ShengLi Shao's photos

What A Beautiful Day

What a beautiful day! I went outside to take couple shots.

I enjoy the beauty that the nature brings.

Dedicates those pictures to my beloved parents

Sheng Li Shao

Ling Ling Zhang

                                                     

Signature for the pictures

Use Photoshop software

the same object from different angle

Picture taken from the top of the flower

Taken from horizontal

                                                            Taken from lower left side

Taken from bottom

Focus on the leaves

Sun light

Cosmetic Surgery is an Epidemic

Plastic surgery is a medical specialty concerned with the correction or restoration of form and function. It includes two main fields: reconstructive and cosmetic surgery. Reconstructive surgery is performed to correct functional impairments. It benefits those patients having burns, infection, or disease. Cosmetic surgery, instead, involves techniques intended for enhancement of appearance, and is specifically concerned with enhancing it beyond the average level toward some aesthetic ideal. People have been giving cosmetic surgery more consideration than any other method to enhance their appearance, especially women.

How women think about cosmetic surgery has become for purely superficial reasons. After pregnancy, more and more women choose to have a tummy tuck, an invasive surgical procedure, to reshape their bodies. Instead of doing some old-fashioned sit ups, they let the surgeries do the magic which is lazy and unhealthy. For young girls, it is common for them to think that two pieces of silicone in their breasts are going to solve the self-confidence problem. There is nothing wrong in puring beauty;however, should the cosmetic surgery be the most motivated solution for us women?

Cosmetic surgery is sought more often by women than men. In 2006, nearly 11 million cosmetic surgeries were performed in the U.S. alone, with the five most common being breast augmentation, liposuction, nasal surgery, eyelid surgery and abdominoplasty. The number of cosmetic procedures performed has increased over 50 percent since the start of the century, and over 90 percent of the procedures have been performed on women. As you can see, more and more women think cosmetic surgery is the only solution, and they put it into action bravely and firmly.

Why don't men use cosmetic surgery? What do they do to enhance their appearance? Their solution is to work out which should also be our solution. Men choose the natural and original way to reshape their bodies instead of wasting all the money on the surgery. Are we too lazy to do some sit ups? Are we really thinking about our health and our babies' health when we considered the surgery? Women, we need to reconsider the cosmetic surgery.

Stop being lazy and being duped by advertisements. Women need a clear and healthy mind to evaluate themselves. There is nothing wrong with our bodies, but what we need is to renew our mind. Cosmetic surgery is not the solution, but an epidemic among us.

Human Qualities

When people talk about human qualities, what are the best or the worst qualities coming across your mind? Is it patience or impatience? Is it ambition or laziness? Or, is it the tolerance or lack of tolerance for differences in people? Can you decide which one is your best or worst quality? I have to tell you that it took me a whole day to think it over; eventually, I see that being determined is my best quality and impatience is my worst quality.

Determination has been my best quality throughout my years of college studies and the military. For the college students in China, passing a national English Level IV test is a requirement for an undergraduate degree, and passing the Level VI test is a requirement for graduate school. I took the level VI in my sophomore year, and I failed, Trying again my junior year, I failed. Finally, in my senior year, I passed it. I was happy that I didn't give up. During army basic training, I went through with broken ribs. Some of the people I trained with said I was tough and determined.

But, impatience is my worst quality. I couldn't wait for the traffic light to turn green; I couldn't wait in line at the DMV; I couldn't wait for the cashier's shift changing. I want things to happen according to my watch. I want it to happen, and I want it to happen now. I don't know whether I am being self-centered or if I need to realize there are things out of my control.

In the end, I believe Aristotle's golden triangle of what is true, good and beautiful. When we grasp what is true and good, we elevate our lives to become beautiful. Therefore, I want to commit myself to live by there challenging three words.

Aristotle's Golden Triangle

San Diego, CA

Born in Greece twenty-five centuries ago, Aristotle, a brilliant ancient philosopher, has taught me more than any other thinker. He was a student of Plato. These illustrious thinkers disagreed on many issues, but they both believed that it is not simply life that we should value, but rather the good life. Aristotle believed we should live by the Golden Triangle of what is ture, good and beautiful.

What is true? It means to be true to our choices and to be ture to ourselves, friends,and family. We are unique. We ought to do what the others cannot do, fulfilling out needs in different ways. We create our destinies every day, not by chance, but by choice. To be ture to out choices is the only way to dignify out life and to aim high for the good. To be true to ourselves and others is the foundation of making choices.

What is good? When we are happy, we will be good. We will do good for others when we have found our own happiness. Good is necessary in the little things we think and do, and in the big things we try to accomplish. It means to obtain and possess all the things that are good for us over our entire lifetime. Being good should be our eternal goal that should influence all of our thinking, our choices, and our actions.

What is beautiful? When we grasp what is true and good, we elevate our lives to become beautiful. Beautiful is where we want our life to be. It is what a good life means to us, and it is the aim and goal of life.

True and good is a life of moral excellence which leads to beautiful. Aristotle's Golden Triangle states there is only one right way to live for all people. Though to make a serious commitment to live a good life is a disipline. A good life is not an accident. The chanllenges we will face are unexpected, and we must be prepared.

Photography

也许你会问我，为什么喜欢摄影？每个人给出的答案都不同。我喜欢摄影的原因是因为我的父亲是一名优秀的并且资深的摄影家。出于对他的敬重和崇拜，我从小就拿起了相机，到处扑捉那份真实，朴素与美。摄影是需要执著的，而人生却是百变的。虽然没能继承父业，做一个职业的摄影师，但摄影永远都在我的血液中，因为它是父亲爱的延伸。