The Wisdom of Menopause Journal: Your Guide to Creating Vibrant Health and Happiness in the Second Half of Your Life

The Wisdom of Menopause Journal: Your Guide to Creating Vibrant Health and Happiness in the Second Half of Your Life
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Wisdom of Menopause Journal

The Wisdom of Menopause Journal: Your Guide to Creating Vibrant Health and Happiness in the Second Half of Your Life
Christiane Northrup
Manufacturer: Hay House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound

General | Personal Health | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
General | Women's Health | Personal Health | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Menopause | Women's Health | Personal Health | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
General | Northrup, Christiane | Authors, A-Z | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1401917623

Book Description

Menopause is an unparalleled opportunity to turn your life around and create a firm foundation for the most fulfilling, healthy, joy-filled years of your life. The Wisdom of Menopause Journalâa companion to Dr. Christiane Northrup’s newly revised and best-selling book The Wisdom of Menopauseâhelps you focus on the âmeâ in menopause. Designed to help you both navigate and document this important transitional time, the journal is packed with action-oriented, practical advice for your mind and bodyâfrom recommended supplements and medication options to how to explore the emotional issues behind your physical symptoms.
This journal gives you everything you need to create vibrant health in midlife on all levelsânot just in your heart, bones, pelvic organs, breasts, and brain . . . but also in your sex life, your relationships, and even your beauty regimen! It enables you to record your current health and concerns, as well as the steps you want to take to achieve your goals in each area. You’ll also find powerful affirmations, inspiring quotes, and plenty of blank pages for journaling, so you can create a record of your thoughts and feelings during this important time.
Dr. Northrup’s insights enable you to see menopause not as a burden to be endured, but as an empowering opportunity to reinvent yourself right down to the cellular level. The key is learning to tap into the profound wisdom that emerges during this life stageâwisdom you can fully trust to guide you toward enormous happiness, joy, and fulfillment.

Customer Reviews:

Wisdom of Menopause Journal.......2007-05-09

This is what it say, a journal to work through the issues related to menopause. A great help for all women.

Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life: How to Finally, Really Grow Up

Average customer rating:

entirely subjective
Not for me
Few will find it useful. (2.75 *s)
Soulful Therapy
difficult read

Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life: How to Finally, Really Grow Up
James Hollis
Manufacturer: Gotham
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Personal Transformation | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Middle Passage: From Misery to Meaning in Midlife (Studies in Jungian Psychology By Jungian Analysts)
Creating a Life: Finding Your Individual Path
Swamplands of the Soul: New Life in Dismal Places (Studies in Jungian Psychology By Jungian Analysts)
Eden Project: In Search of the Magical Other (Studies in Jungian Psychology By Jungian Analysis, 79)
Under Saturn's Shadow: The Wounding and Healing of Men (Studies in Jungian Psychology By Jungian Analysts)

ASIN: 1592402070

Book Description

What does it really mean to be a grown up in today's world? We assume that once we “get it together” with the right job, marry the right person, have children, and buy a home, all is settled and well. But adulthood presents varying levels of growth, and is rarely the respite of stability we expected. Turbulent emotional shifts can take place anywhere between the age of thirty-five and seventy when we question the choices we've made, realize our limitations, and feel stuck— commonly known as the “midlife crisis.” Jungian psycho-analyst James Hollis believes it is only in the second half of life that we can truly come to know who we are and thus create a life that has meaning. In Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life, Hollis explores the ways we can grow and evolve to fully become ourselves when the traditional roles of adulthood aren't quite working for us, revealing a new way of uncovering and embracing our authentic selves. Offering wisdom to anyone facing a career that no longer seems fulfilling, a long-term relationship that has shifted, or family transitions that raise issues of aging and mortality, Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life provides a reassuring message and a crucial bridge across this critical passage of adult development. BACKCOVER: “…offers insight into the process of finding true meaning later in life… challenging… earnest.”
—The Houston Chronicle

“Nourishing… Like a master chef, James Hollis knows that good food for the soul cannot be ordered to go.”
—The Plain Dealer, Cleveland

“…a deep Jungian exploration of individuation…humane and compassionate…[Hollis'] focus on the underlying meaning of life will resonate for many…”
—Publishers Weekly

“Everyone seems to be obsessing about the monetary cost of the graying of the American population, but there's very little talk of the soul. James Hollis, one of the foremost Jungian analytical psychologists in the world, has plenty to say about the soul in Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life…erudite and cultured but also accessible.”
—The Portland Tribune

“How to find your way out of the woods (figuratively)…what's at stake is what Hollis calls the biggest project of midlife: reclaiming one's personal authority…”
—More magazine

"Midlife is a time when people can lose their way and flounder. Jungian analyst James Hollis knows this terrain, describes it well and asks the important questions that can lead to clarity, maturity, and meaning"
—Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D., author of Goddesses in Everywoman and Gods in Everyman

"The Search for Meaning in the Second Half of Life contains the writing of a gentle and insightful soul who does not bog down in analytical dryness, but speaks to and teaches from the heart. A combination of genuine vision and genuine humanity is a rare and valuable gift, and readers will find both in this work."
—Clarissa Pinkola Estés, author of Women Who Run with the Wolves

“James Hollis is the most lucid thinker I know about the complexities and complexes that interfere with living a full life. His broad background in literature, philosophy, and Jungian psychology is everywhere present in this important book, which, as it strips away illusions, posits the soul-work that's necessary for the difficult task of making our lives meaningful. He's one of our great teachers and healers.”
—Stephen Dunn, Pulitzer Prize Winning Poet

“James Hollis's new book is a work of soul-making. It brings solace and wisdom to those of us who finds ourselves in a dark wood, in the second half of life.”
—Edward Hirsch, author of How to Read a Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry

