Journals Books

Being a recipient and fan of Daniel Will-Harris' web column, "The Schmoozeletter" (www.schmoozeletter.com), I love his collection of true-to-his-life stories. He's like a West Coast Dave Barry who batters around his picturebook city of Point Reyes, California, and in a house with his wife and pet chinchillas. The stories are small events that have profound impact, such as how a crashing tree just misses him, or the slamming of a door leaves him naked outside. He makes us realize he and we are part of a crazy experiment on this blue ball with shifting white clouds.

Daniel Will-Harris is a renowned web designer, a font guru and prolific author of humorous slice-of-life essay. His twice-monthly web column schmoozeletter leaves tens of thousands of readers in stitches as Daniel pokes and prods everything from men and vacuums to the perils of getting locked out of your house naked. I bought his book and you should too. If you're not laughing out loud, you're simply not paying attention.

Reading about life from a designer's point of view is therapeutic--it's nice to know I'm not the only one who obsesses over the aesthetics of life. In his latest book, "My Wife and Times," Daniel Will-Harris, recounts the sometimes touching, often hilarious consequences of two graphic designers living in one house. If you're like me, you'll come away with some great laughs and a better appreciation for what it means to be a warm person in a cold world.

What's amazing about this book is that he can tell so much in a few pages. This is an author who has found his voice -- he is constantly surprising you with little twists and turns; each paragraph is a work of art.

He is:
Woody Allen without the self-indulgent complaining
Dave Barry but not so manic
David Sedaris but things you can relate to

I love this book; you will too!

I use this notebook for my journal. And since the pages are blank, the "reading level" comment isn't necessary. I love being free to write down whatever's on my mind. With free, independent spirits like *NSync, it's easy to do that in this notebook.
I bought this because I needed a new journal and I love *NSync, but since the journal has a hard cover and is spiral bound, the pages stay open easily and it doesn't get damaged. Both are bonuses to purchasing this notebook. I definetly recommend it.

My granddaughter LOVED THIS! SHE WRITES IN IT EVERY DAY! I'm so glad she i spleased with it and you would be too!

YOU MAY THINK THAT THIS IS AN ENTRY JOURNAL FILLED WITH A BUNCH OF JUICY 'N SYNC SECRETS AND GOSSIP BUT IT ISN'T. IT IS A COMPOSITION JOURNAL FILLED WITH LINED PAPER AND IS A GOOD USE FOR THE INDIVIDUAL PURCHASER. THE FRONT AND BACK HARD COVERS HAVE A GREAT GLOSSY PICTURE OF 'N SYNC. INSIDE THE COVERS, THERE ARE SOME GREAT CANDID PHOTOS OF THE GUYS. IT IS A GREAT 'N SYNC COLLECTOR'S ITEM. GREAT TO WRITE YOUR OWN LITTLE 'N SYNC SECRETS:)

This book (journal) is awsome and I love the picture on the front. Get it! It's all worth it!

I can't say much else except - you need at least one of these in your library. In the toolbox of every network engineer should be a journal, one that's kept up to date with problems and solutions that you run into on a daily basis. You'll save a lot of time and effort later on trying to remember "Gee, how did I fix that problem a year ago?". This is a nice hardcover bound book, and will stand the test of time. Buy some of these!

I have been using mine for a month. I wish I would of had one for the last 10 years. Go buy a few

The writing is really fine. Someone worked so hard on this manuscript. Very helpful book. A must read.

I really liked this book. I zoomed through it and understood every word. The explanation of virtual text on page 42 was especially good.

