Whatever

Re-cycle

2011-11-06T01:56:00.000-07:00

aaaaA sudden chill of horror swept over me as the only bare bulb on the ceiling burnt out above me. Shattered glass scattered over me like hot coals. Where was I? Scarcely any light came through a few small holes; that most of them were muffled with dirty rags or sealed with stiff cardboard. I saw that I was in a room, rather small, reflections of narrow beams of light in a haze of heat roughly illuminated the backdrop, turning it bloody red. There was garbage everywhere! The paint was peeled off the wall in every direction. A wooden cross was nailed into a rotted window frame still blocking any exit. And a huge portrait of a strange person hung crookedly on the wall. The smell of mildew and decay and, somehow, death hung over the room. The building seemed about to fall apart. Suddenly, the portrait fell to the ground and behind it a tunnel covered with moss, mud and rubble came into view. I guessed it was probably the way out; without a second thought, I dashed in.

aaaaLights became fainter and fainter while echoes of my heavy steps grew louder. Closing my eyes, I felt a warmth like a sun upon my head and my face, humid, moist... No, it's wet! Something tepid was dripping down on me. All out of breath, I slipped and tumbled on the wet ground, hitting my face on the dirt,causing me to lick some gruesome, copper-tasting liquid. Blood, I recognized it instantly, yet it felt like time itself had suspended. It took me a while to collect my thoughts, stand up and realize my current circumstance. I was stuck in a cave of flesh overhung with countless fetuses and live babies tied with dripping veins and umbilical cords. Their muddy eyeballs were wide open, staring at me with luminous pupils. I didn't dare to look back, and yet I saw at the very end of the cave a little girl waving at me. I shouted for her help to take me out of there. Somehow I heard her whisper, "You had your chance to live with me. " The outline of her body became dimmer as I perceived my heart pounding louder and louder, steadily beating slower until it vanished.

aaaaIt was just a dream. I woke up in the morning. The light of dawn was just beginning to fill the stifling, lonely room. It was inevitable that spiritless babies and dead corpses would remind me of the fate of unrequited love. There was hardly a shelter where I could escape the torments of memories. The dream was shapeless and incoherent, but in time I came to believe that perhaps its disorder could revealed obscure message. The abandoned will emerge again; the forgotten will be dreadfully reborn.

aaaa“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” I met my girlfriend eight years ago, and bought a small apartment for us. Our love was unacceptable, but it was precisely her love that completed me and gave me everything I needed. Unexpectedly, she got pregnant. So came the brutal abortion, deserted house, extinguished hopes, dying embers of hapless love and a completely wasted life over the years. I've been trying hard to tear my memories apart and discard them in the recycle bin of my soul, despite the fact that it had become all too clear that I was overwhelmed with the burden of disillusion. My efforts to purge myself of this hell only seemed to provide the incitement needed for malevolent characters to fully manifest themselves in my life.

aaaaFunny it was, that the souls of aborted babies being held in tormented limbo was continuously haunted me even though I had discarded so many other things. Merchandises bought last year, faces once encountered but never again remember, dead loved ones left behind, drafts of stories started but never completed, thoughts no longer able to recall, and promises never fulfilled were long since dumped in recycle bin. Do these things constitute my dreams or my reality? Or am I now only a fictional version of the real me that has been lost over time? Does my memory of my self betray me? Fantasy becomes reality. Memory becomes monstrous. And terror becomes destiny.

aaaaI got out of bed, stretching myself, stepping into the bathroom when suddenly, the only bare bulb burnt out above me...

aaaaI wish I could finish all the things I started.

Irreconcilability

2010-02-26T22:25:00.000-08:00

SERIOUS CONFLICTS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN SET ablaze by having an idea irreconcilable with another, even though there is a correct answer or one has patchy knowledge of the subject. I'm saying this because it has no doubt stirred up trouble in my life. I've seen many paradigms but no conclusions. Formidable though the problem is, I would like to share my experience as well as crack the problem.

In the Space Academy in America, not only did I have a lot of fun, all the spacecrafts, equipment, events and American cafeterias, etc, were incredible, but my life experience was irreconcilable with the people I met. After a handsome triumph in a game of structuring two-stage rockets, by using two balloons, a string, a rubber band, some paper clips and tape relying on the three laws of motion, I was given a nickname of “Big Boss.” However, I was not so lucky on the next game, I messed up my relationship with my team. Perhaps I acted too conceited as though everybody was wrong, even though I might have been the only wrong person. Or perhaps, if I may be so bold as to criticize, some of them designated themselves as elites living in an intellectual capital, having discrimination against my hometown, as if is was a rural backwater with only one life – me.

