Introduction to Poetry----by Billy Collins

I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide

or press an ear against its hive.

I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,

or walk inside the poem's roon
and feel the walls for a light switch.

I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.

But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.

They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it reallly means.

Spring Break

The Spring break is coming. I'm planning for it all the time. I want to go many places, such as the yellow stone national park, LA, and even I want to go to Toyko for shopping. But i still must do a lot of things at home. So I can't go anywhere i want. That is so bad. If i could, i would go to see all my friends who are in different states. we would hang out to sing songs, have parties, travel together, and drink beers. I would go to the beach to walk dog and dig a hole with my dog and i guess i might have a tem there. also i need study to catch up my classes. Big test will come after the break, i'm afriad of getting bad on that class.

Cooking---tomato sauce cold noodles

The concrete method is that:
1, boil 1/2 pot water , put some salt in the water, and put the noodle in the boiling water for 6 minutes, then take them out, drop off the water and put the noodles in cold water.
2, use another pot, boil some oil and then put in some tomato. cook the tomato a little bit and then put some sugar, salt,and chicken powder.
3, slice the green onion, beef and cucumber.
4, take out the noodles, put in the plate, put the tomato sause on the top and put the onion beef and cucumber on.
5, at last, clean the dishes.

first year in college

Yes, I don't feel very comfortable in this college but that's not because of first year attending. Actually, I was enrolled in university three years ago in my country, at that time my major was mass communication. I was junior in the university before I moved to the US. We spent some time to practice English in classes, such as listening , speaking, and writing. But that kind of classes cannot be transferred to Ameican universities or colleges and also I changed my major to Accounting when I got to the US. So what I want to say is that I had to restart my college life. That sucks.I didn't take TOEFL test, so I went to OCC a school that is esay enroll in and very close to my house. At here, I need plan my tranferring to my future. But I still remember when I went to univeristy after I graduated from high school three years ago, I felt I was like a runaway horse. I went to a strange city alone where everything to me was strange and fresh. Different people, different accents and different culture. The first day of the univerisity starting, I left out of the hotel with my suitcases and went to the campuse to check in. I met bunch of people I don't know that made me a little nervous, just a little bit. Later we had two-week

military training, during those days I made a lot of friends. Maybe everyone felt lonely coz we all went to the university alone and we were all far away from home.
Now I get used to college life but ill relative...

collective pratice essay in class

I really like reading. It should be very interesting thing when we read. We can know a lot about the world from books if we don't have chance to experience. But it's so hard to me reading this text book. There are a lot of new words to me, and I almost look up dictionary for each word. I hate that. Yes, maybe it's a good idea that we will spend more time in collective practice essay in class. Then everything will be easier. We can talk any topic that students are interested in, such as college life, sports, music, or whatever...

Billy Collins, Poet

Billy Collins was born in New York City in 1941. He is the author of several books of poetry, including Ballistics (2008), She Was Just Seventeen (2006), The Trouble with Poetry (2005); Nine Horses (2002); Sailing Alone Around the Room: New and Selected Poems (2001); Picnic, Lightning (1998); The Art of Drowning (1995), which was a finalist for the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize：Questions About Angels (1991), which was selected by Edward Hirsch for the National Poetry Series; The Apple That Astonished Paris (1988); Video Poems (1980); and Pokerface (1977).
In 2001, Collins was named U.S. Poet Laureate. His other honors and awards include fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Guggenheim Foundation. In 1992, he was chosen by the New York Public Library to serve as "Literary Lion". He has conducted summer poetry workshops in Ireland at University College Galway, and taught at Columbia University, Sarah Lawrence, and Lehman College, City University of New York. He lives in Somers, New York.

Homework assignment

Today when the professor of english class asked us who finished reading the articles that she left us homework, only one person did. Then the teacher put us into three groups and disscussed different topics in class. I know as college students, we have to be responsible for ourselves. We need to do something without others reminding, such as finishing homework, attendent on time, and prepare for tests. But in fact, we didn't do homework because of some more important things. For instance, I was preparing for mid-term tests on the last whole weekends. I do care my average of GPA, so I mean I have to balance my courses. I don't mean I'm going to ignore english class, I just want to save time to handle other tests. After I finish the important mid-term tests, i will spend more time on the class that i ignored before, i mean english class. So i hope our english professor don't be disappointed to us, just give us time.

