Life is like a box of chocolate. You never know what is going to be.

我的最新日志

  • Charles Dickens

    2008-5-25

    Charles Dickens was born in a little house in Landport, Portsea, England, on February 7, 1812. The second of eight children, he grew up in a family frequently beset by financial insecurity. At the age of eleven, Dickens was taken out of school and sent to work in a London blacking warehouse, where his job was to paste labels on bottles for six shillings a week. His father, John Dickens, was a warmhearted but improvident man. When he was condemned to Marshalsea Prison for unpaid debts, he unwisely agreed that Charles should stay in lodgings and continue working while the rest of the family joined him in the jail. This three-month separation caused Charles much pain; his experiences as a child alone in a huge city --- cold, isolated, with barely enough to eat --- haunted him for the rest of his life.

           When the family fortunes improved, Charles went back to school, after which he became an office boy, a freelance reporter and finally an author. With Pickwick Papers(1836-7) he achieved immediate fame; in a few years he was easily the most popular and respected writer of his time. It has been estimated that one out of every ten persons in Victorian England was a Dickens reader. Oliver Twist(1837), Nicholas Nickleby(1838-9), and The Old Curiosity Shop(1840-1) were huge successes. Martin Chuzzlewit(1843-4) was less so, but Dickens followed it with his unforgettable A Christmas Carol(1843). Bleak House(1852-3), Hard Times(1854), and Little Dorrit(1855-7) reveal his deepening concern for the injustices of British society. A Tale of Two Cities(1859), Great Expectations(1860-1), and Our Mutual Friend(1864-5) complete his major works.

           Dickens’s marriage to Catherine Hogarth produced ten children but ended in separation in 1858. In that year he began a series of exhausting public readings; his health gradually declined. After putting in a full day’s work at his home at Gads Hill, Kent, on June 8, 1870, Dickens suffered a stroke, and he died on the following day.

     

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  • Blood, Toil, Sweat and Tears

    2007-11-11

    Blood, Toil, Sweat and Tears

    In this crisis I think I may be pardoned if I do not address the House at any length today, and I hope that any of friends and colleagues or former colleagues who are affected by the political reconstruction will make all allowances for any lack of ceremony with which it has been necessary to act.

    I say to the House as I said to Ministers who have joined this government, I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, sweat and tears. We have before us an ordeal of th most grievous kind. We have before us many, many months of struggle and suffering.

    You ask, what is our policy? I say it is wage war by land, sea and air. War with all our might and with all the strength God has given us, and to wage war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark and lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy.

    You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is victory. Victory at all costs --- victory in spite of all terrors --- victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival.

    Let that be realized. No survival for the British Empire, no survival for all that British Empire has stood for, no survival for the urge, the impulse of the ages, that mankind shall move forward toward his goal.

    I take up my task in buoyancy and hope. I feel sure that our cause will not be suffered to fail among men.

    I feel entitled at this juncture, at this time, to claim the aid of all and to say, “Come then, let us go forward together with our united strength.”

     

    --- This famous article was spoken by Winston Churchill, who I admired very much. And each time I read this article I could feel the energy, passion, and strength.

    Victory at all costs --- Victory in spite of all terrors --- Victory, however long and hard the road may be, I will fight for it!!!

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  • The Smell of Grass

    2007-10-23

    The Smell of Grass

          Oh, how cool and tranquil it was, lying in the freshly cut jade grass. The aroma of wet grass was enough to take Amber back to when she was four. Spread out in that grass, she gazed into the soft, blue heavens. She and her father would make clouds into animals, and her father would always say they looked like elephants. The cicadas would buzz, a sound of summer. Even though the heat was sweltering, the cool backyard grass was just the trick to refresh Amber and her father.

          Every time she thinks of her early childhood summers, she remembers grass, melon, Popsicles, plastic pools, sprinklers, blue skies, clear water and green, green grass. Amber snapped out of her memory and unlocked the front door. Lately, she had been thinking a lot about her backyard and those summers she spent with her dad.

          Amber's father had died August 24, 1990, when she was five years old. He'd been diagnosed with cancer that summer but kept it a secret from Amber, not wanting to ruin their last few weeks together. She'd missed him a lot lately; last Tuesday he would have been forty-five years old. Even though she was so young when he died, she remembered everything about him. His big smile, tan complexion, his comforting laugh. She loved every second of the day she spent with him; she was definitely her father's daughter.

