If you're dreaming of visiting one of those picture-perfect European towns filled with old-world attractiveness and scenic beauty, here is a look at the most beautiful small towns in Europe.

    Manarola

    Manarola, Italy, is filled with rainbow-colored homes along the Mediterranean(地中海) coast. This attractive fishing town is famous for its unbelievable wine, and the paintings. There are no cars here, no traffic lights, or traffic noise. You can drive to Manarola, but you'll have to park just outside the town and then take a shuttle bus or walk in on foot.

    Garmisch-Partenkirchen

    Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, is a fascinating(迷人的) mountain town. Once two separate(分开的) towns, one Roman and the other Teutonic, the 1936 Winter Olympics forced them to become one, though the two sides still have different characters(特点). The town dates back to 15 AD, filled with narrow, cobblestoned streets lined with historic three or four-story buildings painted with religious scenes(宗教场景).

    Marsaxlokk

    The energetic trading port of Marsaxlokk, Malta, was built in 900 BC. Today, this pictures-like town is the main supplier(供应地) of fish to the island nation that sits in the Mediterranean Sea. It has no modern buildings to ruin its attractiveness. With such quiet surroundings, including the traditional luzzu's (fishing boats), it's a particularly charming(迷人的) place to visit.

    Portmagee, Ireland

    In a country filled with beautiful towns, Portmagee, is a standout, sitting on the southwest coast of Ireland. This postcard-perfect seaside fishing town has a row of brightly colored buildings along with a rich and colorful history. At The Bridge Bar, you'll find live music many nights of the week along with nice food and a fine glass of beer.

    As I enter my 40s, I've noticed many of my parents' generation think social networking is something they are simply unable to understand. They fear that, should they try, they will somehow get it wrong; they will say the wrong thing, do the wrong thing or behave in a way that causes embarrassment. But there are some secrets of social media for them to consider.

    Here's the first secret: everyone feels this way. I recently met a young actor who was complaining that her work demands that she join Microblog, but she always feels like she doesn't have anything smart to say. It's the same resistance (抵制). I hear from the older generation, who, however, have somehow believed that age is the barrier (障碍), rather than the differences of personal taste.

    Here's the second secret: everybody uses it for more or less the same reasons. Older generations often sign up to stay in touch with children and relatives. We talk about this kind of communication like it's some old-fashioned activity, but it is exactly why younger people use social media. The truth is that most people use social media to gently keep an eye on one another, to see how those they care about are doing without needing to ring them up on the phone every night.

    And this is the last secret: everyone gets to use them in their own way. Newcomers—younger and older—who worry about “getting it right” are thinking that there's a right way to get them. But actually there isn't. Personally, I talk a lot on Microblog. And some people post nothing and they use social media every day as readers. Social media companies would rather see people decorating their networks with pictures and posts, but there's no rule against being a fly on the wall. It's also a fine way to get involved.

    Were quick to forget that the web wasn't invented by 13-year-olds; it was created by today's seniors. I'd never try forcing those with no interest in social networks to use Microblog. But don't let the talk of age divides put you off. There's nothing to stop the older generation from joining in the network their own generation created.

    A blog posted Dec 7, 2018 at 12:17 PM by Alanna Mallon

    Alanna Mallon is a Cambridge City Councilor.

    Each year in November, I receive a flurry of emails and texts from friends who want to volunteer with their families on Thanksgiving as a way to give back. I also field phone calls from organizations who want to donate to local programs that provide Thanksgiving meals.

    However, as an official who still works in the nonprofit sector, I also feel deeply anxious because I know the other 51 weeks of the year, these critical programs that provide food access to residents in need are starving for both volunteers and donations. Hunger is a year round problem, and each week volunteers are the necessary part to ensure that programs are able to serve the community.

    At Food For Free, we rely on about 100 volunteers per week, and each of those volunteers is extremely important to providing fresh, healthy food to people in the Greater Boston area who need it. School children who take backpacks of food home on Fridays, community college students who rely on our Family Meals program to thrive in class, elderly and disabled residents who receive twice monthly deliveries of food to their doors through our Home Delivery program, — they all rely on us ensuring enough volunteers show up to do the work.

    These volunteers don't show up in your social media feeds, they don't win awards and no one writes about them in the local newspapers. But they are heroes. And you can be too.

    If everyone made a promise to volunteer once a month, or even once a quarter, I know that we could reduce some of the anxiety these organizations feel, as a more reliable volunteer network allows them to focus on helping people, not filling volunteer slots.

    Here is a list of a few organizations who are doing critical work in Cambridge to address food insecurity. Offer your time to an organization, they will be deeply grateful—and I am going to bet that you will feel pretty good about yourself too.

Food For Free: http://foodforfree.org/volunteer.

    CEOC: http://ceoccambridge.org/food-pantry.

    Harvard Square Homeless Shelter: https://hshshelter.org/volunteer.

    Community Cooks: https://communitycooks.org/join-us.