Los Pelados

Los Pelados is a four piece band from Stockholm, Sweden, with a hard, but melodious sound. Their influences range from such diverse sources as 21st century alternative rock, 1970’s punk rock, and 1950’s rock’n’roll.Los Pelados has been around since 2000, and has recorded four self produced singles. The band has played at a range of different events and at various venues, including the Hard Rock Café Stockholm, always with a rousing response from the audience.The four band members have strong and unique personalities, which bring about a very fruitful atmosphere for musical creativity. Simple lyrics with straight forward messages about broken hearts, teenage romantics, and rock’n’roll life styles, in combination with a melodic sound makes the music stay in the listeners conscience for a long time.

suggestions for english class

Every time when we are in class, we just talk about the book and analyze the articles. But I do think we need spend more time on develop the structure and grammar. We can learn the authoer's ideas in the articles and know the process how they develop their essays. But I think every eassay should have it's fixed model, and if we can master the fixed model we will do great. For example, when we argue with something, is that comparison better than contrast? What else we can use in our arguements? if the more special and nice words we use, the higher the grade will be? I hope we can have a fixed model, it will be easier to write an essay. If there is a fixed model, then each essay would be kind of same, so it will be easier to develop another one. just like crossword. Put the words and ideas in the fixed model. I don't know, maybe it's not good but that's what i want

When I am sick

When I get cold, I usually have some traditional medicine. It's a real fast and useful way to drive away the cold bacteria. The method is: pick one piece of fresh ginger, one or two table spones brown sugar, and some dates...cut the ginger into pieces and put them into boiling water, then put in the brown sugar and dates. Cover the pot and wait water boil again and again. It may take more than half an hour. This ginger tea is a little spicy, but had better drink it when it's hot. Never let it cold down. The ginger can help one to drive off the cold gas in body and keep one warm. Additional, it's still good for women before the masturation period comes. It can stop pain during that period.

Hungry Girl

This is a photograph called " Hungry Girl", and it was filmed by South African photographer Calvin Carter. It must be very familiar .The Photo was shoot in 1993 in Sudan. At that time, Sudan was suffering from the violence and the famine. When Calvin Carter got on the Sudanese territory, he could not believe his eyes. The he sat in the bushes and wanted to calm down, but he saw something more surprised. A little skinny girl from Sudan was looking for food on the ground. A malicious vultures was behind her and waited to eat her. Calvin Carter thought the little girl died, but he suddenly heard her weak cries. Calvin carter immediately adjusted the camera and pressed the shutter, and then drove away the vultures. After that, he was sitting under the tree, smoking, praying to god.
Later, he got the Pulitzer close-up of news photography and reputation because of this picture. However, Many people accused him and thought life is more important than news value. In the past three months, he finished his 33 years old life...

Wearing of the Green Goes Global

Today, St. Patrick's Day is celebrated by people of all backgrounds in the United States, Canada, and Australia. Although North America is home to the largest productions, St. Patrick's Day has been celebrated in other locations far from Ireland, including Japan, Singapore, and Russia.
In modern-day Ireland, St. Patrick's Day has traditionally been a religious occasion. In fact, up until the 1970s, Irish laws mandated that pubs be closed on March 17. Beginning in 1995, however, the Irish government began a national campaign to use St. Patrick's Day as an opportunity to drive tourism and showcase Ireland to the rest of the world. Last year, close to one million people took part in Ireland 's St. Patrick's Festival in Dublin, a multi-day celebration featuring parades, concerts, outdoor theater productions, and fireworks shows.

Mottos from Harvard (University)

This is the liabrary at 4 a.m. in the morning.