This game was mainly about how to keep things from burning out in an extremely high temperature, resembling the time when shuttles rush into the atmosphere. We took a small, square copper cube stuck on the bottom of an iron pen with glue, and used some wire netting and steel wires to shield if from the flame projector. We all knew there are three ways heat is transported, convection, conduction and radiation. So the more distance between the iron pen and projector, the less heat the iron would get. It's like common sense. Nevertheless, my friends set an opposing opinion, he covered the iron pen all around instead of keeping a distance with wires. And undoubtedly, there began an irreconcilable conflict.

The problem was a dilemma: you could choose the wrong solution and fail the competition in order to keep a good relationship, or else argue with them, but you might beat him in a fiasco after finally he figured the truth out. If there appears to be an answer, I will still remain unconvinced because it was an unsolvable mystery.

Immortal Imaginarium

2010-02-10T07:33:00.000-08:00

What would you pay for immortality? What if the devil made a bet with you and your triumph has yielded its reward of immortality? It might have been mesmerizing had you been given an opportunity to live beyond the restraints of time. You would go through many eras, encountering Caesar and Alexander, listening to Beethoven fingering or maybe receiving Von Gogh's paintings.

After 14,000 years from the time of being a cave man, everyone and everything you counted important have vanished one after another. You would find the loneliness was unendurable as in the memorable line from Socrates, “The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our ways – I to die, and you to live. Which to the better fate is known only to God.”

Because your body still aged despite your inability to die, you might make a deal with the devil once again for youth in order to become acquainted with the woman you fell in love with. In exchange, any child you have would belong to the devil when they were sixteen. Sounds like a satisfactory, fair deal, doesn't it? However, things in the world don't take exactly the permutations we have anticipated, like Romeo couldn't possibly have expected the fact that Juliet was in suspended animation at Wright's grave. When your own daughter has grown and steadily became a well bred lady with perfect symmetry, you'll regret what you've done. When people give a standing ovation to your daughter's beauty, I doubt not that the contract would be torn. Maybe another deal is necessity. The devil might said “Let's start a new bet, whoever gets five human souls first wins your daughter.”

Catching one soul, then the second, the third and the fourth soul, the devil would stop you from getting the fifth. As the bet continued, the fact of your secret wouldn't stand long. Your daughter might have a mental breakdown, and be the fifth soul accidently. Like I mentioned before, things in the world don't take exactly the permutations we have anticipated. Your wife has gone and your daughter has gone. After all, they were just some pathetic bets.
I have heard a story. An egg farmer told his grandchild to “candle eggs” to assure there weren't any cracks or imperfections, and to put the bad ones in the bakery bucket. The farmer came back after an hour, and discovered there were three hundred eggs in the bakery bucket and asked, “What the hell are you doing?” “I found flaws in every single one of them. The thickness of the shells or hair-line cracks.” If you look closely, you'll find everything has a weak spot where it could break sooner or later. The devil just found you're a gambler. And I'm afraid that my enemies will find out I'm a winner, no matter what the situation is, whatever happens.

In infinite time, the devil is an immortal banker, and a banker needs a gambler who has bets to play together until the end of time. Luckily I am not immortal. I do not fear the end of the world because it won't happen in this generation, and I do not need to fear the cases above. All I need to fear is what happens next.

A Joke

2009-11-20T21:37:00.001-08:00

I heard a joke once, a parody of society's true face.

A Man goes to a doctor, says he's depressed, life seems harsh and cruel. Says he feels all alone in a threatening world. The Doctor says treatment is simple, “The great clown Pagliacci is in town. Go see him, that should pick you.” The Man bursts into tears. “But doctor,” he says, “I am Pagliacci.”

A good joke that makes everybody laugh. But when the snare drums roll on, curtaining, we are still not sensible of its horrible meanings – we are the clown laughing on the stage. Yet deep in our mind we are filled with frustration, depression, stinginess and viciousness. Humans are savage in nature, even if you don't know who you are. No matter how much you try to dress it up, or to disguise it, it'll loom steadily in the course of time.

While I was watching the news three hours ago, the police claimed to have arrested murderers, six able bodied, nice-looking men. (They seem to be Thai or Fillipino.) They killed about sixty one fat people, extracting their fat in exchange for money, one body for four hundred thousand NT dollars. (Maybe they used it to make cosmetics.) I don't know whether they are doing this for money or for fun. What a horror.

When a thing is created, there must be an intention. But I see no reason the world goes like this. Perhaps the world was an accident. Perhaps nothing is created, like a clock without a craftsman. When we finally awake, it's too late.

Always has been, always will be, too late.

I can still recall, that day in winter.