Download Description

The second half of life presents a rich possibility for spiritual enlargement, for we are never going to have greater powers of choice, never have more lessons of history from which to learn, and never possess more emotional resilience, more insight into what works for us and what does not, or a deeper, sometimes more desperate, conviction of the importance of getting our life back. What does it really mean to be a grown up in today's world? We generally recognize only three developmental periods of life-childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. We assume that once we ""get it together"" with the right job, marry the right person, have children, and buy a home, all is settled and well. But adulthood itself presents varying levels of growth, and is rarely the respite of stability we expected. Turbulent emotional shifts can take place anywhere between the age of thirty-five and seventy when we question the choices we've made, realize our limitations, and feel stuck-commonly known as the ""midlife crisis."" In Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life, Jungian analyst James Hollis explores the ways we can grow and evolve to fully become ourselves when the traditional roles of adulthood aren't quite working for us. Revealing a new way of uncovering and embracing our authentic selves, Hollis offers wisdom to anyone facing a career that no longer seems fulfilling, a long-term relationship that has shifted, or family transitions that raise issues of aging and mortality. Through case studies and provocative observations, Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life provides a reassuring message and a crucial bridge across this critical passage of adult development.

Customer Reviews:

entirely subjective.......2007-08-12

If you think that the subtitle of Hollis's book ("How to Finally, Really Grow Up") sounds vaguely, uncomfortably judgmental, you should probably go with that feeling. Hollis would most likely say that your unconscious, or your most inner psyche, or your "real" self is urging you to avoid the book because it--your inner, "real" self--knows what your fake, outer self does not: your real self knows that Hollis's book, although peppered with a few sound or accurate-sounding observations, is so thoroughly salted with Jungian generalizations and logical fallacies that most crops growing in that earth are sickly and frail, easily knocked over by the first strong gust of reason.

Further, Hollis--or at least the Hollis persona that wrote this book--would seem also likely to tell you that even if you heard and heeded your inner, real self and so avoided this book, the avoidance would bring you no pleasure. For, you see, there is no peace of mind to be had, apparently under any circumstance: if you are depressed, it is because your subconscious realizes that you're living a meaningless illusion; if you are nervous or anxious, it is because you are breaking away from the illusion and therefore your subconscious is frightened at leaving the comfort of the familiar; and if you are neither depressed nor ridden with anxiety, then you clearly are not listening to your inner self and are, instead, content to live a hollow life in a state of sadly foolish, even cowardly, existential denial.

Hollis's premise in this book is that "there is a will within each of us, quite outside the range of conscious control, a will which knows what is right for us" (p 21); that the mid-life crisis inevitably results from one's subconscious, all-knowing will conflicting with the conscious, yet always illusory feelings and ideas that one has about one's own happiness, destiny, and life; and that only by recognizing that one has been suckered by the illusions of the world and the mistreatments suffered in childhood will one finally be free to live the truly meaningful existence that one's inner will desires and needs. Then, you see, one will finally have grown up.

Oh, and of course one will be emotionally uncomfortable then, too. But that's okay. Because *that* emotional discomfort shows that one is a spiritually intelligent, clear-eyed adult. Not like that other, previous emotional discomfort, which was present because one was being spiritually dull and blind.

Hollis makes a few observations that are sound and helpful to recognize, for example about the difficulty usually involved in making life-altering decisions (30), the long-lasting effects that childhood experiences can have on adult behavior (47), and the self-destructive behavior of emotionally needy people (59). However, Hollis always either prefaces or follows these observations with over-generalization or, more frequently, the "either/or" fallacy, insisting, whether explicitly or tacitly, that the reader must agree with him or be wrong. In fact, Chapter Three, "The Collision of Selves," is an extended version of a theme begun in Chapter Two as a way to discredit any reader who may find Hollis's assertions questionable. "Whoever has not discovered this truth about the fragility of our journey," writes Hollis, "and the persuasive power of our necessary adaptations to this vulnerability, is living in a form of self-delusion that psyche, fate, or the consequences of our acts will sooner or later bring to the surface" (68).

In other words, if you disagree with Hollis's book not only are you wrong, but that very disagreement is evidence that what Hollis writes is true.

It's a neat rhetorical maneuver, one that smacks of the disingenuous, but it is completely necessary, for unless the reader accepts, completely and unquestioningly, Hollis's assertion of the power and correctness of the subconscious will as the "real" person, the book's argument falls quite apart immediately. Further, even if the reader is willing to accept the book's dubious premise--even if he or she does indeed trust James Hollis to define what it means "to Finally, Really Grow Up"--there seems little positive that can come from these pages, for the spiritually mature person, it seems, will simply be trading one sort of unhappiness for another. Hollis writes, "Clearly, psychological or spiritual development always requires a greater capacity in us for the toleration of anxiety and ambiguity. The capacity to accept this troubled state, abide it, and commit to life, is the moral measure of our maturity" (40).

If one disagrees with those statements--if one feels that serenity or happiness is *not* inevitably a sign of spiritual blindness--then one might be well advised to skip this particular book and to spend one's hard-earned fifteen dollars elsewhere. There are many alternatives. In fact, no small number of available books, whether written by psychologists or spiritual leaders, maintain that emotional and spiritual wisdom eventually makes one feel *good.*

However, if one really believes that peace of mind is unobtainable and/or that suffering is the only reliable sign of emotional or spiritual gain, then one should buy Hollis's book. Read it. Live it. Be miserable, and be free.

Not for me.......2007-07-05

This book is too black and white. It is not for people who had good parents. The author seems to think everyone wants to get away from their parents and their childhoods. While I gleaned a few tidbits from it, I put it down in disgust after awhile.

