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    Kids Wall Art

    Large wall posters for kids. Your kids will love these cool posters by artist Carla Daly. Your kids will enjoy decorating their bedroom walls with these posters and their friends will think they are the coolest!

    Do you want to take time to get in touch with yourself, your feelings, your dreams, and a good, healthy life? Here are some tips:

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Sometimes it seems as if our culture has begun to view the need for sleep as a sign of weakness. But your body was genetically(基因地) programmed to spend a third of its life on sleep, and this affects thinking, memory, growth, your immune(免疫的) system and even your weight.

    Begin the day in thankfulness. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Name each person and hold them in your thoughts. The sense of thankfulness you experience will set a peaceful tone for the entire day, and reduce a day's stress that can lead to sleeplessness that night.

    Strike a balance. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Think about tai chi, prayer, yoga(瑜伽)—any daily activity that allows you to develop a peaceful center and a sense of balance.

    Play with friends. The "tend and be friend studies", as they are called, conducted by UCLA researcher, Shelly Taylor, Ph.D. indicate that when women are stressed, they tend to their children and play with other women. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Use guided imagination. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} The tone of your voice, pacing, music, and pictures will persuade your nervous system that it's time to calm down.

    Given Australia's size and the fact that early settlements were far apart, Australian society is remarkably homogeneous (同种的). The way of life in the major cities and towns is much the same, however many miles divide them. It takes a sharp ear to tell the differences between regional accents.

    However, there is some difference in lifestyle between people in the city and those in the countryside. Almost 90 per cent of the population lives in the fast-paced cities along the coast and has little more than a passing familiarity with the desert. The major cities keep some colonial (殖民的) heritage, but the overall impression is modern, with new buildings reflecting the country's youth. By comparison, the rural communities tend to be slow-moving. For many years, Australia was said to have “ridden on the sheep's back”, a reference to wool being the country's main money-earner. However, the wool industry is no longer dominant. Much of Australia's economy is now achieved from natural coal and wheat, and by being the largest diamond producer in the world. Newer industries such as tourism and wine making are also increasingly important. Australians are generally friendly and relaxed, with a self-deprecating sense of humor. On the whole, Australia is a society without hierarchies (等级制度), an attitude generally held to stem from its prisoner beginnings.

    Yet, contrary to popular belief, very few Australians have true prisoner origins. Within only one generation of the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, Australia had become a nation of immigrants. Originally coming almost entirely from the British Isles, today one in three Australians comes from elsewhere. Australia's liberal postwar immigration policies (政策) led to a growing number of survivors from war-torn Europe, most notably Greeks, Italians, Poles and Germans.

    The emphasis has changed in recent years and today most of the new immigrants are from Southeast Asia. Today Australia is a ‘blend of nations' and although some racial (种族的) problems exist, it has generally been a successful experiment and the country is proud to have one of the most harmonious multicultural communities in the world.

    There are two ways of driving in the world: if the driver's seat is on the left and cars travel on the right side of the road, it is called “left-hand driving”, as it is in China, while the other way of driving is called “right-hand driving”, as it is in Britain. Nowadays, around 65% of the world's population drives on the right of the road, while the rest is used to driving on the left.

    Though no one knows the exact reasons, it seems likely that people in ancient times travelled on the left. Roman coins show pictures of horsemen passing on each other's right. And right-hand people generally got on a horse from the animal's left. Obviously, it's safer to do this at the left side of the road, and it makes sense for the horse to be ridden on the left.

    A change happened in the late 1700s. When Napoleon conquered nations, he forced them to travel on the right side of the road, which spread left-hand driving throughout Europe. However, Britain still stuck with the right-hand driving rule and countries which were part of the British Empire (帝国) were made to follow. This is why India, Australia and the former British colonies (殖民地) in Africa continue to drive on the left. One exception is Egypt, as that country was defeated by Napoleon before becoming part of the British Empire.

    Some countries changed sides' until modem times. Sweden only moved to driving on the right in 1967 and Iceland changed the following year. Ghana changed sides in 1974. On September 7,2009, Samoa became the third country ever to change from left-to-right-hand driving for the reason that it made it easier to import (进口) cheap cars from right-hand driving Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

    So if you want to travel to another country or go on business, make sure you know whether it is left-or right- hand driving to avoid unnecessary troubles.

    What Theresa Loe is doing proves that a large farm isn't a prerequisite for a modern grow-your-own lifestyle. On a mere 1/10 of an acre in Los Angeles, Loe and her family grow, can (装罐) and preserve much of the food they consume.

    Loe is a master food preserver, gardener and canning expert. She also operates a website, where she shares her tips and recipes, with the goal of demonstrating that everyone has the ability to control what's on their plate.

    Loe initially went to school to become an engineer, but she quickly learned that her enthusiasm was mainly about growing and preparing her own food. “ got into cooking my own food and started growing my own herbs(香草)and foods for that fresh flavor,” she said. Engineer by day, Loe learned cooking at night school. She ultimately purchased a small piece of land with her husband and began growing their own foods.

    “I teach people how to live farm-fresh without a farm,” Loe said. Through her website Loe emphasizes that ''anybody can do this anywhere.” Got an apartment with a balcony (阳台)? Plant some herbs. A window? Perfect spot for growing. Start with herbs, she recommends, because “they're very forgiving.” Just a little of the herbs “can take your regular cooking to a whole new level,” she added. “I think it's a great place to start.” Then? Try growing something from a seed, she said, like a tomato or some tea.

    Canning is a natural extension of the planting she does. With every planted food, Loe noted, there's a moment when it's bursting with its absolute peak flavor. “I try and keep it in a time capsule in a canning jar,” Loe said. “Canning for me is about knowing what's in your food, knowing where it comes from.”

    In addition to being more in touch with the food she's eating, another joy comes from passing this knowledge and this desire for good food to her children: “Influencing them and telling them your opinion on not only being careful what we eat but understanding the bigger picture,” she said, “that if we don't take care of the earth, no one will.”

    “Belittle” was first used by Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States.

    Many years ago, Buffon, a French naturalist, wrote some books about natural history. The books were a great success even though some critics did not like them. Some critics said, “Buffon is more of a poet than a scientist.”

    Thomas Jefferson did not like what Buffon had said about the natural wonders of the New World. It seemed to Jefferson that Buffon had spoken of natural wonders in America as if they were unimportant.

    This troubled Thomas Jefferson. He was a naturalist, as well as a farmer, inventor, historian, writer and politician. He had seen the natural wonders of Europe. To him, they were no more important than those of the New World.

    In 1788, Thomas Jefferson wrote about his home state, Virginia. While writing, he thought of its natural beauty and then of the words of Buffon. At that moment, Jefferson created a new word－belittle. He said, “Buffon believes that nature belittles her productions on this side of the Atlantic.”

    Noah Webster, the American word expert, liked this word. He put it in his English language dictionary in 1806, “Belittle－to make somebody or something small, unimportant.”

    Americans had already accepted Jefferson's word and started to use it. In 1797, the Independent Chronicle newspaper used the word to describe a politician the paper supported. “He is an honorable man,” the paper wrote, “so let the opposition try to belittle him as much as they please.

    In 1872, a famous American word expert decided that the time had come to kill this word. He said, “'Belittle' has no chance of becoming English. And as more critical writers of America, like those of Britain, feel no need of it, the sooner it is forgotten, the better.” This expert failed to kill the word. Today, “belittle” is used where the English language is spoken.