When my son, Bob, was in the third grade, he saved all his pocket money for over three months to buy Christmas presents. The third Saturday in December, Bob said he had made his list and had twenty dollars in his pocket.

    I drove him to a nearby supermarket. Bob picked up a basket and went in while I waited and watched in the car. It took Bob over 45 minutes to choose his presents. Finally he came to the checkout counter and reached into his pocket for his money. It was not there! There was a hole in his pocket, but no money. Bob stood there holding his basket, tears falling down his face.

    Then a surprising thing happened. A woman came up to Bob and took him in her arms. "You would help me a lot if you let me pay for you," said the woman. "It would be the most wonderful gift you could give me. I only ask that one day you will pass it on. When you grow up, I would like you to find someone you can help. When you help others, I know you will feel as good about it as I do now."

    Bob took the money, dried his tears and ran back to the checkout counter as fast as he could. That year we all enjoyed our gifts almost as much as Bob enjoyed giving them to us.

    I would like to say "thank you" to that very kind woman, and tell her that four years later, Bob went from house to house collecting blankets and clothes for the homeless people in the fire. And I want to promise her that Bob will never forget to keep passing it on.

    Bus Tours in Washington DC

    The Lights Night Tour in Washington DC

Duration: 3 hours $56.33

    Highest-rated Night Tour in DC! The ONLY DC Night Tour where the Tour Guides

    HOP OFF with you at each stop and tell you about each monument and attraction. Hop aboard the Lights Night Tour! The best time to take a tour of Washington DC is at, night.

    Best Mount Vernon & Arlington Cemetery Tour from Washington DC

    Duration: 6 hours. $78.96.

    See Arlington Cemetery, Old Town Alexandria and George Washington's Mount

    Vernon Estate on this small group bus tour from Washington DC. Your tour guide will accompany you through Mount Vemon, telling you about all of the attractions there and the history of George Washington's home on the Potomac River.

    The Best Minibus Tour in Washington DC.

    Duration: 3 hours $ 46.92

    See all the key attractions DC has to offer in a 3-hour format. You will learn all about the history and trivia that surrounds Washington and visit the major monuments and attractions DC has to offer.

    Please Note: Rates for this tour vary by day of the week. When you choose your specific date on the availability calendar, the rates for that date will be displayed.

    The Blossoms Tour in Washington DC.

    Duration: 3 hours $ 56.99

    BEST WAY to Experience the Cherry Blossoms! Each year from mid March to mid April, see the beautiful Cherry Blossoms in Washington DC and get great photos because you'll be led to all the best spots by the best guides. The annual spring bloom in DC is a magical time and this tour promises to provide the very best tour opportunity for you!

    A bright yellow “M” tells you that it's a McDonald's restaurant; we also associate the cheerful theme tune “I'm Lovin' It” with the famous US fast food.

A brand's music has a similar effect on its customers as its logo. “It appeals directly to the heart, where consumers' decisions are really made,” wrote Marketing Week.

This is probably why companies from around the world have recently focused more on building a “sonic (声音的) identity”.

    An example is the software company Tencent QQ. Since 2014, this Chinese company has been trying to trademark (申请商标权) its “Di-Di-Di-Di-Di-Di” notification sound. The trademark was finally approved on Nov 15, which means that Tencent's “Di-Di-Di-Di-Di-Di” notification sound is now protected by law and can only be used by QQ.

    Sound and music can also help tell stories. In Game of Thrones (《权力的游戏》) there are so many characters that it is difficult to memorize them all. So, they wrote melodies (旋律) specific to each family. The result is that characters do not only look familiar, but sound familiar too.

    “I think a huge reason why sound inspires action is that, on an unconscious level, we are always listening,” Lauren Nagel, executive creative director at Pandora Media, told GeoMarketing. “You can close your eyes, but you can't shut your ears.”

