This book explores the aesthetics of the objects and environments we encounter in daily life. Thomas Leddy stresses the close relationship between everyday aesthetics and the aesthetics of art, but places special emphasis on neglected aesthetic terms such as ‘neat,’ ‘messy,’ ‘pretty,’ ‘lovely,’ ‘cute,’ and ‘pleasant.’ The author advances a general theory of aesthetic experience that can account for our appreciation of art, nature, and the everyday.
A blend of teaching and inspiration from John MacArthur's popular books Twelve Ordinary Men and Twelve Extraordinary Women. Includes daily readings and scripture verses. --from publisher description.
Today's parents feel pressured to spend "quality time" preparing their child for success in school and life. This landmark book shows parents how and why everyday moments they share with their child, for instance preparing and eating dinner, giving the child a bath, and changing a child's diaper, are the most valuable educational activities of all.
This illustrated children’s book celebrates the extraordinary potential of ordinary deeds—showing how one child’s act of kindness can change the world One ordinary day, Ordinary Mary stumbles upon some ordinary blueberries. When she decides to pick them for her neighbor, Mrs. Bishop, her thoughtful act starts a chain reaction that multiplies around the world. Mrs. Bishop makes blueberry muffins and gives them to her paperboy and four others—one of whom is Mr. Stevens, who then helps five different people with their luggage—one of whom is Maria, who then helps five other people—and so on, until the deed comes back to Mary.
How do you feel about decisions you make? Do you know how to manage anxiety? Are you getting the results you want in life? You have everything you need within your grasp to change and achieve whatever you set your mind to. The verses in this book present the power of God’s word to unleash surprising and exciting results in your life. Use them as a guide to Make the Ordinary Extraordinary.
• Details how the author and her boyfriend developed a close friendship with Manly Hall and how Hall at first mistook her boyfriend as his heir apparent • Explains how Hall adopted the author as his “girl Friday” and personal weirdo screener, giving her access to the inner circles of occult Los Angeles • Richly depicts the characters who worked and gathered at Hall’s Philosophical Research Society, including Hall’s wife, the famed “Mad Marie” In the early 1980s, underground musicians Tamra Lucid and her boyfriend Ronnie Pontiac discovered the book The Secret Teachings of All Ages at the Bodhi Tree bookstore in Los Angeles. Poring over the tome, they were awakened to the esoteric and occult teachings of the world. Tamra and Ronnie were delighted to discover that the book’s author, Manly Palmer Hall (1901-1990), master teacher of Hermetic mysteries and collector of all things mystical, lived in LA and gave lectures every Sunday at his mystery school, the Philosophical Research Society (PRS). After their first tantalizing Sunday lecture, Tamra and Ronnie soon started volunteering at the PRS, beginning a seven-year friendship with Manly P. Hall, who eventually officiated their wedding in his backyard. In this touching, hilarious, and ultimately tragic autobiographical account, Tamra shares an intimate portrait of Hall and the occult world of New Age Los Angeles, including encounters with astrologers, scholars, artists, spiritual seekers, and celebrities such as Jean Houston and Marianne Williamson. Tamra vividly describes how she used her time at the PRS to learn everything she could not only about metaphysics but also about the people who practice it. But when Tamra begs Hall to banish a certain man from the PRS--the same man who inherited Hall’s estate and whom his wife Marie later alleged was Hall’s murderer--Tamra and Ronnie are the ones banished. Tamra’s noir chronicle of an improbable friendship between a twenty-something punk and an eighty-year-old metaphysical scholar reveals Hall not only as an inspiring esoteric thinker but also as a genuinely kind human being who simply wanted to share his quest for inner meaning and rare wisdom with the world.
Everyday aesthetic experiences and concerns occupy a large part of our aesthetic life. However, because of their prevalence and mundane nature, we tend not to pay much attention to them, let alone examine their significance. Western aesthetic theories of the past few centuries also neglect everyday aesthetics because of their almost exclusive emphasis on art. In a ground-breaking new study, Yuriko Saito provides a detailed investigation into our everyday aesthetic experiences, and reveals how our everyday aesthetic tastes and judgments can exert a powerful influence on the state of the world and our quality of life. By analysing a wide range of examples from our aesthetic interactions with nature, the environment, everyday objects, and Japanese culture, Saito illustrates the complex nature of seemingly simple and innocuous aesthetic responses. She discusses the inadequacy of art-centered aesthetics, the aesthetic appreciation of the distinctive characters of objects or phenomena, responses to various manifestations of transience, and the aesthetic expression of moral values; and she examines the moral, political, existential, and environmental implications of these and other issues.
While her sisters were blessed at birth with exceptional skills, Princess Basil's "gift" is to be ordinary. But can a princess be ordinary? After escaping an unconventional kidnapping, Princess Basil finds herself far from her castle and must take fate into her own hands. She tracks down the fairy godmother who "blessed" her, and learns the solution to her ordinariness might be as simple as finding a magic ring. With an unlikely ally in tow, she takes on gnomes, a badger, and a couple of snarky foxes in her quest for a less ordinary life. Portland comics artist Cassie Anderson (Lifeformed) takes her webcomic to print in this tale of magical adventure, full of soul and humor for readers of all ages.
'Filled with inexpensive and relatively easy do-it-yourself design projects for the home. Step-by-step photos show you how to do everything from dipping vintage cutlery in paint and reupholstering an armchair in shoelaces to covering a wall in mirrors' - Telegraph 'True original Pascal Anson urges us, with winning wit and idiot-proof step-by-steps to turn ''dad'' jeans, an ugly table, holey trainers, mismatched cutlery [...] into desirable stuff using the alchemy of imagination. His brief? Low skill levels and high concept' - World of Interiors In Ordinary Made Extraordinary designer, artist and maverick-maker Pascal Anson shows how easy it is to transform everyday items into extraordinary statement pieces. Make ordinary a thing of the past with 24 inspiring and achievable projects including: - Create a chandelier with just a few rolls of Sellotape. - Cast a stunning concrete plant pot. - Build a child’s treehouse with cling film. There are ideas for projects for everyone – from repairing and reinventing worn out trainers, to bigger projects such as the wood-clad car and the stylish hairy chair.
