To the people who came to Christopher Morley Park in Roslyn, he had no name. To them, he was “the ice cream man”. He was just two hands and a smile handing back ice cream from the van（面包车）window. To me, he was my older brother, Andrew.

    Once, he worked on Wall Street. But later he spent his days selling ice cream to an endless line of kids, moms and dads in swimming suits, perhaps daydreaming of a beach faraway.

    All day long, while he sold bags of potato chips, cans of soda, and all types of ice cream, he would do this sort of robotic motion—turn to the right, stoop down, hand the item out of the window and collect the money.

    His drinking days were over now. They neared their end one night after he took a severe beating when someone followed him home and robbed him when he was drunk. It left him memories of pain and misery. He was determined he would never take another drink again.

    One day years later, I went to look for him. I slipped into the high driver's seat and sat quietly watching him work. Occasionally, he would ask me to hand him a diet root beer or a bag of chips for sale, all the time bending over as he worked the long line.

    As I watched him sell ice cream from a van window, he taught me something about living this life that we all pass through too quickly. It was a lesson about trying to live it with grace and dignity and style, no matter what.

    He died in March 1999. He had served in the Army for two years in Europe in the 1950s. They gave him a soldier's funeral with a folded flag.

    The first time she saw Bryce Loski, she flipped. The first time he saw Juli Baker, he ran. For six years of living close by, they had played the same game of cat-and-mouse (Juli was the cat; Bryce was the unfortunate mouse).

    For years Juli dreamed of one thing: her first kiss from the boy. Nothing else seemed to matter. But when Juli's favorite sycamore tree is threatened by developers, things begin to change. She begins to see things and places and people in a different light. Things, for years, she thought to be important, become things she can live without; and people she thought to be the center of her universe, become nothing more than a star in a faraway galaxy.

    Things begin changing with Bryce also. It all begins with the eggs…which then cause a domino effect of changes with his relationships with his best friend, his father, the Bakers and, ultimately, Juli.

    I had seen this book on the shelf at bookstores for years, but never bothered to pick it up because it looked to be another book from Jerry Spinelli (not exactly my favorite author in the world) and so, continually, I would walk past it without giving it a second glance. If by chance I had picked it up, I most likely would not have read it, since the summary on the back didn't seem too appealing. It wasn't until a couple of weeks ago that I heard about Flipped the movie. I read an interview with Callan McAuliffe (the actor who portrays Bryce) and thought that Flipped was a romance right up my alley; cute, innocent and as far from Jane Austin as you could get. After reading the interview and a summary of the movie, I found the plot-line to be somewhat appealing and a definite breath of fresh air opposed to the dark material I have been recently reading and writing. I found the book a few days later in a Goodwill bookstore and finished it in three days.

    The story isn't what you would consider deep…it isn't shallow and pointless either…I guess you could say it's the perfect balance of life-lessons and innocence.

    You read about Bryce and Juli (each from their own points of view) and how, throughout six years, their lives and views and opinions change and develop. Flipped is somewhat of a coming of age story about two kids learning to see life from the other's point of view and learning that growing up isn't about staying the same, but changing; changing likes and dislikes; changing friends and crushes and views on family.

Uniquely written, every other chapter showing the same scenes and events, only from the other's point of view, you see how the saying, "Two sides to every story," is true. You are able to see both Juli and Bryce's reasons for doing what they do and saying what they say…not just what the other sees.

    It will be interesting to see how this writing style comes into play in the movie. Overall I thought this story was incredibly cute and light-hearted, although it didn't entirely meet my expectations. Especially the ending. I felt as though it ended quite abruptly and that there was more story that needed to be told.

    But even with that, after having taken a step back and taken my mind off of Flipped, I find the story has stuck with me and stayed in the back of my mind, making me highly anticipate seeing this book turned to a film. I understand why it has been so popular for almost two decades and am looking forward to seeing Flipped on the big screen soon.

    The tough economy is bringing new shoppers to the secondhand market.Plato's Closet in Charlotte,NC is a private company,which mainly buys and sells used clothes.While Charlotte has outstanding secondhand stores offering high-end and graceful brands for women,most of their stock applies to adults.Plato's closet targets teens and those in their 20s.