Few will find it useful. (2.75 *s).......2007-06-23

The book is more appropriately entitled Introduction to Jungian Psychology because it primarily introduces and repeats endlessly the basic terminology and thinking of Jung. According to the author there is an essential Self and a soul and psyche which younger people constantly ignore. Instead they are under the sway of influences and perceptions that lead them down a path that will ultimately be in conflict with their core Selves. But people in the second half of their lives invariably have an "aha" moment where they realize something is wrong, and if their ego is sufficiently strong, they can begin a journey to finally becoming who they should be.

There seems to be much to question here. The duality of the superficial self and the true Self seems to be accepted unquestionably. I'm certain that is controversial. Secondly all people have to make compromises with social realities, especially when one is younger. The author seems to think that such adaptations represent some kind of pathology. And furthermore, getting older does not make those social demands disappear. Obviously, some exhibit patterns of behavior that are clearly counterproductive, but that is not the author's main argument.

There is little of practical usefulness in this book. There is the constant recitation of people not being who they should be, not living a large life, etc, with virtually no realistic, concrete analysis of social realities and possibilities for change. One can be in the wrong job or be married to the wrong person without violating one's true Self. One suspects that there are more useful psychological paradigms on which to base changes in one's life.

As another reviewer commented, the author more than implies that a therapist is needed to lead one to the promised land. Why write the book? Who is his audience?

Soulful Therapy.......2007-05-21

Not unlike James Hillman who reminds us that "psyche" means "soul," and that psychotherapy is not treating, but serving the soul, so James Hollis expands and applies this concept to those of us who have reached the second half of life. His benchmark is 35 years and older.
Dr. Hollis translates Jungian analysis into language that is understandable to therapists, clients and students. The book is convicting and at the same time filled with sentences of salvation. I only wish such a text was available to me in the first half of my personal and professional life. Hence, I plan to use it with clients and students before they reach half-time.Re-Visioning Psychology

difficult read.......2007-04-09

The information is great however, it is really difficult to read. The words are large and i have to constantly get out my dictionary. A little disappointed. wish it was more down to earth.

The Second Half of Life: Opening the Eight Gates of Wisdom

Average customer rating:

BETTER THAN THE AUDIO TAPES
Classic Angeles Arrien
The Second Half of Life
A Balance of Letting Go and Drawing Closer
The worst of its kind

The Second Half of Life: Opening the Eight Gates of Wisdom
Angeles Arrien
Manufacturer: Sounds True
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Arrien, Angeles | Authors, A-Z | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | New Age | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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Accessories:

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ASIN: 1591792525

Book Description

This collection of teachings, reflections, and stories from around the world open us to the challenge and deeper mysteries of the "great crossing" at midlife. Working with the images, poetry, metaphors, and other forms of symbolic language from diversified cultures, Angeles Arrien introduces us to the Eight Gates if Initiation. Readers are taken step-by-step through each gate to learn more about: How to effectively cope with the natural challenges of health and an aging body, Your secret longings: how they give you direction and inspiration to begin a project that is connected with your life dream, The gate of intimacy: two dangers that can stop your crossing, Ways to balance the two distinct meanings of life: your external, quantitative and material experiences, with the internal, qualitative, sensory experiences, Retirement - from what toward what, and more.

Customer Reviews:

BETTER THAN THE AUDIO TAPES.......2007-06-13

If you're looking for a way to effectively cope with challenges to your health and body as you age, you can add this book to the list, The author takes us through looking at our secret longings and how they shape us. I especially liked the questions and assignments at the end of eacy segment. I enjoyed reading the book more than I enjoyed listening to it --- because some of the concepts are deeply profound, I needed to go back over them and this was easier done with book in hand. Pamela D. Blair, Author The Next Fifty Years: A Guide for Women at Mid-Life And Beyond

Classic Angeles Arrien.......2007-05-07

I have been a reader of Ms. Arrien's work since my first reading of "The Fourfold Way". As her other works have been, "Opening the Eight Gates of Wisdom" was the perfect book at the perfect time of my life. It is full of reassurance that I am in a healthy place of consciousness and answers questions that I have been asking of my life. Thank you, Angeles, for another great work!

The Second Half of Life.......2007-01-10

Arrived in a timely manner and in perfect condition. What else could one ask for?

A Balance of Letting Go and Drawing Closer.......2006-10-15

There is nothing new in Angeles Arrien's book about the second half of life. Indeed, there isn't meant to be. Our lives at midpoint are about putting aside newness and embracing the ancient, the everlasting, the always true.

We live in an age that worships youth. Alongside this naive, if not indeed tragic pursuit to resist aging in all its aspects, we find ourselves as a society becoming ever more superficial, ever more devoted to what is external only, short on endurance, shallow in meaning. Small wonder so many of us approach midlife in a state of "crisis."

Yet there is no crisis. Arrien reminds us, by assembling in this collection of eight chapters named for eight gates, that this is not a time in our lives to resist or fear, but that it is, in fact, a time of wonder and beauty -- of the deeper and more meaningful kind. To pass through each of these "gates" is to be opened and enriched by the enlightenment of the second half of our lives. In each chapter, Arrien has brought together age-old quotes and wisdom from many different cultures, tested by time and place. Each chapter describes the gate through which we must pass, the task we must undertake to do so, the challenge, the gift we receive if we meet the challenge, reflections that help us to understand more fully this threshold, a list of practices to make this gateway a discipline.

The gates: silver (facing the new and the unknown); white picket (discovering one's true face); clay (intimacy, sensuality, sexuality); black and white (relationships and the crucible of love); rustic (creativity and service); bone (authenticity, character, and wisdom); natural (happiness, satisfaction, and peace); gold (letting go).

Each chapter guides us, gently yet firmly, toward facing what is around us as well as what is in us. The overall effect is soothing, I find, to the degree that it has helped me, approaching my own midpoint in life, see the aging process for the beauty and freedom it brings. It is a time to free oneself of the cumbersome masks one has worn in a more naive youth, to embrace wisdom and meaning rather than that which passes quickly and leaving no lasting mark. It is a time to gather all that we have learned in the first half of our lives and bring it all to fruition, entering a time of unbounded creativity, love based on truth rather than illusion, and finding a peace that will make crossing that final gold gate a time of celebration for a life well lived.

