【推荐1】My husband and I wanted desperately the instant transformation from typical consumers to eco-conscious people. We switched our light bulbs to CFL (compact fluorescent light) bulbs to conserve energy. We went about the house turning off lights and unplugging appliances that weren’t in use. But the rate of global warming exceeded our snail’s pace conversion to greenhood. So I pressed onward.

I decided to put veganism (素食主义) at the top of our agenda. Vegans refuse any animal flesh or commercial goods made from any animal byproducts such as milk or fats. All the family applauded this option except for my husband. Some kind of animal needed to sacrifice its dear life for his meal or it wasn’t his dinner. I cooked up a storm, struggling to prepare nutritious meals dominated by not — so — obvious vegan dishes like bean burritos and high-fiber vegetable stir-fry. It took a few days before he realized that he hadn’t been eating any meat.

“I feel like eating beef.” he announced. So that night, I took full advantage of a zucchini (西葫芦), cut it into chunky (粗大的) pieces and cooked them. Then I covered them with spices. My beef-starved husband had some and a curious look crossed his face.

“Where’s the beef?”

“Living peacefully somewhere on an open plain where it belongs.”

“I knew it!” he murmured. “You’ve surely made great contributions to the boom in cattle.” His taste buds were developed completely around the flavor of every kind of animal: cattle, pigs, deer, lambs, chickens and ducks. Converting him was like feeding grass to a lion.

I’m all for preserving our planet, but what good would it do to save the earth for tomorrow’s generation if today’s died of starvation? The next day, we went out for burgers. I was very careful to place the paper bag into our recycling bin.

Today, I spent a lot of time choosing carefully and reading the Father’s Day cards at the shopping mall. They all had a special message that in some way or another showed how I feel about you. Yet it hit me that not a single card said what I really wanted to say to you.

You'll soon be 84 years old. Dad, and you and I will have had 55 Father's Days together. I haven’t always been with you on Father’s Day, but I’ve always been with you in my heart. You know, Dad, there was a time when we were separated by the generation gap. You stood on one side of the Great Divide and I on the other.

The Father-Daughter Conflict changed into high gear when you taught me to drive the old Dodge while I decided I would drive the Chevy whether you liked it or not. To my surprise, when the police officer sent me home after you reported the Chevy stolen, you were so tolerant about it because I had thought that would probably be the worst night of my life.

Our relationship greatly improved when I married a man you liked,and things really turned around when we began making babies right and left. Somewhere along the line, the generation gap disappeared. I suppose I saw us and our relationship as aging together, rather like a fine wine.

But the strangest thing happened last week. I was at a stop sign and I watched as you turned the corner in your car. I didn’t immediately realize that it was you because the man driving looked so elderly and weak behind the wheel of that huge car. Perhaps I saw your age for the first time that day.

I guess what I’m trying to say, Dad, is what every son and daughter wants to say to their Dad today. Honoring a father on Father’s Day is about respect and sharing and acceptance and tolerance and giving and taking. It’s about loving someone more than words can say, and it's my wish that it never had to end. I love you, Dad.

Love,

Mary

【推荐3】Father was diagnosed with brain cancer during the second half of my senior year. It is a time when all the big events in a girl’s life are happening. However, though in poor condition, father managed to be present at every occasion. His doctor said that by focusing on all my future events, it helped my dad live longer. I guess so because nine days after my high school graduation, my father died.

For the next week after his funeral, I didn’t leave my room or even to shower. Finally, my mom stormed in and said, “Megan, get up. I have something for you to read.” My father’s doctor had sent my mother a letter. It contained the typical “I am sorry for your loss” sentences. But this letter was far from typical. I could physically see the pain this loss had caused him. In his letter, he wrote about how my father inspired him to change his life and the way he worked. He expressed his desire to become a person like my father, who cared more for the people around him and put everyone else first.

After I finished reading it, I decided to live my life. I went outside and got a job as a summer camp advisor. I worked from dawn to dark every day that summer. I gave everything I had to the kids and slowly they helped to heal(治愈) me without even realizing what they were doing.

My summer mirrored parts of the life my father led in his last few days. I had spent the summer months giving myself to children. It was not the senior summer I had always imagined. It wasn’t all about me. I had learned the final lesson my father was teaching me, that in order to lead a rich and happy life, you must learn how to give yourself to others. By helping them you really are helping yourself.

【推荐1】The story of a 92-year-old book lover in a village of Chongqing has touched many recently. Sun Shiquan has collected more than 7,000 books over the decades and has offered a free local library for residents for years.

He was born in Pipa village in Xiuqi township of Chongqing’s Chengkou county. Being a bookworm as a child, he read all kinds of ancient books including the Four Books and the Five Classics. In the 1950s, he became one of only a handful of local college graduates and later served as a primary and middle school teacher in the county.

Sun said he started to collect books in 1983 and gradually built a diverse collection over more than 40 years. Among his holdings is a precious set known as the Complete Works of Chinese Classics, published during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). It is one of only seven copies in the country.

