Log #2

　　The content I read this week is about the love between Olav and Corina. I was fascinated by the details the author give us. The description the author use is so vivid that I can even feel as if I was watching two people’s real interaction. From their eye contact I can realize the what’s the true soul living in their body, and from their facial emotion as well as language I can feel how truly they love each other and how great they eager for this love. In this week’s reading, Olav has already started his plan to fix Mr. Hoffman. He went to meet “Fishermen” which once was their enemy.

　　There are some sentences that I find meaningful and want to share. 1. Greed is like melt water, when one channel gets blocked he simply find another one. We human sometimes are indeed greedy, and become so ridiculous. We may do something against our conscience to achieve our goals. However, greed is not that bad when it becomes ambition because we will spare no effort to fulfill our dream. 2. The fact that someone gets hit by stronger doesn’t mean they don’t deserve it. Laws and cognition nowadays always protect the weak. For example, if a scooter have car accident with a car, the car driver tends to take more responsibility; however, it may be the scooter driver that doesn’t obey the road rule. As a result, there is a Chinese sentence goes that “大車撞小車，大車理虧”. This doesn’t make any sense at all. 3. A few ripples in water, there for a while and then gone. As if they’d never been there. As if we had never been here. Things usually acts like what the sentence has told us. Time conquers everything. No matter how happy or sad we are at a moment, the feeling will definitely faint away as time goes by. Thus, there is a proverb goes that time heals everything. If we are upset now we shouldn’t give up because everything will be okay as time passes. Also, we get a Chinese sentence that 時間過了事情就過了. No matter how difficulty one thing is, as long as we hang on we complete our tasks. 4. That was the virus I had in my blood. This sentence make me think of bad habits. Bad habits are always easy to form but difficult to get rid of like virus. Nonetheless, if we dispose of it we get a great achievement.

　　In the following story, I am looking forward to how will Olav cooperate with “Fishermen” to take Mr. Hoffman down and how will Olav and Corina maintain their relationship so that they can lead a happy and sweet life. 

Log #1

So, it took me about three days to look for the e-book version of the music theory.
I think I'm too lazy to carry books around so I'm pretty stubborn on looking for the e-book.

The reason why I chose this book is since I'm involving my self into the music industry, I think I'll have to advance my understanding to the basic music knowledge.
But when I finished the first chapter, I decided to turn this project down. Because after all these non-reading years, To me I think it's better for me to find the sense of reading back before directly reading a textbook.

It's time to tlk about the book.
The very first chapter is talking about writing the tabs. It described how to  draw the "Durational Values" (note), defined the proportional relationship between one note to another, defined the notes in musical time and space.
For example, four quarter-note (Crotchet) equal one whole-note (Semi-breve), a dotted note means there are 1.5x original note. In a normal tab such as 4/4, a semi-breve equals a section.

According to the contents above, I think it's pretty easy to see the reason why I turned the project down.
I can't feel the flow condition while reading this book.
I think I'll find a novel first to help me get the sense of reading back to me real quick.

Log #1

    I want to know what is family?  Who can be family? How to be a family? Family is a place where you born and lived even you grew up and knew what is love. Sometimes when I argued with my dad, I would force myself to calm down and collected my thoughts. Why we are family? Because we had to love and forgive each other so we need more love.
    A romance is not only talk about a couple or lover's story but also a family. I chose this book because it attracted me a lot. When I read it, I always imaged the scenes occurred in our family. But I still don't know how to describe our family love. It combines many elements like toleration, forgiveness, respect and communication things like that. We can find a best way to find out our family romance. Then, love yourself and your family.

Log #2

              From Chapter 5-9 (Page 55-98), the author basically describes three stories from the eyes of a girl. It's interesting to read those stories because the kids' imaginations are so cool. Also, I like to read how their father and other adults react to their behavior.
              First of all, three of the child characters make up a drama of the mystery of the neighbor's son and they even try to deliver a letter by a fish pole to ask him out and play with them. And then, snow falls in the town for the first time, the kids definitely make a funny snowman. At night, a fire suddenly burn the neighbor house.The scenery is written vividly. Finally, another weird thing happened, kids find the tree next to their house have different stuff hide inside every day as if gifts for them; however, the tree was stuck by cement few days later.
               In the following chapter, it seems that the kid's father is facing difficulty dealing with a serious case. Having  more than two hundred pages to read, i am curious how the story continues.