If we have lost respect for aging in our society, it is time we take it back. Arrien reminds us, by bringing back the wisdom of the ages, that age in ourselves is something to be welcomed rather than resisted. To resist it is to rob ourselves of what may well be the best time of our lives.

The worst of its kind.......2006-08-20

I found this effort weak and even irritating on several levels. I'll start general and get more specific.

First of all, the reading (and writing style) is of the worst kind of condescending pedantry. Arrien reads like she's a bored, old-style Catholic school nun lecturing a 3rd grader for being unchaste, yet coming off as self-consciously new-age at the same time. And there are fingernail-chalkboard constructions in the writing that will grate on you after five minutes. It's that horrible lecture/sermon style of paralellisms wherein the writer, in an effort to reinforce a point, starts each statement the same way and ends it differently. I'll give you an example to illustrate, I'll give you an example to explicate, I'll give you an example to show how bad this thing is, I'll give you an example to start making you frantic, I'll give you an example to cause you to drive your car into a bridge piling just to shut her up. This one construction occupies what seems to be at least 10% of the content of this thing. And she delivers each one exactly parallel, in the same tired, dogmatic lecturing style all the way through each disc. It's really irritating after about 10 minutes.

Second, and a bigger deal, Arrien claims to be an anthropologist. Her whole premise in this work, "the eight gates", is based on what she wants us to believe is a body of universal wisdom known by (all?) primitive peoples that, once understood, will open the door to enlightenment for humble westerners like you and me. Basically, it's the notion of "the noble savage", a very romantic and false construct that has never held up under any scrutiny (I accept that some indigenous societies have ways of looking at the world that make more sense to me than others). But no actual anthropologist worth paying any attention to would ever say things like "indigenous peoples believe", without naming anyone in particular and then go on to make some sweeping generalization that has no foundation in fact (none of what she says would make any sense at all to any indigenous society known to me). Her illustrations are total nonsense. I am married to an anthropologist for 22 years and know dozens of them and frequently discuss these issues. These notions are pure drivel of the "native peoples are necessarily pure, being unencumbered by the corruption of our decadent society, and therefore somehow infinitely wise" variety and, worse, just plain fabrications. It's ridiculous and laughable and an offense to anthropology, or any social science, for that matter. She should be ashamed of herself for pretending to be something she is not (I don't care if she claims to be trained in the discipline; her words speak otherwise).

The only reason that I'm giving this two stars is that she's obviously well-intended and wants to be helpful (I'm assuming). Otherwise it would get one. Don't waste your time with this one.

Half-Price Living: Secrets to Living Well on One Income

Average customer rating:

Great for ideas on how to become a stay-at-home mom!!
1/2 Price Living is enthusiastically recommended for learning frugal habits
I learned a WEALTH of information-literally

Half-Price Living: Secrets to Living Well on One Income
Ellie Kay
Manufacturer: Moody Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Money & Values | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

A Moms Guide to Family Finances
How to Save Money Every Day
Shop, Save, and Share
Miserly Moms,: Living on One Income in a Two-Income Economy
The Smart Mom's Guide to Staying Home: 65 Simple Ways to Thrive, Not Deprive, on One Income

ASIN: 0802434320

Book Description

A recent online survey found that 86% of working moms said they would stay at home if they were financially able to do so. Ellie Kay, America's Family Financial Expert has written Price Living her fi nancial expertise and experience as a mom to write this step-by-step plan on how to downsize from two incomes to one. Featuring Kay's trademark wry humor, Half-in esponse. Kay combines Half-Price Living also gives readers real life stories, comprehensive charts, worksheets, and a plan to make it work. Far rom being a book about deprivation, these tips will make living on one income a pleasure.

Customer Reviews:

Great for ideas on how to become a stay-at-home mom!!.......2007-04-13

I thought this was a great book on exploring the ways in which a mom could stay home vs. working......I am a very happy stay-at-home mom and was looking for some ideas on saving money, so this book wasn't the right choice for me. While some tips were listed, it was largely geared toward exploring the pros/cons, etc. of working vs. stay-at-home moms. A great book for those in that situation!

1/2 Price Living is enthusiastically recommended for learning frugal habits .......2007-04-07

Written by "Shop, Save & Share Seminars" founder Ellie Kay, popularly known as "America's Family Financial Expert", 1/2 Price Living: Secrets to Living Well on One Income is a practical, no-nonsense guide to cutting one's living expenses in half - including food bills and vacation expenses to housing, clothing costs, and outright debt. From owning a home business that doesn't own you, to means to adapt when one's savings are hit, to the advantages of being a stay-at-home mother (or father) despite the reduced family income, 1/2 Price Living is enthusiastically recommended for learning frugal habits. Anyone who isn't fabulously wealthy - even reasonably well-off readers will find the tips, tricks, and techniques helpful for saving up for a rainy day.

I learned a WEALTH of information-literally.......2007-01-19

As I read this book, I was highlighting like a mad woman! As a mom with a home-based business, I learned new ways to save money on clothing, groceries, and even vacations. The book was fun to read, with lots of practical info and excellent resources. It was informative and inspiring!

Claiming Your Place at the Fire: Living the Second Half of Your Life on Purpose

Average customer rating:

My friend loves this book!
Grow Alive Instead of Old
Attention Boomers: Buy This Book!

