Recently some articles claims the word "selfie" as one of the most annoying words. But I'd like to offer that maybe it is not so bad.

    The “selfie” is used to describe the self-taken photo, often from a smart phone. Women and men decorate their Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts with these pictures, sometimes with puckered (翘起) lips or large smiles. In fact, the selfie has become so widely known that over 31 million photos on Instagram are taken with the selfie.

    Let's think about it. Someone takes about 10 selfies each time they do, and they only end up posting one or two of those. They pick the one that they feel makes them look the best. Isn't that beautiful? In that one picture, someone has given himself or herself confidence. Self-image is important. In society today, we are often so consumed with the feeling that what society tells us is perfect. But maybe, with that one selfie, we feel that we fit that bill. We feel handsome, beautiful, confident, smart, happy and content. For that moment, everything bad or terrible that has ever happened to us is erased (消除), because that smile or that pucker is what gives us the determination to love ourselves.

    I saw a spoken word poem recently and the young man said: If I ask you what you love, the answers will most likely roll off your tongue. You love to read. You love to write. You love birds, music, your mom, your brother, your sister, your daughter, your best friend, your dog. How long do you think you can go on and on before you say “I love myself”.

    That statement hit me like a ton of bricks. I've struggled with confidence all of my life. I still do. And in no way am I saying that taking a selfie is a gateway to that confidence. However, the selfie does deserve some credit for allowing individuals to express themselves. Pamela Rutledge agrees, stating, “There are many more photographs available now of real people than models.”

    This is my origin story: when I was a teenager I wrote terrible poetry. Like really bad. Worse than yours, I bet. A lot of it about how every little thing reminds me that we're all going to die one day. I wrote collections and collections of these poems, thinking one day I would have my moment. I named one collection, ironically, The Eternal Optimist.

    In 1996, I found an advert for the International Poetry Competition. I was 16 years old and ready for my poetry to be released on the world. Not only was it a competition with a cash prize, but it was poetry, which I wrote, and international. This was my ticket to becoming world-famous. I submitted a poem called Trail of Thought. If you ever wrote bad poetry as a teenager, you'll have written something like it. In the poem, I went for a walk and noticed small poignant(辛酸的) things in nature, and each one reminded me that we were all going to die one day.

    I filled out the form, printed off the poem and sent it off, fingers crossed. I waited to hear back I carried on writing, I probably finished another collection. Then I got a letter from the International Society of Poets. I opened the envelope carefully, just in case a prize-winning cheque fell out I hadn't won. But, they liked my poem enough to include it in their anthology(诗选), Awaken to a Dream. I closed my eyes, I wanted to scream with happiness. I was going to be a published poet.

    All I had to do in order to be published was accept the terms and pay £ 45（plus £ 5 p & p）for an anthology. If I didn't buy a copy of the anthology, my poem wouldn't be included. I had to convince my mum, who thought my writing a meaningless pastime, to part with £ 50. She even asked the question: “Why do you have to pay to be in this book?” Nevertheless, she wrote a cheque for £ 50 and I returned it with my letter of agreement.

    I was 16 and about to be a published poet. This was what it had all been about. This is what it had all been leading to. The months waiting for the anthology were a torture. I hit some sort of writer's block, I couldn't write anything. It was almost as if, now I was published, it mattered more what I committed to page and I didn't want to write anything down unless it was good enough to go into an anthology like Awaken to a Dream.

    The book arrived through the post. Here it was. The first thing I had ever been published in a book called Awaken to a Dream, featuring a blistering take on the mundanity(世俗) of mortality by yours truly. I opened the package to find a book, containing my work. The first thing that struck me about the book was that it was bigger than A4. And it was thick. And on each page was a poem, next to another poem, next to another. The type was small and the paper thin enough to trace with. With three or four poems per page and more than 700 pages, I had a sinking realization. This was a scam, an illegal trick for making money.

    If each poem had cost the author £ 45, they were sitting on a fortune. I felt ashamed. Everyone who had submitted something to the International Poetry Competition had fallen for the same hustle（忙碌）as me. I couldn't bring myself to show my mum. And she never asked to see it. Perhaps she thought if the price of me learning a lesson was £50 we didn't really have, then so be it.

    But that stayed with me, that moment of realization. Because I determined to keep writing and ensure that my precious words always found a home worthy of them. Or at least that's how, more than 20 years later, I justify falling for a scam. Because your first time being published should be special, and if I don't convince myself that there was a reason for my first poem being in a vanity(无价值) book, then what good was it in the first place? And, strangely, someone is selling this book on Amazon at the moment. I wonder how many other writers who went on to do more stuff are in there.

