Rupert

Today, I stayed by my dad's side as usual to learn some skills of making cabinet. He made cabinets out of PVC plastic boards rather than fine woods because plastic boards are durable and stable while woods will decay within years of use. I could see those plastic boards segmented orderly in accordance with the size he wanted dance on his hands when he assembled them together into one big furniture. This kind of skills were really fascinating to me.

However, he signed every time he told me there was a generation gap in this industry since youngsters could no longer resist the toil of work. My dad is aging, so does his body functions. He couldn't lift heavy boards easily as he used to do. Being a cabinet-maker's son, I made up my mind that I would follow his footsteps and be an excellent one as my father. For me, this career is not just asthetic but also profitable.

lyric everyday:

Last day was the deadline of the Model United Nations in Kaohsiung(高雄). And actually I had asked my mom about participating in the activity again. However, she seemed not so willing to see me going twice. Firstly, she concerned for my academic performances if I immersed myself into preparing information and let go of my schoolwork. Then, she considered that it was enough to experience only once. Will that make a difference if I get two identical certificates with only diversity in dates?

I figured it made sense since I knew I couldn't really deal with two major problems at the same time, and that memories should not be blotted out by experience once again. Yet SiHwa seemed excited about going again when I told her that I wouldn't go. So I suggested her to have another classmate who had joined the diplomatic team envoys like I had done, and was also good in English. Afterall, it wouldn't be strange for them to stay together instead of me beside.

lyric everyday:

The graduation ceremony of senior 3 is around the corner, which means that we senior 2 will upgrade to senior 3 and bethe oldest students. This position means not only that we are the boss but also that there is a great pressureof studying harder and harder. Of course, we all want to study in top universities. 

However, after knowing one of the senior 3 schoolmates has been admitted to an university in China, I speak to my mom that maybe I can have this kind of chance too. She agreed as we ponder that it is important to have international perspective and it can be realized by studying abroad in China, the nearest and the most convenient in language. Yet we also comeup with some concerns to overcome. One is that it is a nbit dangerous for teenagers to go study abroad. Another is that some certificates and degrees are not admitted here in Taiwan. In the end, we make up a conclusion that I need to get high scores FIRST!

lyric everyday:

Lately, my mom got a long list of songs given by those senior 3 schoolmates as they tried to suggest some pop songs to her as well as their classmates. I saw my mom searched for the lyrics on the Internet and she sometimes asked me of the singers and bands. At first, she was happy about knowing lots of songs. However, I could see her face turn red and then white when reading those lyrics one by one. And finally she shut the computer down and sat silent for a while.

Before I asked her what was happening, she said in a deep frustration and helplessness that the modern songs were no longer poetic and aesthetic. She even complained that lots of songs on the list were just full of "oh, oh, yeah, yeah" and nothing else that made sense. She also mentioned about those nice and classic old songs that really were memorable together with lyrics that were beautifully refined and polished. I remained speechless for a while and said, "I think you should get out of your cave now!"

lyric everyday:

It was really shocking to know the news that John Nash, one of the greatest mathematicians ever, died in a car accident days ago. I had heard of the name from watching the movie "A Beautiful Mind" and that's why I knew parts of the so called "game theory." Maybe the most parts of the theory he studied were the Nash Equilibrium and the Prisoners' Dilemma. However, he had suffered from paranoid schizophrenia that caused him to see illusions every now and then.

I had watched the movie years ago and was fascinated by the plots as the actor saw illusions and talked to them as if they were real. Sometimes I thought to myself that some geniuses are alone because no one would understand them. Some even couldn't fit in the world so that others alienated them, those geniuses. So I think it is good to be unique and strange when having extraordinary thoughts and deeds. Even I would do something weird. Do you know what I mean?

lyric everyday:

The title "On Top Of The World" discussed yesterday reminded me of those two days in Mt. Jade, especially the night in the house deep in the woods. That house is a must-stay place if you want to reach the summit the next day because there is no other artificial buildings. However, that house is said to have been haunted even if the keeper is there. I could still remember one of the acquaintances in the group telling me a horrible story which had happened just right at the site.

One day, as the keeper of the house was about to sleep, he heard someone knocking at the door. He opened up and saw three guys wearing yellow raincoats standing at the door. He invited them into the house to have cups of hot drinks. He turned to look for seats. When he turned back in a second, he discovered those guys disappeared, only three raincoats left. Actually I was scared by the story at that time. What's worse, when we were departing for the summit in the night, I saw three guys wearing yellow raincoats!!!

lyric everyday:

The sound of the pouring rain was really a lullaby to my tiring body. It was so hypnotizing that I needed to paly music when I was rearranging the learning portfolio at night, and I could easily fall asleep as soon as my head touched the pillow. Of course, I could barely wake up and get out of my bed when the sun was up. Was the sun really up remained the mystery as the clouds were thick and the rain was falling hard. 

