A warm drink of milk before bed has long been the best choice for those wanting a good night's sleep. But now a study has found it really does help people nod off—if it is milked from a cow at night.

    Researchers have discovered that “night milk” contains more melatonin(褪黑激素), which has been proven to help people feel sleepy and reduce anxiety.

    The study, by researchers from Seoul, South Korea, involved mice being fed with dried milk powder made from cows milked both during the day and at night.

    Those given night milk, which contained 10 times the amount of melatonin, were less active and less anxious than those fed with the milk collected during daytime, according to the study published in The Journal of Medicinal Food.

    Night milk quickened the start of sleep and caused the mice to sleep longer.

    While the effect of cows milk harvested at different times has not been tested on humans up to now, taking melatonin drugs has been suggested to those who are struggling to fall asleep at night.

    Previous studies have also indicated that milk can be excellent for helping sleep because of the calcium content, which helps people to relax.

    Milk is also sugar-free and additive-free with nutritionists recommending skimmed milk as the best choice before bed as it is the least fattening. The more fat you take in before bedtime, the greater burden you will put on your body at night.

    Blind imitation is self-destruction. To those who do not recognize their unique worth, imitation appears attractive: to those who know their strength, imitation is unacceptable.

In the early stages of skill or character development, imitation is helpful. When I first learned to cook, I used recipes and turned out some tasty dishes. But soon I grew bored. Why follow someone else's way of cooking when I could create my own? Imitating role models is like using training wheels on a child's bicycle; they help you get going, but once you find your own balance, you fly faster and farther without relying on them.

    In daily life, imitation can hurt us if we subconsciously(下意识地) hold poor role models. If, as a child, you observed people whose lives were bad, you may have accepted their fear and pain as normal and gone on to follow what they did. If you do not make strong choices for yourself, you will get the results of the weak choices of others.

    In the field of entertainment, our culture glorifies celebrities. Those stars look great on screen. But when they step off screen, their personal lives may be disastrous. If you are going to follow someone, focus on their talent, not their bad character or unacceptable behaviors.

    Blessed is the person willing to act on their sudden desire to create something unique. Think of the movies, books, teachers, and friends that have affected you most deeply. They touched you because their creations were motivated by inspiration, not desperation. The world is changed not by those who do what has been done before them, but by those who do what has been done inside them. Creative people have an endless resource of ideas. The problem a creator faces is not running out of material; it is what to do with the material knocking at the door of imagination.

Study your role models, accept the gifts they have given, and leave behind what does not server. Then you can say, "I stand on the shoulders of my ancestors' tragedies and stories, and know that they are cheering me on."

    Karen, one of my co-workers, complained about her apartment every day. One day I asked her why she didn't look for another apartment. It seemed like an easy solution to me. Karen's reply to this was, "I will look for another apartment when I come back from vacation."

    Sam hated his job. He had a love for photography and was currently taking a two-year course to obtain his certificate. Every night he complained about his work. I asked him why he didn't finish his course and start a small business doing photography on the weekends. His reply was, "If only I had more time to finish my course. When I finish my course I will start a business."

    Harry worked for a company that allowed early retirement. He had both the years of service and his age, which allowed him to retire, but at a reduced pension. He was having difficulty coping with all the changes that were being made in his work. I was worried about the stress of his job and the effects it was having on his health. "Why don't you retire, Harry? Do something that you have always wanted to do?" I asked. Harry's reply to my question was, "If only I was older then I would get my full pension." "But Harry, you have your house paid off. You have no bills, and the kids are grown up. You can sell your house and get a smaller one. It's really not worth your health, is it? Harry then said, "When the summer comes, maybe I will."

    Now a year later, Karen is still living in the apartment she hates! Sam is still complaining about his job! Harry is still working and his health is not what it used to be! These people had a lot of stress in their lives that they could have taken action to reduce. But all of them defeated themselves by thinking "if" or "when". Life is too short for "if's and when's". The next time you are in a stressful situation and you find yourself saying or thinking "if or when", remember the saying, "If and when were planted and nothing grew!" Change your thinking and take action so that you can reduce your stress right now.

