote from Pride and Prejudice:
“A lady’s imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony, in a moment.”
Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

The only thing that surprises me is that no one has thought of making this film before.

It’s like a licence to print money, right?

We haven‘t written about Twilight before. That is because we are not teenage girls. At least that‘s what I thought until friends, adults I know to be perfectly reasonable human beings, began to confess to being Twilight fans. And some adults who aren‘t Twilight fans at least take an interest because they have kids who are Twilight fans.

Between the huge hype about the Twilight novels, and more recently, about the films based on those books, it‘s time for an adult‘s quick guide to Twilight:
In 2003 the mormon housewife Stephenie Meyer had a dream about a girl and a vampire. The dream lead to the writing of the first book in the vampire saga Twilight. There are four books in the Twilight series to date:
Twilight
New Moon
Eclipse
Breaking Dawn
The first book, Twilight, tells of a young girl and a vampire that meet at an American high school and fall in love with each other desperately. The idea of the love story is not brand new, but it has struck a chord with teenagers worldwide.

Each of the books is influenced by literary classics: Jane Austen‘s “Pride and Prejudice” influenced Twilight, Shakespeare‘s “Romeo and Juliet ” provided a Leitmotif for New moon, Eclipse mentions Emily Brontë‘s “Wuthering Heights ” and Breaking Dawn draws on Shakespeare‘s “The Merchant of Venice” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.

The Twilight novels have been criticised, amongst other things, for being overly conservative, demonising physical relationships, being anti-feminist and condoning domestic violence.

Twilight Plot summary

Isabella Swan (who prefers to be called Bella) moves to live with her father in the small town Forks. She learns about the strange Cullen family from her new classmates. Edward Cullen arouses her interest the most. His strange attractiveness and seeming loneliness draw her towards him. She learns from the local Indians, who are old friends of her father‘s, that the Cullens are the “cold ones” who made a treaty with the Indians a long time ago. The treaty forbids them to hunt humans on the Indian territory. However, unlike the other vampires, the Cullens are “vegetarians” – they prefer to hunt animals and to live in civilized society.

Edward confesses to Bella that he is a vampire and that he can read the thoughts of other people but that her thoughts remain unreadable to him. Edward understands the danger that his love for Bella poses.The casting and setting of the „Twilight“ films builds up a strong contrast between the human world and that of the vampires.

When another vampire family comes to Forks and finds out that Bella knows their secret, they want to kill her. The Cullens do their best to keep Bella safe, but a vampire from the hostile clan finds a way to attack Bella and bites her. The Cullens come just in time to kill James and to suck the venom from Bella’s blood to prevent her from becoming a vampire.

The official site of the author of the Twilight series.

Twilight soundtrack

The Chinese Moon Festival, also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival, was celebrated at the be2 office last week. Our colleague Yun-Han invited us to join her for some traditional dessert: “moon cake” and “tanjuan” (rice balls with sesame or peanut filling in sweet soup). Doesn’t the moon cake look yummy?

The moon festival is one of the most important festivals in the Chinese lunar calendar. Chinese families get together to celebrate the Moon Festival, watch the full moon and eat moon cake. Couples in love also gaze at the foll moon together.

Much like Chinese Valentine’s Day, there’s a great story to go with it. There are many different versions of the story surrounding the moon goddess and how she ended up living on the moon, but they all end with the belief that you can see the moon goddess during the moon festival.

If a music video director had made this music video, it would be a job well done by a good music video director. But this video was made by a fan – and that makes it a work of love and passion! See for yourself:

Two Weeks – Grizzly Bear from Gabe Askew on Vimeo.

To me, this video proves (aside from the fact that the director is very talented), that love and passion should infuse all areas of our life; not just our relationships, but also our work, our hobbies and our little fan projects, that we do just because we want to, even though nobody is paying us to do them.

Love letters are few and far between these days, what with text messages, emails and IMs taking over. Nevertheless, love letters are still the best way to let someone know you love them. Sadly, love letters are also the hardest things in the world to write when you’re lost for words.

That’s when 1001 love letters comes in very handy. The site hosts a huge collection of love letters, providing categories like seduction letters, erotic letters, miss you letters, friendship letters, reconciliation letters, and many more. Some of the letters are very specific, so it’s worth browsing the site for words that fit your personal situation perfectly (for example “I don´t mind being the Other Woman”, “My mistake”, “To the love of my life” and even “Seducing my teacher” (!)).

Once you have found the love letter that perfectly expresses what you want to say, you can send it directly from the site. Of course you could also use the love letters as inspiration and base your own romantic prose on those ideas. After all, everyone gets text messages, emails and IMs, but by putting pen to paper you will really make an impression!

Whether or not you can or should stay friends with your ex is an old dilemma. But social networks like Facebook don’t just make it easier to trace old friends, they also make it easier for your ex to trace you, whether you want to be friends or not. So: what to do when you receive a friend request from your ex on Facebook? Accept? Ignore? Decline?

Australian singer Kate Miller-Heidke has a pretty strong response to the question “Friends with your Ex on Facebook – yea or nay?”

The song is about an ex who broke her heart years ago and now wants to be her friend on Facebook. Her reaction: “R U ******* Kidding Me?”. She just doesn’t care “what kind of Cocktail he is” Instead, she says: “I don’t don’t give a toss if you’re a pirate or a ninja, I suspect you’d be a pirate but I don’t wanna verify it….and I certainly don’t want you poking me!” So instead of being friends with her ex on Facebook, she clicks “ignore”.

It’s all very “end of a relationship 2.0″!

found via Videogum