Isn't This Fun?


Book Description

Michael Foley, the author of bestselling The Age of Absurdity, wants to understand why he doesn't appear to be experiencing as much 'fun' as everyone else . . . And so, with characteristic wit and humour, Foley sets out to understand what fun really means, examining its heritage, its cultural significance and the various activities we associate with fun. He investigates pursuits such as dancing, sex, holidays, sport, gaming and comedy, and concludes that fun is not easy, simple and fixed, as many seem to believe, but elusive, complex and constantly changing. In fact, fun is a profoundly serious business. His findings will invigorate you with insights, quite possibly help you to understand why the post-post-modern is actually the pre-pre-modern and, at the very least, make you laugh at life. ‘This book is such a wondrous kaleidoscope of rage, based on such a deep reading of all the sources, that I shall be searching out his other works to read forthwith. The man is a marvel.’ Daily Mail




If It Isn't FUN It ISN't Fun


Book Description

Have you been frustrated with your speech therapy experience? Marci Melzer, M.Ed./SLP, is an intuitive speech-language pathologist with 30 years of experience helping people to develop the ability to use spoken language functionally. As a speech therapist, Marci found the health care system to be increasingly disempowering for both her and her clients. She finally left after being required by contract to go against her ethics for financial gains. Marci is now helping families by training the parents to facilitate language themselves faster, easier, and with a lot more fun than speech therapy. "My 8-year-old son has ASD. He still was not talking after 5 years of speech therapy and 2 years of ABA. Language facilitation helped us hear new words without prompting within 2 weeks. In one month, my son gave up his iPad communication system to talk. ~ Jennifer, Kentucky, USA Marci learned, after decades of speech therapy, that parents are the best language facilitators. Parents already know their children better than any therapist can. They know what their children are thinking and feeling due to the natural, intuitive connection between parents and their kids. Marci's language facilitation program equips and empowers parents to see the speech learning from the child's perspective. She teaches parents to self-analyze their own teaching methods as well as their child's school and therapies to discover the habits, patterns, and mindset issues that are keeping their children stuck in nonverbal communication and resistant to learning to talk. "The results of language facilitation are so much more than speech. They provide a world our kids begin to trust and as they gain confidence in themselves, their abilities, and in each relationship they open up to so much more. Speech has only been the tip of the iceberg for us. Watching our son (who will be 7 years old next week) engage with the world around him has been a gift beyond measure." ~ Janaiah, North Carolina USA Parents whose late-talking children have received diagnoses such as Autism, Apraxia, Global Developmental Delay, Genetic Disorders, Brain Malformation, and Auditory Processing Disorder are now conversing. Parents are seeing almost immediate results in children from 2-years-old to 13-years-old. Every child can benefit from parents using language facilitation. "It feels wonderful to connect with my 10-year-old son through play and hear new words, phrases, and sentences every day. He was so sad and anxious about all the prompting in speech therapy and it did not work anyway." ~ Mary Ann, Wisconsin, USA Hundreds of parents watch Marci's videos on Facebook and YouTube every day and comment on how the strategies are helping them overcome their child's resistance to speech faster than speech therapy. Now, parents can have a print-version of Marci's Language Facilitation program to use at their own pace. Every family who eliminates communication blockages and facilitates language naturally has heard their limited-verbal and nonverbal children use spontaneous spoken developmental language within weeks. Many children begin talking within days. These strategies are that good. "The concept of language facilitation gives the power back to the parents. Our children love and learn the most from us, not schools, hourly therapy sessions, etc. We naturally teach our children everything and Marci integrates this with her teaching. We need more Marci's in this world to keep up with this epidemic, our children deserve the best and Marci teaches parents how to not only reach their children but to teach their teams and supports how to do it as well. Once all are on board you will see results that will blow your mind!" ~ Tracy, Illinois USA




Mosquitoes Can't Bite Ninjas


Book Description

Mosquitoes can bite all kinds of people--ballerinas, chefs, babies, even you and me. But they can't bite . . . NINJAS! Mosquitoes might be quick, but ninjas are quicker. Mosquitoes might be sneaky, but ninjas are sneakier. And mosquitoes might be hungry, but ninjas are . . . hungrier! With tons of not-very-stealthy appeal, Jordan P. Novak's debut delivers buzzy, wacky, and hilarious read-to-me eBook.