Claiming Your Place at the Fire: Living the Second Half of Your Life on Purpose
Richard Leider
Manufacturer: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Personal Transformation | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Developmental Psychology | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Ethics & Morality | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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Accessories:

RESPeRATE Blood Pressure Lowering Device
Philips HeartStart Home Defibrillator (AED)

ASIN: 1576752976

Book Description

More than 10,000 people turn 50 every day in the U.S.; how do they handle this shift? Claiming Your Place at the Fire invites this group of "new elders" to ask four key questions: Who am I? New elders synthesize and transfer the wisdom of the past into the present. Where do I belong? They have a powerful sense of where they have come from, where they are, and where they are going. How do I bring my passions alive? They rejoice in rediscovering their life's work, their calling, their vocation. What is my life's purpose? Freed from imposed schedules and demands, new elders now find the freedom to create their lives anew. This timely book describes how new older adults can rekindle the good life, relight the fire within, and share that warmth and light with others.

Customer Reviews:

My friend loves this book!.......2007-05-30

I gave this as a gift...and she loves this book!

Grow Alive Instead of Old.......2005-01-25

You can grow old in the darkness of night or grow alive in the light of your sun--your choice. Richard J. Leider and David A. Shapiro take you by the hand and help you see how to let go of the things that don't bring you alive and replace them with things that do. Can it really be that simple? You decide.

CLAIMING YOUR PLACE AT THE FIRE lets you see how to believe that every second of human life is valuable. And, oh how our needy world needs the best of every single one of us. If you can answer a telephone and speak, you can volunteer for a prayer line where people call for comfort in times of turmoil and are so grateful when they get a live person.

When you are tempted to give in to your aches and pains, do remember Stephen Hawking, our modern day Einstein confined to a wheel chair, who had a body that was unable to respond to him. So, he used to the fullest what was able to respond to him, his mind, and blessed the entire universe with his wisdom.

Best of all, CLAIMING YOUR PLACE AT THE FIRE makes you feel warm and comfortable about walking your path instead of so afraid of what will happen to you.

Attention Boomers: Buy This Book!.......2004-09-02

As one who has benefited from Richard Leider's work during my own mid-life transition, this new work takes us into new (yet old) territory and reminds us of what's been lost in our society and in ourselves through the industrial era. The best is yet to be . . . and let Leider & Shapiro be your journey partners!

Half Life 2 Mods For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))

Average customer rating:

only covers mapping
Very basic, but well written
Worth $20, but be prepared...
Great book for beginners

Half Life 2 Mods For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))
Erik Guilfoyle
Manufacturer: For Dummies
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Game Programming | Programming | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Graphic Design | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0470096314

Book Description

Modify gameplay, add textures, and integrate amazing effects

Develop intense environments, then share your design with players online

How cool would it be to build your own levels and customized weapons for Half-Life 2? This book will get you ready to mod so you can enjoy the ultimate gaming experience. You'll find out how to create your own maps, strategically place high-tech military equipment, and modify your levels for smoother play.

All this on the bonus CD-ROM

Samples from the book
A video walk-through of your first mod
Adobe(r) Photoshop(r) CS2 tryout version
NormalMapGenerator and Compressonator by ATI Technologies, Inc.
Packrat version 0.95 for Half-Life 2 and Adobe Photoshop Normal Map and DDS Authoring Plugins
For details and complete system requirements, see the CD-ROM appendix.

Discover how to

Design maps and playing levels
Load your creation into the game
Expand your map with additions
Include armor and weapons
Distribute levels on the Web

Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

Customer Reviews:

only covers mapping.......2007-06-17

I want to warn anyone who wants to buy this book that it only covers mapping levels and has no advanced material other than using the compiling console for error detection. If you want complete coverage of the basics you can download the 3DBuzz.com video tutorials for HL2 mapping for free which will start you out with better quality examples and lead to some more advanced material. I was hoping this book would give a better overview of the advanced material you find in the 3DBuzz videos as well as other HL2 mapping video tutorials on the net, but it doesnt. As the other reviewers have said, it is an easy to understand book, but its simply redundant to all the online material that is freely available and doesnt go into the detail it should.

Very basic, but well written.......2007-05-26

I just love this book. It explained things clearly and was just what I needed to start modding. I never made any mod before, so I was a complete noob to this subject. And if you want to benefit from this book, you better be a noob too. The book explains the very basics of modding, you will not learn modelling, programing nor you will work with 3rd party (yours) models and props. You will learn simple map creation and texturing (using half life 2 native textures). So, if you need to know how to start modding - this book will deliver. If you can make your own basic rooms but need to optimize them, this book is for you too. However, if you can make your own basic optimized room, there's not much for you in this book.

Worth $20, but be prepared..........2007-04-01

Half-Life 2 Mods for Dummies is a bit of a mixed bag. Much of the information contained within the book is available on the web for free, but there is something to be said for containing a solid amount of beginning information in one volume. It's also one of the few HL2 modding resources in print, and Guilfoyle has some genuinely solid tips and tricks for level building quickly. Still- I can't wholeheartedly recommend it to the entirely new modder as there are a number of critical typos and incorrect file paths. Buyer beware- make sure you know your general way around Valve's file trees before plunging into this book thinking it will guide you flawlessly.

Guilfoyle does an admirable job of writing in a clear and concise manner. The book will tell you exactly what to do to build a basic level and give it some more advanced spit and polish, but that's also about all it does. "HL2 Mods for Dummies" rarely gets into the nuts and bolts of why certain functions do what they do. "Do this, then this, then this, and you'll end up with this..." is the modus operandi. A bit more information on why Valve's powerful editors do what they do would have been helpful.

I don't mean to be too hard on what is a good beginning guide. If you don't want to spend days wading through the fragmented tutorials on the web, this is a fine place to start. The price is right and I'm tempted to give it four stars because of the cost and the singular place it occupies in print, but...

Great book for beginners.......2007-03-04

Half Life 2 Mods for Dummies is a great beginners guide for modding the Half Life 2 game. While the book focuses mainly on mapping, you learn how to create maps, make custom textures for your map and how to finish and pack up your map to show the world. I bought this book to expand my knowledge of Half Life 2 modding and I did learn some new stuff. Half Life 2's Source is a very powerful engine: you can get started modding it using this book.

