There I Was! : Media Musings


Book Description

Living through dramatic times as one of the first woman political journalists in the broadcast media in the undivided state of Andhra Pradesh when private television channels breezed through the regional landscape in the mid-nineties, Aruna Ravikumar witnessed momentous developments and historical events frozen in time. ‘There I Was’! Media Musings'’ is a compelling read about her foray into journalism which unwittingly began with her listening to interesting news discussions by fellow morning walkers when she accompanied her grandfather to Hyderabad’s famous tank bund, culminating in her moderating political debates in television studios. Political intrigues, destruction of cities, caste conflicts, faction politics, and naxalite violence are part of the mosaic of experiences chronicled here with historical perspective and personal observation. Sketches of select celebrities from hundreds of interviews over decades will inspire awe and admiration in a world woefully lacking role-models. The book essays learnings from the media taking in its sweep, crowning successes and glaring failures and a wide gamut of issues in between.




Social Media Musings


Book Description

Since the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, I have posted numerous essays and other commentaries on Facebook. They are of varying length on matters of politics, law, history, and other subjects as well. My first book on social musings contains 142 Facebook posts. My second book is a continuation of my posts, an additional 118. This is my third book. I believe in an informed citizenry that relies on facts, logic, critical thinking, and reasoned judgment. It is hoped that the essay and commentaries in this my second book on this subject will inspire dialogue and further citizen involvement in their communities.




Midnight Musings


Book Description

Midnight Musings: Interpersonal Communication & Social Media traces how social media impacts, changes and evolves common interpersonal communication practice. Throughout this text, Shepard explores foundational theories and expands the scope of these theories to introduce new concepts (indirect definitions, preference/prejudice continuum, illusion of perspective, & amiendships) for a greater understanding of interpersonal communication.




Botticelli’s Muse


Book Description

Botticelli’s Muse peels back layers of history to tell a fictionalized version of the life of Sandro Botticelli, his conflicts with the Medici family of Florence, and the woman at the heart of his paintings. In 1477, Botticelli is suddenly fired by his prestigious patron and friend Lorenzo de’ Medici. In the villa of his irritating new patron, the artist’s creative well runs dry—until the day he sees Floriana, a Jewish weaver imprisoned in his sister’s convent. But events threaten to keep his unlikely muse out of reach. So begins a tale of one of the art world’s most beloved paintings, La Primavera, as Sandro, a confirmed bachelor, and Floriana, a headstrong artist in her own right, enter into a turbulent relationship.




Jenniferology


Book Description

Fifteen-year-old Jennifer Brice Hamilton has been subjected to her mother’s new way of life ever since her parents’ divorce two years earlier - a move to a lower tax bracket in Chicago, an undesirable school, and her mother’s newest boyfriend: Phil. Jennifer rebels. Her mother’s answer to the “handful-slash-Jennifer” is to pack her up and send her to her grandma’s, whom Jennifer has not seen in almost three years. Her mother’s lusty plan is for Jennifer to reside there 'til Christmas. Jennifer captures her life in Flamingo Junction, Florida, with her grandmother in an ongoing diary of sorts - a sketchbook that she has titled Jenniferology - The Study of Jennifer. Jennifer’s grandmother, Mama Rudeen, lives in a retirement community called Camelot in North Florida. Mama Rudeen is not what Jennifer expected, nor are her grandmother’s friends - the gals: Miss Maggie Pearl, Miss Addie, and Miss Gaynell...and the guy - Sir Stuckie. Jennifer envisioned octogenarians sitting around waiting to take their last breath. She discovers that retirees have a zest for life. And, more importantly, they define to Jennifer what unconditional love truly means. Maybe it takes a retirement village to raise a child.




Musing the Mosaic


Book Description

In Musing the Mosaic prominent critics of postmodern and contemporary fiction and culture discuss the fictional and theoretical works of Ronald Sukenick, one of the most important American writers to emerge from the late 1960s. Sukenick has been a prolific participant in reshaping the American literary tradition for two generations and played a pivotal role in the creation and growth of the Fiction Collective and FC2 publishing houses, as well as the journals American Book Review and Black Ice Magazine. In his work he argues that contemporary fiction can neither perform traditional functions nor rely on any conventions in an ever-more dynamic world. Staying true to Sukenick's own creative style, one that takes the seams out of writing before re-stitching it in ways that are truly novel, the contributors examine how and why his writing comes closer to the dissolving, fragmentary nature of reality and its lack of closure than perhaps anything written before it.




Revisiting National Security


Book Description

This book examines the evolving concept of national security and how human systems could be governed in an ever turbulent and dynamic world. It takes a revised look at the concept of national security, previously researched and identified by the author, based on the present context but with a futuristic appreciation of governance, primarily national but extended to global perspectives, in the modern and dynamically shifting world. The book emphasises the need for governments to maximise national security for the well-being of their people. The concept of national security is taken as the key subject of national governance which is extendable to global governance wherein national security is not only the physical or military security alone but also the overall well-being of the people of a nation. This book explores how national security can be achieved by balancing its various elements in different terrains where the game of governance is played in national as well as global perspective. It also presents additional findings and observations to show that the approach is transformative, redefining the key knowledge paradigms. This book is relevant for policy makers, students, researchers and academics who wish to explore and rethink their approach towards governing the human systems, whose well-being is the responsibility of governments.




Counterblasting Canada


Book Description

In 1914, Wyndham Lewis and Ezra Pound—the founders of vorticism—undertook an unprecedented analysis of the present, its technologies, communication, politics, and architecture. The essays in Counterblasting Canada trace the influence of vorticism on Marshall McLuhan and Canadian Modernism. Building on the initial accomplishment of the magazine Blast, McLuhan’s subsequent Counterblast, and the network of artistic and intellectual relationships that flourished in Canadian vorticism, the contributors offer groundbreaking examinations of postwar Canadian literary culture, particularly the legacies of Sheila and Wilfred Watson. Intended primarily for scholars of literature and communications, Counterblasting Canada explores a crucial and long-overlooked strand in Canadian cultural and literary history. Contributors: Gregory Betts, Adam Hammond, Paul Hjartarson, Dean Irvine, Elena Lamberti, Philip Monk, Linda M. Morra, Kristine Smitka, Leon Surette, Paul Tiessen, Adam Welch, Darren Wershler.




Musing Light


Book Description




Musings


Book Description

Musings is a collection of short, easy-reading essays dealing with the challenges of life. Do we take certain beliefs for granted? Are our beliefs distorted by hand-me-down thinking? How can we respond to others with love, acceptance, and compassion? Poetry and humor are interspersed throughout this book's invitation to contemplate a deeper spiritual awareness. If the Beatitudes in the Bible were rewritten today, would we find this one: "Blessed are they whose plans have been foiled, for they shall be given the opportunity to see the world anew"? Readers are suggested to pick one essay a day. Reflect on the deeper messages and chuckle with the lighter moments while you consider choices that can lighten the load of living.