Contemplations visual, intellectual and spiritual. In 1891, French painter Paul Gauguin fled to the island of Tahiti - "a sixty-three days' voyage, sixty-three days of feverish expactancy;" begun as an unofficial visit regarding the imminent death of the island's king Pomare -- and resulting in a profoundly moving sea-change (spirit, observation, happiness). The Tahitian theology, natural history, and especially the progress of his relationships - a gift. This is a good book to read BEFORE embarking on your "desert island" voyage, but beware! Hard to top once you're there on some other island. An exceptional journal, with a graceful translation (it seems) by O. F. Theis from the French. Rated 9 (needs more color plates of paintings! but a lovely, portable paper edition) Other recommended travel/discovery books: Off the Map: Bicycling Across Siberia, by Mark Jenkins. 1993 HarperPerennial pb. Letters from Iceland, by W. H. Auden & Louis MacNeice. 1990 Paragon House pb. Why Come To Slaka? by Malcolm Bradbury. 1991 Penguin Books pb. Travels With Lizbeth (writing/homelessness), by Lars Eighner. The Starship & the Canoe (Freeman Dyson & son George) Bird of Jove (falconry), by David Bruce. 1994 Texas A&M pb. The Earthsea Trilogy, by Ursula K. Le Guin Ishi (anthropology/Native American history), by Theodora Kroeber

Very readable translation. This is not the best edition if you want good reproductions of drawings. But in terms of getting a good text for a good price it's great.

I'm not really going to review the book itself as I assume most people who are here know that this was Gauguin's attempt to put together a what he hoped would be a best selling travelogue that would promote his art. He was hoping to cash in on the success of Pierre Loti's best seller the Marriage of Loti which was set in exotic Tahiti. It never made any money, but this is mostly because of it's idiosyncratic style. But for anyone interested in Gauguin's Tahitian experience it's great. Also check out his intimate journals which came out posthumously and cover also his life before Tahiti.

Typically considered a journal or memoir, Gauguin's book is in fact an early type of experimental multimedia novel. Thematically, Gauguin burlesques Pierre Loti's "Marriage of Loti", while structurally he interleaves narrative with his own highly-inventive Post-impressionist woodcarvings. It's a fine book: Gauguin could have been a great novelist, if he weren't already busy.

Though you may quarrel with Guaguin tactics or motivations, his art stands alone--brilliant, moving, subtle. It is always intriquing to hear the voice of a master painter and "Noa, Noa," affords that opportunity.

This book is scintillating and titillating. Kevin really brings the audience into his world...a world of confusion, humor, and a large bee-face. Well worth the read.

I am a personal Friend of Kevin Gordon. I have taken tennis lessons with him for five years. I was interested to know that his book had been published. I immediately began reading it the day it came out. I was at the book signing at a nearby Borders the first day also. I went home and began skimming it like I always do. It was great once I began reading. He used such intricate detail to get his point across. I was astonished to read about things that wouldn't even be thought about in the United States. He explained even the smallest things that really got to me. I have begun to apply some of the things that he talked about in his book to my everyday life. I would have never known about sharing a taxi cab if I had never read this book. Can You even picture sharing a taxi cab, or taking cold bucket showers, or even a steady flow of unselfishness? I have learned through this book that there is a truth out there somewhere and we must seek it in order to become better people.It has been wonderful reading this book and I encourage others to see eye to eye with me by reading this book also.

From the BEFORE:this book looks interesting. AFTER: that book had a profound effect on me file, I strongly recommend this book. Kevin Gordon(KG) documents a five-month wild ride through western central and southern Africa. This trip was a physical, spiritual, and psychological marathon that elucidated exteme emtional highs and lows for KG. He is a unique individual in a unique circunstance. He is a black man raised in Canada by Jamacian parents, and educated in prep schools and eventually Harvard; he seems to have no niche. Part of this trip was a search for identity. KG struggles with weighty issues such as slavery, neocolonialism, racism, and poverty in this wonderfully human prose, yet somehow never becomes preachy. In fact, the journal is peppered with a great sense of humor, often in the least expected places. Between pondering which one of his relatives was unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time while visiting Cape Coast (slave ship place) he searches for Dallas Cowboy updates, details his gastric indulgences(and frequent extreme hunger) and forms many amazing relationships. The boldest aspect of this books is KG's honesty with himself, and therefor his readers. He painfully acknowldeges his hypocrisies. Everybody has inconsistencies in their ideal beliefs versus their behaviors. Very few of us can admit them to ourselves yet alone publish them. The struggle with his desire for western comforts versus his desire to be a true African and take life in stride continues through the entire journal. The descriptions of the beauties of Africa, both the land itself and the harmony of the various cultures is as memorable as the extreme poverty and suffering he sees in Zaire. This book will open your eyes to the real Africa. KG's passion is to teach. He does a fine job of that through his journal.

