"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty"

I think that this quote illustrates two different kinds of people’s personalities. That is, pessimists always see defects in all aspects, but optimists always see positive possibilities in every way. In fact, this quote makes me remind that two kinds of people look at a glass of water which is half empty or half full. Although these are two different stories, the meaning of them is the same, which is pessimists and optimists hold opposite opinions in the same thing.

In general, I agree with what the quote says. Personally, I think that people are belonged to ether one of these attitudes. Perhaps, they do not have the same idea about the same thing but they can be divided into two groups by the attitudes toward an identical event. For instance, when it comes to the issue that people will have better lives in the future, some people would think so; however, others would not. In other words, even if they think of the same aspect, they would have different views. As I mentioned above, when people look at the same glass of water, some people think it is half full, but others think it is half empty.

We can apply this quote to viewing friends or family members around us. In this way, we may know they are optimists or pessimists. Although they are so different, I think ether of these attitudes can be good and bad in the same time. If a person is too optimistic, the person might overlook many risks that would serious hinder his or her goals. On the other hand, if a person is too pessimistic, the person might give up many important opportunities that would make him or her better. Therefore, if we know a person’s basic attitude toward things, we may help him or her to achieve his or her goals. That is to say, when we know a optimistic person, we may remind him or her to be aware of potential problems. On the other hand, we may encourage a pessimistic person to pursue his or her dreams.

Generally, I am a relatively pessimistic person because I always consider the worst result of everything. For example, a few months ago, I took IBT TOEFL and I thought that I might make a lot of mistakes in the test because I did not understand many sentences in passages and recordings. Thus, I assumed that I missed all of those questions that I was not sure of the correct answers. Hence, I estimated that I may get 70 in total score. However, it turned out that my actual score was 22 points more than the score I was expected. Actually, this is not the only example that I assumed that I screwed up my tasks. Nevertheless, I do not think that it is a serious defect because I can prepare to face and handle the worst situations that I may have to deal with. Therefore, I think a relatively pessimistic attitude can be good in several ways.

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I read Sunny's and Ryoko's blogs.

My best friend and I are similar in several ways

My best friend is Vincent Shyr. I know him for more than twelve years. The reason why he can be my best friend is we have several similarities. In other words, these similarities tie us tightly. We have many common interests, and a few of them which are presented as follow are the most important ones.

Vincent and I love to listen to metal music. Moreover, we both love Led Zeppelin, one of the most important and famous British heavy metal band in the world. We collect all of Led Zeppelin’s cds and enhance our friendship by doing so. It is hard to collect all of Led Zeppelin’s cds because it is a very old heavy metal band. In fact, when Led Zeppelin was reaching its peak, we were not born yet. Therefore, the task that we tried to collect those albums which are more than twenty years old is difficult. Nonetheless, we searched each album shop in northern Taiwan for its albums together and developed strong friendship via those trips. In the end, we became very good friend.

In addition, we love playing games. For example, we are fans of The King of Fighters, a great game produced by SNK. When we were junior high school students, we often skipped cram schools to play this game. In order to avoid being caught by our teachers and parents, we always covered each other’s bad behaviors. Although that is not a good example demonstrating friendship, we felt that we cannot lose each other because we do not want to lose such a wonderful game mate. This kind of friendship does not stop, even now. We play World of Warcraft together. He plays a paladin and I plays a mage, and we always solve quests together even killing other players together. In other words, playing games is one of many similarities leading us to being friends.

Third, both of us are crazy for delicious food, especially sukiyaki and Japanese BBQ. We always search for outstanding sukiyaki and Japanese BBQ restaurants on the Internet in order to go to those places on weekends. Besides, we sometimes go to those restaurants individually and exchange our comments. After eating meals in restaurants, we compare qualities of food and service and price of each restaurant. After exchanging our opinions, we would go to those superior restaurants to enjoy our sukiyaki or Japanese BBQ again. We not only enjoy food in those restaurants but also chat in these pleasant places. In other words, delicious food and euphoric atmosphere help our friendship grow stronger.

Personally, I believe that many people can be others’ good friends because they have common interests or their personalities are similar. In my case, it supports this idea, and I think I can retain this friendship forever because we have too many common interests.

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I read Sunny's and Ryoko's blogs.

If I could have any superpower, what would I choose?

To be honest, I do not want to have any super power because superheroes always face a lot of troubles. Moreover, their friends, lovers, and parents also become the targets that evil monsters want to attack. However, if I have to have super power, I would like to have the ability to know everything that will happen in few days.

I think to have this ability is very safe and useful because I do not really need to deal with a lot of evil people or monsters. All I need to do is foresee what will happen and give warnings to police officers. Although they may not totally believe me, they still will put an emphasis on that matter. This ability gives me some advantages that others cannot. First, I do not risk my life to fight dangerous people or monsters. Moreover, they will not know I the person who try to destroy them, so I will be safe in any case. Second, I do not have the right to fight even kill people, though they are evil. Therefore, I want people who have the right to demonstrate real justice rather than a mighty bully beat up another poor bully. Like a famous Japanese comic , Death Note, Yagami thinks that he is the justice but actually he just a crazy and selfish guy who kills people whenever he wants. That is, he is just a notorious killer like his targets.