Average customer rating:

A candid rendition of a zelots' life
One of the Most Revealing Autobiographies You Will Ever Read
Fabulous book!
Loung Ung
The Remarkable Life of an Extraordinary Woman

Half-Life of a Zealot
Swanee Hunt
Manufacturer: Duke University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Women | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Rich & Famous | Leaders & Notable People | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Feminist Theory | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0822338750

Book Description

Swanee Hunt’s life has lived up to her Texas-size childhood. Daughter of legendary oil magnate H. L. Hunt, she grew up in a household dominated by an arch-conservative patriarch who spawned a brood of colorful offspring. Her family was nothing if not zealous, and that zealâalbeit for more compassionate causesâpropelled her into a mission that reaches around the world.

Half-Life of a Zealot tells how the girl who spoke against âRedsâ alongside her father became a fierce advocate for progressive change in America and abroad, an innovative philanthropist, and Bill Clinton’s Ambassador to Austria. In captivating prose, Hunt describes the warmth and wear of Southern Baptist culture, which instilled in her a calling to help those who are vulnerable. The reader is drawn into her full-throttle professional life as it competes with critical family needs.

Hunt gives a remarkably frank account of her triumphs and shortcomings; her sorrows, including a miscarriage and the failure of a marriage; the joys and struggles of her second marriage; and her angst over the life-threatening illness of one of her three children. She is candid about the opportunities her fortune has created, as well as the challenge of life as an heiress.

Much of Swanee Hunt’s professional life is devoted to expanding women’s roles in making and shaping public policy. She is the founding director of Harvard’s Women and Public Policy Program at the Kennedy School of Government, chair of the Initiative for Inclusive Security, and president of the Hunt Alternatives Fund.

Swanee Hunt’s autobiography brims over with strong women: her mother, whose religious faith and optimism were an inspiration; her daughter, who fights the social stigma of mental disorders; the women of war-torn Bosnia, who transformed their grief into action; and friends like Hillary Clinton, who used her position as First Lady to strengthen the voices of others.

Hunt is one more strong woman. Half-Life of a Zealot is her storyâso far.

Customer Reviews:

A candid rendition of a zelots' life.......2007-09-03

I am just one-half way through this book but must say, at this point, it is probably one of the "best" books I have ever encountered. The factors contributing to this assessment are readibility, candor, lessons learned that I might use, subject matter and on and on. The author has led an unusual life, not just because she could because of her fortune and fame,but equally because she had the drive and desire to explore, explore and explore so many untested avenues and, in doing so, strengthened her own confidence in pushing even further. At one point she said that she was determined to take on one new challenge every year. She tends to defy the odds--pervailing all along. She climbed in Nepal, ran a marathon while not really in great shape, overcame her fears regarding being in leadership positions, etc., etc. To this point, her life gives me an inspiration that I have not gained from any other reading. I can't recommend it enough. I anticipate reading the section dealing with her diplomatic career. I was at the high end of my mid level employement at the State Department during that period. I am curious to see how we agree, or not, with situations at that time.

One of the Most Revealing Autobiographies You Will Ever Read.......2007-01-06

"Swanee Hunt has taken a phenomenal journey through life and written all about it in her new book and autobiography called 'Half-Life of a Zealot.' I found this book one of the most revealing autobiographies I have ever read. It takes an incredible amount of courage to strip herself bare the way she did so much of the time in this book, and I value that because I really felt I had an opportunity to get to know her. It was not just some kind of political exercise and that's rare -- particularly in politics." -- Barry Gordon on the progressive talk radio show "Barry Gordon From Left Field" (for which I am the producer)

Fabulous book!.......2007-01-03

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can't rave enough about it! Swanee, through her life's work, is an incredible inspiration.

Loung Ung.......2006-12-12

Half-Life of a Zealot is a remarkable book, and Swanee Hunt is a remarkable person. In her introduction, the author quotes Jill Ker Conway who wrote: "The woman autobiographer...cannot depart too dramatically from popularly accepted stereotypes, which affirm the man of action and the suffering or redemptive female. To do so is to risk losing persuasive power." A statement Ms. Hunt agrees with, but; she writes, "rather than feel reluctant about showing my vulnerability, I've wondered if it's safe to show strength." In those two sentences, Ms. Hunt beautifully sets the book's tone of the dualities of her life, one that was lived in isolation, and the other in public; one where love was given freely by her gentle mother, the other often held at bay by her powerful, famous father. With razor sharp intellect, openness, and candor, Ms. Hunt weaves her many lives as politician, daughter, sister, wife, mother, and peace maker into a wonderfully complex tapestry that pulls readers in deeper with each flip of the page. For even with her family's enormous wealth, Half-Life is a universal tale of a child's longings for family, love, and acceptance; and a triumphant story of a woman who grew into her own power and self-worth. Written in a casual and easy to read narrative, Half-Life is filled with unforgettable characters, fascinating events, and enough twists and turns that both mend and break the hearts to make it an engaging read.

The Remarkable Life of an Extraordinary Woman.......2006-11-27

Every person has multiple life themes, but few have so many, in such extreme form, so publicly exposed, and over time so effectively integrated into a life of service and beauty; fewer still are able to tell their story with such candor, vulnerability, generosity and hope.

The externals of Swanee Hunt's life are worthy topics for a library of works: growing up in a family which merged great wealth, religious conservatism, and anti-communist fervor; finding her own gifts as a theologian, composer, philanthropist, civic leader, author and diplomat; learning to trust her instincts and voice to shape a life of radical compassion; engaging the full range of her gifts and resources to lift up the needs and tremendous capabilities of women throughout the world. These stories are well-told and compelling and would be an exceptional work if they were told in the third person.

