first review for net.gallery - Hypnotizing Maria

Richard Bach Hypnotizes

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/317574110&referer=brief_results

by kittent

Well, really he doesn't. But this is a very nice little book that tells a story about the effects of self-hypnosis, self-actualization and positive thinking and the Laws of Attraction.

I first discovered Bach in the 1970's when I was in high school, and adored JLS. I don't think...
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Well, really he doesn't. But this is a very nice little book that tells a story about the effects of self-hypnosis, self-actualization and positive thinking and the Laws of Attraction.

I first discovered Bach in the 1970's when I was in high school, and adored JLS. I don't think I am quite as fond of this book. The coincidence at the end was a bit over the top. Bach is very good, however, at explaining basic brain rewiring techniques.

This might be a good book for a young man or woman who is interested in flying, hypnotism, and the LOA. In my opinion it is gentler than some of more popular works on the Laws of Attraction and the mysteries of the beyond.

Not a great review, but I haven't done one in years. I've decided to start because of netgalley

NetGalley is a website where publishers can invite contacts to view their print or digital galleys, and readers can request galleys they want to review. If you are a professional reader, you can request galleys of books that are either coming out or that have just come out and review them. My first review was published on Worldcat but you aren't limited. Reviews can be published anywhere, as long as you share them with NetGallery so the publisher will be able to see them.

It may be love...

I may be crazy. I've decided to write book reviews for Netgalley.com. I don't know how good I am going to be, but it is a way a pushing myself to do something different. Why I need to do something different when I don't do much at all, I do not know.

When I started having back trouble I quit walking, but I used to be a great walker, and I have begun reading Rebecca Solnit's book Wanderlust: a history of walking.



I haven't read very far, but one thing she points out as she is talking about early philosopher's who walked is that when one is walking, one is not in one place or another, but one is between. Like Meg Murry when she is traveling in the tesseract. Like I used to be, when I was walking around my little town as a teenager. Like I am when, even though I am stationary except for my fingers and eyes, I go from email to twitter to live journal to facebook to this blog. I can't settle. There is a solitude in my life, even though there are people and conversations and the world tapping at my brain...it's not a good solitude. Even though I am alone, I am in the middle of a "mass of men" and my life is full of quiet desperation.

I will stop. I am stopping. I am concentrating on books, so I can review them. And the road goes ever on.

solitude

"A constant stream of mediated contact, virtual, notional, or simulated, keeps us wired in to the electronic hive — though contact, or at least two-way contact, seems increasingly beside the point."

From an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education called The End of Solitude by William Deresiewicz.

I will come back to this and develop it.

mind map meditation

This is a lovely picture of a meditation...from Mind Map Inspiration by Paul Foreman.

Charter for Compassion

A call to bring the world together…

The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the centre of our world and put another there, and to honour the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect.

It is also necessary in both public and private life to refrain consistently and empathically from inflicting pain. To act or speak violently out of spite, chauvinism, or self-interest, to impoverish, exploit or deny basic rights to anybody, and to incite hatred by denigrating others—even our enemies—is a denial of our common humanity. We acknowledge that we have failed to live compassionately and that some have even increased the sum of human misery in the name of religion.

We therefore call upon all men and women ~ to restore compassion to the centre of morality and religion ~ to return to the ancient principle that any interpretation of scripture that breeds violence, hatred or disdain is illegitimate ~ to ensure that youth are given accurate and respectful information about other traditions, religions and cultures ~ to encourage a positive appreciation of cultural and religious diversity ~ to cultivate an informed empathy with the suffering of all human beings—even those regarded as enemies.

We urgently need to make compassion a clear, luminous and dynamic force in our polarized world. Rooted in a principled determination to transcend selfishness, compassion can break down political, dogmatic, ideological and religious boundaries. Born of our deep interdependence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to a fulfilled humanity. It is the path to enlightenment, and indispensible to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global community.

just another ebook quote

6. Free books are gateway drug - Someone give Michael Hart a Nobel Peace price for creating Project Gutenberg, the non-profit, all-volunteer organization he founded in 1971 to distribute out-of-copyright works as electronic books. While it's difficult to name any single person as the father of e-books, it's fair to say Michael Hart shares DNA with the common ebook.--Mark Coker

operation ebook drop

Edward C. Patterson and other indie authors have started a "grassroots project" to send ebooks to soldiers. It started small, at Amazon, but Mark Coker @ Smashwords found out and the project has snowballed.