In addition, if I have the ability that makes me see the future, I can earn money by using this ability. Further, I can know the exact numbers of lottery even playing Black Jack in a casino. In other words, I do not need to worry about my income. If I have a lot of money, I can donate to charities. In this way, I not only earn my money but also help poor people. Therefore, this ability is better than the ability that enables a person to fly in the sky or throw fire balls. In other words, this ability can help more people.

All in all, I do not prefer to have any super power because the more power you have, the more responsibilities you need to bear. Nonetheless, if I have to choose one, I would like to have the ability that makes me foresee everything that will happen in few days because that benefits me a lot.

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I read Sunny's and Ryoko's blogs.

If I can ask animals questions

If I can talk to an animal, I want to talk to cats because I crazily love cats. I think cats are the cutest animals in the world. I like cats because they are very quiet and independent. Comparing with dogs, cats do not need you taking them out side for walking them. Besides, cats do not bark and they make neighborhoods quieter. However, I love cats but I still do not understand them very well. Thus I really want to ask them some questions.

First, I want to ask them that why they are so elegant that they rarely rush in houses? I have many relatives who raise dogs, and when I visited them, their dogs were running all the times. On the other hand, cats did not do that. One of my cousins raises cats, and I always see them lying on sofas or walking slowly in his house. Therefore, I want to ask cats what makes them live their lives in such a leisure way.

Second, do they really hunt preys? My friend’s cat is often hungry, but she does not hunt any prey and eat it. One time, I saw his cat playing a black stuff on the ground. At the mean time, my friend just prepared his cat’s meal, so I knew the cat is hungry. Thus I did not think and see clearly that the black thing is an animal. However, after few minutes, I friend came out and scream because his cat played a dead bat. Moreover, the bat was torn apart by his cat, but she did not eat it, not even a bite. Since she was hungry and she had something can put into her mouth, she did not eat it. However, she ate her dinner that my friend prepared for her quickly. Thus, I was wondering that do cats really hunt and eat their preys because originally, people raise cats for killing rats. Therefore, if I can ask cats a question, I want to ask them-Do you eat your preys?

These two questions are not answered by any TV program, so my only chance to get the answers is to ask cats. Therefore, if I can ask them questions, I will ask them “what makes you feel so free?” and “Do you really hunt and eat your victims?”

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I read Sunny's and Ryoko's blogs.

My favorite song is “Forever”, which is Stratovarius’ work. This song has a lot of meanings to me. Whenever I think of this song I still feel a little bit sorrow because it recalls my deepest memories and separation with my first lover.

I love this song because the lyrics are so simple but beautiful that I could not stop tearing when I first listened to Forever. I still remember the day that I encountered this song. That day was the day that I left my home town to my university. At that time, I was a beginner of power metal music and I borrowed my friend’s cd which is Episode, the third album of Stratovarius. While I was listening the very last song, Forever, of this album, I recalled my first girl friend, who enrolled in another college and we decide to break up. Because we know distance is the most fatal killer of love, we rather break up in peace than in anger and sorrow. Suddenly, I could not hold my tears and wept in my dorm because the melody and the lyrics are so touching. In the mean time, I realized I still love her and I was so regret to break up. However, it was too late. After two years, when I met her in my home town, she had a boy friend.

Here are the lyrics:

Music & Words: Tolkki

I stand alone in the darkness. The winter of my life came so fast.
Memories go back to my childhood. To days I still recall

Oh how happy I was then. There was no sorrow there was no pain.
Walking through the green fields. Sunshine in my eyes.

I'm still there everywhere. I'm the dust in the wind.
I'm the star in the northern sky. I never stayed anywhere.
I'm the wind in the trees. Would you wait for me forever?
Would you wait for me forever? Will you wait for me forever?

I still feel sorrow and recall her face when I listen to this song now because this song is so beautiful. Even if this song does not contain any feature of power metal, I still think “Forever” is the masterpiece of Stratovarius. It is so great that I am eager to share you guys. Please click the video below, I promise you will like it.

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I read Sunny's and Ryoko's blogs.

My favorite weather

I love autumn in Taiwan because it contains my favorite weather, cloudy days, showing up most frequent in fall. I love cloudy days a lot for a lot of reasons, such as feeling cool and comfortable, seeing beautiful views in another way in such days, and avoiding crowed while you go outside.
Firstly, cloudy days make me feel cool but not chill, and I can work out without sweat. Actually, I only work out in cloudy days because I hate feeling hot and cold while I am exercising. If I work out in a sunny day, I must sweat a lot, and this makes my skin so sticky. On the other hand, if I exercise in a chill day, I feel hurt when I breathe the cold air. Therefore, I love cloudy days because they allow me to work out, and I still feel comfortable.
Secondly, I love to see sceneries without much sunlight dressing on them. If the sun light is too bright, I cannot see each detail of things because some parts of the things are too shiny to stare. Besides, seeing things in cloudy days has different sense of beauty from that of seeing things in other weathers. For example, a river looks green in sunny days but looks grey in cloudy days. Thus, I love to see the same views in cloudy days because they show themselves in a sentimental way.
Thirdly, I love to go outside or take a trip to famous scenery but I do not like crowed in those beautiful places. If in sunny days, it is impossible that no one is in those wonderful places. However, there are always few people outside, if the weather is cloudy. Therefore, if I travel to a place in a cloudy day, I can enjoy wonderful atmosphere without being bothered by other people. Hence, I love cloudy days because I can go outside and avoiding noisy crowed.
In short, I love cloudy days for several different reasons, among them feeling cool and comfortable, seeing views giving me different feelings, and avoiding crowed.