2009-10-02T23:40:00.000-07:00

It's just a matter of time before I can forget her and my regret over not being intrepid to talk to her, she

black half-moon earrings are shining underneath her long, extraordinarily smooth black hair, much darker than obsidian

who with perfect symmetry in her form now only remains in my reverie. While I've been occupied in writing this article, time will definitely be unable to destroy my beautiful memories. I've sometimes heard that “it is better to know as little as possible of defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life,” but this feeling will never happen to us. But I doubt not that even if I never meet her again, I will not stop searching for her. Though I certainly am not acquainted with her and have yet to encountered her once again, I still keep on falling in love with her as well as still recalling our winter day.

The place where this story became a full-fledged catastrophe is in Djakarta, the capital of Indonesia, in the winter of 2007. It was the end of our trip to that amazing country, the bright blue sky made my eyes sparkle, that tied our fates together. I was in the plaza enjoying the charming air, which consisted Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Guggi fragrances, with my sister who forced me to accompany her to go window shopping. Finally, because of the increasing ache in my legs, I requested to have a brief pause in the nearest store, Mickey Mouse House. While I was directing my steps towards the house, two worlds collided. I met her. I was thirteen and so apparently was she.

I dare say she is the most beautiful creature I ever beheld, and I can not conceive an angel more beautiful.

Once she appeared in my sight, all the ladies I've seen since I was born lost their relative beauty by a wide margin. But I was just too stupid then.

Playing with Rubik's Cubes is fantastic and cool in Taiwan, but I received no considerable attention or interest from her. I did not know any of their culture, language or the exact manner to become acquainted with her. I had no notion of how to do a very gallant thing. Although she seemed easy and unaffected, I kept concealing my affection by playing with the apparently boring Rubik's Cube until in the end, she left the store without a glance at me. I felt like a loveless savage being spurned by a civilized person. Her smiles are lost to time. Even so, I still able to see those black, half-moon earrings shining in my mind as well as still recall that day in winter.

Personal Feelings-Restraint

2009-09-11T22:44:00.000-07:00

The clock clicked and curved continually in back of my classroom. The teacher in the front arched her back, silhouetted against the gloom and doom dawn sky. As I lay face downwards on the table, a strange feeling came about, why am I myself? Why can I feel myself rather than others, that is, What am I? I keep wondering. As the old saying goes “Man is not born to solve the problems of the universe, but to find out what he has to do; and to restrain himself within the limits of his comprehension.” I didn't agree with the latter sentence, indeed it rendered me to think it a poor consolation. On the contrary, I found it calming to unfold an unaware life question. However, under recent circumstances, we were extremely restrained by all kinds of external factors and our internal thinking was lost to time.

Like us, there are a diversity of substances which were restricted in its variations or actions. When a massive bob, suspended from a pivot without friction, is released in a simple gravity pendulum experiment, it will swing back and forth at a constant amplitude whose period will be restrained by its line. When forward chemical processes proceed at the same rate as their reserve reaction, which is called chemical equilibrium, it is due to the force of constraints such as concentration, temperature and pressure. The only way to unshackle was obviously to break its restraint. Changing temperature in order to destroy the equilibrium or stretching cords to slow down its period. I didn't come into existence to be mentally repressed by either parents or teacher, instead, this is my epoch to create.

Although the same question has continually revolved around in my mind, I assure those who restrain their desires for philosophical thinking, they need but unfetter their mind and new vistas will dawn before their eyes.

TRANSFORMERS STORY SEQUEL

2009-09-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I was just like you, an ordinary high-school nobody, coasting through a pedestrian existence until I met him, a 1976 Chevrolet Camaro, and my world was changed forever.Some two weeks previously, I, Samuel James Witwicky, received my first car from Dad. It was a dilapidated-looking roadster but was quiet beautiful and in fact a super-cheap one. To my shock, it had been stolen that night unexpectedly. I was thinking about four thousand dollars that just drove off, and being forced to get it back. While my reluctant tracking paid off, I reached a rural factory, and made a groundbreaking discovery. I thought it was probably the greatest discovery in the history of mankind that there were aliens among us. I saw my car transform into a robot and it seemed that it was communicating with something out in space.

Then I got arrested by the police, who mistook me for a car-thief, after my call to 911. While I attempted to explain what had happened, the officer just vacantly assumed I was on drugs. Mojo abuse? What? Those are my dog's pain pills! When I finally got back home on the following day, I saw my car return itself, he has been stalking me! Initially, I thought it was the Satan's Camaro coming for me, and the only thing I could do then was to escape. I quickly slipped away with my grandma's bike. Fortunately, I bumped into a cop once again, but while I tried hard to ask for assistance, the squad car he was driving just transformed to a giant robot. It interrogated me, “Are you username LadiesMan 217? Where is eBay item 21153? Where are the glasses?” using such eerie screechy violin voice. Misfortunes never come singly. I fled again, and ran into another person, my crush Mikaela. Suddenly, my Camaro arrived on the scene, opening the front door which made me feel like he wanted us in. In other words, was he now a missioned angel that endeavored to save us? I avoided this complicated subject and just rushed into the driver's seat as well as pulling Mikaela in next to me. Here came The Fast and the Furious.

