“Indeed,” George Washington wrote in his diary in 1785, “some kind of fly, or bug, had begun to eat the leaves before I left home.” But the father of America was not the father of bug. When Washington wrote that, Englishmen had been referring to insects as bugs for more than a century, and Americans had already created lightning-bug(萤火虫). But the English were soon to stop using the bugs in their language, leaving it to the Americans to call a bug a bug in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

    The American bug could also be a person, referring to someone who was crazy about a particular activity. Although fan became the usual term, sports fans used to be called racing bugs, baseball bugs, and the like.

    Or the bug could be a small machine or object, for example, a bug-shaped car. The bug could also be a burglar alarm, from which comes the expression to bug, that is, “to install (安装) an alarm”. Now it means a small piece of equipment that people use for listening secretly to others' conversation. Since the 1840s, to bug has long meant “to cheat”, and since the 1940s it has been annoying.

    We also know the bug as aflawin a computer program or other design. That meaning dates back to the time of Thomas Edison. In 1878 he explained bugs as “little problems and difficulties” that required months of study and labor to overcome in developing a successful product. In 1889 it was recorded that Edison “had been up the two previous nights discovering ‘a bug' in his invented record player.”

How to Fill Your Empty Walls with Beautiful Art

    If you've ever stared at an empty wall wondering what to put there, you're not alone. The idea of having the same museum print as everyone else doesn't seem that appealing.

    But, many people who may be interested in purchasing art are at a loss on how to start. The amount of time taken to discover art and artists that you truly love, and the expense of purchasing art, keep many people from even considering it.

    But now, TurningArt is solving this dilemma(困境). TurningArt is an online subscription(订阅 ) service that allows the average consumer to learn about art and be able to afford to own it. TurningArt offers art-lovers an online gallery of thousands of works, from highly accomplished and successful artists, to view in their homes and eventually buy if they want to.

    Here's how it works

    Visit TurningArt.com to browse through the work of hundreds of independent artists from across the country. Sorted by style, medium, color, price, artist, or even region, new art is added daily. You're sure to find several things you like.

    Then, simply sign up for one of TurningArt's subscription plans. These start at just $10 per month. TurningArt will send you your first piece, framed and ready to hang right out of the box. The piece will not be the original, but rather a museum-quality print produced together with the artist. You can request the next piece at any time. New prints arrive in a mailer that you can use to send back your old prints.

    You can enjoy each piece for one, two, or three months—however long you want. And, best of all, you never have to worry about taping, sizing, or centering your new print, because all prints are pre-sized to fit easily into the frame originally sent to you.

    If you've got an empty wall to fill, or simply like the idea of getting fresh art in your home every now and then, TurningArt is for you.

    It seems that the great desire among the young is to be popular. The desire to be popular can force you into looking and acting like everyone else. You can lose yourself in a sea of identical hairstyles and thinking styles.

    I was forced to think about popularity not too long ago in a talk I had with my daughter. Margy had to change schools when my busy work schedule made it necessary for me to move houses. I suppose that，for a girl in her teens，entering a new school is like spending a season alone in the tropical jungles. At least that's how Margy found it at first. However，as the school year drew to a close，one student after another came to her.I told Margy that I would have been more concerned if she had been an instant social success in her new school. Nobody can please everyone. If you try to do so，you will find values as lasting as soap bubbles blown into the air.

    Some teenagers claim they want to dress as they please. But they all wear the same clothes. They set off in new directions in music. But somehow they all end up listening to the same record. Their reason for thinking or acting in a certain way is that the crowd is doing it. They have come out of their cocoon into a larger cocoon.

    I know that it has become harder for a young person to stand up against the popularity wave. Our way of life makes a young nonconformist stand out like a Martian. These days there's a great barrier for the young person who wants to find his or her own path. But the barrier is worth climbing over. You may want to listen to classical music instead of going to a party. Well，go to it. Be yourself .Popularity will come with the people who respect you for who you are. That's the only kind of popularity that really counts.

    Some people love eating food right after it is cooked. I prefer food just taken out from the freezer. Fruit, candies, nuts, chocolate, cake with buttercream frosting(糖霜), even peas, all of them taste delicious when frozen. In fact, I often eat them that way.

    I was a kid when I picked up the habit. In my family, lots of things were thrown into the freezer — finally, two freezers — to prevent them from going bad. Among them were some of the candies my sisters and I had collected on Halloween.

    If we eat when they are still warm, we'll find ourselves taking the cookies more than we should. It's better if we can put them into the freezer and wait. That way we'll eat less and enjoy them more because they are hard and chewing becomes a slower, more patient effort. That's the point about frozen buttercream frosting. Put it in your mouth at room temperature, and it's gone very quickly. But when it's frozen, you can enjoy the taste much longer as it melts(融化) in your mouth.

    The freezer treats a lot of fruit kindly. Take frozen grapes for example, I keep a bowl of grapes in my freezer. They become a little icy, and somehow their sweetness is improved. They are perfect and healthy dessert(点心). This is the same with oranges, apples, bananas…You might think bananas would get super­hard when frozen. Wrong! They become cool, creamy and sweet. If you have wisely covered some or all of the bananas with melted chocolate before putting them into the freeze, they will have a double taste.

    As long as you aren't eating anything that truly has to be hot, go ahead and experiment.

    As you know, there are many fantastic parks in New York City.

    Central Park

    One of the most famous parks in the world, Central Park is a man-made wonder. Not only is it the first public park built in America, but it is also one of the most frequently visited parks, with over 25 million guests per year. Set in the middle of busy Manhattan, its grounds serve as a safe harbor, not only for athletes, and musicians but also for lots of migratory birds each year. One can spend an entire peaceful day wandering its grounds, gazing upon nearly 50 fountains, monuments, and sculptures or admiring its 36 bridges.

    Hudson River Park

    Hudson River Park is a waterside park on the Hudson River that extends from 59th Street south to Battery Park in the New York City district of Manhattan. Bicycle and pedestrian paths, including the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway, span the park north to south, opening up the waterfront for the public to relax. The park includes tennis and soccer fields, children's playground, dog run, and many other features.

    Washington Square Park

    Washington Square Park, located in the heart of Greenwich Village, is a very popular and often crowded place. People from all backgrounds gather to this large square dotted with trees.

    Central Park Zoo

    The Central Park Zoo is a small 6. 5-acre zoo located on Central Park in New York City. The zoo began in the 1860s, making it the first official zoo to open in New York. The zoo was improved in 1934, with the addition of many new buildings ranged in a quadrangle around the sea lion pool. Finally, the zoo was repaired in the mid-1980s and reopened in 1988, replacing the old-fashioned cages with naturalistic environments.