Log #1

Book: If you could see me now
Author: Cecelia Ahern
PAGE:1~58

I bought this book about two years ago when I was in Australia. The author was the one who wrote "P.S. I love you". Although neither did read that book nor watch the movie, I assumed this book would be a nice one for me to start on. But it turns out that I fail myself again. I didn't continue reading after I finished chapter one. I really need to do some changes and make things done. The first thing I can do now is reading this book chosen by myself. 

From page 1 to 58, there was a man called Ivan. He was walking along a neighborhood. He met a little boy, Luke, and they became friends. When they were playing at the front yard, a woman ran out from Luke's house. She got on a car and drove away. Ivan asked Luke who the woman was, and Luke said that was his mother,Saoirse. Luke's aunt, Elizabeth, came running after Saoirse and shouting at her. But she already drove away. Luke's mother was pregnant when she was very young. No one knew whom the dad was. The name, Saoirse , means freedom in Irish. Saoirse acted just like the meaning of her name. She could not be control by anyone. She did not even care about her son, Luke. Elizabeth was the one who took care of the whole family. All her life was taking care of Elizabeth and Luke. 

Later, Elizabeth saw Luke playing and she asked what he was talking about. Luke said that he was playing with his new friend, Ivan. Surprisingly, Elizabeth couldn't see Ivan. He was an invisible person! I am not sure how the story will go on, but this is kind of interesting. Elizabeth thought Luke was insane. She didn't believe in what he said. Luke even asked for extra pizza for Ivan. But Elizabeth just didn't want to waste the food just for an imaginary person. Luke insisted to give Ivan the pizza, so Elizabeth did not have choice and placed a piece of pizza on a plate.

In this story, Ivan was actually existing. I don't know why he was invisible. Maybe he was a ghost. However, Elizabeth seemed to hear Ivan. After eating the pizza, Ivan said thank you to Elizabeth. She said, "You are welcome, Luke." to him. I am looking forward to seeing the interaction between these two people. Ivan could see Elizabeth, but she could not see him. It could be very difficult for them if they were going to have a relationship. 

Log #1

   Book name: EAT PRAY LOVE
   Author:Elizabeth GILBERT
   Reading log :p1~p44
   

   This book was found in an university library near my home. It categorized as Geography type on the book case. After I read “The New York time’s book review” at the bottom of book cover, I found a lot of interesting thing that I was curious about. Therefore, I chose the book.

   The first interesting thing is about the theme in this novel. According to the book review, the story is about a woman who decided left behind everything to travel in order to examine three different aspects of her nature after she divorce. What’s more, it seems like base on the author’s real experience. I believed many women have some confusion in their life. They may also have the same thought like the author. However few of them can make their thought come true. Honestly, I also have the same idea not long ago. Leave alone without my family or kid, and hope that all of the problems and difficulties will disappear immediately. But after I told the idea to my friend, she just said:” Don’t be silly, you can’t hide and never be found forever.” I think the main difference between the author and I is that I have a kid but the main character has’t. The main character said that she has ever wished to have a kid when she was young, but he

r sister to her: “Having a baby is like getting a tattoo on your face. You really need to be certain it’s what you want before you commit.” That was really a very realistic admonition. She took the advice and wrote down what she experience.

   After I got whole picture of this book, I continued to read the story, the second thing I felt that interesting is the point of view. This story is completely written with a first person perspective. From p1 to p46, It a little bit like read someone’s diary. The author use the pronoun: I. As a result, it easy to read and also easy to have the similar feeling to her. At the beginning she told the feeling and reason why she want to divorce, and then she raised an important question to herself “What do you want to do?” And another question she asks herself is that “ Is this lifetime supposed to be only about duty?” That’s also two questions in my mind, so I got the hook and tried to know more about the story.

   After the questions she asks herself, she has an eager to find a spiritual teacher. The section 8 and section 9 is about pray. The process of divorce is difficult, and some conflict still can’t be resolved. As a result she started to pray. Her petition to god is trying to end all the conflicts in her marriage. At the end of section 9, her petition works, her husband sign her petition, so she brings about her pray. The process of her divorce is very truthfully. Unlike other novels that are a little bit exaggerate. It’s easy understand and easy to get an echo from me.

  I am a practical person, so I am interested this kind of novel which discuss the questions or issues in the real world. I just read the beginning part of story; I hope that the following story will be more interesting.