I encourage all authors to participate. Spread the word. Thanks.

(Proud mother of a veteran)

notes on I, Reader

"If you want to know if robots have a soul, look to their reading habits; I could say the same of people." John Meidema Oct 1, 2009


I give you the end of a golden string;
Only wind it into a ball,
It will lead you in at Heaven’s gate,
Built in Jerusalem’s wall.
--William Blake

“There is then creative reading as well as creative writing. When the mind is braced by labor and invention, the page of whatever book we read becomes luminous with manifold allusion.” Ralph Waldo Emerson


"Reading is a conspiracy of minds toward satisfactory answers to the big questions within a single lifetime." John Miedema Oct. 12, 2009


"This is reading with a fire the belly. It is cocaine. But it is also narcissism, a self-indulgence, ultimately failing. No space is truly free of others. We grow up internalizing the judgements of others. And self-sufficiency is lonely. Bliss, then perhaps hell. Reluctantly, we look for other stories, turn to other books to see what is new in the world. These people go into the world equipped with interiority, and it shows. People who lack interiority are creepy." John Miedema Oct 21, 2009


"A library is a clear example of an information ecology. A library involves many systems; a changes to one part affects other parts. A library tends to be diverse, offering niches of service that evolve depending on patron needs. A library has keystone species, without which the ecology would collapse. They suggest the keystone species is librarians. Agreed. As I see it, another keystone species is print books. Take those away, and what is left? A server room? A computer lab? A community centre? A video store?" John Miedema Oct 27 2009

Information Ecologies: Using Technology With Heart

Bonnie A. Nardi & Vicki L. O'Day; MIT Press 2000

"It is a good expression of what I have (pompously) called the Uncertainty Principle of Library Science. In quantum physics, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle refers to the fact that observing one physical property, e.g., position, changes the condition of another physical property, e.g., momentum, such that both cannot be measured at once. My proposed principle has to do with the quantity and quality of books. As long as a book goes unselected, or judged worthy, there is a still a possibility of selecting the best possible next book. But to select one is leave a lifetime’s books unconsidered. One cannot be sure of best quality." John Miedema Nov 3

Wikipedia. “Hackers follow a spirit of creative playfulness and anti-authoritarianism, and sometimes use this term to refer to people applying the same attitude to other fields.” Hacker (programmer subculture)

can't swallow, can't breathe, can't talk. apparently I now have a viral infection on top of the H1N1 that has taken away my voice, dumped ground glass down my throat and left bruises on my lungs and abdominal muscles. I'm taking antibiotics for the infection from the kidney stone, but that doesn't help with the viral infection.

is it 2010 yet?

I'm ready to skip from Samhain to New Year's day. No gatherings, no holidays, winter should be over (more or less)

Seriously...I said I was going to write every day, and I really don't want to whine, but I'm tired of being sick. I can't concentrate, can't read. My vision is screwed up my head and body feel like they have been run over by a mack truck. I'm letting down people at work...There must have been a lot more anger and poison in my soul than I thought. The other day when I talked about being angry must have reacted like like lancing a puss filled boil in my soul...

The fibroflare was more along the lines of a mini breakdown, but that left me open to the H1N1 that made Brad and Ann sick. It also got Richard. Don't know about Cliff and Kevin...Sean managed to throw it off. I tend to be a hypochondriac so I discounted the flare and the flu was fairly mild. I didn't want to take it to work so I stayed home...[My advice, if you get the flu, stay home.]

The kidney stones just added insult to injury. I have never hurt so bad in my entire life. Got to the ER at 9:14 and they started the surgery at approximately 4:30. The doctor put in two stents to help keep the white cells in my urine from infecting me further, but I ended up jostling them and LEAKED all night (as well as being in pain). Had the stents removed this afternoon and not I just have irritation, pain and other disgusting stff. I don't remember the anesthetic at all, but my throat feels like fly paper and my tongue is raw (back tooth that usually doesn't bother me has scraped my tongue until it feels like it is going to bleed. It hurts to swallow. I don't weven want chocolate. I may or may not be having trouble with my lungs, but my guess is pneumonia is next on the list because I have chest pain and I'm having trouble breathing.