Kevin Gordon's first book "Not Yet African" chronicles the author's four-month journey across the heart of Africa, from Senegal to Kenya, in 1993-1994. From the book's cover we learn that Kevin is from Winnipeg and well educated, that his skin is brown, and that he is unsure of his place in the world. We learn that he feels neither African nor American nor Black nor White nor Ivy League, and we wonder as he does 'Who is this man?' Kevin explored Africa as a shy and soft spoken young person looking into the roots of himself and of the continent that he hoped to call home, and 'Not Yet African' is a close transcription of the journal he kept there. His descriptions of Africa are excellent (seven days of waiting for a train that never comes and wondering if he'll get his passport back from the police!), and as a travel story 'Not Yet African' is a good read. But what makes this book special is the clarity and power with which Kevin describes the lifeblood of Africa and his own yearning to be part of it. Kevin lays his soul bare for us in this book, and his courageous writing alone is worth the time it takes to read it. Kevin may be neither African nor American, but in Nigeria and Cameroon and Zaire and Kenya he finds something, a place for his heart, a home for his soul, or at least one of the rivers which has given him life. 'Not Yet African' is a very personal tale about the grief of losing roots and the hope of finding them again, and I learned alot from it. I hope that others will read it and find in Kevin's words a thread common with their own, for this is how healing happens. We're all from someplace, even if we don't have a name for it yet.

My brother served in the 1st Marines in World War II and was killed in the 2nd day of the invasion of Peleliu. My impression (from 55 years away from the event) is that very few historians or people understand the horrific battle that occurred on that island. I have read the book several times, and it gives a view from the front line Marine that has seldom been published in other battle descriptions. There is a video of Peleliu that I have in my possession that is a vivid and sad account of this campaign.

My brother in law, recently deceased, enlisted in the Corps on December 8, 1941, and after basic at Parris Island was attached to the 1st Batt., 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. In short, he was one of The Old Breed First Marines in every respect. We talked many times about Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, and Peleliu where he got the "million dollar wound" that rotated him home for the duration. Once a marine, always a marine (this was my dad's view, as well as my brother-in-laws). My father was also a gyrene who just missed WWII because of age, and because he was engaged in serious war industry work during the entirety of the conflict, but because he was an ex-marine (to the extent there are ex-marines), we were dedicated followers of the Pacific campaign from beginning to end. Be that as it may, The Old Breed is a riveting account documenting the hell those campaigns must have been. My Brother in law suffered from the effects of malaria for years, and whenever his bones ached, he blamed it on dengue fever that was also rampant on Guadalcanal. He recalled Bloody Ridge vividly, along with Washing Machine Charlie and the Tokyo Express dumping naval ordinance on their heads nearly every night, but as bad as Guadalcanal was, he always thought Peleliu was worse. He said, and I'm sure it's true, that it was sheer hell - trying to scrape a shallow foxhole out of coral, and fighting a dug-in enemy in terrain that looked like the back side of the moon. I think my dad was seriously disapppointed when I didn't join the Corps, but during the Korean war I was just a squid who was never truly placed in harms way. But I have always had a fondness for the Corps, and I'm sure there were none better than The Old Breed. One thing is certain - they did their time in hell, and are now guarding the streets of heaven.

THIS IS A MUST READ FOR ALL SONS WHO HAD A FATHER THAT WAS IN THE FIRST MARINE DIVISION THAT SAW ACTION. IT TELLS YOU EXACTLY WHAT YOUR FATHER OR GRANDFATHER EXPERIENCED IN BATTLE. THESE MEN WENT THROUGH SOME OF THE TOUGHEST ENVIROMENTS YOU GOOD IMAGINE,ESPECIALLY AT GUADALCANAL,NEW GUINEA, NEW BRITIAN AND PELELIU. IT REALLY TOUCH MY HEART AFTER READING THIS BOOK,ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU CAN'T GET MANY MARINES THAT WENT THROUGH THIS TO TALK ABOUT IT. THESE MARINES DESERVE A WWII MEMORIAL WALL.

