Everything was put neatly into my suitcase．I'm a flight attendant．I'm so organized，my half of the closet could be a display at The Container Store．My husband's half of the closet？Just thinking about it made my head ache．I carried my suitcase downstairs．Bill was in the kitchen cooking．Looking at the messy kitchen，I shouted，“Why do you have to be so messy？” Bill looked hurt，“What？” I sighed and left for the airport．

    On my last flight，an elderly couple had the seats in my section．They held hands during takeoff．Later I caught them looking into each other's eyes．Something about that look was familiar．Then I realized：it was the look Bill and I had worn in our wedding photographs．I couldn't resist asking them about the secret of their long-lasting marriage. “Have fun together，”the man said, “and never take each other for granted．”

    His words circled in my head long after we landed．Bill wasn't perfect．But then，was I？I kept complaining about his messiness and forgot his kindness，his ability to see the bright side of every situation-qualities that ran so much deeper，the reasons I had married him in the first place

    I took out my cell phone and called Bill. “I miss you already.” I said．“I miss you too，Kim，” he said．As soon as my flights were over，I rushed home．Bill met me at the door．"I have a surprise for you．"he said and led me into the kitchen．I glanced around the room．He really had worked hard．In spite of the fingerprints on that microwave floor，I could see our reflection in it：my husband and I，our smiles glowing with love for each other，just like in our wedding photos．

    The old man walked with a cane（拐杖）slowly into the restaurant. His poor jacket.

    patched（打补丁）trousers and worn-out shoes made him stand out from the usual Saturday morning breakfast crowd. Unforgettable were his pale blue eyes that sparkled like diamonds，large rosy cheeks，and thin lips held in a steady smile.

    He walked towards a table by the window. A young waitress watched him and ran over to him， saying，“Here, Sir. Let me give you a hand with that chair”

    Without a word，he smiled and nodded a thank you. She pulled the chair away from the table. Steadying him with one arm， she helped him move in front of the chair， and get comfortably seated. Then she pushed the table up close to him，and learned his cane against the table where he could reach it.

    In a soft，clear voice he said, “Thank you, Miss”

    “You are welcome, Sir.” she replied，“My name is Mary. I'll be back in a moment. If you need anything, just wave at me.”

    After he had finished a hearty meal of pancakes，bacon，and hot lemon tea，Mary brought him the change, helping him up from his chair and out from behind the table. She handed him his cane， and walked with him to the front door. Holding the door open for him, she said, “Come back and see us, Sir.”

    He nodded a thank you and said softly with a smile, “You are very kind！”

    When Mary went to clean his table，she was shocked. Under his plate she found a business card and a note written on the napkin, under which was a 100$ bill.

    The note on the napkin read，“Dear Mary，I respect you very much， and you respect yourself，too. It shows by the way you treat others. You have found the secret of happiness. Your kind gestures will shine through those who meet you. ”

    The man she had served was the owner of the restaurant. This was the first time that she，or any of his employees, had seen him in person.

    Oil Painting Workshop

    Jan. 7, 2019

    For Ages 15 and Up

    Beginners Welcome! Experience Not Required!

    Registration (登记) Deadline —— Dec. 31, 2018

    Class Schedule

    9:30—10:00 am            Welcome and Registration

    10:00—12:00 am          Painting Session

    12:00 am—1:00 pm        Lunch

    1:00—3:00 pm            Painting Session

    3:00pm                    Evaluation and Departure

    Instructor

    Judy Moore Gist, Alexander Certified Instructor and Ross Certified Instructor, is making great efforts to give people of all ages the opportunity to experience Alexander's The Magic of Oil Painting and Bob Ross's The Joy of Painting. Both, William Alexander and Bob Ross, PBS TV hosts, have inspired thousands of first-time painters. The “wet-on-wet” technique have encouraged people of all ages to pick up a brush and put their dreams on canvas (油画布). Judy will do the same, and you are welcome to take a class and see for yourself. At the end of just one session you will be amazed at the beautiful painting that you create in just a few hours. You will become more aware of beautiful cloud shapes and colours you ignored before. There is nothing more inspiring than seeing the beautiful scenery that you paint and others will treasure forever.

    For more information about Judy Moore Gist, click here.

    Cost

    $75.00/a person. Prices include all instructor fees, materials, and lunch.

    If you wish to pay by check, please print the OilPaintJan.pdf printable registration form and mail it in with payment to: Holiday Lake 4H Educational Center, 12674-H Camp Road, Appomattox, VA 24522.