But this book is at its core the story of one woman's life journey as she has come to terms with those externals and with the joys and challenges of her own complex inner life, with family relations and responsibilities, with her loneliness and love, and with a deep awareness of her own strengths and searching. By revealing the inner and outer complexities of her life so boldly and honestly, Ambassador Hunt has created a work which will resonate deeply in the lives of many others.

I believe this work will have a lasting value, as the expression of a remarkable life, and as a witness and invitation to all who read it to live with similar passion and intentionality for a better world. By sharing her life, Swanee Hunt has helped blaze a pathway for countless other women and men. We can be very grateful for her wisdom and courage.

Average customer rating:

Lots of cool Pictures inside
Half-life - More please
Great book, but with limited appeal.
Great pictures, not much else
Great Book, Specially if you liked the game.

Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar
David Hodgson
Manufacturer: Prima Games
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Video & Electronic Games | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0761543643
Release Date: 2003-10-07

Book Description

·Unprecedented access behind Half-Life and Half-Life 2
·A forward by Valve founder Gabe Newell
·Hundreds of art, design, preproduction, and other art pieces crammed into the book
·Over a dozen key members of Valve's staff interviewed
·Officially approved by Valve
·Behind City 17 and other locations
·The development of the Source engine
·A rogue's gallery of beasts, characters, and monstrosities
·Key weapons development revelations
·A tour of many of the game's locations, from inception to completion
·Filled with art, screens, and anecdotes from the Valve team

Customer Reviews:

Lots of cool Pictures inside.......2007-01-20

This book doesn't really talk much about anything on Source or the people creating the game. It focuses mainly on the process of how different elements in the game came out. With lots of concept and rendered art, it's good to have it around for inspiration or just plain viewing. The book also gives some information on Half-Life 1 and Mods, though these sections still give lots of cool pictures and very little text in comparison.

Half-life - More please.......2006-03-02

This book reveals what goes on behind-the-scenes at Valve and how the PC / Console game - Half-Life and Half-Life 2 has developed over time.
I am huge Half-Life fan and this book shows how much work and thought goes into producing a genre-defining / award-winning game. One of the highlights for me in the book was how they created the faces of the characters in the game. A wonderful book with a lot of interesting facts. It is also a large book which shows off the artwork to great effect. I am really pleased I bought it and would recommend it to any fan of the game.

Great book, but with limited appeal........2005-12-05

As the review below states this book isn't a behind-the-scenes book or a chronicle of the development of the game nor is it a book discussing the technological merits of Half Life 2 or the Source Engine. Although, it does contain elements of all of the afformentioned parts, it is in the end an art book, but a great one at that with great color, a sturdy build, and a clean uncluttered design.

As a fan of the game myself, I enjoyed seeing all the places and ideas that never made it into the game and the evolution and design of those that did. One area, I feel the book ought to and should have delved into more, was the development and evolution of the plot itself which except in reference to other points was never brought up significantly.

Fans of the Half Life franchise and people interested in the creative development of games will find this book of interest. Others may want to pass on it.

Great pictures, not much else.......2005-07-22

I guess I was looking for more of the details behind the making of Half-life 2, not just tons of concept art. The artwork is very nicely presented in rich glossy color, but the behind the scenes content isn't there. If you want a better book for looking behind the scenes of a computer game, get the Doom 3 Making Of book instead.

Great Book, Specially if you liked the game........2005-04-06

When i got the book i wasnt expecting such a huge book. Anyway the book was great and it has alot of pictures and concept arts and cut monsters and scenes ! All in high quality gloss paper. This although doesnt give a very detailed descriptions about the engine and contains almost no pictures of the valve team who i wanted to see very much. I recommend this if you played HL2 and loved it and wants more insight of the game (not the engine but art)

Live Your Life for Half the Price: Without Sacrificing the Life You Love (Debt-Proof Living)

Average customer rating:

Mary Hunt does it again!
Life your Life Review
good advice
Mary Hunt is the best!
Live your life for Half the Price: Without sacrificing the Life You Love

Live Your Life for Half the Price: Without Sacrificing the Life You Love (Debt-Proof Living)
Mary M. Hunt
Manufacturer: DPL Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Budgeting & Money Management | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0976079100

Book Description

Readers receive tips, resources and techniques for half-price living. Financial well-being is not measured by one's income. It's the money you don't spend that gives you freedom to live the life you love.

Customer Reviews:

Mary Hunt does it again!.......2007-08-16

This book is definitely worth buying. It is loaded with good information and has pages and pages of specific references (particularly cyber for those who love to spend time on computer). I had taken it from the library and liked it so much that I felt it needed to be a permanent part of my library. Thanks, Amazon!

Life your Life Review.......2007-08-13

Bought this book look for a few financial tidbits we might be missing and there was probably enough to make it worthwhile. A lot of basics and tried and true methods are repeated in this book and just reemphasize that we are doing things 'right.' I like repeating these to my kids as we travel. If we are willing to do a little more work, could save a bit more money with some of her suggestions. I also have to chuckle at the repeated sales pitches in the book for newsletters and templates to help you save money...Overall, a good quick read that can save you some dough.

good advice.......2007-08-07

This is a great book to those new to frugal living and has a few hints for the "oldtimers".

Mary Hunt is the best!.......2007-07-26

Mary Hunt is the Real Deal. She's been "there" and back, and is sharing all that she learned along the way. Any book by Mary Hunt is worth the read- she will illuminate the way to living within your means. Most importantly, Mary doesn't believe that it will be easy or magical- but it will change your life. Thank you, Mary- You're the best!

Live your life for Half the Price: Without sacrificing the Life You Love.......2007-07-24

Wonderful Reading and Great Tips on getting what you want for a Half the Price ! Everyone needs to start thinking of the future and saving ! She really helps you see the big picture on saving, bills, Credit Cards, and Loans. A Must have book.