    Researchers say getting a good night's sleep is probably the best tool for memory and learning. But short periods of sleep may help our brains work better, says a recent study on napping. And taking a nap  may also help old adults fight off age-related memory loss.

    CDC, an American scientific organization, found that 50 to 70 million Americans have chronic（长期的）sleep disorders. So, someone who naps as a way of paying off a sleep debt may not experience the same improvements from napping as a well-rested person would. Also, that only children, the very old, sick or  lazy people nap is not an uncommon opinion.

    Researchers recently looked at information provided by nearly 3,000 Chinese adults, aged 65 years or older, to learn if napping after a mid-day meal had any effect on the mental performance of the subjects.

    First, they asked the people if they napped and for how long. Then, based on their answers, researchers put them into four groups: non-nappers (0 min), short nappers (≦30 min), moderate nappers (30-90 min), and extended nappers (≧90 min).  Nearly 60% of the people said they did take a nap after lunch and that   their naps lasted anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes. Most of the subjects said they napped for about an hour.

    The study found that people who took an hour-long nap did much better on mental tests than those      who did not nap. The hour-long nappers also did better on the tests than those who napped for shorter and longer periods. In this study, it seemed that the most effective nap lasted for about an hour, but not much longer.

    Yet Doctor Michael Twery notes that an hour long nap may be too long for young, healthy adults. 30 minutes is enough to remove the pressure to sleep and will help us feel more awake.

    I always wondered how people would react if I tried to approach a total stranger for help in a busy place like a street corner or in a noisy mall. I have always hurried past a stranger who tried to catch my attention in a busy place or when I am rushing around.

    Yesterday, I was in a busy shopping mall buying a large piece of luggage because I just had the time to do it after many days of planning. After the purchase in one of the large shops, I picked up my phone from my pocket to call my driver waiting in the parking lot but my phone was dead.

    I then requested the shop assistant who had just sold me the luggage to ring the number of my driver for me and she replied that it was the shop policy that they cannot use mobile phones while working in the shop.

    I got out of the shop onto the busy street in front and approached a young mother with her two kids to make a request. As soon as I said “Excuse me, madam”, she grabbed both her kids and ran. I felt like a kidnapper.

    I stood there, wondering how many times I had reacted to strangers like the young mum. I stood there in the busy street with people rushing by, looking at their faces to see if there was a sign of kindness on their faces.

    I saw a man pretty shabbily dressed. He seemed to have noticed me and I just stopped him expecting him to rush past. My request escaped the lips. He immediately called the number of my driver and waited till my car came to be sure I was picked up, and he turned around before I could thank him adequately and was gone. I was surprised by his kindness and hope I will do likewise to strangers who try to catch my attention from now on.

Lizzie's diary from Antarctica (南极洲)

Day 3: Tuesday   December 2

    We planned to go to Rothera that morning. We'd be staying there for the next two weeks. Because Antarctica is the windiest place on earth, sometimes you can't fly at all.

    We had a nervous wait over breakfast to find out if we'd be leaving that day. People have to stay in Stanley for weeks while the pilots wait for good weather.

    It turned clear at 9:30 and we took off at 10:30 on a little red plane called a Dash-7. But even when we were in the air, there was still a chance we wouldn't be able to fly the whole day.

Day 4: Wednesday   December 3

    After waking up in the Antarctic for the first time today I can understand why everybody who comes here falls in love with the place. It is really beautiful.

    We're staying at Rothera Survey base with mountains of ice all around. It is about minus 2⁰C today, which for me is very cold, but the regulars(常客) here are often seen walking around in T-shirts !

Day 5: Thursday   December 4

    I woke up to another beautiful sunny day here in the Antarctic. I'm told it's a bit colder today, about minus 5⁰C, but it's not very windy so it feels warmer. Those of us who are new to the base have to do a special training course before we're allowed to go off base to other stations or to go snowboarding over the nearby hill.

Day 7:  Saturday   December 6

    Not a cloud in the sky and it's warm enough to sit outside (in a jacket).

    The most amazing thing about this place is how the scenery (风景) changes every day.

    At first I thought I was going mad. I'd step outside in the morning and think, "I'm sure that big mountain of ice wasn't there yesterday." It's because the sea ice is always moving—slowly thankfully !