    The Chicago Fine Chocolate Show took place in November. Pastry chefs (面包师) from around the country handed out samples of their very best work. Chef Scott Green, a chocolate sculptor, impressed the attendees at the show. Not only did he bring his work for all to see，but he also made chocolate sculptures right then and there.

    Green talked to TFK about his job as a chocolate sculptor. He explained that he thinks of himself as an artist who just happens to work with chocolate rather than wood or stone. “I have been around chocolate so long that it isn't chocolate anymore,” he said. To learn more about the job of a chocolate sculptor, read on.

    TFK: What was the hardest thing that you have ever carved, and what was it made of?

    GREEN: In 2017, I did the U.S. Pastry Championship, and I had to carve it castle out of white chocolate for the competition. I didn't have a lot of experience, and white chocolate is hard to carve. That was the hardest thing I have ever carved.

    TFK: How long does it take to make an average sculpture?

    GREEN: For me, it takes a couple of days. Most of that time is getting all the pieces ready. The easiest part is gluing it all together. Chocolate is used for glue. It holds together very well.

    TFK: How much chocolate do you use per sculpture?

    GREEN: It depends on the sculpture. For a show piece, I maybe use 20 to 60 pounds of chocolate. You have to be really strong to lift it. I always ask for help.

    TFK: Is it easier to work with sugar or chocolate?

    GREEN: They are very different. Generally speaking, it is easier to work with chocolate. Chocolate likes being poured into molds (模具), and it sets at room temperature. Sugar is much more fragile. It is very hot when you work with it and not as easy.

    Once upon a time, two brothers who lived on neighboring farms fell into conflict(冲突) . It was the first serious one between them in 40 years of farming peacefully side by side. In the end, they fell apart.

    One morning, a man with a carpenter's toolbox came for some work. The elder brother said, "I have a job for you. Look at the farm across the creek(河沟). My younger brother lives there. It was he who used his bulldozer(推土机)to dig the creek last week to spite(刁难) me. So I want you to build me a fence, an 8 – foot – high fence, in order not to see his place any more." The carpenter smiled and said, "I see. I'll try to do a job that satisfies you." Then the elder brother went downtown.

    At sunset when the farmer returned, the carpenter had just finished his job. The farmer's eyes opened wide! To his surprise, there was no fence there at all! Instead, there was a bridge stretching from one side of the creek to the other! A fine piece of work! He saw his younger brother coming to him with the hands outstretching. The brothers stood at each end of the bridge, and then they met in the middle, taking each other's hands. They turned to see the carpenter lift his toolbox on his shoulder.

"No, wait! Stay a few days. I've a lot of other work for you," said the elder brother. "I'd love to stay on," the carpenter said, "but I have so many more bridges to build."

For about three years now, I have been writing poetry. It was not until my junior year in high school that I developed an interest, love and skill for writing poetry. 

Back in elementary school, I loved to write stories. I would write stories on post-it notes and anywhere I could. Yet when I had to write a limerick(五行打油诗) for an assignment, I could not wrap my head around poetry. I had a very hard time figuring out how to rhyme words and have the words make sense. I eventually tossed the paper with the attempted limerick in the trash. I did not try my hand at poetry again until several years later. 

Many years later in my freshman year of high school, my English teacher gave my class a poetry project as an assignment. I still remember my limerick assignment and was afraid of doing the poetry project. For the project, we had to analyse a poem and write a response to it. I chose to respond to Robert Frost's poem Fire and Ice. I also wrote my own poem first. I became really excited when writing the poem. 

Two years later, I started writing poetry as a hobby and for fun. To learn how good or bad my poems were, I handed them in to some magazines and contests. I won the second place in the North Carolina Poetry Society's Sherry Pruitt Award Contest, and had my two poems published as high quality poems. I have continued to write poetry, and have even self-published three collections of poetry in both print and e-book formats, which can be found in my store on Lulu. 

Now, I love writing poetry, but I don't hate writing short stories. I just find it more difficult and not my style of writing, even though I still write short stories occasionally.