No Way Renee: The Second Half of My Notorious Life

Average customer rating:

Not so interesting
"No Way Renee" - a very entertaining book.
Honest Transgender Issues
Honest and engrossing
An accidental pioneer

No Way Renee: The Second Half of My Notorious Life
Renee Richards , and John Ames
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0743290135

Book Description

In 1975, at the age of forty, Richard Raskind, a renowned eye surgeon and highly ranked amateur tennis player, "died," and Renée Richards was "born," in what was to become the most public and highly scrutinized sex reassignment to date. It was not until Renée Richards was discovered playing in an amateur tennis tournament that the world took notice. Extensive media coverage and criticism thrust Renée reluctantly into the spotlight, sparking an intense public debate over her private life. Now, at seventy-two, Richards looks back and speaks frankly about all aspects of her complicated and often notorious life in this eye-opening, thought-provoking memoir.

Richards' honest and compelling narrative explores the dichotomy between the successful life she lived as Dr. Richard Raskind, who seemed to have everything (devoted friends, a beautiful wife and son, a stellar record of academic and professional achievement, and outstanding athletic ability), and a secret life of struggle with a drive that could not be suppressed, even by years of psychotherapy and the force of a considerable will.

Richards takes readers through her difficult decision to undergo surgery and the complex mixture of relief and continued frustration that came with the realization of her new identity. Discussing life after her transformation, Richards candidly relates the details, trials, and pleasures of her romantic life as well as fascinating stories about her tennis career, including her experiences as Martina Navratilova's coach. She also provides an intimate account of her difficult but rewarding relationship with her rebellious son: runaway teenager, high-stakes Vegas gambler, karate champion, and entrepreneur. She describes the deterioration of a once-loving marriage and the challenges of reclaiming her place at the forefront of her demanding medical specialty.

Having lived as a woman almost as long as she lived as a man, Richards draws on a personal history that illuminates thirty years of remarkable change in society's attitude toward gender issues. Her absorbing and inspiring story, at once heartbreaking and uplifting, is a testimony to how far we have progressed in our ability to discuss and accept sexuality in all its iterations, as well as a reminder of how far we still must travel.

Customer Reviews:

Not so interesting.......2007-05-14

The book is not so interesting.

She told us, only the things she wants but nothing more.
It' s very politically correct, but the book is not useful to understand the complex life of transgender people, and the real changement of roles, habits, and so on..that was I aspect from a person who lived 40 years as man and 30 as women.

"No Way Renee" - a very entertaining book........2007-05-14

I enjoyed the book very much. It gave a very insightful understanding into the life of an interesting and accomplished person. Along with with being good resding it made you laugh.

Honest Transgender Issues.......2007-05-10

This autobiography will help you understand the issues transgenders face in our society. This fun book is written openly and honestly.

Honest and engrossing.......2007-04-13

I grew up with the Renee Richards saga in the background and saw an article on this book in People magazine and decided to purchase it. Dr. Richards writes with honesty, humor and intelligence, and I could not put the book down. She has a very compelling story, and it helped me to understand better what transgendered individuals might go through in our society. It was fascinating to read not only about how she reacted to her ordeal but her family members and colleagues. I think she must be a very courageous person and I thank her for writing this and sharing it.

An accidental pioneer.......2007-03-22

"It's people like this who make you realize how little you've accomplished," said satirist Tom Lehrer.

Dr. Renée Richards (aka Dr. Richard Raskind) is a person who knew everybody, hung out in the same social set with millionaires, sports and movie stars, appeared on national talk shows, ... . So if you're looking for some inside, titillating gossip, her readable book No Way Renée covers that too, but she doesn't overkill the issue. She speaks openly and honestly.

During her adventuresome life, Renée Richards pissed away a small fortune on rescuing her son Nick from his own youthful peccadilloes (a bright young man who certainly inherited his father's [ i.e. Renée] absence of humility), and she also traveled the low-paying professional tennis circuit. In a way, you could say she dug her own holes and then made a career of climbing back out of them. She certainly made the whole idea of transsexualism more acceptable to the public. Since the 70s, the medical community has recanted on sexual reassignment policies, so today transsexuals don't capture the headlines the way they once did. She was most fortunate to have her professional medical career to fall back on.

About 1/3 of her book (also co-written by John Ames) is devoted to recapitulating the first 40 or so years of her life. A new generation has since grown up who have never heard of Dr. Renée Richards. So, to understand Renée Richards more thoroughly, I encourage you also to read her first book, Second Serve.

Along the way, she also became a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (no shabby achievement, and a fact not stated in her book). She also established a fine professional reputation and has published first-rate research articles on eye surgery. But for her transsexual distractions, I got the feeling she could have become a great surgeon, not just a damned good one.

Did Renée Richards really want to be the spokeswoman for transsexuals? I think not, but she still faced the challenge squarely. Given the choice, she would rather have been a successful surgeon who also happened to be a genetic female. Yet, as a most intelligent and rational man, in that one facet of gender she was driven purely by her emotions to -- above all -- become a woman.

Herein lies the greater question. Renée Richards clearly foresaw the public and private hazards of switching sexes, yet she was compelled to choose this path at the risk of torpedoing her own family and her career. So I don't think she came any closer to answering the question why? (I've had transsexual patients, and I'll be damned if I can come any closer to answering that big question.)

She never regretted having the surgery, yet, she sighs, she never found contentment either as a man with a "Miss Right" nor a "Mr. Right" as a woman. [ref. Interview "The Lady Regrets" in the February 1st , 2007 New York Times.] Even if you ignore her exterior, I still think you will find Renée Richards a fascinating person to know. Read the book.

Frederick Malmstrom, Ph.D.
Clinical Psychologist

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