When Charles Lee handed me the small red notebook in 1974, he changed my life. “While you are traveling, you should keep notes of things you see and do,” he explained.

    I was 20 years old, a junior in college, spending a term at the University of London. Charles was a retired traveling salesman. I was staying with him in his cottage in Kendal, located in the Lake District of northern England. It was a one-week homestay the university arranged for us before classes began.

    I took his advice. I wrote in the notebook every day during the homestay. Back in London, I recorded weekend trips to Wales, Yorkshire, France, and Spain. I commented on my classes, professors, and classmates. I contrasted my life at a small college in the US with my wandering through the streets of London, my introduction to life in a big city, and my initial travels outside the US. I tracked ideas I had about my life and my future.

    When I wrote in the notebook, I struggled with a sense of my audience and purpose. Who would read this? Were these writings just for me, or did I want others to read them? Was I recording events and ideas just as a prompt(提示) to memory, or was there some larger purpose for this daily exercise?

    I knew I was recording events, thoughts, words that were important to my life. I imagined a future me sitting down to read the pages. I wondered what it would feel like to read those words later. I wondered where I would be and what my life would be like.

    I filled the notebook Charles gave me. I bought a new one and filled it. Then another and another. I continued writing in notebooks for four decades. By that time, they filled two boxes in my garage.

    I had reread some of the journals. Specific volumes had provided me with the background I needed for dozens of articles for magazines. But I had never read them all. Recently, I decided to bring my collection of notebooks into my office and replay my life. As I opened the first box, I suddenly became nervous would I like the former me described on those pages? There was a risk in opening that first notebook. I did it anyway.

    Charles had been right. I remembered the big events and the central happenings, but on each page were many details I hadn't retained(保留).

    The pages revealed highlights from college classes and stories about roommates and friends. I read anxious comments I'd written as I'd launched my teaching career, learned to write lesson plants, assigned grades for student work, and solved discipline problems. I reflected on my coming marriage, then the wedding, and eventually the proud moments when I held each of my three girls as a father. I recounted more trips—returning to Europe, teaching in South America, going on safari(游猎) in Africa, and exploring Greenland. I relived memories of trails hit, rivers crossed, and mountains climbed.

    The writings in those journals framed my life. I hadn't written every day. I often skipped a few days or even weeks, but I always picked up the writing when it felt important. Journals went with me when I traveled, and I often wrote in them at school when my own students were writing.

    It took several long evenings to read through the notebooks, taking me on tour spanning(持续) 42 years. As I read I could recall sitting on a bench in Trafalgar Square in London or in our apartment in Peru to write to the future me. It was then that I realized: I am now the person I was writing to throughout those years.

    Beverly Cleary has sold 85 million copies of 41 books and — if those numbers weren't impressive enough — she turns 100 on Tuesday. Though the world was a very different place when Cleary was a child, she has always maintained that kids pretty much stay the same — which explains the ongoing popularity of her beloved characters, like Ramona Quimby, Henry Huggins and Ralph S. Mouse.

    Cleary was in her early 30s and working part time in a bookstore when she sat down at a typewriter to see if just maybe she could write a book for kids. She had worked as a librarian before World War II, and she wished she'd had books for young readers about children living everyday lives.

    "I think children want to read about normal, everyday kids," she told NPR in 1999. "That's what I wanted to read about when I was growing up. I wanted to read about the sort of boys and girls that I knew in my neighborhood and in my school. ... I think children like to find themselves in books."

    Her first book, Henry Huggins, came out in 1950. Henry had a friend named Beezus, and Beezus had a mischievous（爱恶作剧的） but lovable little sister named Ramona. Over the next five decades, Cleary took Ramona all the way from nursery school （托儿所）to the fourth grade. Cleary says when she was writing Ramona, she took inspiration（灵感） from a little girl who lived in the house behind her as a child.

    Her books have hooked generations（几代） of children, including a young Jeff Kinney, who grew up to become the author of the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series.

    "I must have been about 8 or 9 years old when I first read Beverly Cleary," Kinney recalls. "The book that really grabbed me was Ramona Quimby, Age 8. She looked feral. I needed to get to know this character."

    "Most kids have parents, teachers, bullies（欺凌） — we all experience these things,"Kinney says. "And Beverly Cleary tapped into that. Her work is still as relevant today as when it first came out."

    Now, generations of children have been fortunate enough to enjoy her stories of Klickitat Street.

JOIN OUR TEAM

    A. Want to work in media sales?

    This position is perfect for a graduate who wants to start a job in media sales. We are looking for sales staff with the ability to attract new customers in the highly competitive world of Internet advertising. We offer a very attractive starting salary. The one who gets this job will be creative and good at communicating with people.