Save the Cat!


Book Description

This ultimate insider's guide reveals the secrets that none dare admit, told by a show biz veteran who's proven that you can sell your script if you can save the cat!




The Last Lecture


Book Description

The author, a computer science professor diagnosed with terminal cancer, explores his life, the lessons that he has learned, how he has worked to achieve his childhood dreams, and the effect of his diagnosis on him and his family.




The Most Fun We Ever Had


Book Description

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • “A gripping and poignant ode to a messy, loving family in all its glory.” —Madeline Miller, bestselling author of Circe In this “rich, complex family saga” (USA Today) full of long-buried family secrets, Marilyn Connolly and David Sorenson fall in love in the 1970s, blithely ignorant of all that awaits them. By 2016, they have four radically different daughters, each in a state of unrest. Wendy, widowed young, soothes herself with booze and younger men; Violet, a litigator turned stay-at-home-mom, battles anxiety and self-doubt; Liza, a neurotic and newly tenured professor, finds herself pregnant with a baby she's not sure she wants by a man she's not sure she loves; and Grace, the dawdling youngest daughter, begins living a lie that no one in her family even suspects. With the unexpected arrival of young Jonah Bendt—a child placed for adoption by one of the daughters fifteen years before—the Sorensons will be forced to reckon with the rich and varied tapestry of their past. As they grapple with years marred by adolescent angst, infidelity, and resentment, they also find the transcendent moments of joy that make everything else worthwhile.




Design


Book Description

Behind the scenes stories of how Theme Park Attractions and Entertainment Spectaculars were designed by Imagineering Legend Bob Gurr during a 42 year career.




Mutual Aid


Book Description




Lost, Stolen Or Shredded


Book Description

Like Sherlock Holmes's dog in the night time, sometimes the true significance of things lies in their absence. Rick Gekoski tells the very human stories that lie behind some of the greatest losses to artistic culture - and addresses the questions such disappearances raise. Some of the items are stolen (the Mona Lisa), some destroyed (like Philip Larkin's diaries, shredded, then burnt, on his dying request) and some were lost before they even existed, like the career of the brilliant art deco architect, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, which foundered amid a lack of cash - but behind all of them lies an often surprising story which reveals a lot about what art means to us. Gekoski explores in depth the greater questions these tremendous losses raise - such as the rights artists and authors have over their own work, the importance of the search for perfection in creativity, and what motivated people to queue to see the empty space where the Mona Lisa once hung in the Louvre.




The Power of Fun


Book Description

If you’re not having fun, you’re not fully living. The author of How to Break Up with Your Phone makes the case that, far from being frivolous, fun is actually critical to our well-being—and shows us how to have more of it. “This delightful book might just be what we need to start flourishing.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Adam Grant Journalist and screen/life balance expert Catherine Price argues persuasively that our always-on, tech-addicted lifestyles have led us to obsess over intangible concepts such as happiness while obscuring the fact that real happiness lies in the everyday experience of fun. We often think of fun as indulgent, even immature and selfish. We claim to not have time for it, even as we find hours a day for what Price calls Fake Fun—bingeing on television, doomscrolling the news, or posting photos to social media, all in hopes of filling some of the emptiness we feel inside. In this follow-up to her hit book, How to Break Up with Your Phone, Price makes the case that True Fun—which she defines as the magical confluence of playfulness, connection, and flow—will give us the fulfillment we so desperately seek. If you use True Fun as your compass, you will be happier and healthier. You will be more productive, less resentful, and less stressed. You will have more energy. You will find community and a sense of purpose. You will stop languishing and start flourishing. And best of all? You’ll enjoy the process. Weaving together scientific research with personal experience, Price reveals the surprising mental, physical, and cognitive benefits of fun, and offers a practical, personalized plan for how we can achieve better screen/life balance and attract more True Fun into our daily lives—without feeling overwhelmed. Groundbreaking, eye-opening, and packed with useful advice, The Power of Fun won’t just change the way you think about fun. It will bring you back to life.