I really love this saying, "Love is endless and unlimited." For me, there's a story behind it. When I used to hand out chocolates with beautiful paper bags, my friends always told me, "You are wasting time and money. No one here believes in nameless gifts." To be honest, I have noticed that people here do donate (捐赠)in temples. They give food to the poor, and provide clothes and other things for whoever is in need.

    I think maybe I am the one who starts to think of the dogs in our neighborhood. When I moved into this new community, I noticed that there were two street dogs. They were wounded and homeless, and everyone used to stay away from them and hit them when they came any closer. They were becoming thinner and thinner and they would did of hunger sooner or later.

    But my habit of loving dogs has changed all these things. I began to walk close to them and give them food regularly. When I touched their heads and gave love to them, I could see tears in their eyes. My friends noticed, and now even kids and elders in the community provide them with food and also love them. I am really glad to see that I saved their lives.

    What I started will lead to beautiful memories with them. They enjoy playing with me and they even have a particular pose when they see me. I see a sparkle in their eyes and a smile on their faces. They are priceless for me.

    One of the greatest contributions（投稿）to the first Oxford English Dictionary was also one of its most unusual. In 1879, Oxford University in England asked Prof. James Murray to serve as editor for what was to be the most ambitious dictionary in the history of the English language. It would include every English word possible and would give not only the definition but also the history of the word and quotations (引文) showing how it was used.

    This was a huge task. So Murray had to find volunteers from Britain, the United States, and the British colonies to search every newspaper, magazine, and book ever written in English. Hundreds of volunteers responded, including William Chester Minor. Dr. Minor was an American Surgeon（外科医生）who had served in the Civil War and was now living in England. He gave his address as “Broadmoor, Crowthorne, Berkshire,” 50 miles from Oxford.

    Minor joined the army of volunteers sending words and quotations to Murray. Over the next years, he became one of the staff's most valued contributors.

    But he was also a mystery. In spite of many invitations, he would always refuse to visit Oxford. So in 1897, Murray finally decided to travel to Crowthorne himself. When he arrived, he found Minor locked in a book-lined cell（囚室）at the Broadmoor Asylum（精神病院）for the Criminally insane.

    Murray and Minor became friends, sharing their love of words. Minor continued contributing to the dictionary, sending in more than 10,000 submissions in 20 years. Murray continued to visit Minor regularly, sometimes taking walks with him around the asylum grounds.

    In 1910, Minor left Broadmoor for an asylum in his native America. Murray was at the port to wave goodbye to his remarkable friend.

    Minor died in 1920, seven years before the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary was completed. The 12 volumes defined 414,825 words, and thousands of them were contributions from a very scholarly and devoted asylum patient.

    When I was a little girl, I remember that when my dad was repairing something, he would ask me to hold the hammer, so we would have time for a conversation with each other. I never saw my dad drinking or taking a night out. All he did after work was taking care of his family.

    I grew up and left home for college and since then, my dad had been calling me every Sunday morning. And when I bought a house several years later, my dad painted it by himself in the fierce summer heat. All he asked was to talk to him, but I was too busy in those days.

    Four years ago, my dad visited me. He spent many hours putting together a swing for my daughter. He asked me to have a talk with him, but I had to prepare for a trip that weekend.

    One Sunday morning we had a telephone talk as usual. I noticed that my dad had forgotten some things that we discussed lately. I was in a hurry, so our conversation was short. Several hours later that day I received a call. My father was in the hospital. Immediately I bought a plane ticket and on my way I was thinking about all the occasions I missed to have a talk with my dad. By the time I arrived at the hospital, my father had passed away. Now it was he who did not have time for a conversation with me. I realized how little I knew about my dad, his deepest thoughts and his dreams.

    After his death I learned much more about him and even more about myself. All he ever wanted was my time. And now he has all my attention every single day.

My Favourite Books

    Jo Usmar is a writer for Cosmopolitan and co-author of the This Book Will series（系列）of lifestyle books. Here she picks her top reads.