To refer to the top of this post, I am still angry with my life and my self and I'm sure that is what is making me sick. Writing may be helping me like an antibiotic helps an infection...I don't know.

Two very lovely things though... My friends Doug and Heather got twin girls...they have wanted babies for a long time and they are good people. The other good news is not my news to tell, but it will be an improvement in a lot of ways.

I need to go to bed now.

Charter for Compassion-Noveber 12, 2009

Karen Armstrong’s Wish

“I wish that you would help with the creation, launch and propagation of a Charter for Compassion, crafted by a group of leading inspirational thinkers from the three Abrahamic traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam and based on the fundamental principles of universal justice and respect.”

Something Wicked...

John Meidema, as part of his I, Reader book idea blog, posted about the 50 books that changed him, which made me stop and think...I am not sure I can name 50 books that changed my life, but there have been at least that many and more so I'm going to try.*

*The title of this post comes from the book Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury which I thought I had read, but as it turns out I haven't. I know that because I am reading it now--went to Barnes and Noble to buy a copy because it's not available as an ebook (unless it's available for the kindle, which would do me no good, but that's another discussion entirely).

Of course the reason I decided I needed to read SWTWC is because John directed me to a post about that book by a blogger named Citizen Reader.

And, as an aside, the best thing about journalling on the web, besides the potential for feedback which IMO is a mixed blessing, is the ease with which one can insert hypertext into a conversation without getting totally off track.

So, let us see if I can start on the list of books that changed me and made me into the person I am.

First five:
Little Women
Gone with the Wind
Stranger in a Strange Land
The Hobbit
Callahan's Crosstime Saloon

Little Women/Gone with the Wind: Except for the fact that they are both about the period of history during and after the Civil War they don't seem to have much in common. I read both of them somewhere around the time I was 10 or 12, and as soon as I read them I aspired to grow up and be a cross between Jo March and Scarlett O'Hara. Strong, independent, capable...lonely (until Jo got the Professor she was alone especially after Beth died, and Scarlett was always lonely.) Jo wrote to support herself and make her family's life more comfortable and Scarlett plowed fields consorted with Yankees rather than let go of her home. Neither Jo nor Scarlett was perfect (so there was hope for me). I still, forty five years later, want to grow up and be a cross between Jo and Scarlett some day.

Stranger in a Strange Land: Actually Stranger wasn't my first Heinlein. My first Heinlein was Podkayne of Mars and I read it in 7th grade. It was the first book of science fiction that I consciously chose because it was science fiction. It hooked me, both on science fiction and on Robert Heinlein. I didn't find Stranger until the summer I was 16, which was the perfect time to find it. It grabbed my small town Christian brain and shook it totally loose. It shaped my philosophy of life, my attitudes, beliefs and actions in a way that nothing else has done before or since. Religion and sex and being 16 and open minded is a volatile combination and, while I wouldn't recommend it for everyone...I am proud to be a Heinleiner.

The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings: I found them the same summer I found Stranger in a Strange Land. That was also the summer I read all of the Oz books written by L. Frank Baum.
I'm not sure I can explain the magic world those books opened up for me. I read pictures as well as words, I could see the brave little hobbit (to borrow a phrase from the song "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" which was on the album "The Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy"). I could feel Smaug's scales and the heat of his breath. I was awed by Galadriel, delighted by Goldberry, and terrified by Shelob...and a few years later I became friends with the "Great Grey Wizard" (a boy I bonded with in college). Bilbo's road that goes ever on reinforced my love of travel stories and chronicles written by ordinary folks in extraordinary circumstances.

Callahan's Crosstime Saloon: Spider's books agreed with my philosophy right down the line...I don't know who discovered them first. The two biggest are: "there aren't any strangers, just friends you haven't met yet" and "Shared pain is lessened, shared joy is increased. Thus do we refute entropy." I didn't find Spider's books right away, not until I really needed them. They were gifted to me by the man who became my beloved, my life partner, because he was willing to share pain and joy with me. I found the Place (alt.callahans in Usenet) on my own, but it was/is the family I didn't know I missed and it gave me my other two beloved mates who became friends and family and lovers.

So my first five books are actually nine (with Podkayne and the LoTR trilogy). Even if I don't come up with any more, this is a pretty revealing list.