My brother in law, recently deceased, enlisted in the Corps on December 8, 1941, and after basic at Parris Island was attached to the 1st Batt., 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. In short, he was one of The Old Breed First Marines in every respect. We talked many times about Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, and Peleliu where he got the "million dollar wound" that rotated him home for the duration. Once a marine, always a marine (this was my dad's view, as well as my brother-in-laws). My father was also a gyrene who just missed WWII because of age, and because he was engaged in serious war industry work during the entirety of the conflict, but because he was an ex-marine (to the extent there are ex-marines), we were dedicated followers of the Pacific campaign from beginning to end. Be that as it may, The Old Breed is a riveting account documenting the hell those campaigns must have been. My Brother in law suffered from the effects of malaria for years, and whenever his bones ached, he blamed it on dengue fever that was also rampant on Guadalcanal. He recalled Bloody Ridge vividly, along with Washing Machine Charlie and the Tokyo Express dumping naval ordinance on their heads nearly every night, but as bad as Guadalcanal was, he always thought Peleliu was worse. He said, and I'm sure it's true, that it was sheer hell - trying to scrape a shallow foxhole out of coral, and fighting a dug-in enemy in terrain that looked like the back side of the moon. I think my dad was seriously disapppointed when I didn't join the Corps, but during the Korean war I was just a squid who was never truly placed in harms way. But I have always had a fondness for the Corps, and I'm sure there were none better than The Old Breed. One thing is certain - they did their time in hell, and are now guarding the streets of heaven.

Jon Ruthven demolishes Warfield as a Pentacostal. I was healed by His stripes!

Cessationists say that psychology is "All God's Truth" and that prophecy in 1 Cor 12-14 is none of it.

It's ever so true. Mr. Ruthven who is a professor at Regent University has written a scholarly response to the cessationist that demands to be read. Even if one does not believe that the Charismata is for the present day church of Christ, one must still accord the respect due to this polemic.

For too long our theologians have been influenced by the cessationism of John Calvin and Benjamin B. Warfield. Though dead, these two have had an influence upon the majority of the church. Due to the scholarly presentation of anti-cessationist literature, Christians have very quickly embraced this anti-scriptural viewpoint. The cessationist viewpoint has effected other areas of the Christian's devotional life such as confidence that God will interven in answer to prayer, the need for guidance, etc.

Ruthven has done an excellent job of refuting the cessationist viewpoint from the level of a scholar. Yet, Ruthven does not refute this error through scholarship alone but deals with the most important aspect of proving the truth that the Charismata is available today - the Scriptures themselves.

I highly recommend this important work. Get it today if you can find it.

Ruthven has presented an outstanding response to the argument set forth in B.B. Warfield's early 20th century classic "Counterfeit Miracles."

Thiose interested in the cessationist debate would do well to read Warfield's book along with Ruthven's more than competent response.

In this book, Ruthven systematically and carefully refutes a sacred cow of American protestantism that should have been put out to pasture a long time ago - namely the B.B. Warfield philosophy. Warfield's ideas have seemingly been uncritically accepted by many theologians over the years. Few, if any, have taken the time to apply his own standards to his theological system to find out if it stands. Ruthven does the job masterfully in this book and shows not only the errors of the classic Warfield/cessationist view from a Biblical standpoint, but also rightfully points out that Warfield appealed to history (and therefore experience) in an attempt to support his position. This is significant in light of the fact that so many who accept this Princeton theologian's arguements claim that they "go by the Bible alone, never by experience."

This book was easy to follow, had a great layout, and the pictures on how to do the excercises actually made sense!

Thank you for getting me excited about exercising again! I am buying this book for everyone in my family this year!

This book was easy to follow, had a great layout, and the pictures on how to do the excercises actually made sense!