          Amber plopped her stuff down on her mother's desk and started her history work. After twenty minutes had passed, she stretched and looked around. She needed a pencil sharpener. She fumbled through every drawer of the old desk. She came as she felt the leather cover. She took a deep breath. She opened it up and began to read the black scribble writing:

            July 26, 1990

                  I still haven't broken the news to my little angel. Every time I look into her sweet eyes, I can't find the words to put it lightly. I know I will miss her the most. If only I could stay to see her grow; we are so much alike. I pray to the Lord every day to keep her strong and beautiful, and I know I will watch over desperately miss all lf our fun times playing in the grass in the yard. I will be waiting for the day she comes to play with me up in heaven.

          Amber put the book down. She did not need to read any more. She was already sobbing quietly --- partly out of sadness, partly out of happiness, but mostly because four small blades of dried grass fell out of the book and into her hands.

                         

                         

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  • Never Give Up

    2007-10-06

    Don’t give up

     

       If we would ever accomplish anything in life, let’s not forget that we must persevere. If we would learn our lessons in school, we must be diligent and not give up whatever we come to anything difficult. We shall find many of our lessons very hard, but let’s consider that the harder they are the better they will do to us if we will persevere and learn them thoroughly.

       But there are some among us who are ready to give up when they come to a hard example in mathematics, and say, “I can’t do this.” They never will if they feel so. “I can’t” never does anything worthwhile; but “I’ll try” accomplishes wonders. Let’s remember that we shall meet with difficulties all through life. They are in the pathway of everyone. If we will only try and keep trying, we shall be sure to conquer and overcome every difficulty we meet with. If we have a hard lesson today, let’s strive to learn it well and then we shall be prepared for a harder one tomorrow. And if we learn to master hard lessons in school, it will prepare us to overcome the hard things that we shall meet in life when our school days are over.

     

     

     

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  • Mother's Love

    2007-9-29

    Monkey Bar Courage

    All things are possible until they are proved impossible

    and even the impossible may only be so as of now.

     

           You stand daredevil high on metal monkey bars, oblivious to danger. “Don’t,” I warn, “It’s not safe.” And you grudgingly oblige me and hang down closer to the earth. I stand guard anyway, but glance away for a moment, distracted by twilight.

           I turn back toward you, only to helplessly watch you fall to the ground.

           You get up gasping, your nose and mouth already bleeding. Horrified, I hold you tightly and try to absorb the hurt. You cry loudly from your pain, and I cry for all the ways I cannot protect you.

           But in a few moments, you collect yourself. With a long, quivering sniffle and a brave, shaky breath, you brush away the remaining bark mulch that I have missed and give me a slightly teary-eyed, crooked smile.

           “Mommy, I really want to get back on. And this time, I want to do a back flip.” You say this even though your lip is still bleeding.

           And in this minute my surprise co-mingles with awe, respect and pride, and I see more than my tear-stained three-year-old daughter standing before me. I see the raw material of courage. I see the makings of perseverance and determination. I see a girl with something that I didn’t put inside her, a girl who has something that nobody can take away. I see you, my daughter, a child who falls down but gets up and keeps dancing. And I see once again that I am the student, and you are the inspiration.

           As I hoist your small body up to the bar my thought is a prayer, for you and for me, Don’t even let go of this.

     

     

     

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  • Born to Win

    2007-9-08

    Born to Win

        Each human being is born as something new, something that never existed before. Each is born with the capacity to win at life. Each person has a unique way of seeing, hearing, touching, tasting and thinking. Each has his or her own unique potentials --- capabilities and limitations. Each can be a significant, thinking, aware, and creative being --- a productive person, a winner.

        The word "winner" and "loser" have many meanings. When we refer to a person as a winner, we do not mean one who makes someone else lose. To us, a winner is one who responds authentically by being credible, trustworthy, responsive, and genuine, both as an individual and as a member of a society.

        Winners do not dedicated their lives to a concept of what they imagine they should be; rather, they are themselves and as such do not use their energy putting on a performance, maintaining pretence and manipulating others. They are aware that there is a difference between being love and acting loving, between being stupid and acting stupid, between being knowledgeable and acting knowledgeable. Winners do not need to hide behind a mask.

    If you have a dream, just go and get it.

    Yeah, why not?

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  • Clear your mental space

    2007-9-04

    Clear Your Mental Space

         Think about the last time you felt a negative emotion --- like stress, anger, or frustration. What was going through your mind as you were going through that negativity? Was your mind cluttered with thoughts? Or was it paralyzed, unable to think?

         The next time you find yourself in the middle of a very stressful time, or you feel angry or frustrated, stop. Yes, that's right, stop. Whatever you're doing, stop and sit for one minute. While you're sitting there, completely immerse yourself in the negative emotion.