        

  

My reading historoy

Reading history

     Life is similar to a trip. We have many places to visit. We see different things in different places, and we meet different people in different period. However, we can find that nothing can last forever. A beautiful historic spot may be destroyed by some selfish tourist. Your friends perhaps become your enemies. Not to mention your lover. Ok, you may say, “How about human’s best friend-Dog.” Unfortunately, they have a short life span. Those people we love will leave me one day. But, fortunately, I found a best friend who is always stand by me: Reading. I will briefly introduce how reading becomes my best friend in my childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.

    Reading brings a lot of happiness to my childhood. I was an introvert child.
For example, when I was in kindergarten, I studied in a super big class. If my memory is correct, there were almost 50 kids in a same classroom. All of the props in school were few and kid had to share. When teacher said that: Kids, let’s operate these props. All of the kids swarmed out, so I even couldn’t see the props. I was afraid to join them. I chose to be an outsider to look at them. There was similar situation in my house. I had two siblings. We share few toys. If there was a competition for toys, most of the time, I was a loser. But fortunately, my father was a books lover. There was a large bookcase in my home. My father often bought different kinds of new books. They were so beautiful and smelt good. I always remember the first time I saw the picture books in my home. The color was bright and graceful. I loved those books at my first sight. Unlike the toys, I could get at least one book to read. My siblings and I had a good time to read those new books. My mother sent my sister and brother to learn some interesting talent such as painting or English, but I only got a difficult abacus class. Sometimes, I felt alone, so I started to let myself immersed into the world in the different kinds of story books. The most impressive foreign literature works are “Little Nicholas” and “Mafalda”, these books are very funny and bring a lot of happiness to me.



    My adolescence is a climax of my reading history. As a teenager, I started to face some problems in school and family. I felt stressful and helpless. Novel gave me an exit to the real world. Besides the famous novel of金庸. I also very like a female writer; her name is 亦舒. She didn’t wrote an exaggerate story. The tone in her story always light but give you a space to imagine. When I was a junior high school student, there were few TV programs on TV and no internet. I also read some literature works such as” Gone with the wind”, “Daddy with long legs” and” A lamp in the attic”, Those books actually made me see a different world.

     When I became an adult, reading still by my side. My first formal job was a flight attendant. At that time, I had a fear of loneliness at first. Sometimes I got a jet-lag and stayed at hotel. Therefore, I brought some books when I flew to other countries. However, there are fewer and fewer time to read when I getting older and older. I like to buy books, but I don’t have much time to read them. As a result, they gradually become a decoration on the bookcase.

     Reading is my best friend. Never give up or betray me. However, I leave it alone sometimes. But, I don’t worry about it. Because we will be best friend forever.
　

Things to do on 9/26

Dear all,

Concerning what's been happening these years, I find it important that we also spend some time talking about this issue, and I hope our concerns are not only shown in this limited two hours. Last year I shared Malala's speech and interview with your seniors, you can also go view them. Here I  am going to share two speeches, by the world-wide known celebrity, Angelina Jolie, and the US Secretary of State, John F. Kerry, and two short essays about the refugee issue (one from Time magazine and will be distributed in class).

In a small nation far away from Europe, we don't seem to have the urgent call to cooperate to receive refugees, but what if the problem becomes unmanageable,
1. are you willing to take in refugees to Taiwan, even to your workplace, your school, and even your home?

2. From what you have seen on TV, what might be your concerns and worries about refugees flooding to our  country?

3. And you can raise your own questions, too.


1. Angelina Jolie on Middle East (Syria)



2. John Kelly spoke in the UN on Syria and a short commentary:

His tone, critical and harsh, tells the UN how incompetent it is to deal with the issues: refugees and wars. "Collectively, what are we going to do to deal with it?
We are not politicians, but what can we do or think about to prepare for this to come to us someday.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/09/23/the-ancient-tragedy-john-kerry-used-to-explain-syria/?postshare=1361474702704231&tid=ss_fb-bottom

3. One more: how about this little boy who wrote Barack Obama and expressed his generosity to take in a boy survived from bombing, losing his family, in Syria?

http://www.theatlantic.com/news/archive/2016/09/six-year-olds-letter/501203/


Also, I found I enjoyed so much reading your posts (your log 1). The books chosen this year are a lot different from what were read last year. This could help even me to find my next book to read.

What you revealed in your reading history also showed that reading has been gradually wide spread among high schools that most of you have been readers even before you come to this class. I am waiting for a fruitful year of books and reading and insights to unfold!