    Margaret Fuller Neighborhood House: http://margaretfullerhouse.org

    Don't put it off, do it now!

    Why do we spend so much time not doing the work we should do, or putting off small jobs that have piled up to create a big problem? Procrastinating, as putting things off like this is called, is in our character we have naturally since birth; we avoid dull or difficult jobs until it's too late to do anything else.

    "We often put things off although we know it will make life more stressful," says Dr. Steel, an authority on the science of motivation. "If these tasks were fun, we'd just do them now. We put off what is difficult or unpleasant, such as the paperwork that needs doing before leaving the office or cleaning the bits of your home that people can't see. But the fact is, the less people procrastinate, the more money they have, the better relationships they have, and the healthier they are." This is obvious when you look at the couples who don't argue about whether anyone has cleaned the kitchen, and the people who simply go for a run instead of endlessly rescheduling it in their heads.

    Of course, there are the rest of us, who feel the small jobs piling up around us daily. "We've evolved to respond to the moment, and not to set our sights too far in an uncertain world," Dr. Steel adds. "We are not set up to appreciate long-term rewards, whether it's the benefit of a four-year degree, doing exercise or dieting. We usually feel the cost now and the reward comes much later." According to Dr. Steel, we have two decision-making systems. They are the limbic, which is responsible for the short term, and the prefrontal cortex, which deals with the future. We bounce between long-term goals and short-term temptations, so we need goals that will translate our plans for the limbic system.

    Let's take the example of students' writing essays. They should set themselves targets and word counts per day. These are thus turned from seemingly endless tasks into something concrete with measured progress. Dr. Steel recommends such techniques, or "pre-commitments", adding that leaving you a month before the "deadline" makes it more likely a task will be completed. The benefit is that you'll avoid the embarrassment of not following up on something people are expecting you to do—telling everyone you are going to take up jogging makes you more likely to do so.

    Overcoming procrastination finally comes down to planning, which, if you're not careful, becomes procrastination in itself. But it is worth making sure you have everything in place. "Successful people don't pretend they don't procrastinate," Dr. Steel says. "People who pretend they have willpower are less successful." Instead, plan for procrastination: make your work environment a temple of productivity by cutting out what stops you paying your attention, so you can really focus on moving forward.

    Life for almost anyone is increasingly influenced by screens. Not only are screens themselves cheap to make, but they also make things cheaper. Any place that can fit a screen in can cut costs. And any activity that can happen on a screen becomes cheaper. The physical experience of learning, living and dying is becoming smooth glass. All of this has led to a curious new reality: Human contact is becoming a luxury good (奢侈品).

    "What we are seeing now is the luxury of human engagement," Milton Pedraza, the chief of the

    Luxury Institute, said. Expected spending on experiences such as enjoyable travel and dining is outpacing spending on goods, according to his company's research, and he sees it as a direct response to the rapid increase of screens.

    Screens exposure starts young. And children who spent more than two hours a day looking at screen got lower scores on thinking and language tests, according to early results of a landmark study supported by the National Institutes of Health. The study focuses on brain development of more than 11,000 children. Most disturbingly, the study is finding that the brains of children who spend much time on screens are different. For some kids, their cerebral cortex (大脑皮层) would become thinner before expected time. In adults, one study found an association between screen time and depression.

    There is also the reality that in our culture of increasing separation, in which so many of the traditional gathering places and social structures have disappeared, screens are filling a vital gap.

    For normal people, running away from the screen becomes impossible. It's not a luxury, and it's easy to get. It is normal for more people to need the network constantly. In addition, it has become an important part of social interaction.

I will never forget the year 1979. I was just ten years old when my father decided to take me to see a stunt (特技) show starring the famous motorcyclist, Evel Knievel. After seeing the amazing stunts, I started dreaming about riding bikes and performing stunts myself one day.

My whole childhood was spent at skate parks; there was a group of us that would go there every day after school with our BMX bikes (a type of bicycle designed to ride on rough ground). After all, I would need to get some practice if I was going to be like my hero!

My later teenage years were spent competing in endless BMX freestyling championships; some I won and others I lost. But it was never about the trophies (奖杯). The atmosphere was magical, with over 1,000 riders at some events. I just loved the rush of energy I got from this, and from continuously trying newer, more daring stunts.

In 1995, I was chosen to compete in an important international action sports competition. For once in my life I was nervous. I landed badly on my hand and got injured. It took me out of the sport for a while, but my attitude was: "If others have suffered more and gone on, then why can't I?" I had once read that Evel Knievel suffered a total of thirty­five broken bones.

When the International Olympic Committee made BMX an Olympic sport, I couldn't have been more delighted! The way I see it, the sport finally got the recognition it deserved. Its entry into the Olympics encourages more people to take it up seriously.

I have heard some people say that BMX is too dangerous for kids. The risks, though, are really no greater than, say skateboarding. With riders pushing the limits far beyond what I could ever have imagined when I first started riding professionally, BMX seems set to remain one of the most exciting sports in history.