         Allow that emotion to consume you. Allow yourself one minute to truly feel that emotion. Don't cheat yourself here. Take the entire minute --- but only one minute --- to do nothing else but feel that emotion.

         When the minute is over, ask yourself, "Am I willing to keep holding on to this negetive emotion as I go through the rest of the day?"

         Once you've allowed yourself to be totally immersed in the emotion and really feel it, you will be surprised to find that the emotion clears rather quickly.

         I have tried this method before. And I was surprised to find that it was useful. So I pick out this article to All My Known and Unknown Friend, whenever you feel a negative emotion, try this method to Clear Your Mental Space.

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  • Life is a chain of happiness.

    2007-9-04

    Life is a chain of moments of happiness. You can always find them beside you, even tiny. So why not to go and find them? Yeah, Why not!

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  • Hold Your Head up High

    2007-9-03

    Hold Your Head up High

    I was fifteen months old, a happy carefree kid … until the day I fell. It was a bad fall. I landed on a glass rabbit which cut my eye badly enough to blind it. Trying to save the eye, the doctor stitched the eyeball together where it was cut, leaving a big ugly scar in the middle of my eye. The attempt failed, but my mama, in all of her wisdom, found a doctor who knew that if the eye were removed entirely, my face would grow up badly distorted, so my scarred, sightless, cloudy and gray eye lived on with me. And as I grew, this sightless eye in so many ways controlled me.

    I walked with my face looking at the floor so people would not see the ugly me. Sometimes people, even strangers, asked me embarrassing questions or made hurtful remarks. When the kids played games, I was always the “monster.” I grew up imagining that everyone looked at me with disdain, as if my appearance were my fault. I always felt like I was a freak.

    Yet Mama would say to me, at every turn, “Hold your head up high and face the world.” It became a litany that I relied on. She had started when I was young. She would hold me in her arms and stroke my hair and say, “If you hold your head up high, it will be okay, and people will see your beautiful soul.” She continued this message whenever I wanted to hide.

    Those words have meant different things to me over the years. As a little child, I thought Mama meant, “Be careful or you will fall down or bump into something because you are not looking.” As an adolescent, even though I tended to look down to hide my shame, I found that sometimes when I held my head up high and let people know me, they liked me. My mama’s words helped me begin to realize that by letting people look at my face, I let them recognize the intelligence and beauty behind both eyes even if they couldn’t see it on the surface.

    In high school I was successful both academically and socially. I was even elected class president, but on the inside I still felt like a freak. All I really wanted was to look like everyone else. When things got really bad, I would cry to my mama and she would look at me with loving eyes and say, “Hold your head up high and face the world. Let them see the beauty that is inside.”

    When I met the man who became my partner for life, we looked each other straight in the eye, and he told me I was beautiful inside and out. He meant it. My mama’s love and encouragement was the spark that gave me the confidence to overcome my own doubt. I had faced adversity, encouragement my problems head on, and learned not only to appreciate myself but to have deep compassion for others.

    “Hold your head up high,” has been heard many times in my home. Each of my children has felt its invitation. The gift my mama gave me lives on in another generation.

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  • Help me to check my essay.

    2007-9-01

    I am a student and I just write this essay to fit for the postgraduted exam for its writing part. If you find something difficult understand or tough, point it out. Thanks.

            As is depicted in the above picture, we can see that the woman employee makes a lie to the man employer. She promises that she will never be married, yet she already has a child hiding in her skirt. From the man’s smiling and his strong vigor to hire this woman, we may draw a conclusion that there exists some unfair phenomenon in the company’s employing principles. The picture clearly reveals that women are discriminated by the work companies and their unwillingness of struggle and suffering.

           There are many reasons explaining why women have to hide their truly situations when facing up with the people belong in the human recourse department of the company. Firstly, employers always took women’s application for granted that they are not wise or smart than men in the same field of the same degree, especially when a woman is married. Secondly, in most of the surroundings, a woman couldn’t find the job or even the chance of the interview if she doesn’t hide the truth that she is married. Despite all these factors, the relationship between the employer and the woman employee meets with some difficulties in our society nowadays.

           Considering all the reasons, we can learn and find some ways to solve this tough and puzzled problem efficiently. On one hand, employers should pay much attention on the woman’s situation fairly while not only judging their ability by their appearances. On the other hand, women employees need to change the dishonest way and talk to the employer sincerely with the truth and later use your ability to earn the respectable from your boss that you are fit to this job. Undoubtedly, it is high time to encourage the government’s endeavor to help women and communicate with the employer.

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