1.You'll have a dream if you have a nap now, but your dream will never come true unless you study now.
2.Today I get through with nothing done is just the tomorrow the men who dead yesterday eager for.
3. The second you think it's so late is the fastest moment.
4. Never put things you can deal just now to tomorrow.
5.Time the study pain is temporary, has not learned the pain islife-long.
6．Study hard as a dog and you'll be the next luckydog.
7.Academic certificate is dollar.
8．Nobody can casually succeed, it comes from the thoroughself-control and the will.
9.Please enjoy the pain which is unable to avoid.
10.Only has compared to the others early, diligently diligently, canfeel the successful taste.
11．Nobody can casually succeed
12.Time is passing.
13.The saliva you dribble today becomes your tears tomorrow.

dictation by VOA--my english learning

Venezuela's Baduel Upbeat about Political Future

Mr. Chavez's former defense minister, General Raul Baduel, emerged as a chief critic of the plan. He told VOA in an exclusive interview the reforms amounted to a coup d'etat aimed at broadening the president's powers.
Baduel says the voters' rejection of the proposed changes has opened up a prospect of a better political future for everyone in Venezuela.
Mr. Chavez's proposed constitution would have abolished the Central Bank's independence and created new forms of community-owned property.
The reforms also would have allowed Mr. Chavez to seek re-election indefinitely.
Baduel says he believes a diversity of ideas is important in sustaining Venezuela's democracy. He says the constitution should shorten the current six-year presidential term. That, he says, would go a long way to helping to promote the diversity of ideas.
The left-leaning former military commander also said the government must act to deal with Venezuela's growing poverty.
He says the Venezuelan government must now move to improve the living standards, especially for the country's poorest. He said those living in misery should be helped as soon as possible.
Analysts say Venezuela's economy has been deteriorating and there are growing shortages of basic food supplies such as meat, milk and sugar. Economists blame the shortages on government price controls that do not allow producers and marketers to make a profit.
Earlier this year, Mr. Chavez responded by saying he would nationalize private supermarkets and food storage facilities caught violating price controls.
General Baduel had been one of Mr. Chavez's closest allies after helping to reinstall him in office during a brief coup in 2002.

Sean Maroney, VOA News, Washington.

Upcoming Spring Break

I'm really looking forward to the upcoming spring break. I haven't felt good for a long time and I think I really need some time to relax the pressure. Due to the traditional chinese medicine theory, I know I'm getting internal heat right now because of some clinical symptoms. I have colds and influenza, headache, dry throat. I guess there must be a big fire in my body that makes me feel so bad. I do need the spring break and peace myself and reschedule something. I don't know what i will do in the spring break, maybe i will travel somewhere with my parents or just get enough sleep everyday...I really don't know, but I do need the ten days. That is very important to me, otherwise I will die soon..:grin: If I have a choice, I wanna go to the yellow stone. I heard that it's a very beautiful state park, and I wanna go there to satisfy my curiosity

Zippo

Zippo was founded in Bradford, Pennsylvania in 1932 when George G. Blaisdell decided to create a lighter that would look good and be easy to use. Blaisdell obtained the rights for an Austrian windproof lighter with a removable top, and re-designed it to his own requirements. He made the case rectangular and attached the lid to the bottom with a welded hinge, and surrounded the wick with a windhood. Fascinated by another recent invention, the zipper, Blaisdell called his new lighter "Zippo", and backed it with a Lifetime Guarantee.
Today Zippo has produced over 325 million windproof lighters since its founding in 1932. Except for improvements in the flint wheel and modifications in case finishes, Blaisdell's original design remains virtually unchanged today. The Lifetime Guarantee that accompanies every Zippo metal product still guarantees that "It works or we fix it free".

Women and high heels

A woman will wear high heels over 51 years of her life, according to a study which links stilettos to the female psyche. The average woman puts on her first pairs at 12 and takes off her last at 63, when comfort begins to take precedence. She will start with a low one-inch heel and build up to a towering five inches by the age of 23, as she teerters into womanhood.
There will be a small dip in the early 30s, when many women are running after young children. But the first real drop does not occur until the late 40s and early 50s, when the average heel falls to just under two inches.Only old age and increasing frailty finally brings the enduring love affair to a reluctant end, sales figure show.Said Debenhams spokesman Ed Watson: 'Deciding to put away their high heels for the last time can have the same psychological impact upon women that retiring from work has upon men.'It's an all too public admission that they are getting older, and so naturally many women want to postpone this evil day for as long as possible.
A woman's entire life can be mapped out according to the height of the heel she wears. After a meteoric rise, through youth and early adulthood, they begin to settle down before dropping back gracefully to a comfortable old age.