    Refund(退款) Policy

    Full Refund: Dec. 31, 2018

    Nonrefundable: after Dec. 31, 2018

    For more information, contact Heathern Benninghove at 232-268-6777 or heathern@vt.edu.

    For several months, Cara has been working up the courage to approach her mom about what she saw on Instagram. Not long ago, the 11-year-old girl, like all the other kids in this story, discovered that her mom had been posting her photos for much of her life." I've wanted to bring it up. It's strange to see myself up there，and sometimes there are pictures I don't like of myself," she said.

    Like most other modem kids, Cara grew up immersed in social media. While many kids may not yet have accounts themselves, their parents, schools, sports teams, and organizations have been organizing an online presence for them since birth. The shock of realizing that details about your life have been shared online without your permission or knowledge has become an important experience in the lives of many teenagers. Recently a parenting blogger (博主)wrote in a Washington Post essay that despite (不顾)her 14-year-old daughter's horror at discovering that her mother had shared years of highly personal stories and information about her online, she simply could not stop posting on her blog and social media. The writer said that promising her daughter that she would stop posting about her publicly on the Internet would mean shutting down a vital part of myself, which isn't necessarily good for me or her." average parents do the same. There's even a special word for it: sharenting. Almost a quarter of children begin their digital lives when parents upload their photos to the Internet, according to a study conducted by the Internet-security firm AVG. The study also found that 92 percent of kids under the age of 2 already have their own unique digital identity.

    While famous foreign architects are invited to lead the designs of landmark buildings in China such as the new CCTV tower and the National Center for the Performing Arts, many excellent Chinese architects are making great efforts to take the center stage.

    Their efforts have been proven fruitful. Wang Shu, a 49-year-old Chinese architect, won the 2012 Pritzker Architecture Prize—which is often referred to as the Nobel Prize in architecture—on February 28. He is the first Chinese citizen to win this award.

    Wang serves as head of the Architecture Department at the China Academy of Art (CAA). His office is located at the Xiangshan campus (校园) of the university in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. Many buildings on the campus are his original creations.

    The style of the campus is quite different from that of most Chinese universities. Many visitors were amazed by the complex architectural space and abundant building types. The curves (曲线) of the buildings perfectly match the rise and fall of hills, forming a unique view.

    Wang collected more than 7 million abandoned bricks of different ages. He asked the workers to use traditional techniques to make the bricks into walls, roofs and corridors. This creation attracted a lot of attention thanks to its mixture of modern and traditional Chinese elements (元素).

    Wang's works show a deep understanding of modern architecture and a good knowledge of traditions. Through such a balance, he had created a new type of Chinese architecture, said Tadao Ando, the winner of the 1995 Pritzker Prize.

    Wang believes traditions should not be sealed in glass boxes at museums. "That is only evidence that traditions once existed," he said.

    "Many Chinese people have a misunderstanding of traditions. They think tradition means old things from the past. In fact, tradition also refers to the things that have been developing and that are still being created," he said.

    "Today, many Chinese people are learning Western styles and theories rather than focusing on Chinese traditions. Many people tend to talk about traditions without knowing what they really are," said Wang.

    The study of traditions should be combined with practice. Otherwise, the recreation of traditions would be artificial and empty, he said.

    News anchors(主播) must have been reluctant to read out the following news: Xin Xiaomeng began working as the world's first female artificial(人工的) intelligence news anchor at Xinhua News Agency on Sunday, three months after a male robot joined the profession.

    Unlike previous news robots though, Xin does not read news like a cold machine; she reads it almost like a human being. The muscles on her face stretch and relax — and her reactions change as she continues reading. That's why many news anchors were worried: Will AI replace us in the near future?

    To find the answer, we have to analyze the technologies that support Xin at her job. Three key technologies are used to support Xin. First, samples of human voices are collected and synthesized (合成). This is followed by the collection and synthesis of human muscle movement samples. And third the voices and movements are married in a way that when the AI news anchor reads, the micro- electric motors behind her face move to make her expressions seem more human.

    Yet we need a thorough knowledge of deep learning technology to make a robot imitate a person's voice. The developer needs to collect tens of thousands of pieces of pronunciations, input them into the machine and match them with the text for the AI to learn and read. The process for imitating facial movements is similar. The developer has to analyze the movements of the 53 muscles in the human face, make a model set from the collected data for the AI news anchor to learn, and imitate the movements of facial muscles via programs

    Both the technologies used to make Xin's performance impressive are mature. The real difficulty lies in the third — the technology to match the pronunciations with facial movements so that Xin's expressions vary according to the content of the news report. In fact, Xin's expressions don't always change according to the content. As a result, her expressions look anything but human. Actually, AI is still no match for human qualities.