Thank you for getting me excited about exercising again! I am buying this book for everyone in my family this year!

This was one of the few fitness books that was well designed, easy to understand, and helped me to stick with my exercise and nutrition goals.

I absolutely love my journal - it was the only journal I found that walked me through how to set goals and really figure out what I wanted out of my fitness program. The journal pages are excellent - I track everything! And the other thing that I always use in the gym is the section with photos on different exercises. I highly recommend it...

My mother purchased 2 books for me after the birth of my son.I find myself spending time alone after their birthdays reflecting on the past year.I enjoy writing in them and I can not wait until they get old enough to read some of what Ive written.I believe it's going to be a wonderful keepsake for them when they are older. Great Job Sharon!!!!

After reading the bio and information on Our Memories I believe my daughter and her husband will enjoy composing it throughout the years. The feelings Sharon Small had and her creating this book, mirrored my own feelings some 37 years ago when I had my first daughter. Not only will this serve as a legacy to my daughter's child but it will give a chronological account of feelings, guidance and family roots. Thank you for creating such a wonderful book - can't wait to receive it.

We received this book as a gift and truly love it!!! We are anxious for our son to read what we have written to him when he gets older. We feel that the author, Sharon G. Small has done a terrific job on sharing examples that she has written to her son. What a great way to help families share their memories!

An excellent book and way to create a journal of memories for your child or grandchild. I've purchased several to give as baby gifts and one for a relative who just lost a daughter so she can keep a journal for her granddaughter assuring her that her mother will not be forgotten.

This book was amazing, with stunning, breathtaking paintings, and true meaningful words. I completely reccomend it, and urge you to buy it.

A friend gave me this book for my birthday-what a wonderful gift! The book is a thoughtful collection of prayers and other bits of wisdom from various spiritual traditions-everyone from Meister Eckhart to Makeba, Queen of Sheba. Accompanying the texts are the author's vibrant watercolors-paintings with so much energy and wistfulness that they provoke you as much as the "prayers." All in all, it's a life-affirming book and keeping a copy at the office (where mine stays) is a perfect way to add a few moments of stillness and mindfulness into a busy day.

Painted Prayers is a wonderful book of evocative paintings and inspiring texts. Each saying or prayer, coupled with the artist's gorgeous watercolors, will make you think or cry or daydream or simply bring you comfort. My favorite section is "of contemplation" which features enlightening words from Rumi, Rilke, Chuang-tzu and even Makeba, Queen of Sheba. If the words don't move you, Uttal's artwork will, but taken together, each couplet is a beautiful union.

The other sections -- "upon waking," "of thanksgiving," "of god," "of praise," "of dying," "for the middle of the night," and "of renewal" -- each provide guidance and support for a person's different moods or life-changing events one might face over time. Like a good friend, Painted Prayers can bring you joy or solace on the days you need it the most, which is exactly why I keep it on my nightstand.

Friends and family can't always be around when you need them, but a good book like this one can. It's beautifully illustrated and the inspiring texts and thoughtful prayers were obviously selected with great care for the occasions you are in need of comfort or insight the most.

The book is organized in eight different sections: upon waking, of thanksgiving, of contemplation, of god, of praise, of dying, for the middle of the night, and of renewal. Some of the most famous thinkers of our time are featured -- Rumi, Chuang-Tzu, Rilke and Leonard Cohen (yes, Cohen certainly fits in) -- as well as interfaith prayers, all complimented by Uttal's expressive watercolors.

The real joy I find in Painted Prayers is it offers words of solace for when I'm down and also words of wisdom to reflect on if I'm looking for guidance. This book in a way can respond to all the crazy and confusing times in my life; I just have to choose that right section. For instance, in times of conflict I can think of what Chuang-Tzu states in the section of contemplation: "when we understand, we are at the center of the circle, and there we sit while yes and no chase each other around the circumference."

It's nice being able to turn to Painted Prayers when my loved ones can't be around. Maybe the book doesn't have all the answers, but I know there's always something in the book that will enlighten me.