The One and Only Ivan “The One and Only Ivan” is a picture book based on a true story. It depicts the miserable life of a gorilla, Ivan, also known as The Shopping Mall Gorilla. Ivan was poached in central Africa when he was six months old. A circus store owner in Seattle paid for him and wanted him to be a big attraction of the mall. For the first three years Ivan lived a human life in a human house. He wore cloths, ate human food, and slept in bed. When he grew too big to handle, he was placed in an enclosure made of metals and cement in the mall.In the following 27 years, Ivan live alone without any companions of the same kind. Children came to visit him regularly, and watched Ivan doing finger-painting, which seems to be his favorite hobby. In early 1990s, people became aware of the animal welfare, which meant animals in captivity should have the right to be treated properly. Therefore, many local residents and children started to concern about Ivan’s isolated existence. Finally, in 1994, Ivan was moved to Zoo Atlanta, where there were many gorillas living in a large natural habitat. Ivan died in 2012 at the age of fifty. Zoo Atlanta held a memorial service for him, which was attended by people from all over the country. The life of Ivan represented the need for all animals to be treated with dignity and kindness. 大猩猩伊凡 大猩猩伊凡是一本真實故事改編的童書，它描述一隻叫做伊凡的大猩猩 (也被稱為購物中心大猩猩) 的悲慘一生。伊凡在六個月大時在非洲中部被獵補，位於西雅圖的一家馬戲團商店老闆付錢買下他，目的是希望他能成為商場的招牌吸引力。 最初三年伊凡住在一個人類的家過著人類的生活。他穿衣服、吃人類食物，也睡在床上。當他長得太大而不好處理時，他就被安置在商場內一個用金屬和水泥製成的圍場裡。接下來 27 年，伊凡獨自生活而沒有任何同類同伴。小朋友定期來探望他，也看他用手指作畫，這似乎是他最喜歡的嗜好。 在1990年代初期，人們開始意識到動物福利的必要，所謂動物福利是指圈養的動物有權獲得適當的對待。因此，許多當地居民和孩童開始關心起伊凡孤獨活著這件事。 終於在1994年，伊凡被遷往亞特蘭大動物園，那裡有很多大猩猩生活在一個自然的棲地。伊凡在2012年以高齡五十歲逝世。亞特蘭大動物園為他舉辦一場告別式，來自全國各地的許多人都到場致意。伊凡的一生代表著所有動物都應該被有尊嚴且仁慈般的對待。

Lin is a volunteer storyteller at a school library. Yesterday afternoon she had just finished a storytelling activity. A fellow volunteer storyteller, May, wants to know how it went. May：How was yesterday’s storytelling? Lin: I felt I kind of picked the wrong book. My book was too easy for those third graders. I could tell from their bored facial expressions. May: How come? Was it because the English level of the story too low or was the story plot too childish for them? Lin: I think the storyline was not exciting enough for typical third graders. May: Maybe next time you could try choosing books based on the audience’s maturity levels rather than their English levels. Lin 在一個小學的圖書室當說故事志工，昨天下午她剛說完一場故事，另一位說故事志工May想知道Lin說故事活動是否順利。 May: 昨天故事活動進行得如何？ Lin: 我覺得我好像挑錯了書。 我的書對那些三年級而言有點太簡單了。我從他們感到無聊的表情上看得出來。 May: 為什麼？是因為故事的英文程度對他們而言太低，還是故事情節太幼稚？ Lin: 我覺得是故事情節對一般三年級學生而言不夠有趣。 May: 也許下次你挑書的時候，主要考量聽眾的心智成熟度而非他們的英文程度。

09 July, 2020 - My son's music lesson Yesterday I finally successfully persuaded my son to take a music lesson. It's jazz drum lesson for children, I'm happy we came to a compromise at last. I've always believed that learning music is very good for children's mental development. However, our first try didn't end up well. When my son was 3 years old, I took him to the piano lesson after kindergarten, but he didn't like it because he wanted to go home directly and played with his toys. Therefore we gave up after 6 months of piano lessons. Recently, because the summer vacation is coming, I thought why not for him to try different art classes since we have plenty of time during the summer break? This time I let him to choose the musical instrument and he chose to play drum, though it's not my top choice, but it's he enjoys it that matters. I hope this time it will go well but I probably will be worried when he's very into drum playing because I'm not sure if I'd like to have a drum set in my place.

Sunday, June 21, 2020. I was surprised when one friend of mine told me she had no AC installed in her apartment. My friend lives in the second floor of an old apartment. Her husband hung a bamboo curtain in the balcony to block the strong sunlight. I think the position (orientation or direction ?) of a building is very important when it comes to indoor temperature. If one side of the building faces west, the outer wall would absorb the heat of the sun in the afternoon and in turn release the heat and cause the indoor space being warm. Unfortunately, my bedroom is in such a space. I’m considering to sleep on our living room floor since it’s much cooler than my bedroom.

Thursday, June18,2020 - Summer Summer in Taiwan is boiling hot, and I would avoid going out around noon when it’s hottest of the day. My son said he didn’t want to eat hot food, so I often made sandwiches and salads for our lunch lately. I tried different recipes for salad dressing and found that the best recipe children would love is the combination of fresh lemon juice, honey, salt, and extra virgin olive oil. My son even enjoys eating his usually least favorite vegetable and fruit when I use this salad dressing. Although the high temperature of summer is depressing, one thing about summer I found wonderful. The golden sunlight slanting through our french windows in the evening is beautiful.

Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - Billie Eilish Recently I fell in love with Billie Eilish’s voice and her music. Before I ever heard her songs, I only know that Billie Eilish is a young singer who wears oversized weird clothes. Once by chance I heard she singing “Ocean Eyes” from online radio, and I found her voice charming and beautiful. I searched more information about her and learned that she is very talented and she’ve already won many musical awards by the age of 19. She has an intimate brother with whom she collaborates on music and live shows. Among Billie’s songs “Six Feet Under”, “Bad guy” and “Ocean Eyes” are my favorite, especially the “Six Feet Under”. It’s like an earworm to me lately, I can’t help but sing it when I ride my scooter.

Saturday, June 14, 2020 - A Hiking Tour in Wulai Yesterday we joined a guided hiking tour in Wulai, which is a small town in New Taipei City and famous for its hot springs and aboriginal culture. I have been to Wulai for several times, but I never really liked it because of the messy street view and ugly shop signs. However, this time we went farther into the mountainous area, and I found the scenery is beautiful. The hiking trail was built alongside the stream, so we can hear the sound of the flowing water during the whole trip. Our nature-loving, enthusiastic tour guides gave us detailed explanations of the plants and insects we met on the way. We also saw several waterfalls coming down from the cliffside. I really enjoy being surrounded by the nature, and wish I could visit it again soon.