New Year’s Eve is a time to celebrate and enter the new year with a smile on your face. This year, there’re plenty of local activities for all ages and interests, so the smiles will come easily.

BLUE CONCERT

Blues band the Coyotes is playing at the Dance Barn，at 8 Barn View in Sudden Valley, The show will start at 9 p. m. and benefit the charity Bikers Fighting Cancer. Tickets cost $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Call 224-2308 for more information.

NEW YEAR’S LAUGHS

Ring in the New Year and laugh out the old one at the Upfront Theatre Comic improvisers will hit on all the highlights of the year with The Last Laugh of 2008. The 9 p. m. show will cost $15 and is open to all ages. The 11 P. m. show is to 21 and older and costs $18, which includes a champagne (香槟酒) toast. Call 733-8855 for more information.

MAZE

For a fun activity earlier in the evening，walk the labyrinth (迷宫) at the Leopold Crystal Bellroom. Wander through the maze, based on the French Chartres Cathedral, for free from 4 to 9 P. m. Call 752-0048 for more information.

COUNTRY DANCING

At the Bellingham Eagles Hall, live local music will help get the dance started at 8 p. m. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for students and free for kids 12 and younger. For more information, call 676-1554.

I left England for Sydney in September. It was a career move for my husband, and our 20-year-old daughter was feeling adventurous and decided to come, too. However, just before leaving England, my 79-year-old mother suffered a stroke(中风).Being strong and independent, she continued to live at home with the help of social services. But she couldn’t look after the garden. I thought how wonderful it would be if there was an organization offering volunteer help. Friends asked me what I planned to do in Australia, and I told them I would be looking for a volunteer position with a gardening charitable organization. Imagine my surprise when I found just the organization I had been looking for——Easy Care Gardening (ECG)!

There are several reasons why I volunteer for ECG. Firstly, as a newcomer to Australia I meet many great people who, like me, volunteer some of their time. We cover a large age range, but all love gardens and helping others.

Secondly,through working with ECG I have been lucky enough to explore Sydney’s North Shore that I might not have had the chance to visit otherwise.

Finally, there are all those wonderful people we call “clients (客户) ”,but are more like friends when we visit them often and tend their gardens. What great people I have met, and the stories they have to tell—the family histories, where they come from and the reasons for immigrating to Australia! I find it a privilege to have access to private gardens which, in many cases, have been the joy of their owners for many years. Each one is individual and reflects the character, needs and the history of each family. Indeed, the gardens reflect the multicultural and historical background of Sydney.

Now satellites are helping to forecast the weather.They are in space，and they can reach any part of the world.The satellites take pictures of the atmosphere (大气)， because this is where the weather forms.They send these pictures to the weather stations.So meteorologists (气象学家) can see the weather of any part of the world.From the pictures，the scientists can often say how the weather will change.

Today，nearly five hundred weather stations in sixty countries receive satellite pictures.When they receive new pictures， the meteorologists compare them with earlier ones.Perhaps they may find that the clouds have changed during the last few hours.This may mean that the weather on the ground may soon change，too.In their next weather forecast，the meteorologists can say this.

So the weather satellites are of great help to the meteorologists.Before satellites were invented， the scientists could forecast the weather for about 24 or 48 hours.Now they can make good forecasts for three or five days.Soon，perhaps，they may be able to forecast the weather for a week or more ahead.

How many times a day do you check your email? When you wake up? Before bed? A dozen limes in between? The technology that was supposed to make our lives simple has taken up too much time. The average teen spends more than seven hours a day using technological devices, with an additional hour just text-messaging friends.

The advantage of technological devices is connectedness. Email lets us respond on the go, and we are in touch with more people during more hours of the day than at any other time in history. But is it possible that we’re lonelier than ever, too? That’s what MIT professor Sherry Turkle observes in her new book, Alone Together, which clearly describes our changing relationship with technology.

For Turkic, the biggest worry is the effect the weak connections have on our development. Technology isn’t offering us the lives we want to live. “We’re texting people at a distance” says Turkic. “We’re using lifeless objects to convince ourselves that even when we’re alone, we feel together. And then when we’re with each other, we put ourselves in situations where we are alone—always on our mobile devices. It’s what I call a perfect storm of confusion about what’s important in our human connections.”

Moreover, communicating online is not equal to face-to-face communication. Online, you can ignore others’ feelings. In a text message, you can avoid eye contact A number of studies have found that this generation of young people is sympathetic (有同情心的) than ever. “That doesn’t lead to disaster,” says Turkle, “but the disadvantages still cannot be ignored.”