Wearing glasses and using a magnifying glass, Sun reads for more than three hours every day. Now he has finished reading most of his collection.

Speaking of her father, Sun Ziyu said, “My father has a habit of making notes on each book. He makes a mark whenever he stops reading so that he can carry on reading from where he left off.” Village official Liu Jiao said, “Many children in the village love to visit Sun and listen to his stories.” She said the elderly man has earned respect from the whole village. People call him “Teacher Sun” and children call him “great-grandfather”.

Sun Ziyu said her father also writes poems and prose in his spare time and enjoys reading his works to the family. She said under her father’s influence, family members take the time to read together and exchange views. That’s their favorite part. “My father has loved reading for a lifetime,” Sun Ziyu said. “Reading is his meat and drink.”

【推荐2】I went to a small and poor elementary school. I remember the first time a computer showed up in class. It was 5th grade and the computer was an Apple. It was the only computer in my school. This was the 80s and it was a $2600 machine.

Before I discovered computers, I took typing class on old typewriters and I was the kid in class that repaired the typewriters. I remember spending hours trying to figure out what each typewriter needed to fix a stuck key. I was also the Audio/Visual geek （狂热的人）. This meant I was the only one in the class who can thread （穿过）film onto the projector.

Anyway, when this Apple showed up, I immediately opened it. I had to see what was inside. This totally freaked out the teacher but it seemed clear I wasn't going to break it. I quickly learned how to get out of educational games and write things in BASIC. This was all in 5th grade.

I and my 5th grade teacher stayed in touch until her passing. I honestly don't know what I'd be doing if she hadn't done something extraordinary. She let my father and me took the Apple home. I'd spend the weekend programming, reading the massive notebooks. This was a $ 2000+computer in the middle of the 80s — the pride of the school —and they let me take it home. A year later, I came home from school one day and the family car was gone and there was a Commodore 64 left in its place. My parents had sold the car and bought a Commodore.

Now, I think about this crazy journey. I am standing on the shoulders not only of computer science giants, but also heroes like my parents and my 5th grade teacher. Thanks Mrs. Hill, for introducing me to computers even though you were breaking rules. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for bringing a computer home even when there wasn't money for one.

【推荐1】A few years ago I went shopping with a friend for a now motorcycle. He didn’t have a particular make or model in mind. His only two critteria? A big engine—since too much horsepower is never enough—and since he’s tall, a relativety relaxed riding position.

I suggested a Hayabusa, which met his criteria. Or an XS-14R. Both were within his budget, especially the Hayabusa since the dealer was offering a $2.500 discount on a previous year’s model.

He rode them both and loved them both.

Then he became very interested in a ZX-6R KRT. Great motorcycle, sure. But a much smaller motor. And a riding position that made him look like a contorted mantis(变形的螳螂). It seemed like an odd choice.

Until it hit me. The purchase of any motorcycle 750cc and under came with a free helmet.

Since my friend also wanted a new helmet, getting one for free was extremely appealing.

After all the math didn’t work. We eventually negotiated $3,200 off the price of the Hayabusa. The free helmet was only worth $250.

A 2017 study published in Marketing Science found that people tend to significantly overvalue “free”. When faced with a choice of selecting one of several available products, people will choose the option with the highest cost-benefit difference, however, decisions about free (zero-price) products differ, in that people do not simply take away costs from benefits but instead consider the benefits associated with free products as

Two months later my fiend traded in his 6R for a 14R. But don’t think badly of him. We’ve all been blinded by the power of “free”.

So whenever something is free, stop and consider the intent, and see “free” as a reason to do even more math.

【推荐2】Rene Compean was no stranger to Angeles National Forest. He’d hiked the park near his home in Southern California numerous times. But after taking a new path last April, he was lost.

As the day faded into dusk, his concern turned to fear. The terrain (地带) was remote and rough. With only a liter of water and less than ten percent battery remaining on his cell phone, Compean was unprepared for anything more than the two-hour journey he’d planned. Compean climbed to a spot, where he found only one bar of signal. “SOS. My phone is going to die. Pm lost,” he texted a friend, attaching a photo showing where he was. The shot showed his legs hanging over a steep rock.

Sixty miles away in Ventura County, Ben Kuo was working at home when he read a tweet from the Los Angeles County Safety Department. They had spent the previous night unsuccessfully looking for Compean, so they released the photo to the public, hoping someone might know the location.

Kuo works in the tech industry, and he has an unusual hobby —looking for where photos are taken. When he saw the blurry (模糊的) image, he pulled up a satellite map on his laptop. He narrowed his search to the surrounding area where Compean’s car was parked and spotted an area that looked like the terrain in the image. When he cross-referred the original photo with 3-D images of the area from Google Earth, the locations matched!

Soon, a search-and-rescue team helicopter was in the air, flying above Compean. After spending 27 hours alone in the wilderness, Compean cried, “I’m safe!” John Gibert, a member of the search-and-rescue team, says, “Compean’s story probably would have ended very differently had a total stranger with strong satellite skills and a sharp eye for detail not taken action.”