After eating breakfast and then lunch, I lay on the quilts and pillows, listening to my favorite songs. I tried to focus on the lyrics on the screen, however, I fainted after two or three songs. When I got up at half past four and finished taking a shower, my family was about to have dinner. The rain was still falling hard outside the window, which was again making a lovely sound to hypnotize me to sleep when the night reached its end.

lyric everyday:

After three days of staying up late to 2 a.m. I finally finished rearranging my learning portfolio. I added a catalog telling that there are some achievements and certifications. However, what took me three days to do was the last part of the portfolio -- reflections. I spent times reading others' learning portfolios and recognized that I lack reflections to show my presence. 

By putting two or three photos to my reflections, I could tell that I pride myself on showing my perspective toward lots of activities I had joined in. Also, I felt content when I rewrote and reorganized those reflections I once wrote, a kind of fire burning inside of me that recalled me of my young and crazy past that was still repeating. I hope that this learning portfolio would be not only tools to get admission to universities, but also memories for forever!

lyric everyday:

Before writing this reflection, I searched all over the Internet for the English name of "學習檔案" but failed to find one. (Actually it is called learning portfolio, but I would just roughly call it "book.") I had read some of the books of other classmates and surprisingly found lots of them put lots of trivial but meanful travel experience in their books. Maybe I used to think that reflection of doing great deads was more important than that of accompanying my family. By putting some photos into the book of mine, I think I could add something more.

Furthermore, I carefully inspected and examined my book, comparing it with other classmates' to recognize that there was LITTLE reflection to every activity I had attended. Also, there were little pictures of me to prove that I am a dynamic person. Pictures usually speak louder than only words. However, as the deadline was around the corner, I needed to finished it as soon as possible and show everyone the best of me.

lyric everyday:

This afternoon, as I was down in the dump of bad scores and felt distressed, my mom suddenly called me out to tell me that I had an evening off. This decision was made by my father, who rarely called all of our four to go out and have dinner together. Even though the sun didn't rise from the west, I still regarded this as a chance once in a blue moon that we could have fun together. However, the feast turned out to be eating at a restaurant nearby where we often went to have dinner.

Maybe this outcome seemed to be not ideal, but for me, it didn't matter where to eat or what to eat. I knew that my father wanted to show his affection toward us by inviting us to have dinner together. I knew that he couldn't express his feeling well and usually hid his emotions back, just like a father used to be. Maybe not many children understand their fathers, but I am sure I know him well because I know he loves me.

lyric everyday:

Tonight, I was thinking about the reflection of those almost countless activities I had participated in. During the leisure months after graduation of junior 3, I spent weeks volunteering in a hospital, where I learned to be more patient to patients. Also I did one of the three things that Taiwanese should do -- climbing Mt. Jade! That was the best thing I can't forget about these days. Besides, I went to China Medical Unversity for summer camp and kept a wonderful memory there. 

In addition, I realized that I had gone abroad three times, including Japan, New Zealand and Thailand, and I came back with full memories and cherish of these trips. However, there were still some memories of joining activities with classmates, like the MUN and the trek across Taiwan. Then, I conceived that these were just some of my traveling experience. Just like my mom had said, "I really enjoy my senior high life to the fullest."

lyric everyday:

Tonight, I saw a familiar shadow hiding behind a pillar in my grandfather's place. With yellow fur and brown stripes, she was lying lazily under the moonlight. Being a stray cat settling down at this place, she was sort of slim due to days of famine. At first, she was scared of me unless I brought some fish for her. When I touched her for the first time, she jumped off and glared at me. However, after times of trail and error, she no longer stared at me, but even played with me even without the lure of food. 

I could still remember dancing my fingers with music in front of that frightened face, and excited her to dance with me by her palms following up my ridiculous finger steps. This night, I watched her melting and dissolving in the milky moonlight while walking toward me. She was thrilled to stalk to my wandering fingers and rub her downy back against my arms, her tail raising high. Seeing her moving so gracefully, I thought it would be wonderful to raise a pet!

lyric everyday:

I heard about the plan you tell my mom that I would be likely in speech contest than in composition contest. And she asked me if I cared about giving up joining the relatively stressless composition contest. Since I had told her that the impromptu was strenuous and stressful without practice and that preparing for composition contest would be easier for me.

However, without much hesitation, I told her that I wouldn't regret participating in speech competition because I didn't want to waste these days of toil over organizing so-called impromptus and I wanted to make the training valueable. On top of that, it had always been wonderful to try something new and complete different. All I was worrying about was the ability to construct an all-right lecture in a short time. It was not enough to just speak impromptu, but to speak fluently and correctly in every part. I wish I could do that!

lyric everyday:

It is interesting to read this piece of news reflecting the educational problems nowadays. The header says "學會比學完還重要," which means it is more important to learn to use the knowledge than to just finish the process of learning. It is hard for students to follow up when teachers keep on teaching and ignore students' abilities. 

