Roasting Coffee Bean

   作文，已經是N十加一年以前的回憶了。記憶裡的作文課，從來不是快樂的時間。首先，學校規定用毛筆寫；我的中楷還不錯，曾經柳體跟顏體煉到甲；但小楷，老師好像很不忍心下評，寫一篇文章，我的右手指要僵上一天。手握一隻筆頭軟趴趴的竹管，用拇指及四隻大小指，不只要分得開開各據其位，還要合作卡得緊緊，這一撇那一勾，把繁簡不一的方塊字擠在在一公分見方的格子裡，已經不是很容易的任務了。

     更受不了的是，作文還要有一定的起、承、轉、合；還要會吊書袋，書袋吊得越多，表示越博學；還要氣很長，文章越長分數越高。不過，有用的中國字就那末三兩千個，寫長了，難免詞窮；於是美麗、漂亮之外，就想不出其他的詞兒，只好在文章裡面反覆翻炒，吵得七竅生煙(還好有成語可用)。總之，寫作文，真的是燒創意的災難。

        現在臨老入學堂，重新上作文課。不過，這次不是中文，是英文作文。咱老師說，英文是一種"dirty language."說它髒，沒有任何貶抑的意思，而是說它收集了各種文化的用語，各種語言的用字、各種文法、而且它像樂高，隨時可以拼湊出新字。髒歸髒，可是像垃圾場一樣，到處都是寶。上了English 10, 11, 12之後，我發現它是相當有創意的一門課，難怪一進到書店，英文小說少說就佔掉一半的書櫃。我也開始重拾寫文章的樂趣。這篇炒咖啡就運用了英文寫作的兩個技巧：alliteration(頭韻法)，在一個句子裡，反覆使用起頭的子音字母相同的單字，押韻以增閱讀的順暢與樂趣；其二，儘量讓每個名詞使用二至三個形容詞、每個動詞用二到三個副詞來描述，以增加文章的鮮活度。

  Roasting green coffee bean by myself is somewhat a painstaking task, for I have to stick cohesively myself to the pot, examine constantly the heat of stove, stir continuously the bean with a bamboo shovel, and scrutinize consciously the color change of bean, only to result in a bunch of smoky hair and face.
  However, it is not unrewarding in doing such thing. First of all, I don't have to worry about ingesting drink containing ochraotoxin, which is produced by a specific species of fungi named Aspergillus ochraceus, reportedly more toxic than aflatoxin to humans, and present potentially in old ground coffee or baked coffee beans. Second, I have a lot of green beans, and I don't know what else I can do for except roasting them. Finally, I am addicted to freshness: freshly roasted, freshly ground, and freshly brewed coffee in every freshly aired morning so that I have a freshly refreshed spirit.