Today I went to Berkeley, near our old neighborhood. I was a bit surprised by the increased number of homeless (alternatively housed) people walking around. I remember there are more in certain areas. So the first man who asked me for money got all my single bills. So when the second man asked me two minutes later, I said I was out because I gave all I had to the previous person.

    I was headed to the grocery store for a coffee and after I left the store I walked out to find him as he had asked me for something because he was hungry and I invited him to go into the grocery store with me.

    When I asked him what he wanted to eat, he just asked for vegetable and rice. He talked about how much better the vegetables were as we waited for our number to be called. While we waited he told me that he had slept outside last night on the sidewalk, that it was not good, and that he had come from Rwanda and was alone.

    He was a gentleman. When I asked if he wanted more he said, this bowl of food would last him the whole day.

    I don't know what his circumstances were before he came to California, and wandering and begging on the streets could somehow be better because you just never know what had happened to him. He seemed like a kind soul who just needed some help like we all do. I am grateful I did a little to help him today.

    It does not have to be January 1^st to give yourself a chance to make the most out of your day. Every day is a new day and a fresh start to learn, grow, develop your strengths, free yourself from past regrets or hurts, and move forward older and wiser. Every day gives you chance to reinvent yourself. It is never too late to change things that are not working in your life.

    Each day is a new beginning and a piece of blank paper. How would you like to create your day? If you wake up in a negative mind, you are more likely to paint a dark picture throughout the day, and your picture will not show hope, happiness and joy.

    If you take each day to think actively, and have a positive intention for how you would like to create your day, how would your life different? What can daily positive intentions do for you? Every day you will give yourself the gift of an “attitude of gratitude”.

    Each day is a chance to look at things in a different way. You can experience each day in the beauty of the world—and the beauty of you who is in it! You find yourself changing from “I can't” to “I can”. With a focus on positive intentions, you feel you are full of power and more like a “winner” than a “loser”.

    You pay more attention to the present, and will be more likely to live fully in the present each moment of each day. After all, the past is a great place to visit, but you don't want to live there! So how about starting each day taking a moment to think of a positive intention for the day?

    Palaces are known for their beauty and splendor, but they offer little protection against attacks. It is easy to defend a fortress (堡垒),but fortresses are not designed with the comfort of a king or queen in mind. When it comes to structures that are both majestic and well-defended, the classic European castle is the best example of design. Across the ages castles changed, developed, and eventually fell out of use, but they still command the fascination of our culture.

    Castles were originally built in England by Norman invaders. In 1066. As William the Conqueror advanced through England, he defended key positions to secure the land he had taken. The castles he built allowed the Norman lords to draw back to safety when threatened by English rebellion. Castles also served as bases of operation for offensive attacks. Troops were summoned to（召集）, organized around, and deployed (部署) from castles. In this way castles served both offensive and defensive roles in military operations.

    Not limited to military purposes, castles also served as offices from which the lord would administer control over his kingdom. That is to say, the lord of the land would hold court in his castle. Those that were socially beneath the lord would come to report the affairs of the lands that they governed and pay tribute to the lord. They would address conflicts, handle business, feast, and enjoy festivities, In this way castles served as important social centers in medieval England. Castles also served as symbols of power. Built on important and noticeable sites overlooking the surrounding areas, castles constantly appeared in the background of many peasants' lives and served as a daily reminder of the lords strength.

    Now, castles no longer serve their original purposes. However, the remaining castles receive millions of visitors each year from those who wish to experience the glory of a time long passed.

    Captain America and Blackpanther were about to defend Earth from the criminal Thanos when Kevin Foley first noticed something was wrong. Foley, a 46-year old information-technology worker from Kyle, Texas, was heading into the theater to see Avengers: Infinity War when he realized he was having trouble breathing normally. The same symptom struck again during another movie the following night, but more severe this time. Once the cast on the second film rolled, Foley took action: he looked at his wristwatch. It was a bigger step than you might imagine, because Foley was wearing an Apple Watch equipped with medical sensors and experimental software to track basic functions of his heart. And the watch was worried. It had, according to the display, detected signs of an irregular heartbeat.

    Before long, Foley was in an emergency room, where doctors hooked him up to an ECG(心电图), which showed that he was in atrial fibrillation(心房颤动), an irregular heartbeat that can lead to blood clots(血栓), stroke and other potentially disastrous diseases. Foley spent the next few days in the hospital while doctors worked to return him to a normal heart rhythm eventually turning to a procedure called electrical cardioversion to shock his heart back to normal. Foley is doing fine now. But he believes that, if not for the warning on his watch, he might not have sought help in time. “I would have never known,” he says.

    Foley and his watch were part of an experiment run by Apple and Stanford's medical school. But beginning Dec. 6, anyone can get an on-the-fly heart checkup, assuming they've paid $399 or more for an Apple Watch. That's when Apple will launch a software update that turns its latest model, called the Series 4, into a personal ECG, thanks to an innovative new sensor. Though less complicated than hospital ECG machines, the watch version can still provide basic information and warnings of potential risks worthy of a closer look by a medical professional.

    For Apple, this new ECG-on-your-wrist is its biggest bet yet that personal technology will inevitably include personal health. Along with competitors, Apple has already offered fitness functions, such as apps to track the steps you've walked. But with the new ECG scan, Apple is moving straight into medical aspects of heath, a distinction underlined by the fact it sought and received Food and Drug Administration clearance for the clearance for the heart monitor.

    When I was growing up, we were not an "I love you" family. We certainly found such affection lovely. We just didn't do it.

    I was thinking about all of this on Saturday at my daughter Katie's recital (演奏会). I had never insisted she do anything in her free time except learn how to play the piano. I carried this from childhood. My parents couldn't afford these lessons. My daughter mostly accepted this demand with good humor. This has meant, through the years, that our house has been filled with a few muddled (混乱的) complaints mixed with versions of songs.

    The day of the recital, I was listening to Katie practice The Entertainer, and one note was not good. I don't know how to play the piano, but I did say, "Hey, Katie, maybe you should hold that note just a bit longer." Then she played it again and again. I realized that I had done something unintended — I was making her think too much just a few hours before her recital.

    So I told her not to worry about it, but it was too late. She kept at it for a little while longer until finally I said that she'd played it perfectly. I didn't think we ever isolated that note; I felt pretty bad for even bringing it up.

    Then it was time for recital. Katie was the first one to perform. She was dressed well. As I watched her play The Entertainer, all I could think was how grown-up she had become, and that I had already missed the four-, five-, six-year-old versions of her.

    She got to the end of the song, and she reached the note we had talked about. And she held it. She held it so long that for an instant it broke her timing on the rest of the song. Then she finished the song, and she looked right at me. Then I hugged her. My parents are right. You don't have to say the words "I love you". Sometimes one note will do.