Reading is good

I do think reading is good. Sometimes we don't have chances to go all over the world, but we can know something from the books, such as,the geographical magazines or fashionable magazines. We can open our eyes and minds from some valuable books, and they can help us to reach perfection. I read everyday,maybe spend an hour or two hours. I read some articles from website to know the latest news and others' opinions about acdemics.While, I still need to read some literature to help my writting, but I don't have the mood right now. I feel everything is in my mind and all the stuffs are close to the deadline. That makes me stressful. But I'm going to read and impove to a good reader and writer...

Something is annoying me lately

If I must tell you what makes me annoyed, I will say English. That is true. One day I told my friend,who is a english literature doctor, I hate essays. She said,"oh, come on stop" I know she likes essays very much. But for me, those are crazy things. I was a good writer in Chinese, but I cannot express me very well in English. I hate that. Also, driving is annoying me a lot. Yes, I am a new driver and I'm usually crazy on the road. I don't have enough experiences of driving, that's why when I am changing my lane, I cannot tell if the car behind me let me go or not. The third thing that annoys me is that I met a swellhead in my club, and I can't stand him. I think the megalomaniac differs from the narcissist by the fact that he wishes to be powerful rather than charming, and seeks to be feared rather than loved. I mean you can think youself is smarter than any others, but just don't cut a wide swath like a jerk. That's really troublesome.

Math Contest

Today I just finished the AMATYC Math Contest. In sum, I felt it was ok but again the language problems bothered me a lot. I really have a brain of math but because of my bad language level, i didn't understand many questions. I only did eight problems that I thought I really known the formula of them. So far I haven't known if I did good of not, and I'm still a little nervous about it. Actually, I tried my best to do that. I cannot say i don't care the result because I am really attracted to the reward of the winner. Huh,I don't know...I hope I would win.

Childhood Demons

"To really understand someone, you need to uncover his past insecurities and fears," says Atwood. And there's no better way to shed light on his underlying issues than by finding out about those scary experiences at the most vulnerable time of his life - childhood. Ask him what day he wishes he could redo, the biggest misconception people had about him as a teenager, or who scared him the most. "If he says he was criticized constantly by a particular teacher, it may explain why he's afraid of his superiors looking down on him," explains Shoshanna. "Or perhaps a sibling was favored over him growing up, which might reveal why he feels possessive or competitive in close relationships."

Sattva——from Yoga Sutra

The word sattva comes from the root sat, which means "being" or "truth." It's literally the power of beingness, the inner integrity that let the Buddha sit under the bodhi tree until he became enlightened, the power that supported Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., the power that you feel in cathedrals and redwood forests and in people who quietly offer help to those who need it. Sattvic strength is one part discipline and three parts trust—trust that the invisible is stronger than what you can see or touch, and that what you are speaks louder than what you say.

be dead, and to raise from the dead.

My favorite flower is Hyacinth..
The meaning of Hyacinth are:

Pink Hyacinth——Admire and romantic

Purple Hyacinth——Blue

Yellow Hyacinth——I'm happy with you
Red Hyacinth——Give me a touch
White Hyacinth——Be afraid to approach

In early march, it's the right season that hyacinth bloom. There is a Greek myths about hyacinth, the Sun God Apollo fell in love with Fayed XinSi that made Western God Sophie zephyr very envy. So he demoted them as Hyacinth.From then on, Hyacinth became the pledge of love in lovers. The meaning of Hyacinth is "comfirm and forcus on" Maybe this is the constant definition of love.
Many people have fond memories of the pain past, but if one wants to get ready for new experiences, one has to come out from the past. Just like Hyacinth, when Hyacinth wither away, you have to cut the withered parts and let them raise again.
" Be dead, and to raise from the dead."This is the revelation that I see from the growth rhythm of Hyacinth!