看畢<洛克菲勒孫子的零用錢>全文，我久久不能平靜。一位億萬富翁，可以對自己和兒子在節儉這美德上要求這麼嚴格；再加上他對兒子在公益事業、儲蓄這方面有這麼高的要求，實在是非常難得。
從小，父親訓練他把所有支出和收入在本子裡記下，培養他對自己金錢的珍惜。他讓小約翰的零用為每星期＄1.50 美元，讓他懂得節儉。他要讓他明白，把自己的錢省起，總比花光的好。社會上多少青年必須明白這道理啊！
其實，如果仔細想想，也可以聯想到我們現實世界裡的例子:世界各地，多少青年荒廢學業，向被貧窮困擾的父母一次又一次地取錢，把他們辛苦賺回來的錢在黑暗的遊戲室裡狂燒；更不要說做慈善，儲蓄了。他們的父母通常可歸類成兩種：
一、他們是“打工仔”，常常晚上很晚才回家，無暇理會子女。
二、他們想讓子女改邪歸正，可子女卻又不聽勸告，又不肯改變，讓父母很煩惱。
很多有錢人家的子女，從小都像溫室裡的花朵般被寵愛。走出社會時，以為大家都會像僕人般服務自己，讓人生厭。可是，文中的父親儘管很忙，家境富有，小約翰卻沒有走上錯誤的人生道路父親勤勞，儉樸，是一個很好的模範，給小約翰作出了榜樣。
讓我們不要做上一代的包袱，共同高喊：“我不要做被溺愛的孩子，我不要做倚賴的兒童，我要自己管理自己的生活！”
2011年10月13日 星期四
2011年10月8日 星期六
春夏秋冬的排序
從前，在很遠很遠的地方，春、夏、秋、冬四個季節是没有分次序的，亂七八糟，貧瘠的大地上是乾枯的，没有植物，没有生氣，没有繁華，因為天氣總是變来變去，農夫们不知道什麼時候下種子，天氣報道员没有話說⋯⋯ 總之，世界很亂。人們覺得自己受够了，就跑上天庭告状。
“天帝呀天帝，求求您就管制一下那些季節吧，咱們好苦呀！”然後就跟天帝如實地哭訴了春夏秋冬的罪行。
天帝摸摸鬍子，招手派人来。“你给我现在告诉那四個⋯⋯傢伙，他们得跟我好好排一排次序，要不这些人可要给我麻煩了。”
春夏秋冬接到了電報，於是就立刻坐在一起討論了起来。
冬：这怎麼辦 呀？我們季節家族一直都是這樣的呀！咱們不能改變祖先的原意啊！
春：但是“天命難為”，我們總不可以不聽他的呀！天帝所想的，肯定有益於民吧。
夏：（拍桌子）不行！祖先說的就是祖先說的，怎能扭曲其意？
秋：嗯⋯我們就定個次序罷了！现在最大的問题是次序，怎樣排呢？
冬：唉！我是寒氣逼人的，所謂“寒风刺骨”、“银装素裹”，我是迷人的，又是绝望的。
春：那麼说，我是活力充沛的，所謂“萬物复蘇”、“柳绿花红”，我是明媚的，又是多情的
。
夏：嘿，我是熱情似火的，所謂“夏樹蒼翠”、“赤日炎炎”，我是金黄的，又是赤红的。
秋：當然，我就是天高雲淡的，所謂“秋高氣爽”、“玉露生寒”，我是喜人的，又是悲傷的。
就是這樣，大家覺得，春天必须排在冬天的後面，在绝望以後，增添一抹色彩。秋天排在冬天前面会更合適吧，因为深秋已開始寒冷了，是一個很好的轉折。而夏天呢，则排在春天和秋天间吧，乍暖還寒、秋風瑟瑟間，和冬天起了一個鲜明的對比。
自此以後，春夏秋冬各自用自己的方法，對大自然媽媽做出貢獻，在繁華的世界裏，形成了一個變化多端的節氣。
“天帝呀天帝，求求您就管制一下那些季節吧，咱們好苦呀！”然後就跟天帝如實地哭訴了春夏秋冬的罪行。
天帝摸摸鬍子，招手派人来。“你给我现在告诉那四個⋯⋯傢伙，他们得跟我好好排一排次序，要不这些人可要给我麻煩了。”
春夏秋冬接到了電報，於是就立刻坐在一起討論了起来。
冬：这怎麼辦 呀？我們季節家族一直都是這樣的呀！咱們不能改變祖先的原意啊！
春：但是“天命難為”，我們總不可以不聽他的呀！天帝所想的，肯定有益於民吧。
夏：（拍桌子）不行！祖先說的就是祖先說的，怎能扭曲其意？
秋：嗯⋯我們就定個次序罷了！现在最大的問题是次序，怎樣排呢？
冬：唉！我是寒氣逼人的，所謂“寒风刺骨”、“银装素裹”，我是迷人的，又是绝望的。
春：那麼说，我是活力充沛的，所謂“萬物复蘇”、“柳绿花红”，我是明媚的，又是多情的
。
夏：嘿，我是熱情似火的，所謂“夏樹蒼翠”、“赤日炎炎”，我是金黄的，又是赤红的。
秋：當然，我就是天高雲淡的，所謂“秋高氣爽”、“玉露生寒”，我是喜人的，又是悲傷的。
就是這樣，大家覺得，春天必须排在冬天的後面，在绝望以後，增添一抹色彩。秋天排在冬天前面会更合適吧，因为深秋已開始寒冷了，是一個很好的轉折。而夏天呢，则排在春天和秋天间吧，乍暖還寒、秋風瑟瑟間，和冬天起了一個鲜明的對比。
自此以後，春夏秋冬各自用自己的方法，對大自然媽媽做出貢獻，在繁華的世界裏，形成了一個變化多端的節氣。
2011年10月4日 星期二
A Linking Conversation
As soon as this spectacular idea of having four celebrities to dinner struck me, I was completely mesmerised by it. It would be a perfect chance to have intelligent conversations with all my personal heroes. After a lot of crystal balls, star charts and star gazing, my invitations are finally out.