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I read
http://happy71818.blogspot.com/2009/02/journal-4-weather.html
and
http://ryoko2784blog.blogspot.com/2009/02/it-was-beautiful-day-and-it-was.html

Snakes was used to be my nightmare

All people must have something that they are afraid of. One person may be afraid of height, another may be afraid of water, and the other may be afraid of dogs. For me, one thing that used to scaring me the most is a snake. I believe I am not the only one who is afraid of snakes because they seem to be toxic, aggressive, and disgusting. However, several years ago, I overcome this fear and I would like to explain why I was afraid of snakes and why I overcame this blind fear.

When I was a five years old child, I loved to play in rice farms because I could catch many frogs there. The more frogs in farms, the more snakes came to these farms to hunt them. One day, I saw a dreadful view that a snake killed a frog and swallowed the victim alive. I was shocked by seeing this bloody scenery and I had a nightmare which I was swallowed by a huge snake at that night. Since then, I was so afraid of snakes because they reminded me they can eat their preys alive. Moreover, many documentary films showed that snakes always kill their preys in merciless ways, such as swallowing them alive or choking them slowly.

Another memory making me be scared of snakes is that when I was seven years old boy, there was a cobra emerging in my yard. The cobra seemed finishing its meal few minutes ago because its belly was abnormally swollen. Furthermore, this cobra raised its head looking at me and began making its tongue in and out of its mouth frequently. After I saw this cobra, I cried and rushed to tell my grandmother that there was cobra staying in our yard. Finally, firefighters came here to handle this cobra and make this real horror movie end. Afterwards, my grandmother told me if I was bitten by cobras, I would die in few minutes. Therefore, I was more afraid of snakes after this incident.

Nevertheless, I overcame this fear when I grew up because I knew a lot of information about snakes by watching Discovery channel and National Geography channel. In fact, I did not want to know information about snakes initiatively. I am a person who loves almost animals so I like to watch these TV channels. However, these channels love to broadcast documentary films about others animals hunted by snakes. For instance, I like to watch documentary films about birds, but young birds often killed by snakes, and these films not only explain much information about birds, but also snakes. Thus, the more documentary films that I see, the better understanding about snakes that I have. Finally, I understood snakes so much and no longer be afraid of snakes because I knew that most of snakes are shy and do not want to fight in most of situations. In fact, if snakes are not hungry, when they face dangers, most of snakes would flee instead of attacking people or other animals. Even poisonous snakes such as cobras, over fifty percent bites do not contain any venom, if they are not hunting. Therefore, I do not fear snakes even poisonous snakes anymore because I know snakes very well by watching TV. Moreover, I think snakes are the most beautiful reptiles in the world because of their fancy and gorgeous skins.

The lousy public transportation in Orange County

I stay in Orange County for half a year and I think public transportation in here is the worst one that I ever met. In my view, public transportation in Orange County really needs improvements. There are several reasons why I think public transportation in Orange County is bad.

Firstly, I need to wait an hour for a bus to go to a place. For example, I take a bus to school everyday and I need to catch the bus on time because if I miss the bus, I have to wait an hour for another one. That is, there are few buses to serve people who take buses everyday, and it is very inconvenient for those people. This situation firmly supports my opinion about public transportation in Orange County.

Secondly, it is in terms of accuracy of schedules of buses that information shown in bus stops is outdated. For instance, bus schedule shown in a bus stop which is in front of a street where my home located in is not updated for a long time. I had wrong information about buses while I just arrived here, and this made me wait for a bus for more than fifty minutes in an extremely hot day. In fact, the schedule still remains the same now, but the buses always leave five minutes earlier than the time which is typed on paper posted in the bus stop. Thus, this is another case enhances the idea that public transportation in Orange County is so bad.

Thirdly, a distance between two bus stops is too long, if a person’s house is right in the middle of the distance, the person needs to spend much time in walking to one of the bus stops. In other words, Placements of bus stops lack of efficiency. In my case, I have to walk around twenty minutes to go to a bus stop, and this is a torture which makes me feel painful while I am heading to the bus stop. Therefore, I think if there are more stops, it would be pleasant for a lot of passengers.

All in all, I think public transportation in Orange County is very awful in several ways, among them long waiting time, incorrect schedule, and inefficient placements of bus stops.