However, what catches my attention is the the article below clarifying a new concept of education. Sometimes I really wonder the meaning of scores when there are smart students failing to reach high scores not because of the way they study but how their brains operate. The scores used to be the only standard to evaculate a student's learning, but just like what the article claims, it is not objective and not fair for those with special talents rather than abilities for academic performance. 

Combining these two articles, I think learning should not be limited to books for school tests, but be open to all kinds of knowledge that the society requires and we learners want. Maybe the geniuses are now here in our class!

It is consoling to know that I win the first prize of the composition competition. It seems like hours spent writing those essays are not wasted. This recalls me of winning the first prize of the speech contest in school, another consoling prize for me. However, just because I win the first prize in school doesn't mean I am excellent when I reach out for competitons outside the school. If I can't enhance my ability to prove that I can surpass others, then the prize will be useless and meaningless. 

It doesn't matter whether it is the speech or composition, I will give it a try as long as I have a chance. But comparing these two, I discover that the impromptu needs intellgence and rapid reaction, on the other hand, the composition needs great volcabulary and good grammar. The road leading to succcess is still long and hard for me on both ways. After all, I need to prepare for tests first!

lyric everyday:

Days before exams seem boring since I can even hardly find pleasure in test papers and quizzes. To study at night is a torture when my mind is wide awake with caffeine but my body is asleep and hands searching for pillow on desk. Sometimes, I raise my head to make myself breathe again and watch the fan blades on the celling spin but the air is never cold. 

However, I get up, recover my lost energy when I hear, “It's time to begin, is't it?” Yes, every break I take is another beginning of endeavor and effort. Yet, the night is long and dead, deep and silent, which can reallymake me sleepy. Occasionally, I cast a glance at the air-conditioned bedroom and the way that leads to the door. My heart beats on struggling whether I should just fall into those quilts' arms or hold on to the last miles to go before I sleep. Sadly, I always choose the former one.

lyric everyday:

This Sunday, I woke up hearing my mom saying, “Hey! Wake up! Today is Mother's day!” To my surprise, I totally forgot this holiday as she continuously saying, “Come on! Just give me a hug!” I laughed and replied, “You can just pretend that I had done that.” I thought we didn't need to celebrate it if I regard every day as Mother's Day. I knew that lots of friends of mine had bad relationship with their family, not to mention the most important role in family – mother.

Sometimes they envied at this friendship between me and my mother everytime I talked happily to my mother when we met beside the classrooms. Being a mother of two daughters, I knew that you can tell and feel the same. This Sunday was Mother's day, however, I didn't give her presents because her smile was the most prescious present ever. Happy Mother's Day to my dear teacher!

lyric everyday:

Browsing through this correspondence book from top to bottom, I felt a sense of achievement thinking that I had put lots of effort on writing  those short essays every day. Every wrong word or grammar is a reminder of mistake I have made and a warning that I should learn lessons from it. Besides, the lyrics written down the bottom of the pages distracted my attention as I recalled those melodies and tempos, immersed in wonderful worlds of songs. 

With the magnificence of daily English diaries and songs, I could tell that this correspondence book was not wasted but fully used. I could be proud of owning such a memorable book before no longer using correspondence book. By the way, I want to have my composition of competition back after the judgement so that I can contribute it, can I?

lyric everyday:

I believe I can stay up all night just listening to Owl City's songs and reading all the lyrics. Every time I pay attention to his voice and plunge into his world of lyrics, I feel the love and see those supernatural scenery he tries to express. Also, the words he uses make songs even more alive. In the song of “Alligator Sky,” he says “harmonize with the singing satellites,” “dip your toes in the galaxy,” “take a taste of the melting milky way.” It seems like the dead universe is reviving in his world of imagination. 

Furthermore, I can learn lots of words that are rarely seen. In the song “The Real World,” I learn words like ponderosa, canopy, mahogany, dusk, ablaze, etc. Some of them are really unimportant vocabulary, however, their appearance make the whole song vivid. I can say that Owl City is a singer I love the most!

lyric everyday:

These days I've been searching all over my “music tank” for good songs. I'm not sure whether you discover or not that these singers of the songs never repeat except for the first day. Turn back and you'll find there are hardly any songs that are sung by the same person. At the same time, I'm trying to look for modern songs with aesthetic lyrics, avoiding classic songs that you may hear before. Sadly I don't listen to songs variously, so now I'm lack of new good songs.

However, I still regard Adam Young, the singer of Owl City, as my idol because of his literary lyrics. Also, there are lots of Linkin Park's songs with good and profound meaning in lyrics. And if I want to break the rule I set of introducing different singers, I will be able to tell you more good songs of Owl City, Linkin Park or more.