My first choice is certainly Jodie Picoult, whose writing style and realistic, melancholy plots stun millions. If I could meet her and strike up a conversation with her, I would yearn to ask her where she got her brilliant ideas from, especially for Nineteen Minutes. It was realistically structured and somehow makes good use of imagery. Her serious, thoughtful nature would contrast with my next guest greatly –
Nury Vittachi. A loud, humorous, but truthful and successful writer; I am sure that he is definitely going to be the star of the dinner party. He plays a big role in my reading, and I really admire how he makes things like saying "huh" seem hilarious. I'd be sure to ask him how he sees the world – through a pair of ridiculous, tinted glasses or normal eyes? Another idea is to show him my scrapbook of his columns. I bet he's going to laugh out loud at his own jokes! However, his outgoing, confident character hides a dark childhood – similar to that of my next guest –
Dave Pelzer. Hiding an abusive, mistreated childhood, his quiet personality actually represents years of hurt, hopelessness and abuse. However, he has now put his past behind him and constructed a happy family. In the second volume of his autobiography, The Lost Boy, it seems as if he has forgiven his alcoholic mother. Does he still love and care for her? Does he forgive her for what she has inflicted on him? How did his past experience affect his now-successful career as a best selling author, a caring father and a gentle husband? I'd think he'd show dozens of photos of Stephen, his son, and his adoptive parents, Alice and Harold Turnbough. He would probably be deeply attracted by my next guest -
Joanne Kathleen Rowling, another best-selling fiction author of the Harry Potter series, which sold across the world in billions. The thing that interests me most would be where she got all of those fabulous and new-fangled plots? I'd also want to ask her about her next series. Her fans would definitely thank me a lot!
And that's it. My dinner party would be completely brought to life and in-depth conversations would decorate the dinner table, and although the four authors represent four different styles of writing and personality, they will forever be linked by their careers and in my heart.
My first choice is certainly Jodie Picoult, whose writing style and realistic, melancholy plots stun millions. If I could meet her and strike up a conversation with her, I would yearn to ask her where she got her brilliant ideas from, especially for Nineteen Minutes. It was realistically structured and somehow makes good use of imagery. Her serious, thoughtful nature would contrast with my next guest greatly –
Nury Vittachi. A loud, humorous, but truthful and successful writer; I am sure that he is definitely going to be the star of the dinner party. He plays a big role in my reading, and I really admire how he makes things like saying "huh" seem hilarious. I'd be sure to ask him how he sees the world – through a pair of ridiculous, tinted glasses or normal eyes? Another idea is to show him my scrapbook of his columns. I bet he's going to laugh out loud at his own jokes! However, his outgoing, confident character hides a dark childhood – similar to that of my next guest –
Dave Pelzer. Hiding an abusive, mistreated childhood, his quiet personality actually represents years of hurt, hopelessness and abuse. However, he has now put his past behind him and constructed a happy family. In the second volume of his autobiography, The Lost Boy, it seems as if he has forgiven his alcoholic mother. Does he still love and care for her? Does he forgive her for what she has inflicted on him? How did his past experience affect his now-successful career as a best selling author, a caring father and a gentle husband? I'd think he'd show dozens of photos of Stephen, his son, and his adoptive parents, Alice and Harold Turnbough. He would probably be deeply attracted by my next guest -
Joanne Kathleen Rowling, another best-selling fiction author of the Harry Potter series, which sold across the world in billions. The thing that interests me most would be where she got all of those fabulous and new-fangled plots? I'd also want to ask her about her next series. Her fans would definitely thank me a lot!
And that's it. My dinner party would be completely brought to life and in-depth conversations would decorate the dinner table, and although the four authors represent four different styles of writing and personality, they will forever be linked by their careers and in my heart.
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