    Plato's Closet,with stores in Matthews and the university area,sells clothes and accessories（装饰品）that are currently popular at about one third the retail（零售）prices.

    The two hottest brands,for buying and selling,are Hollister and Abercrombie & Fitch.Even though the offerings tend to be suitable for young people,there are a variety of shoppers at Plato's Closet of varying ages.Women in their 30s,40s,and older could easily find a purse,jacket or piece of jewelry they like.

    If you are selling

    Unlike higher-end resale stores which usually work on consignment（寄售）,Plato's Closet buys on the spot.

    Items can be gently used,but must be in very good condition.

    Clothes should be less than two years old and styles should be the same as those still being sold at the shopping center.

    There is no negotiation;prices are set company-wide.If what you sell amounts to $30 or less,they'll give you cash.More than that,you'll get a Visa cash card.

    Secondhand success

    Don't get discouraged if you can't find something on your first trip.Resale shops are always getting new lists of goods and change their styles with each season.

    Be sure to check each piece carefully before buying.

    Price comparison

    Jackets: New York & Company black blazer,$12; retail: $37.

    Pants: Express Editor-style pants,$12; retail: $69.90.

    Shoes: Nine West black peep-toe pumps,$12; retail: $89.

    Jewelry: Necklaces,$3-$5; retail: $18-$30.

    Obviously, most people who try to lose weight generally focus all or most of their attention on the food they eat. But what about their behavior? Are there habits they could be breaking that would also help them lose weight?

    According to the Ohio State University Extension, which summarized the findings, the researchers learned people who routinely ate breakfasts, lunches, and dinners tended to have more success losing weight than people whose eating schedules were irregular. As a bonus, they were also more likely to eat a larger quantity of fruits and vegetables.

    One activity that brought a disaster to people who wanted to lose weight was watching television, particularly if they ate while watching TV--especially if they ate while watching TV after 7 p.m. People who did these things, including simply watching a lot of television, tended to have a higher body mass index (BMI), as well as a higher intake of fat and sugars.

    Those who ate out a lot also tended to take in more fat and sugars, while eating fewer fruits and vegetables. For the purposes of the study, eating away from home was defined not only as eating in restaurants but also eating food provided by an employer or colleagues at work, buying food at convenience stores or gas stations, or buying food for fund-raisers.

    Finally, the best results were achieved by those motivated people who kept writing the track of the amount and type of exercise they did and how many calories they ate, who planned meals, and used meal replacements. Those who did these things the most generally lost more weight, ate less fat and sugars, ate more fruits and vegetables, and engaged in more physical activities.

So cutting out all those high-calorie snacks will help you lose weight. If so, apparently, will change some of your habits and behavior.

    I live on the West Coast of British Columbia with my husband and three children. Our day started like any other day. My husband left for work in the north of the town, which is an hour and a half's drive. The younger children caught their bus to school ten minutes away. Our oldest attends high school and is a 40-minute drive away. I work at home in the office, working on the computer.

    It was November 2006 and the news had reported gusty winds. When the winds started to get strong I shut the computer down and tried to phone my husband. I left a message telling him the winds were blowing at 80 to 90 km/hr. As I hung up the phone, I heard a tree crack. I went outside and stood in the driveway. Another tree exploded and my heart was racing.

    When the school bus carrying the youngsters arrived, I ran to get them. No sooner had we made it to the house than another tree exploded. The children were clearly scared, so I loaded them up into the car and we parked in the middle of the yard, where no trees could land on us, it was starting to get dark.

    My oldest son didn't come home on the bus and my husband was stranded at work. I called the high school and reached my son. He said he was stranded and didn't know what to do. I called a friend in town for help. He managed to get my son home to me. Finally, my husband managed to get home.

    We had been prepared for such events, as we had a generator, candles, a wood stove, fresh water, batteries and two freezers full of food. We were without power for five days. But we didn't panic we had all the emergency equipment we needed. Thankfully, none of our neighbours were injured, but the damage was extensive. We are witnessing climate change. We need to be prepared.