I think calligraphy only refers to the art
works written by the Chinese brush. But now the word has been widely abused. The
handwriting by the pen is also called calligraphy or hard-tipped pen
calligraphy. Moreover, don’t you feel it ridiculous when we often hear someone
or another is vey casually addressed as calligrapher？Not all character writing can
be named calligraphy. Only those excellent art works finished by the writing
brush can be worthy of the word. So the course offered at school in character
writing can be called handwriting at most. We should be pleased if our
schoolchildren can write characters neatly with patience.

Ate two cloves of garlic at supper for the radish was stewed with some pork without worrying about annoying other people by the offensive smell. Satisfied with the cooking this time for taking a lesson from last time when the oil had not been hot enough for frying the meat and I put it into the pan. As a result, the cabbage stewed that day was not delicious as expected. Today my frying didn’t begin until the oil produced smoke. In the meantime, I kept a quick fire burning under the pot before the ending of the frying.
Mother is still in a bad mood all day long, thinking aloud ceaselessly. She chatters to me about things displeasing her. She is physically fit but psychologically unfit.

The sparrows are worshipped in the temple and
the phoenixes are exiled. The rights and wrongs are confused when the sun gets dim.

雀居堂兮鳳流亡， 黑白易兮日無光。

Thousands of years after Qu’s death, I still
mourn in vain for his suffering the bad treatment.

千載之後吊屈子，噫嘻哀哉徒惋傷。

the 17th anniversary of the 911 terrorist attacks
I have to put aside my sanitation work for I was informed to continue the research project in my charge which was suspended last term for lack of a prerequisite, ie our research group must have a thesis published in some municipal journal at least. Although this time the requirement was not mentioned, I managed to find a thesis published by one of our research group, which happened to be related to our research. My concluding report must be delivered before the deadline of September 18th.
Mr W’s grocery store was burgled in the absence of his wife and him.

In the surging waves of the sea a grain of sand is carried into a clam by accident. The sensitive clam feels the intrusion immediately and begins to wriggle its soft inine tenderly and excrete fluid constantly. As time passes, nourished by the juice, the tiny grain grows into a glittering and translucent pearl.
The biologist tells us this is the course of the formation of the nucleated sea pearl. But I’m inclined to accept the sociological implication of a grain turning into a pearl. If a child absorbs nutrition incessantly from the beneficial cultural environment, sooner or later he will become a useful person like the grain-turned pearl.

It has got cool after the arrival of the White
Dew and our wear feels thin. The moonlight comes closer and the sky seems to
step back far away.

白露轉凉衣覺單，月光移近天顯逺。

Perhaps some locals of my native village
are looking up at the moon and wondering when the distant traveler may come
back.

故鄉幾人須仰頭，或念逰子何時還。

Lu Xun had called countless people names but had never
commented on Chiang Kai Shek. After Lu died of illness, Chiang entrusted mayor
of Shanghai with going to the mourning hall paying his respects and sending a saluting
wreath in his own name, on which were written six very common characters—Eternal
repose to Mr Lu Xun! The words showed his love and pity for talented Lu. The village will be rewarded and
subsidized by the central finance as long as it makes a revolution of all its
toilets.

农村整村推进“厕所革命”将获中央财政奖补

It’s not so simple
To find someone that we can talk with,
Especially after having seen so many betrayals.
We must be capable for always feeling insecure.
Who has killed my romanticism?

The singing insects come out at night for
sucking the blood of people. But they are kept out of the net in which people
are sleeping.

淺吟低唱夜出塲，無可奈何眠羅帳。One cannot always get what he wants, let
alone these parasitic mosquitoes who fear light.

從來得意有時盡，何况寄生懼見光。

The stream on my way has frozen over.
It felt warmer today than the past few days. My underwear close to back and bottoms had been soaked through with sweat when I cycled to school. The interior of my headgear and gloves also got wet.
Recently I found a tractor has been working in the corn fields beside the road. A machine pulled behind collected the remains of corn stalks and squeezed them into large cylinders just like stone rollers on the threshing ground. It reminded me of the dung beetle and the round balls it rolls.
Mother felt better after a plaster applied to the bottom of her back.
I had a bad toothache now and then today and yesterday. The pain derived from the lower grinding teeth on the left.
Gave only one class today; the other four conducted by class advisers concerned.
In this evening’s Get Braver with Fighting, winner of the silver microphone was a policeman surnamed X for his brave fighting against cancer rather than performance.