【推荐1】Nick Vujicic is a great speaker, born in Melbourne, Australia on the 4th of December, 1982. He has no arms and legs. There is no medical explanation for it. In school, he was the first disabled child to be integrated into the Australian school system. He was laughed at, avoided and not included on purpose from games. At age 6, Nick tried some prosthetics (假肢) but they were more of restriction than aid because they limited his movement. Apparently, he had learnt how to do some things without them. Unfortunately, he severely battled with depression at age 8. He felt he would always be a burden for the rest of his life. These thoughts made his prospects in life as a fantasy. He just had one desire arms and legs, that's all.

At age 10, though his home was a refuge from the external storms, he couldn't manage to deal with the rejections he faced outside. Then he tried to drown himself but the love he had for his parents discouraged him from doing so. Nick had his Bachelor's degree in commerce at Griffith University. One day, his mum noticed his situation affected his life and decided to show him a newspaper article that featured a man that had a severe disability, much more than Nick's.

From that moment on. Nick Vujicic became grateful for life. He also said he found peace after he got his relationship with himself. Although he couldn't make some things happen easily, he believed it was not what you had but what you did with it. Therefore, he frequently tells himself he is not afraid to fail or try again. Today, He writes up to 43 words per minute, can throw tennis balls, play the drums, get a glass of water and also answer a phone call.

【推荐1】    1     His quotes are on cups. Lego has created a figure in his honor. There’s even a film series featuring a St. Bernard named after him. Even people who may claim not to know anything about classical music would still be able to recognize the “da, da, da dum!” opening figure from Beethoven’s Fifth.

However, it’s not only the quality of Beethoven’s music that makes him so special.

The composer changed the musical world forever. It has been said that he alone dragged music out of the Classical age and into the Romantic. But that doesn’t go far enough.     2    

Before Beethoven, composers worked for the glory of God, or wrote on bended knee for wealthy courts. Beethoven kicked down the doors of the aristocratic (贵族的) world and made himself at home.     3    

Beethoven knew beyond doubt that he was writing for eternity (不朽). His confidence in his abilities was the only great truth in his life and he held on to it.     4     With Beethoven, music became about feelings, about looking within and expressing things unsayable.

In 1805 he changed the course of musical history with his Eroica symphony composition. It was the first truly “heroic” piece of music ever created.

His sense of invention and resourcefulness never declined. His Fifth symphony was described by English novelist E.M. Forster as “the most beautiful noise that has ever penetrated into the car of man.” His music, especially that which was composed during his last ten years, is unique.     5    

And he was deaf.

Study Shakespeare and he will show you what people are. Listen to Beethoven, who wrote simply to show his artistic and intellectual existence, and he will show you what you could be.

【推荐2】New England holds some special museums. They are devoted largely or entirely to the work of just one person. And they are the artists’ birthplaces or onetime homes. Here are four examples of such museums.

Cyrus E. Dallin Art Museum

The name Cyrus E. Dallin (1861-1944) might not be familiar, but several of the artist’s sculptures (雕塑) are, especially those related to Native Americans. A good example is his “Appeal to the Great Spirit” standing in front of the Museum of Fine Arts. Born in Utah, he lived in Arlington for the final four decades of his life. The museum is in the Jefferson Cutter House, an 1830 Greek styled building.

Norman Rockwell Museum

Rockwell (1894-1978) was America’s well-known artist. The museum, founded in 1969, moved into its present location, Robert A.M. Stern-designed building in 1993. Its 998 paintings and drawings are the largest single collection of Rockwell's artworks.

Kids 16 and under: free; adults: $20; the old: at a 10% discount (折扣)

Edward Gorey House

Edward Gorey (1925-2000) was an artist, but he was also an author and clothes designer. Gorey bought this 18th-century house in 1979 and lived there for the rest of his life. Edward Gorey House is also known as the Elephant House. Gorey had respect for animals. The activities of the house, from art education to exhibits, show Gorey's support of animal well-being.

Gibert Stuart Birthplace and Museum

Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828) is responsible for what may well be the most familiar work of any American artist, His drawing of George is the basis of the first president’s portrait (画像) on the dollar. Stuart painted more than a thousand portraits throughout his life.

【推荐3】“He is a giant of the 20th-century art, but that doesn’t mean he only did big paintings, said Lynn Miller, director of Rochester Central Gallery, in an interview last Thursday.

Entitled “Picasso and His Drafts”, a special exhibit marking 50 years since the death of Pablo Picasso is held at the gallery this month. Instead of his paintings, the notebooks on which the Spanish legendary artist drew drafts are shown to the public for the first time.

Matchbox covers, postcards, restaurant napkins all served as drafting notes for the artist at moments of inspiration. It is important to know that each of the 14 notebooks presented reflects what was going on in his life.

For example, a tiny notebook whose size is just 3 by 5 inches stands out among the exhibits. Inside the little book was a self-portrait of the artist finished roughly in pencil, with deep and thoughtful eyes. It was done in 1918 and Picasso, then in his mid-30s, had just got married. He produced big-sized artworks but he also kept this tiny notebook around, filling it with scenes of his wife, their friends, the beach and the town, and drafts of upcoming paintings. Actually, many of the draft drawings are early versions of famed paintings like Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907) and Dora Maar in an Armchair (1939).

“He is a great artist of the modern period, and we see practice and determination in his notebooks,” said Lynn Miller, referring to Picasso’s efforts in improving his skills through copious drawing. Bernard Ruiz-Picasso, a grandson of Picasso’s, remembered him always drafting until the last piece of paper available. “My grandpa was permanently drawing something,” Ruiz-Picasso said.

In a documentary film shown at the gallery, Picasso, shirtless and in shorts, was standing on a ladder to reach the top of his canvas (画布). It reminds visitors of the real size of his masterworks.