Reading Novels & a List of 100 Best Novels

An article about the importance of reading.

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=208369

熟讀長篇英文 陳超明：大考拿高分

Sweet Potatoes

While I was flipping through the old newspapers in my study to decide which to keep and which to throw away, I found a lot of good articles on a variety of topics.  Even if some articles were worth keeping, if I could find it on the Internet, I still threw the paper(s) away.

Lunch with Annie

Yesterday I had lunch with Annie.   The last time we chatted over a meal together was last year.    I could't believe it!  I had thought it was only six months ago until Annie reminded me that we wore short-sleeve clothes then.

We really enjoyed a relaxed and pleasant lunch.  Two and a half hours.  No rush.  The joy of slow.

Insomnia-buster

A student wrote about his sleep problem in the plurk. Coincidentally, while cleaning my study just now, I opened a Studio Classroom (March, 2009) and found a one-page article on this topic: "Get a Good Night's Sleep: The secret to better health might be in sleep." The following are some tips it provides:

Sayonara, Pigeon

The pigeon we saved from the street on Sunday morning bid adieu this noon. 

Last Sunday; that is, August 9, while driving,  we saw a pigeon in the street.  After avoiding hitting it, we got out of the car and took a look at it.  It seemed to us that the pigeon could not fly.   Thinking it might have got hurt, we made a box and took it into the car for fear that it might be hit by other cars.   Then we started to look for a bird doctor.   We finally found a vet in Shilin.  The doctor said the pigeon had no wound in its legs or wings or bodies.  He assumed that the pigeon might be too hungry or too tired to fly.   The doctor gave us some medicine and suggested we feed it with boiled cereal.  Then we took it home.

This photo shows the pigeon sitting in the box, looking tired.

Typhoon Morakot

Typhoon Morakot has caused devastating damage to Taiwan and mainland China. The following are some photos from THE BIG PICTURE, posted by 資通電腦小版主 on my plurk.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/08/typhoon_morakot.html

Let's lend a helping hand and heal the affected areas.

A Visit Paid by Guang-ren

This afternoon, my former student Guang-ren Peng (彭光仁) paid me a visit. He stopped me from turning on the air-conditioner though he was sweating all over from walking in the scorching sun, saying air-conditioning is bad for both our bodies and the environment.

If I Were a Freshman Again

Here is another article on "If I Were A Freshman Again" in the UDN:

http://udn.com/NEWS/NATIONAL/NAT5/5067970.shtml

再當新鮮人／黃榮村：找出真興趣 勇敢轉彎吧

If I Were a Freshman Again

Starting from today, the UDN runs a series of articles dedicated to freshmen-to-be. Some celebrities will talk about their freshman experience. Of course, we still need to think critically about what they say. Please click on the URL or read on. I add some comments after certain paragraphs.

http://udn.com/NEWS/NATIONAL/NAT5/5066599.shtml

Computer Games: A Blessing Or a Curse?

Here is a commentary in today's UDN. It's about the disastrous effect of computer games.

http://udn.com/NEWS/OPINION/X1/5065135.shtml

Plurk

This morning, Annie taught me on the phone how to plurk. "Plurk" is like a bulletin board announcing briefly what one is doing. You might like to take a look at what my plurk page is like:

http://www.plurk.com/June0626

Wherever You Go

This morning at 10 the college admission list came out. Since yesterday I'd been very curious about where my students would go. Of course, I hoped all of them could enter the university of their first choice. However, I know it is their attitude toward their own learning, not the school they will attend, that really matters.

Chung-cheng Pavilion at Wuling

Annie (詹麗馨老師) told me that the three pictures taken at Wuling and posted on my blog yesterday were beautiful.  Well, I am easily attracted and touched by beautiful things and always like to capture them with my camera, however ordinary they may seem to other people.  

A Fairyland

If in the morning when you wake up, this is what you see outside from the living room:

I'm at Wu-ling

This is an entry I actually put on Aug. 3 for fear that on the second day of the trip I can't get access to the Internet or even a computer.  An entry from my imagination. 

Today I'm at Wu-ling, staying away from the concrete jungle, embraced by cool fresh air and green trees.

A Trip to Yi-lan

Today I'm going to Yi-lan (宜蘭) with George, my mother-in-law, and niece.   Tomorrow we'll be at Wu-ling (武陵農場).   On such a hot day, the best place for me is in the mountains.  The green there will cancel some golden heat from the sun out.  How I wish I were in Wu-ling the whole summer!  Losan told me last week that the temperature was only 24 Celcius degrees there.

A Happy Reunion

This evening, I had dinner with four students from the advanced English class I taught six years ago (Sep. 2003~June 2004):  Carol (林琪亞), Cloe (戴文琪), Jessie (黃詩桀), and Ken (王慶剛).  It was a small-scale but great reunion.  

Lunch Money

I'm reading Lunch Money, a New York Times Bestseller. It's about an elementary school boy named Greg, who sets his mind on making money. Besides being a conscientious student, Greg comes up with a bunch of money-making ideas and puts these ideas into practice. Quite aggressive!

Hi, Losan and Peter

This noon I had lunch with Losan (羅珊), a former colleague and a good friend who is retired, and Peter (劉品君), a former student who graduated three years ago and is studying at Illinois University, Champaign, now.

The Best Advice Nine Financiers Ever Got

On the following blog page you can find an article about the best advice nine outstanding financiers have ever got, which is a translation of part of an English article in Fortune:

http://www.tiec.tp.edu.tw/lifetype/post/636/31753