In the process, my car drove automatically and had done many thrilling maneuvers in order to ditch the monster. Eventually, we reached an old factory in a sparsely populated place in which they began their battle, rendering us terrified by seeing giant droid fighting. Afterward the cop-robot sent a creepy robot to attack me, giving rise to my taking off my jeans so as to escape for the third time. Fortunately, Mikaela was not the aim, and she found a power saw to sever its head. Looking back to the robot death match, the remaining of the two was my Camaro in transformed state. Here came a question, who was he? “Definitely Japanese, only they can produce such a super-advanced robot.” I thought. And I recollected hearing the cop's talking about my eBay page, so I used English to ask him, because I was deficient in robot language. The answer arrived from his build-in radio, I speculated, but the words weren't enough to unshackle me from my confusion. He transformed back to a car and opened the front door, asking in reply “Any more questions you want to ask?” The final answers seemed to be the destination, but where? I strangely cherish a strong feeling of high adventure and guts, perhaps I'll feel infinite regret fifty years from now if I don't get in the car. Then, I sat in the front seat with Mkaela.

We drove through the night at a peaceful speed, and stopped on a deserted street. Four brand-new cars, including a semi-truck, an ambulance, a jeep and a sport car as well, arrived here and transformed. I finally realized they were autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron because of one's explanation. They're Optimus Prime, Jazz, Ironhide, Ratchet and my car Bumblebee, which are called Autobots for short. Though Bumblebee was a distantly unknowable creature to me, he really gave me a powerful hand in chasing after a gorgeous girl, Mikaela.

Despite forming a strong attachment to her for a long time, she first became acquainted with me by my driving her home shortly after I bought the Camaro. The car duly played some love music, that is to say, he was trying to render the atmosphere romantic, revealing my affection towards her. Right after the successful acquaintance, we were both sucked into the robot war, and my guardian-car Camaro, also known as Bumblebee, significantly served the purpose of escorting me. As he drove automatically, Mikaela had no alternative but to squat down uncomfortably in the only space between the two front seats. Here came my opportunity to ask her whether she would like to sit in my lap. Perhaps she wanted to change her position as arising in all probability from the influence of discomfort. The answer arrived in only one word – why? This was a real toughie obviously directed at me because she knew it was just my petty pick-up line and the you-will-be-more-comfortable saying definitely won't work in nine cases out of ten. So I said I had the only seat belt from a safely-first perspective, trying to guard myself from her suspicions of my impertinence. Undoubtedly, she was yielding to my request as she had begun moving on my lap and said some ironic praise for my clever, smooth move. Bumblebee was over calculated to please in general. Oh, I love my car! But my life has been put in jeopardy since his appearance.

The reason why Optimus Prime has had to come is that he must find the All Spark before Megatron, the leader of the Decepticons, who betrayed the empire, Cyberton, once a powerful but placid and just realm. All resistance to Megatron was destroyed, giving me likewise a thrill of horror. The All Spark was a cube filled with extreme power, great enough to consume a star which was the fate of Cybertron. Megatron used it for evil, engrossing himself in holding the imperium of all stars and worlds, desiring to command over the galaxy. And so began the war. Fortunately, the war between Decepticons and Autobots has resulted in the loss of the Cube that eventually was buried deep in our planet Earth. No sooner has it reached to Earth, than Megatron followed it but finally crashed-landed before he could retrieve the Cube. While my grandfather Captain Witwicly found him, he accidentally activated his navigation system that imprinted the location of the Cube on his glasses, which are still for sale on my eBay page. Ratchet said that if the Decepticons found it, they will use its power to transform Earth's machines and build a new army, and the human race will be extinguished. There is a fine old saying that commonly exists throughout the world, “Keep your breath to cool your porridge.” I turned a deaf ear to the lines and managed to meet the challenge. I just heard the bell of war ring out.

