ELISA ENGLISH's Blog 英語園地

“Couldn’t care less” or “Could care less”?

The correct usage is “Couldn’t care less”.  It means there is nothing more that I could care. I don’t care at all so it is impossible for me to care any less.

小巫見大巫, 相形見絀 (ㄔㄨˋ)

「相形見絀」指相互比較之下，一方顯得比不上

Pale in comparison

Text messaging – A poem written by Elisa English on 4/16/10

Tap, tap, tap,

Why text messaging?

Why do people send text messages instead of making a phone call?  It is hard for me to understand.  Is it because of low self-esteem?  Is it because you fear the intimacy of the talk?  Is it because it is easier to send indiscreet messages?  Are you afraid of revealing your true feeling?  Is it not worthy of your time to talk?  Do you simply lack the ability to make oral communication?  Or is it because you just simply lose the ability to talk?   

A Ghost Sound or a Coyote’s Howl -  - A poem written by Elisa English on 4/16/10

A thunderous sound

Here is a poem I wrote dedicated to my son for his frustration to get us attending the Fiesta.  To get some background of this poem, please read the article "A Fiesta".   We try not to hurt his feeling but sometimes it is inevitable.  Life is tough. 

Life is Tough - A poem written by Elisa English on 4/14/10

My son asked if I would be attending the Fiesta next Monday.  On the last day of the Spanish after school program, the teacher would usually throw a Fiesta.  I told him that I was unable to because I had already taken too many days off for the spring vacation and too many flexible days working from home after the vacation.  He was extremely sad and burst into tears.  He complained that I had never attended his Fiesta since he was a kindergartener. 

What can I say?  We tried to attend as many school activities as we can between my husband and me.  It is tough to be working parents in the US.  You are penalized by the governments for getting married and to have a family.  Just look at the tax treatment and you will understand what I mean.  In addition, you are expected to attend several school events during work hours.  It is extremely challenging for the working parents to get away from work to attend so many school social activities.  It is not that we do not want to participate in our kids’ school activities, but that the time commitment of those activities is too overwhelming.  I know that it is priceless watching our kids growing up and to be there in their lives.  We have tried our best but we do have to work too.  The US school systems seem to promote one income family.  You will be surprised to see how many families have only one bread earner.  This situation exists way before the economic tsunami started.  When I look around my neighborhood, about 75% of the families have a stay-home mom or dad  

Spring is definitely here.  Everyday seems a gorgeous day to me with temperature ranging from lower 40s to upper 60s degrees Fahrenheit (roughly between 4 degrees and 20 degrees Celsius).  You cannot ask for more than that.  Every morning, I am woken up by birds’ singing.  I thought that they were nightingale birds but they were robins instead.  Both birds look very similar and sing the melody like music to our ears.  However, nightingale birds live in Europe in the summer and Africa in the winter.  Seeing birds flying around our house is really a magnificent view.  I have seen blue jays, orioles, cardinals, robins, sparrows and some birds I cannot even identify.  Cardinals are my favorite.  I like their bright red colors.  My husband likes them for their connection to the baseball team he likes the most.  He has lived in St. Louis too long not to love the team.  

We are so lucky to have found this sanctuary.  It is such a tranquilizing place to live in, surrounded by the wonder of the nature.  We have watched from our windows a little fox turning into a teenage fox, turtles planting their roots at our backyard, tree frogs jumping near our pond and even into our great room, woodpeckers pecking at our house siding, owls turning their head 360 degrees resting on the tree, raccoons fighting with the dogs, chipmunks, squirrels woodchucks and moles digging holes on our lawn, mother deer playing with baby deer, ducks and geese families fighting on the pond for territory, and male pheasants extending their colorful feathers competing for female attention.  It is just like a zoo out there right in front of our eyes.  Not to mention all kinds of insects such as grasshoppers, crickets, cicadas and etc.  The nature’s symphony is playing right at our backyard. 

My son’s class has a Shark program (this year only) where Underwater Adventures Aquarium supplies them with everything they need to hatch a baby shark egg.  They were pretty lucky to get into that program because it is offered to only a selected few schools throughout the United States.  They were ecstatic to get two shark eggs but one died about two months ago.  In addition to the shark, there is also a starfish and a horseshoe crab.  The starfish is nicknamed Patrick.  The kids didn’t name the crab.  Oops, when I first heard the name, I thought that it was a crab.  In reality, it is a hard-shelled invertebrate living in warm, shallow coastal waters on the sea floor.  Its shell seems to be too big and heavy for its body and it keeps turning topsy turvy and constantly struggling to flip itself back up.  Watching it swim is extremely interesting as, for the majority of the time, it swims upside down.  I wouldn’t have known anything about the horseshoe crabs if not for the school program. 

Our teacher has alerted us that the baby shark will be hatching any minute.  You might have remembered an article I wrote earlier about “Perfect Sense”.  (Link to the article: http://elisaenglish.pixnet.net/blog/post/2946913)  My son was picked to participate in the Independent Investigation program in High Potential Enrichment Room, a program designed for high potential students.  He picked Shark as his research subject, so the Shark program in his classroom turns out to be a perfect complement to his research.  He has recently completed his research and presented his finding to his class.  It is too bad that we weren’t invited to listen to his speech.    

I am always struggling to find time for myself.  There are so many things to do, yet so little time.  Hence, reading blogs is the last thing on my mind.  If I find time to read blogs, I would always try to read blogs related to Taiwan.  Though I have been away from Taiwan for a long time, I still find Taiwan irresistible.  In addition, all my families except my brother live in Taiwan. 

Some of you might have known that I have a very strong political preference.  I only talk about it at my personal blog where I have set restrictions on who can comment on my articles.  The main reason is to prevent unwelcome messages and to get into pointless debates since I am neither a polished diplomat nor a savvy politician.  I usually try to forewarn my readers of any article I wrote that may contain my political bitching.  This way, everyone is happy.  You choose what you would like to read and I choose what I like to write.  That is the freedom of speech, the freedom of press so long as belittling, direct personal attack, or point-blank insinuation is not involved.  What we don’t want to see is the proliferation of Nazis and the condoning of Nazi-like behaviors.  If you have read my book review of “The Book Thief”, you would know what I meant.