**reference: Merkel says Germans fulfill refugee duty, now time for EU to act

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-24/merkel-says-germans-fulfill-refugee-duty-now-time-for-eu-to-act

Log #1

　　I have been interested in this book, Before I  Go To Sleep, for a long time, since it has published its Chinese version and has been adapted into a movie and both have become a hit. I have also heard of that the story is exciting and mysterious and the ending gives a surprise. At the time I saw this book, I chose it without hesitation.
　　The story was about a woman who suffered from amnesia. She would forget everything happened yesterday when she woke up in the morning; however, she could remember things that happened in her childhood. She had two man, one claimed to be her husband, telling she about her past and the other claimed to be her doctor , helping she memorize things before her accident and asking she record her everyday.
　　I think I still can't get any clue from what I have read so far, because readers know as much information as  the woman in the story. We can only know what have happened from the woman's description in her diary. We don't even know who tells the truth and who tells a lie. Nevertheless, the mysterious and unexpected story line drives me keep reading it. I am now curious about if one day the woman will regain her memory. Besides, I am quite surprised that I did find something fun during my reading, I feel myself being willing to read this novel and even want to spend a lot of time on it. I'm glad that I chose the right book.

Log #1

Log #1 Bleak House

I seldom read English novels, so it’s not easy for me to decide which one I am going to read. The first novel I chose to read was named “Bleak House.” I borrowed it from the library. The reason why I chose this book was that the title of book attracted me. This book was written by Charles Dickens, and it is one of his major novels. In fact, I didn’t notice who the author was at the beginning until I looked at the cover for a long time. There are many characters in the novel, and the story is told partly by the novel’s principal, Esther Summerson, and partly by an omniscient narrator. The centre of the story was the heritage litigation,Jarndyce and Jarndyce. The case could not be seen and end because someone wrote several conflicting wills.

In this story, the plot impressed me was that Richard Carstone who was a ward of Chancery in this case won the lawsuit, but there was not much left because of the litigation cost. While I was reading this part, I recalled one of my aunts because she had met the same situation as what happened on Richard Carstone. And I have learned one thing from them is that the cost ─ with all the lawyers and all the papers ─ would be very great. There may even be nothing.

Log #1

Pages Read: 1-80

   For the first book of this semester, I chose " The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender" by Leslye Walton. Published in 2014, the book is a tale that Ava Lavender, a girl born with wings on her back, tries to discover where her wings are from and endeavors to fight against the prejudices the world places on her. I chose this book because I love tales and the cover caught my attention when I wandered in the book store. The plots look nice, too. However mostly, it is because I planned to finish it last semester but I failed. I feel that I have the responsibility for it. After this book, I hope I can find the courage and confidence to live my life paying no attention to others' judgement.

  From page 1-80, Ava dated back her family history, from her grandmother to her mother. Her grandmother's family was rooted in France in the beginning. Nevertheless, their happy and peaceful days were torn into piece as they moved to America, where they had expected prosperity. Leading a miserable life, Ava's grandmother was believed to be cursed since everyone near her passed away, including her lover, parents, and siblings. Ava's mother, though born under such tough situation, looked on the bright side and actively face what her fate brought her. What brought her down was her boyfriend, who promised her to write her letters from college but disappeared in the end.   

  I appreciate Ava's grandmother's and mother's attitude toward life. Knowing that nothing would happen, they themselves decided to change their mindset. For every difficulty I encounter, I expect myself not to be afraid. Instead, I want to see it as a challenge where I can grow and make myself better. 

  One thing I want to mention about the book is that I really don't enjoy it to talk about the long story of one thing just to show the weak connection. For example, the author spent chapters talked about the house Ava's mother lived afterwards, which is of no importance. Oh a waste of pages, and time. Well, I guess I am practicing my patience.
  

Log #1

BOOK: The Last Pope

AUTHOR: Luis Miguel Rocha

PAGE:1~70

        ‘Why does a man run? What makes him run? Some people seek glory. Others want to win a race or just lose a few pounds. But they always run for the same reason: they run for theirs lives.’ These sentences appear in the first paragraph of the first page. We all struggle for what we are doomed, fight for what we long for and chase what we believe in. However, we live in a universal and connected tightly world, so there will be misunderstanding, diversity and sacrifice among people’s interaction and humanity while we reaching our goals.

        Three aspects describe three characters’ lives and tell detailed things around the last pope’s dead:Monsignor Firenzi’s miserable life ended in protecting some mysterious papers, Sister Vincenza’s fixed daily routine of taking care of Don Albino Luciani broken by finding her lord dead and Sarah Monteiro’s ordinary work erupted by one of her received envelops containing those papers.