TRANSFORMERS STORY

2009-07-03T21:39:00.000-07:00

aaaaIf we are not alone, who, or what else, is out there? Is anybody listening? Life on Earth may have begun with a bang, when microorganisms hitched a ride on a comet or asteroid and crash landed on our planet. Finding themselves in a mild and watery world, the single celled organisms could have slowly evolved into the rich and varied life forms that exist today. Single celled organisms are just one example of life that might exist in the depths of space. There could also be intelligent life out there, way beyond our own solar system – Transformers.

aaaaDiffering from our original speculation, there have already been aliens among us, but we have yet to know it. Nowadays, far away on the planet of Cybertron, a war was being waged between the noble Autobots (led by the wise Optimus Prime) and the devious Decepticons (commanded by the dreaded Megatron) for control over the Allspark. Not only is it a powerful energy, but also a map of The Matrix which could propel the Energon, a solar energy-absorbing system.

aaaaTrace back to 10,000 B.C, The Primes were seeking the sun through the universe, following rules that they could not destroy a sun which sustains life. The Fallen, among other primes, wanted to own The Matrix; thus he betrayed the oath by killing ancient humans. The battle for Earth has only just begun.

aaaaIn the depths of the Sahara Desert in Egypt, the primes, except for the Fallen, buried themselves along with the Matrix, hiding and protecting it from the Fallen. No sacrifice for the right is complete without hopes, which will lead to victory. One such hope is the offspring, Optimus Prime, who has determined to fight for weak－all human beings－by pulling together with the noble Autobots. Nevertheless, the vicious Decepticons, aliens which wanted all ultimate power for evil rather than for good, haven’t forgone their searching for the Matrix and the Allspark.

aaaaMegatron, commander of the Decepticons, who was able to transform into a variety of objects, including cars, trucks, jets and other technological creations, blasted off in search of the Allspark while the Autobots managed to smuggle it off the planet. He eventually tracked it to the planet Earth circa 1850, but what with an intense desire for power and a lack of patience, he dropped right into the Arctic Ocean and lay frozen in a paralyzed state.

aaaaAfter stumbling upon his frozen body in 1897, explorer Archibald Witwicky accidentally activated Megatron's navigation system and his eye glasses were imprinted with the coordinates of the Allspark's location. The incident signaled the Decepticons, shattering the quiet completely. Yet the Allspark had already been moved by Sector 7, a secret government organization, into Hoover Dam in order to mask its energy emissions and the still- frozen Megatron had been transferred to this facility and was being used to advance human technology through reverse engineering. However, a lack of ingenious supposition and distant surmise about what had been discovered led them to give the office to a group of Decepticons – Blackout, Scorponok, Frenzy, Barricade, Starscream, Devastator and Bonecrusher – who landed on Earth clandestinely and assumed the disguise of Earth vehicles. Their missions mainly revolved around finding Megatron and Allspark. All humans were facing an imminent threat of death since the infamous robots were going to take anyone out they saw.

Reference

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformers_(film) 2. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0418279/

LIFE

2009-06-10T06:07:00.000-07:00

Surrounded by nothing but solitude, frustration and pressure, we are living under tragedy and heartbreaking things that constantly keep popping up in one's life which lead to mental breakdown and taking drugs to hallucinate in order to escape from gloom. What's the use of living if you cannot feel alive? Although we have had difficulty getting through our life, there's a strong incentive that will support us forever – hope, gold plated pipe dreams in particular. As a consequence, we all remained and felt alive, as well as having confidence to face further mishaps in the generations to come.

But where can we find the so-called hopes in modern society? In my personal feeling, a vividly imagined world is a place where hope could be generated. For a movie geek like me, it is quite easy to have fantastically crazy goals, because of the story lines in all kinds of films. For instance, Tony Stark, the main character in Iron Man, was so intelligent that he created Iron Man to save the world, created a stir in the meantime. Most important thing in the real world is to create a large amount of money. Will I be “Iron Man” someday?

Currently, though a lot of people are criticized for the consequences of lacking human value, they still turn on those who trust them. Eventually, it has torn relationships apart, them apart and me apart. But whatever happens, that's just a short period of time that we'll definitely meet in our life.

Personal Feeling-Temper

2009-05-29T17:34:00.000-07:00

Something terrible took place in our class two weeks ago, and it has turned the relationship of students and teachers on its head. One of my friends had a harsh physical conflict with our gym teacher. While student's lack of moral ground and bad attitude or teacher's vigor went beyond normal, they had a fight, as a result, all of the teachers won't instruct and be concerned about the class as hard as possible to avoid clashes. The domino effect will generate the decline of educational quality. Saying sorry was just a temporary escape from the worries of tensions, all we should do was find a way back into our original good tempers and habits.

But how? Although we believe human nature is good, acquired learning and environment have more influence on us. In day-to-day frustration, reiterating learning, introspection and execution, we will eventually get some intelligence and the ability of having a good mood to face problems and collisions in the future. Endurance is also important in modern society, but differs from cowardice.

Anything can start over, don't give up so easily before trying hard, and don't vent your anger on anybody.

CS vs. CSS

2009-05-22T08:09:00.000-07:00

“Fire in the hole,” says a soldier from Counter Strike, which has now blossomed into an international gun-fighting game. The server has been flooded by gunners with AK-47s and the shooting craze has only just begun. So let’s get caught up in CS together and shout, “Go! Go! Go!”