    Please send a CV(简历), recent photograph, and covering letter to us.

    B. Open Skies

A leading adventure holiday company is looking for guides and instructors for a number of outdoor activities. We need physically healthy and strong people who enjoy being with other people —good team workers with an interest in cycling, riding, water sports, mountain sports and other adventure activities. One will have a better chance of getting this job if he or she has experience and suitable qualifications.

    C. Come and see the world!

    Recently-formed airline company requires flight attendants. These people are going to serve passengers from different countries on our plane. So we want our staff to be of smart appearance, polite and able to communicate in three or more languages. Starting salary depends on experience.

    D. Volunteer needed

    Daily work includes teaching English, art, maths, etc…, as well as leading educational play groups. Support will be given by local teachers or project staff?

    Volunteers should be available to start work next month. No qualifications required, but people interested in this job should be outgoing and be good with young children.

    Please send a CV and a short introduction of yourself.

    One of the hardest parts of living abroad is being away from your loved ones, especially your family. While my friends are so important to me, I've personally found it more difficult being away from family.

    However, I was fortunate that my mum and sister recently found the time to see me. Both my sister and I have major birthdays this year as she's tuming 18 and I'll be 21. My sister is a very big music fan and this year, I created my status as the best older sister by keeping an eye out for music concerts in Paris. In our home town of Leicester, we don't regularly get many well-known artists playing in our city. But in Paris, I managed to get the best 18th birthday present of all: tickets for all three of us to see my sister's favorite American rapper, Angel Haze.

    I will try to visit for my sister's actual birthday in June, the chance for my sister and my mum to visit became a birthday treat. The experience of finding our way together to the concert or getting to show them around the Paris sites such as the Eiffel Tower,the Arc du Triomphe and even my favorite ice cream place,Amorino, was an amazing memory for us all !Despite the fact that I felt the slight pressure to make sure the weekend went smoothly,even the heavy rain failed to dampen our mood.

    Therefore, while it can be difficult being away from home and potentially missing big family moments,there are ways to avoid the sadness and find a way to make the best of your situation to create an unforgettable memory. Just like the continuing rain while we went up the Eiffel tower, every cloud has a silver lining, because then we got the funniest photos ever!

    A nine-year-old kid was sitting at his desk when suddenly there was a puddle（水潭、泥坑） between his feet and the front of his trousers was wet. He thought his heart was going to stop because he couldn't possibly imagine how this had happened. It had never happened before, and he knew that when the boys found out he would never hear the end of it. When the girls found out, they would never speak to him again as long as he lived.

    He prayed this prayer, "Dear God, I need help now! Five minutes from now I'm dead meat!" He looked up from his prayer and here came the teacher with a look in her eyes that said he had been discovered. As the teacher was walking toward him, a classmate named Susie was carrying a goldfish bowl full of water. Susie tripped （绊倒） in front of the teacher and dumped （倒） the bowl of water in the boy's lap. The boy pretended to be angry, but all the while was saying to himself, "Thank you. Lord!"

    Now all of a sudden, instead of being the object of ridicule, the boy was the object of sympathy. The teacher rushed him downstairs and gave him gym shorts to put on while his trousers dried out. All the other children were on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk. The sympathy was wonderful. But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been his had been transferred （转移） to someone else+—Susie. She tried to help, but they told her to get out.

    When school was over, the boy walked over to Susie and whispered, "You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Susie whispered back, "I wet my trousers once, too!"

    Here are our suggestions for keeping busy this week. Dive in!

    Take to the waves in Southampton

    Always fancied trying your hand at sailing? Now's your chance. The Southampton Boat Show has plenty of opportunities for visitors to get out on the water to experience boat sailing, power boating or taking a ride on a RIB ― all for free.

    Discover an island on the Thames

    To celebrate Totally Thames, a month-long festival is held at various locations across London. We've discovered 21 of the river's most fascinating islands ― all of them with interesting stories to tell. Make the most of it with our map here.

    Catch great films in Bristol

    Over six days, Encounters Film Festival screens up to 400 films from over 60 different countries. The Bristol festival provides a platform for international filmmakers, and offers a gateway to the likes of the BAFTAs, Oscars and European Film Awards. See here for full details.

Get scientific in London

    Experience the latest, best and most challenging science covering all areas of our lives and universe at New Scientist Live at ExCel London. New Scientist Live is a four-day festival full of ideas and discoveries from the team behind the world's most popular science weekly magazine, featuring four zones Brain & Body, Technology, Earth and Universe as well as talks from experts and over 200 exhibitors.