Shadow Books

Shadows, when done properly, show off any subject matter. The artists whose works are in this book were chosen from over 4,000 entries, and represent some of the best watercolor artists in the country. The authors have done a superb job of gather and displaying them in a wonderful venue.

I like hiking in nice weather. Don't we all? But in the Pacific Northwest, if you are forced to wait for the sun, you may not hike much at all. You can hedge your bets by hiking on the lee side - the rain shadow - of Pacific Northwest mountains. At least on days when it's drizzling around Puget Sound, there will be an excellent chance of dry - if not downright sunny - weather, on the range's far side.

Best Rainshadow Hikes - Western Washington, by Michael Fagin and Skip Card, is a boon to the fair-weather hiker. The guidebook lists dozens of hikes in the rain shadows of the North and South Cascades, Mount Rainier, the Olympics, Stevens Pass, Salmon La Sac and Teanaway.

While the book is entirely printed in black and white, the pictures are crisp and clear, and prints a useful elevation graph for each hike.

The book would be more useful if directions were in the same place in each chapter instead of randomly strewn in there, somewhere. I did appreciate the detailed trail descriptions. And, as with all good hiking guides to the area, the guide lists approximate snow-free periods for each trail.

A useful introductory chapter discusses how mountains create a rain shadow, and how to get a feel for weather by looking at clouds and sunbows.

I was thrilled to find this book, being from the bright and dry American Southwest. I don't like overcast days and wetness, but I do enjoy mountain trails, views from passes and high alpine lakes. Fagin's book helps me meld my desires by pointing me in the right direction for the Pacific Northwest's best weather bets. I look forward to using this book to death.

Simply put, Betty Crocker is the most established and trusted name in cookbooks. Now some 150 elegantly presented recipes comprise the newest of the Betty Crocker cookbooks: "Betty Crocker Sunday Dinner Cookbook". It's the Sunday Dinner that is an American family's most traditional meal when and where family members and their friends gather together to enjoy the best that can be offered from what they have. Published with a concealed spiral binding that allows the pages to lay flat upon the kitchen counter or table for ease of use, and wonderfully illustrated throughout with full color photography, each of the recipes comprising this outstanding cookbook collection combines a complete list of ingredients with step-by-step instructions on their preparation into a delicious, nutritious dish that would complement a celebratory family dining occasion whether it would be held on a Sunday or any other day. From halibut-Asparagus Stir-Fry; Chili with Corn Dumplings; Stuffed Zucchini; and Crispy Baked Fish with Tropical Fruit Salsa; to Cheesy Broccoli-Rice Bake; Vegetable-Beef Soup; Baked Barbecue Chicken; and Countryside Pasta Toss, the "Betty Crocker Sunday Dinner Cookbook" is an enthusiastically and confidently recommended as a popular and 'kitchen cook friendly' addition to the family cookbook shelf.

This man is a very talented poet and writer.. If you don't buy this book, you'll kick yourself for not doing so. And if you do buy it you will not be disappointed.. And Tom if you're reading this.. whoo hoo.. ya made it.. your officially a published author.. hope your book gets on the best seller list at number one..

The following review, although posted under my account, was written by a professor of literature who has reviewed the book for me. Many thanks to him for his insightful analysis:

Between Shadows: A Dark, Romantic Mythmaking

Of all the things I could say of author Marc Ridge's novel Between Shadows: The final Darkle story, perhaps the most telling thing is that it makes full use of Flannery O'Connor's maxim to "resist paraphrase." Between Shadows is steeped in myth, but the mythology between Michael and Robyn is the most potent and intricate. Both were once a single spirit--a fallen angel. Lucifer divided the angel into two parts, male and female, and now he wishes to prevent Michael and Robyn from reuniting, and directs his demon agent, James Cain, to thwart the lovers at all costs.
The origins of Professor Ridge's story are borrowed skillfully from the Symposium where Plato records Aristophanes' speech on the origins of love: humans were once composed of three genders, but the race of humans made war on the Olympian gods. After the humans were defeated, Zeus decided to dissect them into two: man and woman. Aristophanes maintained that humans continually yearn for reunification, that this is why men and women search for eternal love.
Between Shadows has a couple flaws, one of which is another demon, an `expository demon' to use C.S. Lewis's phrase, which can overburden the reader with its clarifications and opinions, and also often tells what might better be implied. But Professor Ridge's spiritual world is so complex, and the way Michael, Robyn, and James Cain slip in and out of their preternatural realm could be cumbersome for the reader without the narration he provides.
Professor Ridge's mythology also borrows from the Pentateuch, mainly from Genesis and the tale of Cain whose offering is rejected of Yahweh, slays Abel, and founds the city of Enoch. From a literary lens, there are two Cains in Between Shadows. The first is James Cain Erickson, a nefarious villain and the embodiment of the Cain of St. Augustine's "predestination" doctrine. James, the first Cain, is more than a murderer and a necrophiliac: he is the embodiment of the universe that surrounds Michael and Robyn, which is either "a breeding house of prejudice, hatred and hypocrisy" or a `Land of Nod' for ravenous nymphomaniacs, drug addicts, and violent reprobates to dwell and wander. Indeed, if these evils in Professor Ridge's novel were allowed to pour forth from its pages as the ash and lava of a volcano, one wonders if even all the dark, vast empty spaces of the Solar System could absorb it. As Cain founded Enoch, the world in Between Shadows is one where only James Cain can thrive, and most of the characters Robyn and Michael encounter are smaller Cains.
However, the second Cain is Michael J. Bear, the hero who closely resembles Byron's hero in his play Cain. Michael is the son of an upper-middleclass family in Noble, Indiana, but he endures numerous sufferings such as the early deaths of his parents, wife, best friend, but most importantly, of his beloved Annetta when she and Michael were teenagers. But similar to Byron's Cain, Michael feels he is damned, but approaches his damnation with a cavalier manner, defying the invisible, sadistic forces that govern his world. A true artist-hero who is often associated with the Enlightenment and Romantic movements, Michael is the archetypical Byronic hero.
Early in the novel, we see two men sitting in a small house, eating a gastronomic breakfast of "western omelets, sausages, fried potatoes with green peppers and onions" and all topped off with some "black coffee" and "vintage Black Sabbath" for dinner music. But immediately the novel takes a strange turn when the novel's hero, Michael, removes dark glasses, casts a preternatural gaze on his friend, and says, "Truth...is the secret I have to tell. Things that to most people are but flickering shadows on the wall. Are you ready to believe?"
Michael's question to his friend is Professor Ridge's question for us. If we need soft fantasies of fuzzy unicorns and jocular magicians, then perhaps we are unready to believe in all the spirits, dark dreams, undead beings, and spiritual warfare in Between Shadows. This novel, like this moment itself, is only an appetizer of the author's mythology. As the subtitle of Between Shadows indicates, he has a whole world and history to place his story, the first book of which is scheduled to be published in July, 2008.
All of us can share in the truths that Professor Ridge offers, but only if we are "ready to believe."
Chad Chisholm
Professor of English Literature
April 9, 2008

Anita Barickman Roberts poured in this pages such an intense spiritual live impossible to live in the real world. Her portrait of her native Mid-West made me very aware of that America that is rarely shown in the Media's "big screen" in these days. The grass root flavor of this book is served to us in a beautifuly sophisticated language. Every poem is so artfully packed with widespread love that I felt her visions as if they were my own. This is just a delicious piece of american poetry filled with universal values.

This is the definative talk on pride, what it is and why it can impede us spiritually. Ezra Taft Benson is in top form in this General Conference Talk. Highly Recommended.

This book asks some difficult questions that plague all of us, life and death issues, and how those issues relate to the existence of God. In a logical format, the existence of a knowable, loving and just creator is demonstrated through evidence from the world of science, literary scholarship and simple rationale. It is easily understandable and was obviously intended to simplify and clarify issues that sometimes theologians, scientists and other professionals communicate, usually unintentionally, at a level that is comfortable for their peers but not necessarily for the rest of us. It is an entertaining read and certainly challenging, even controversial, and is sure to raise the ire of many "spiritually" minded people who feel warm and cozy with their current ideas about God. But this fact cannot be denied. Believing something doesn't make it true. Truth is manifested only when perception matches the fact.

Once you start you can't put it down. It is a Perfect tribute to our Men and Women serving in the Armed Forces. It is a must read for every American.

Sawyer was acquitted in the murder trial of Cathy Anne Cranston, the daughter of a flamboyant televangelist. Though Mara Taylor felt sure Holden was innocent of the charges, someone else felt both of them were guilty, someone who was sending the rash of threatening messages, causing car "accidents" and littering dead bodies around them? Donna K. Smith's gripping mystery is full of bright dialogue, interesting plot twists and outrageous characters which would make the hardest of detectives blush. Parts of this book are not for the squeamish, but they are for readers who like a fine balance of romance, suspense and faith.