Previously, CS was a traditional computer game that less people knew about. Nowadays, it has caught on quickly and continuously with a large numbers of teams, such as XGamers and Final-Fantasy, each of which work hard to pursue the championship of the WCG (World Cyber Games). As well as the Olympia, WCG makes players have an intensive shooting training throughout the world.

In the last few months, there was a new form of CS, it was designated Counter Strike Source (CSS). Comparing CSS with CS, we find out some incredible improvements: First, you could slit a body to see blood spilled all over the floor as you kill them. Second, everything visible can be explored or fired at. Even so, CS still has 60 percent more players than CSS.

My Stories- Space Academy

2009-04-24T21:22:00.000-07:00

aaaaIf we venture out to the very edge of our universe, what would we see? Where does the universe end? And how will the universe end? Depending on our brilliance and the most advanced technology, the cosmos will soon be explored altogether. Now, why not take an epic voyage across the universe in—Space Academy.

aaaaLast summer, a Boeing 747, along with me, took off from Taiwan for Los-Angeles, passing through about 12 hours of dazzling time, and then arrived in Houston. The sun smiled at me and the people there welcomed me, what a beautiful summertime! I wanted to cash in on this golden opportunity traveling in America by making the most of this camp, a conscientious learning attitude was indispensable. So let’s go to Johnson Space Center.

aaaaIn the beginning, our teachers had us learn about three laws of motion, which lead to the structure of two-stage rockets. Here came our assignment, to use two balloons, a string, a rubber band, some paper clips and tape to make a two-stage rocket. There were no consistent ways, but the only answer was obvious, collaborating together. A long time had passed; the first solution appeared in our team, made up by me, eventually: I blew up two balloons with a rubber band on one balloon’s end in order to avoid the air coming out, the second stage, and tied it across the other balloon’s body, the first stage, with the same rubber band. As the first stage lifted up, its body became smaller, causing the rubber band to come loose so as to open the second-stage balloon’s end. It succeeded, we won the game!

aaaaAs time went by quickly, the trip in Texas ended, which meant the Space Academy was going to begin in the place known as the Mecca of space and rockets, Huntsville. Some of the most important German rocket scientists had lived here since World War II, and each of them has had huge accomplishments here, I hope someday I'll become one of them.

aaaaWhile enjoying freedom, relaxation, and having fun, we had a lot of activities there, one of my favorite was to be like an astronaut. There were a big number of shuttle positions in a single mission; for instance, flight director in the control room and commander in the orbiter and station, all were indispensable. From time to time, our friends liked to make jokes by administering missions incorrectly. When the rocket lifted off, he didn't clear the tower and led to the failure in missions, but also to laughing in the room.

Making friends here was also of vital importance, so I decided to chat with foreign people. It was really not as difficult as I thought when I finally talked with a boy, Mountain Edge.He was an electric guitar player with a cool face and blond hair. I was surprise, where did he get free time? I don't know. While being a citizen in this highly competitive society with the tensions between the government and people becoming increasingly intense, all the comings and goings are ups and downs, and the only way to fit in is to get used to them. But it will all be worthwhile when the happiness of success wafts up into my room one day. Anyways, Mountain Edge was the coolest friend I've ever seen.

American food also played a crucial part in this trip, because it was so dissimilar with Taiwanese cuisine. If you compared both of them, you'll figure out that American food was greasier, strongly flavored, sugary, salad for breakfast and big mac burgers spread throughout every restaurant; Taiwanese food was lighter, salty, rice for breakfast, noodle restaurants were visible everywhere. Even thought most of the American food was unhealthy, what with nice smells and great taste, I had fallen under the spell of it from the first bite. Additionally and best of all, I could eat with foreign people in a huge hall!

aaaaaaTO BE CONTINUED

Knowing

2009-04-15T08:06:00.000-07:00

aaaaIn the year 2012, doomsday, or the destruction of the world, will occur. According to Mayan predictions, our living Earth will have already passed the four Sun Epochs, and at the end of each epoch horrifying events will happen continually. The people of Earth will be destined to die at the end of the fifth Sun Epoch, in 2012.

aaaaAlong with these predictions, there is a science-fiction movie, Knowing, that talks about doomsday. John Koestler, an astronomer, found a paper with a large number of numerals written on it. It was written by a little girl who said someone invisible actually whispered the number to her, dating back to 1959. Through deep research, Koestler discovered something startling: the numbers accurately predicted every enormous disaster in the last 50 years, such as 9/11 and Southeast Asian tsunami. What's more amazing, it had a final number, which meant doomsday!

