To me, inspirations mean to put my thoughts, heart, and creations into my jewelry. Sometimes I become so inspired with what I'm working on that I can finish one or more sets in less than an hour. Because of that feeling, I have named my jewelry collection “Inspirations”.

     I am a 17-year-old student with sickle-cell anemia. With this, I am in and out of the hospital a lot. So I started making jewelry a year ago when I was in the hospital. I really needed something to do, so I was introduced to jewelry making by a child life expert.

     One day while lying in my hospital bed, I decided to get up and go to the patient's playroom ,and look through the craft designs. That was when I became inspired to design my jewelry collection, and named it “Inspirations”.

     When I'm  not sick, I try to keep a positive attitude through reading, schoolwork and craft activities. Even though there is a lot of work, I try to stay focused all the time. When I need a break or just to be free I turn to my craft activities. This is a way to ease my mind and it always helps me to especially get through those stressful times.

     I am getting very excited about graduating next year and preparing myself for college. Who knows my collection of “Inspirations” would take me to the places I always dreamed of? I may see celebrities I admire and even sell them some of my beautiful “Inspirations”. If they wear my “Inspirations”, it will be well known and in great demand. What a great way to make some extra money for college! I never thought being sick would bring me “Inspirations”. I want people to look beyond my illness and see the creations I've made in my collection called “Inspirations”.

A Book Review—The Snake-Stone by Berlie Doherty

    The setting: Urban England (the cities), but also rural England (the countryside) including remote English villages.

    The theme: The main theme is a teenage search of self-discovery, in this case the search for a mother from whom the hero was separated at an early age. Its other concerns are love, getting on with others, being persistent and courageous and trying to deal with doubts, troubles and worries. As the book moves to a close, James' swimming coach says to him: “You are not like a kid obeying instructions any more. You are diving like a young man who knows where he is going.”

    The characters: James is the hero of the story. He is a championship diver, and has a comfortable life with his foster parents (养父母). Yet he also has the qualities to take him on a long journey to find his birth mother. The other characters in The Snake-Stone, James' parents, his diving instructor, best friend, the villagers, people he meets on his journey, are pictured realistically.

    The turning point: The turning point in the story comes while James' foster parents are away in London, and he wonders about the identity of his birth mother. The only clue he has is a fossil, “the snake stone” which she left behind along with a note on which she had written: “Take good care of Sammie. It was written on a torn envelope with parts of an address still there.

    The journey: Instead of going to London, James decides to find his birth mother. With help from his geography teacher, James sets out for the remote country village where his mother might be found. James has painful, challenging, but also humorous and happy travels. The mother he finally meets, Anne, has a minor yet powerful voice in the novel. He comes to understand why she left him at a stranger's door fifteen years before. Although the meeting is not long, it leaves him with a feeling of completeness. As a journey of self-discovery The Snake-Stone also provides its readers with a happy ending. Its hero says, on returning to his foster parents, “I was home.”

Model Railroading

    Would you like to know a fun way to learn about math? Well, you can do that with model railroading. Yes, it's true. You can learn about many school topics without using a school book. Besides that, there are many other benefits that model railroading brings us as well. In this article, we will discuss just a few of those benefits of model railroading.

Patience and problem solving skills

    When you build a model railroad, you have to plan your railroad out. You have to decide where the tracks (轨道) will go, where to put buildings, where to put streets and any other things you would like to add to your model railroad. Also, you have to think about any problems you may have with the design you choose. How will you make railroad crossings? How will you design hills, mountains, and rivers? Deciding on what to do with your model railroad takes a lot of thought and patience, but it is not as difficult as you may think.

Building skills

    With model railroading, you learn how to put together plastic models of buildings. Also, you can learn how to build a table for your design, or make scenery for the geography of your design. Your model railroad runs on electricity, so you learn about electronics as well. These are skills that not only help you build a model railroad; these skills will help you all throughout life.