    Matilda

    Roald Dahl

    I once wrote a paper on the influence of fairy tales on Roald Dahl's writing and it gave me a new appreciation for his strange and delightful words. Matilda's battles with her cruel parents and the bossy headmisres, Miss Trunchbull, are equally funny and frightening, but they're also aspirational.

    After Dark

    Haruki Murakami

    It's about two sisters-Eri, a model who either won't or can't stop sleeping, and Mari, a young student. In trying to connect to her sister. Mari starts changing her life and discovers a world of diverse "night people" who are hiding secrets.

    Gone Girl

    Gillian Fynn

    There was a bit of me that didn't want to love this when everyone else on the planet did but the horror story is brilliant. There's tension and anxiety from the beginning as Nick and Amy battle for your trust. It's a real whodunit and the frustration when you realise what's going on is horribly enjoyable

    The Stand

    Stephen King

    This is an excellent fantasy novel from one of the best storytellers around. After a serious flu outbreak wipes out 99.4% of the world's population, a battle unfolds between good and evil among those let. Randall Flagg is one of the scariest characters ever.

    The streets of Stockholm may be cold and snowy during winter, but it is one of the world's hottest startup(创业) centers and a good choice for people with talent worldwide.

    Once the snow melts(融化) in early spring, the city is among the greenest in the world. Two thirds of Stockholm is made up of either water or parks, and locals make it the first thing to enjoy these peaceful surroundings. Less than l% of Swedish employees work more than 50 hours per week.

    The quality of life is important. New parents are given 480 days of leave to look after their babies, while childcare is heavily supported in various sides. Little wonder that Sweden was rated the best location in the world for family life. Adam Webb, 34, a British businessman and father-of-one, said, "Everything is set towards helping parents, from giving dads time off on almost full pay to free bus rides for anyone with a baby carriage."

    Stockholm is also proud of what Vogue magazine recently ranked as Europe's coolest neighborhood. On the island of Sodermalm, just south of the city centre, independent record stores still make money, while plenty of cafes offer a taste for Scandinavia's love affairs with timeless style.

    Many major international companies, including H&M and Ericsson, offer expats(外来者) accommodation for the first three months of their contracts(合同) in Stockholm. But other foreigners arriving in the city are left to battle with a unique property market and a shortage of apartments. More than a third of Swedes live in rented housing, half of which is owned by local governments or state rental companies. If you're lucky enough to get a firsthand contract for this kind of accommodation, it is yours for life. Expats are welcome to join the queue, but in Stockholm they will find around half a million locals in front of them and an average wait of nine years.

    "Finding a place to live is the single biggest challenge when moving to Stockholm, but there is a lot going on to try and solve the problem," said Julika Lamberth from Stockholm Business Region, a state-funded company working to increase investment in the city.

Three Japanese tourists taking a holiday in Australia got stuck when their GPS told them they could drive from the mainland to an island, failing to mention the 15 kilometres of water and mud in between.

As they drove their hired car from Moreton Bay to nearby North Stradbroke Island, they started to notice the firm surface they were driving on giving way to the well­known bay mud. However, being confident that their GPS would direct them to a road soon, they decided to drive on, managing to travel around 500 metres before their car was up to its tires in mud. To make matters worse, the tide (潮汐) started to come in and soon forced them to seek help and abandon the vehicle. Just four hours later the car was trapped in two metres of water—to the great amusement of onlookers on the shore and passengers on passing boats and ferries.

Yuzu Noda, 21, said she was listening to the GPS and "it told us we could drive down there. It kept saying it would navigate (导航) US to a road. But we got stuck… there's lots of mud". She and her travel companions Tomonari Saeki, 22, and Keita Osada, 21, instead had to give up their plans for a day trip to the island and headed back to the Gold Coast of a lift from the RACQ tow truck (吊车) driver who was called to the trapped car. No such luck for the hired car, though—after assessing the situation, no attempt was made to recover it. The students from Tokyo, who are due to return home tomorrow, said the experience would not put them off returning to Australia for another visit. Mr Tomonari said, "It has rained every day on our six day holiday. Hopefully next time we come back it will be sunny. "

The car was covered by insurance, but the tourists will have to pay up to about $1,500 in extra charges.