    Shot in more than 40 locations in L.A., the musical La La Land is "a love letter to the city". To coincide with UK release, we asked a local writer to pick some of the film's amazing settings.

    Judge Harry Pregerson Interchange

    La La Land's opening scene is a six-minute dance that plays out in L.A.'s bad traffic. It is also where the film's leading roles, struggling actress Mia and jazz pianist Sebastian, first encounter each other—in a road anger incident. The scene is said to have been filmed over two hot days in south L.A.

    Smokehouse Restaurant, Burbank

This is the setting for the scene in which Mia discovers Sebastian's talent for the piano. The fictional Lipton's restaurant—where jazz purist Sebastian was reluctant to play Christmas music—is in reality a place long frequented by actors, producers and other show business types. It has been on this spot, across the street from the Warner Bros studio, since 1949. In the film, the outer wall of Lipton's is the You are the Star mural (壁画), which features Marilyn Monroe, Charlie Chaplin and others, which is on the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Wicox Avenue in Hollywood in reality.

    Warner Bros Studios, Burbank

    Mia works at the studio's coffee shop, where Sebastian comes to meet her. As they wander the studio's lot, Mia points out "the window that Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman looked out in Casablanca." It's one of the film's numerous nods to movie history. Warner Brons is still a working studio, with 35 sound stages, 14 exterior sets and visitor tours.

    Cathy's Corner, Mount Hollywood Drive

    This section of the road that winds through Griffth Park is the setting of their dance play. It overlooks the San Fernando Valley and features on the film poster. Cathy's Corner is near famed Mulholland Drive, but prepare for disappointment if you're expecting a park bench and street lamps, which only exist in the movie.

    Mr. Guo is a teacher from Xi'an. He asked his students to hand in their homework through a QR code (二维码)."We spent an hour or two in class learning how to generate (使产生) the codes, and in the end everything gets easier." Said Guo, "When students finish the homework, they keep it on WeChat. Then, each student makes his own QR code and gives it to me. So I can check their work anywhere using my computer or telephone."

    The QR codes can be sent to Mr. Guo by email, QQ and WeChat. When Guo scans his students' QR codes, their homework appears on his phone. He finds that their homework becomes more creative, with many pictures, music and even videos.

    Guo's students like the new way and think it is interesting. "We are living in the information age. Many students like to work with computers, which makes learning more fun." said Tingting, a student of Guo's.

    "The paper is not easy to keep, but the code is easy to keep and share." Guo said, "It is worth trying to use new technology in education. Education itself is a kind of creation. I don't want my students to fall behind the times."

    However, some parents are worried. They are afraid that their children will spend too much time surfing the Internet and less time communicating with teachers. But in fact, it's unnecessary. Students still need to look up information in books and write it down when they do their homework. They only use the codes when they hand in their work, which doesn't take them too much time. Also for teachers, it allows them to check the students' work at any time. And it's also an easy way to share homework with other students.

In life, there are many opposite things, which cannot be united by many people. But there is always a chance to unite two different things in one work. The following passage will tell you more about the possibility of combining painting and poetry.

Perhaps, it is not a new idea that a great work can be created by combining paintings and poems. In this case, we can unite both things in two ways. The first way is to make the poem as the main inspiration for the painting. It is also possible to write a poem after looking at a painting.

What about the next idea to combine painting and poetry? Well, we can combine both of them on a canvas(画布). You can paint an oil painting on it and then write down the poem on that canvas. I do not know whether this kind of idea has been used for years. But this is quite a great new idea for me. It will make more people love painting and poetry at the same time. You will not need to read the poem on plain white paper any more.

A poem is a good way to represent a story or a thought. It is usually not too long and not easy to understand literally(字面上地). It is a series of words arranged in stanzas(诗节) and lines with rhymes, which are quite changeable. Therefore, combining it with another type of art (such as painting) will be very good. You can get the message of the poem through the colours on the canvas. All you need to do is use your creativity to make a painting with the right colours and with great words on it.