Fun for family and friends

    Different from many video games, model railroading is a social hobby that lets you communicate with family and friends. This is because you have to communicate with family and friends as you build and run your model railroad. By spending time with the people in your life you love and care about, you learn to become closer and care more for each other. This is one of the best parts of model railroading as a hobby. Of course, the best part about model railroading is running the trains. Watching the trains run around the track and make all the sounds and do all the things that real trains do gives people hours of enjoyment. Also, there is great satisfaction in the fact that you, your family, and your friends built the model railroad.

    I hope you can learn to enjoy model railroading and experience all the benefits you just read about and many others. Happy railroading!

    The writings of Shakespeare are today little read by young people in Britain. His young readership is limited to those who choose to study literature at university.

    Shakespeare's work, together with most other classics, is seen as remote, and written in a 400­year­old version of English that is about as inviting as toothache.

    Still, in Britain schools, it is compulsory to study the bard(诗人), and when something is made compulsory, usually the result is boredom, resentment(憎恨) or both.

    This was my experience of the classics at school. But when I reached my late teenage years, I had a change of heart. Like every other young person since the dawn of time, the world confused me. I wanted answers, so I turned to books to find them.

    I went on to take a PhD in literature and have taught it in Britain and China. I have never regretted it. There is something in literature that people want, even if they don't read books. You see this in the popularity of TV and movie adaptations of great works, the recent film version of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice being a case in point. These popular adaptations may help increase people's interest in the classics.

    Reading a simplified Romeo and Juliet may perhaps lead to a reading of Shakespeare's actual play. If that is the case, then I welcome the trend. But do not make the mistake of thinking that it is the same thing. Shakespeare is a poet. His greatness is in his language. Reading someone else's rewriting of his work is like peeling a banana, throwing away the fruit, and eating the skin. Take on the original. It really is worth the effort.

    We're Hiring Shift Workers for Our Production Plant

    Looking for a career with a company that values its employees, and promotes them from within? Then Black Cat Blades is the company for you!

    Cutting Operators

    CNC Operators

    Heat Treat Operators

    Full training provided, starting at $14.50 per hour, with the potential to move to $18.16 in one year.

    We also require a Skilled Welder(焊接工), to work 12-hour rotating shifts (轮班) in our cutting department. The successful candidate must be a registered journeyman(熟练工) within the Province of Alberta or with a Red Seal.

    We offer a great benefit package, including health and RRSPs. Desirable welfare: Profit Sharing, Pay for Years of Service, Fitness Program Allowance, and fun social events for you and your family.

    Apply in person, and we'll take you on a tour of our production equipment or forward your personal information by fax or e-mail.

    Black Cat Blades Ltd

    HR@ blackcatblades. com

    5604-59 St., Edmonton, AB T6B 3C3

    Fax: (780)465-9595

    The San Francisco Giants added a special pitcher(投球手)for the day. It was small—yet fierce—Hailey Dawson, who has a 3D-printed hand.

    The energetic 8-year-old from Nevada was invited to throw out the first pitch at the Giants game on Sunday. Dawson was born with Poland syndrome(综合症), a disorder in which affected individuals are born with missing or underdeveloped muscles on one side of the body. It affected her hand.

    With a traditional prosthetic(假肢)potentially costing thousands of dollars, Hailey's mom, Yong Dawson turned to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for help. She emailed UNLV engineering, and they accepted the challenge. Brendan O'Toole, chairman of the mechanical engineering department, said he and his team had got a lot of requests, "but this one was different." They got to work using a 3D-printer.Several prototypes(原型)and fittings later, Dawson got her first hand about four years ago.

    Hailey's mother said the hand had given her daughter a wonderful lift. "When she puts this robotic hand on, it changes her personality and confidence level," Yong Dawson told CBS San Francisco. "I love seeing that. I just wanted her to have an even playing field."

    When she arrived at AT&T Park on Sunday, Hailey got to hang out with players in the shelter at the side of the sports field. They even let her try on their World Series rings.

    Using her 3D-printed hand, Dawson threw out the perfect first pitch. Then with a wave and a smile, she headed into the stands to cheer on her newfound friends on the Giants.