aaaaKoestler tried to avoid the tragedy, communicating with the government in order to save the world. But no one believed him except for the number-writer's daughter, Diana Wayland. Her daughter, Abby, was also confused by invisible people, saying that she had to go with them or she would be killed. John and Diana work together, here to stay. However, a huge solar wind destroyed the Earth from the North Pole to the South Pole, and no people were left on the Earth. Fortunately, John's son and Abby were taken out of the Earth's atmosphere by aliens, who succeeded in saving their lives so as to rescue humanity.

aaaaBut what we should actually seriously care about is global warming caused by greenhouse gases. CO, CO2, CH4, and even N2O, generated by firing biomass fuel- something we thought could surely reduce dangerous global warming- can ruin our environment. Although we are under pressure from the global economy's negative turn, we should try not to discharge greenhouse gases and use less disposable things.

Saw V

2009-04-03T22:06:00.000-07:00

aaaa ‘I want to play a game!’ Combining the double blood and art, much more storyline, and the biggest adventure you have ever seen, Saw 5 is going to challenge humanity again. If you could govern your intimate mind, calm down and figure out the clues, then you could survive, if not get away, from the game. Just remember, ‘live or die, make your choice’.

aaaaThe Saw series are bloody movies talking about how actors or actresses managed to survive under Puzzle Amok’s artistic traps. Through the gins, actors had no alternative but to kill each other, including sawing others’ heads to find the keys, passing through the sharp gory mesh, all the unthinkable and unbelievable ways of killing have appeared, unprecedented. Likewise, Saw 5 put this spirit up to the highest, and its game was magnificent as well: Scrunching fingers to stop a hook ripping open your abdomen. Using a saw to rip your arm from fingers to elbow in order to collect blood, stopping the bomb.

aaaaNow, fans of the Saw series are expected to see the sixth episode on the silver screen, anticipating what the traps will be like. The movie is due for release on October 23, around Halloween. I hope it will be much bloody than ever – but only time will tell if the director is as sharp as a razor.

The Heaven Sword and The Dragon Saber

2009-02-13T19:39:00.000-08:00

In China during the early 1200’s, foreigners attacked the Song Dynasty, damaging many castles such as Hsang Yang, the most important fortress. Although the ruler of Hsang Yang, Kuo Ching, was good at kung fu and was intelligent, he eventually lost. How unfortunate it was that the ruler’s kung fu was going to be lost forever. Therefore he employed craftsmen to build a sword and a saber, then wrote down secrets of high-level kung fu and hid them inside the sword and saber. They are now called The Heaven Sword and The Dragon Saber.

As time went by, the secret in the sword and saber were forgotten by the people, remaining a legend throughout the world that kept the weapons’ value until the time of Yu Dai Yen. Yu Dai Yen, the third master of the Wudang Seven, found the dragon saber. However, he was pinched by someone several days later, it gave him a mental breakdown and he became a disabled person. His younger brother Chang Tsui Shan met Yin Su Su while pursuing the murderer’s path. They fell in love. Meanwhile, Yin Su Su gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Chang Wu Chi. It’s was incredible that Chang Wu Chi became the leader of the Ming gang when he was only 22 years old.

Chang Wu Chi was not only a legend for his kungfu, he was also probably the most chivalrous person of all time. His godfather, Hsieh Hsun, the blond lion, killed quite a few good people in order to get revenge for the murder of his family by putting the blame on his foe. But the murders got out, and he eventually was arrested by the Shoalin monks, and waited to die. Chang Wu Chi couldn’t stand watching it happen, and he knew that Hsieh Hsun didn’t mean to do that, so he took some steps to rescue him. However, Hsieh Hsun told him that he would like to face the music. In consequence, he let his internal kung fu go countercurrent to killing himself after the revenge. It reminded me the only thing constant in life is change.

A love story, whether sweet or acerbic, is always complicated in fiction or reality. There were four girls in Chang Wu Chi’s heart who remained important until an event that changed their standing. With the sun upon the Han River, Chang Wu Chi was boating with his god-grandfather. During lunch, Chang Wu Chi had to depend on someone who was careful and patient to feed him because he couldn't move a finger after the Hsuan Ming poison he was given when he was five years old. Chou Chih Je was then his benefactor.

Through Chang Wu Chi’s finding recover path, there was a Dr.Hu, who was well-known of his incredible curative skills, that help Chang Wu Chi extend his life, although it was still far from absolutely heal. It’s extremely hard to cure Hsuan Ming poison because it was too cold, medicine was useless, and it’s variation and level vary from assailant to assailant. Unfortunately, Dr. Hu met his enemy during his time with Chang Wu Chi. The enemy was called Golden Flower Grandmother, she came with hopes to revenge for her husband’s dead that happened by that Dr. Hu didn’t save him. A girl named Yin Li , who was taken care by Golden Flower Grandmother since her mother was dead, came too. When Golden Flower Grandmother killed Dr. Hu, Yin Li also wanted Chang Wu Chi to go back home with her in order to become her companion. Chang Wu Chi did not want that, so he bit Yin Li’s hand to flee. He did not know there was a love growing bigger and bigger just because a piece of bite.