Log #1

Book: Go Set a Watchman

Author: Happer Lee

What if something you have long believed becomes fake? What if the belief you have is a lie?

This book was written by the author of “To Kill a Mockingbird”, a famous modern novel which describes the racial discrimination problems in America. I chose this book for it’s called the sequel of the book “To Kill a Mockingbird”, but the content of this novel is far different from the original one.

The girl in “To Kill a Mockingbird” has grown up, and she found out her father who she had long respected is the member of Ku Klux Klan(3K). In her childhood, her father, a white man lawyer, once helped with a black man who was accused of raping a woman, which was intolerable in that era. As a result, she had believed her father as a hero been proud of him. However, as she gradually grew up, she discovered her father is nothing but a hypocrite. How could she afford such a big pound in her mind? Did she mistake anything? What happened to her great father? Through the perspectives of the girl, I started to remind how a person judge one thing, and how the experience can affect human.

Log #1

Name of book: Silver Linings Playbook

　　Before I read this novel, I had watched this movie. I quite like it. the story background is really special, and completely different from other romantic story. This book is more like telling a love story between two psychos, well, I mean two patients with mental illness. I really like the movie. This is the story of a mentally man who struggles to find his place in life but who remains committed to letting love guide him. The very last scene on the soccer field where Pat and Tiffany are lying. They found they needed to be together for love's sake, without any consideration to their illnesses. I do like Pat. He is confused and incredibly disoriented yet he doesn't give up on life and on people. He is so believing in silver linings. And this is exactly what I expect myself to keep up with. It is important for us to have faith in life, to believe that even though life is just difficult sometimes, we shouldn’t ever lose our faith in love. 

　　The way Pat describes silver linings in his own definition was really beautiful and perusable. I can even see the picture in my mind only by reading the words. When Pat talked about A Farewell to Arms, I quite agree with his feeling of the book. The ending of it is too hopeless. I would want to know that if every book has its thought to give out, what does this tragedy want to teach us? I am curious. When it comes to crabby snacks, Pat thinks of some memories with Nikki. Nikki liked to complain on the ride home about her eating too much, which made her feeling really fat when they were still together. Pat used to tell her that he didn’t want to hear her complain. However, he feels regret to did so, and he decides that he would comfort her next time when this situation happen again. I think it is quite sad that it is always not until our lost for us to realize that we should do more for our love and always remember to cherish the time we can spend with each other. I think of one Chinese saying, which I translate into "People are always chasing those we don't have or  we've lost."

Log #1

Book: Me Before You 

Author: Jojo Moyes

I was first attracted by the movie trailer this book adapted to. The characters, the plots, the dilemmas hovered in my mind that I could even recite every single word they say in the trailer. Every detail made sense to me. Therefore, I decided to read the original work to have a closer look of this inspiring story. 

In the beginning of the story, the author first depicts the two main characters' original life respectively. However, a motor accident brings the two together. Will becomes a quadriplegic unfortunately, and fortunately, Louisa becomes his carer. At first, they hated each other so much that they even try not to stay in  the same place, but only do some basic routine. The visit of Will's ex-girlfriend and his best friend saying that they are going to marry even makes everything worse. The good news is under Louisa's care, Will gradually becomes more open-minded. They start to share their experiences and philosophy of life to each other. The relationship between the two seems to be promising. Nevertheless, the morning sun never lasts a day. Louisa accidentally notices the scars on Will's wrists, exposing Will and his mother's agreement that hoping Will live six more weeks. After that, Louisa once wants not to engage in the scheme, but then, she makes up her mind to convince Will to abandon the thought of ending his own life. 

The story inspires me so much that after reading it, I made up my mind to become a better person even I just read about 180 pages. From the story, I've learned that one should prepare and be aware of the day you may fall even if you are very successful at the time. We should harbor gratitude in our mind, for we're all healthy and ordinary. Besides, seeing Louisa has to keep working in order to support the family, I think of myself. I am luckier than she that now I make money for myself, instead of my family. But like Louisa, I almost sacrifice all of my leisure time for my two part-time jobs. I barely have time to do the school work and what I love. After reading this book, I start to think the meaning of my life, my future, and pros and cons if I don't change the situation a little bit. And I was enlightened By Will that he says," you only get one life. It's actually your duty to live it as fully as possible." Maybe it's time to pluck up my courage to do something different for myself.