Let the Right One In

I want to write about one of my favorite movies, ‘Let the Right One In’. It is a Swedish film and it’s setting in Sweden in the cold winter. “Let the Right One In” is a surprising movie. In the beginning I thought it was just another horror film but it turned out to be a vampire story. It seems that vampires are back in fashion. This film was released at almost the same time as ‘Twilight’-another vampire movie. Twilight is a huge Hollywood success, but ‘Let the Right One In’ is a much more beautiful and touching story. The film was made on a small budget. It has no famous movie stars in it and no amazing effects but I love the story and the simplicity of it. I won’t tell too much about the story because I don’t want to spoil it for anyone. Just go see it!

Barack Obama

Barack Obama is someone I really admire. Everyone knows that he is the first black American president. He has overcome so many difficulties and challenges to get where he is today. He has become the president at a very important time. I love his message of hope and change. I feel that the world needs hope and change right now. He also seems very different from most politicians and presidents. He seems to really care about the world and all the people in it- not just himself. I think that right now, people have to be patient with Barack Obama. He is a president at a very difficult time and he might need some time to do all the things he wants to achieve with the economy and the terrible wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. I believe that he will make our Earth a better, safer place for all people.

Swimming

I have always tried to stay in shape by exercising. The problem is that most exercises are boring and hard to maintain. My husband has been swimming for many years now and he always recommended swimming to me. I was worried about trying it because I was not a very good swimmer. Anyway, I thought I would give it a try. It was very hard at first but I am very happy that I didn’t give up. My swimming has improved so much ( I even get compliments from other swimmers) and now I swim one thousand meters, three times a week. I enjoy it so much. I find that I can relax at the same time as I exercise. I feel very fit and healthy. I am a little worried about keeping swimming through the winter, but I definitely will not give up, no matter how cold I get!

Music Gives Me Hope

What would I do without music in my life? Music relaxes me. Music gives me hope and music gives color to my everyday life. What is my favorite kind of music? It really depends where I am or what mood I am in. 2009 has been a good year for music. A band from England called ‘The XX’ released my favorite album of the year. My favorite band is from New York. They are called, ‘The National’. They make beautiful, intelligent songs and the singer, Matt Berninger has such a great voice. Their song, ‘Slow Show’ is one of my favorite songs ever! I also like to dance to music. My favorite dancing music is called ‘Drum and Bass’. It has a very interesting sound and I love hearing it very, very loud! Music is not only great to listen to, but also great to talk about. I love it!

My favorite book -- 'My Uncle Oswald'

My favorite book is ‘My Uncle Oswald’ by Roald Dahl. It is a wonderful fiction story about the author’s amazing uncle. Uncle Oswald is a traveler, an inventor and someone who has the most interesting life ever. This story is about the early part of his long career. One of his most interesting adventures involves collecting the sperm of many famous, rich and interesting men of the time he lives in. Roald Dahl is very famous for writing children’s stories like ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ or ‘George’s Marvelous Medicine’ but this is definitely not a book for children although it has a childlike magic. It is a very imaginative and funny book and I could not put it down once I had started to read it. The main character, Uncle Oswald, is someone I wish I knew! I would recommend this book to anyone who likes comedy and adventure.

Night Market

In Taiwan you can find a few interesting night markets either in big cities or in small towns. People from all walks of life enjoy going to night marks mainly because such places have a lot to offer. In any night market. You have all kinds of food to choose from. You can eat beef noodles, dumpling, sashimi or even spaghetti there, to name just a few. Besides, you may go there to do your shopping, too. Almost anything you need can be found there. Once there, you are sure to pick up some real bargains. The best part of visiting night markets, however, is that you can have great fun there. In addition to eating, drinking and hunting for bargains, you can get a kick from the activities going on there. For instance, you may watch the performance of some magicians or jugglers. Or you may visit a fortune-teller there. In other words, you can spend an entire evening there without getting bored.

Dyeing Hair

Dyeing hair has its pros and cons although a lot of people enjoy doing it. On the positive side, it can really make a big difference to the way people look. For instance, when middle-aged people begin to worry about turning gray, they can have their hair dyed. If they do, it will definitely make them look younger and help increase their self-confidence, too. On the other hand, teenagers dye their hair red or blue in order to look cool or fashionable. They hope they will become the center of attention wherever they go.
On the negative side, however, dyeing hair may cause some health problem. Like taking medicine, dyeing hair had its side effects or aftereffects. According to a medical report, using too much hair dye or getting hair dyed too often may damage people’s hair, hurt their scalp or even cause cancer. So, before dyeing hair, people should think twice about it.

Thoughts of Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech 2005

It’s really quite hard to believe that the person who found the Apple computer didn’t even graduate from university. He seems like someone that should have a PHD or something. In the beginning of his speech, he said he was just sharing three stories, not a big deal. But it turned out these were the wisest things ever. These things are most likely to be forgotten or ignored in our life.
Although his last statement “Stay hungry, stay foolish” is the most well known line in this speech, I love what he had mentioned in his second story “Do what you believe is great work and the only way to do great work is to love what you do.” This is such a great sentence. We need to love what we do and believe what we do is great work. It helps people believe that they are important in this world. Everyone should be doing great work and enjoying it. This makes me think of the moment that I chose my job and reminded me of the passion needed to continue to face all the challenges at my work. This speech inspired me to think more in my life.

A Person Who Has Made a Difference

Edward Jenner was the person who discovered the vaccination. He was born on May 17th 1749 in Berkeley, England. He studied medicine and became a doctor and a surgeon. Edward Jenner was a rural doctor who saved the world. Jenner believed in the theory, “Don’t think--- try” and this belief led him to his great discovery. During 16th to 18th century, Smallpox was a scary disease that killed one third of the people who got it. Many of those who didn’t die were badly scarred. Cowpox was another disease similar to smallpox but less serious. Jenner noticed that people who had cowpox seemed immune to smallpox. On May 14th 1796, Jenner injected a boy called James Phipps with cowpox. He then exposed Phipps to smallpox. The boy didn’t get the terrible disease! Although it was a very risky experiment, it was the first proven inoculation in history. Although smallpox killed millions of people, Edward Jenner’s discovery ended smallpox in 1980. Edward Jenner and his “Don’t think---try” philosophy saved billions of lives and opened the door to other vaccines. Think of Edward Jenner when you get your next Flu shot. He is the true father of Immunology and someone who really made a difference!