--------TO BE CONTINUED (I had no inspiration)-------

ClASSES IN TAIPEI

2009-02-06T22:12:00.000-08:00

Bing! The alarm sounded at five thirty in the morning. I always asked myself that slept for five more minutes is okay, but it’s surely not allowed. I had to take the train to Taipei at six fourteen, or I’ll probably late for the classes.

Bing! My watch reminded me of the time at four thirty and of course, the time to go back home. The train that I take is always crowded with commuters in the afternoon. I always have to push my way through the crow just to get on and off the train. Why was I so conscientious? Because I’m going to Jianguo High School.

This was like a math camp in Jianguo, but we needed some qualifications to get in. For instance, I passed the Olympia preliminary test. The courses here were too difficult to understand, but the teachers were so professional to make it easy. We studied algebra, geometry, GSP and some math games. It had a big influence on me.

The Kite Runner

2009-01-30T18:27:00.000-08:00

This is a book which describes humanity by telling about a little boy’s life. A wealthy young master who was twelve years old called Amir and his faithful servant, Hazara, grew up in the same family. That helped them become emotionally close. Because of their same age, they always played together, except for at banquets. However, an atrocious act of violence in a kite game broke their sensibilities: Hazara the servant managed to catch the last falling kite in order to recover Amir and his father’s missing emotions. As a consequence, Hazara was insulted. Amir saw its, but didn’t save him. Henceforth, their paths separated and they led different lives.

The author, Khaled Hosseini, was born in Kabul, and so did Amir. Date back to 1980, he evaded the war between Russia and Afghanistan by living in America, and Amir did it, too. Just like a documentary, the book gave us a good sense of reality.

‘‘That frigging loyalty!’’ said Amir. If Hazara give the last falling kite to the bad guys, he maybe could avoid the entire tragedy. The arch-criminal is loyalty. It could happen in many cases: Wen Tianxiang was loyal to Song Dynasty forever and ever- courtier to country; Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei took an oath that they must die in the same day- brother to brother. However, Wen Tianxiang eventually died of loyalty (he didn’t yield to Yuan Dynasty), but his poem‘‘None could skip death since immemorial age, but one shall wish his life would reflect the goodness of his beliefs after death’’ would go down in history forever; Liu, Guan and Zhang died of loyalty (one of them died lead to that others was killed by the heart filled with vengeance). But the event, three men become sworn brothers in the peach garden, got great praises that would never be eliminated.

My stories- Failure

2009-01-02T06:25:00.000-08:00

Someday on April 2008, there was a math test for junior high students to check our ability of this subject. I thought this was just a very simple test, not so much particular, just went like clockwork as the past. But finally, I was greatly astonished, and so did my friends and teacher, that I did not pass. Failure is the mother of success; it made me brace my heart to study harder and hardest.

Two months ago, I was successful in a math test that brought me a qualification for Olympia Mathematics Contest, and I was one of a school-representative crew of identity. I was very excited and a bit surprised.

However, I failed eventually, but if I were to make the grade, maybe I would become a national leading exponent of the foreign math test. ‘‘Don’t feel bad that you failed the test. That’s just the way the cookie crumbles’’ my Mom tried to comfort me. It is no use crying over spilt milk, but only time would tell whether I found back confidence

What parts of nature do you like best?

2008-12-10T05:30:00.000-08:00

Sun is the most powerful thing in the solar system. It’s the energy of all the animals, plants, and humans. However, the sunset always makes me feel sentimental.

Why does the sky’s color is blue? Why does the sun turn red when it’s setting? It’s because of Refraction. Sunlight contains the colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and purple. In vacuum, the seven-color lights’ speeds are the same but they change in different medium. So when the sunlight gets into the aerosphere from space, the red light, which is the fastest, will curve slower than other’s. That’s why the sky is blue, and the sunset is red. The scientific knowledge that was concealed in the sun, were one of the reasons why I loved the sun. If these happen at all time, I will be as sharp as a tack.

“To see the sun, for all his glory, buried by the coming night.” Two weeks ago, I studied hard day and night, so I passed the entire routine test until the monthly exam. I got a fever up to 39 ℃. Although I had the highest score in my class, I failed. The score, what I expected to get was higher than the score, what I got. I disappointed myself. Beautiful things always appear in the twinkling of an eye.

I apologized the mistakes of this text, and please helped me to correct it or gave me some proposal. Thanks a lot.