Short stories of individuals who silently suffer from mental illness due to the stigma society has placed on it. Stories of fear, depression and pain that wreaks havoc on millions.
This collection of essays provides indispensable studies of the monumental 1973 album, The Dark Side of the Moon, from a variety of musical, cultural, literary and social perspectives. The development and change of the songs is considered closely, from the earliest recordings through to the live, filmed performance at London's Earls Court in 1994. The album is placed within the context of developments in late 1960s/early 1970s popular music, with particular focus on the use of a variety of segues between tracks which give the album a multidimensional unity.
Audible Best Seller of 2017 Inc. 11 Great Business Books New York Magazine Best Psychology Books LinkedIn's 12 Books on Leadership to Read Two mavericks in the field of positive psychology deliver a timely message Happiness experts have long told us to tune out our negative emotions and focus instead on mindfulness, positivity, and optimism. Researchers Todd Kashdan, Ph.D., and Robert Biswas-Diener, Dr. Philos., disagree. Positive emotions alone are not enough. Anger makes us creative, selfishness makes us brave, and guilt is a powerful motivator. The real key to success lies in emotional agility. Drawing upon extensive scientific research and a wide array of real-life examples, The Upside of Your Dark Side will be embraced by business leaders, parents, and everyone else who’s ready to put their entire psychological tool kit to work.
A classic science fiction novel from bestselling author Neal Shusterman is back in print. Jason is having a bad day. The kind of day when you just don’t feel like yourself. Only for Jason, it’s not just a feeling. He really isn’t himself. Not anymore. Who is he? That’s the problem. Jason isn’t sure. And it’s not just him. Everyone in town is acting weird. His friends. His parents. Everyone. Billington is usually such a normal town. As Jason is about to discover, nothing will ever be normal again….
Their fun summer together ended and Jay went abroad to study. Eighteen-year-old Rebecca believed Jay when he told her they’d get married when he returned home in a year. But when she sent a letter informing him of her pregnancy and asking for his help, she was heartlessly accused of lying in an attempt to blackmail his distinguished family. Ten years later, she finds a notice in the newspaper looking for her because her mother has fallen ill. She returns to her hometown, and Jay, a man she never thought she would see again, appears in front of her. He looks at her with the same passionate gaze he had in the past, and he’s acting as though he never hurt her!
The endurance of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon on the Billboard Top 100 Chart is legendary, and its continuing sales and ongoing radio airplay ensure its inclusion on almost every conceivable list of rock's greatest albums. This collection of essays provides indispensable studies of the monumental 1973 album from a variety of musical, cultural, literary and social perspectives. The development and change of the songs is considered closely, from the earliest recordings through to the live, filmed performance at London's Earls Court in 1994. The band became almost synonymous with audio-visual innovations, and the performances of the album at live shows were spectacular moments of mass-culture although Roger Waters himself spoke out against such mass spectacles. The band's stage performances of the album serve to illustrate the multifaceted and complicated relationship between modern culture and technology. The album is therefore placed within the context of developments in late 1960s/early 1970s popular music, with particular focus on the use of a variety of segues between tracks which give the album a multidimensional unity that is lacking in Pink Floyd's later concept albums. Beginning with 'Breathe' and culminating in 'Eclipse', a tonal and motivic coherence unifies the structure of this modern song cycle. The album is also considered in the light of modern day 'tribute' bands, with a discussion of the social groups who have the strongest response to the music being elaborated alongside the status of mediated representations and their relation to the 'real' Pink Floyd.
In 2003, Marvin Gray works for a US government contractor investigating and recovering Babylonian, Sumerian and Acadian artifacts stolen from the National Museum of Iraq and other Iraqi archaeological sites. The investigations turn deadly when Gray learns that many of the same people smuggling stolen goods are also involved in sex-trafficking. Iraqi women and girls are being shipped to oil-rich Arab countries for sexual exploitation. The American and British authorities in Baghdad forbid Gray to meddle in the affairs of “friends” of Washington and London. For Gray, the choice is simple. He takes the perilous step into the dark Iraqi underworld where the huge profits generated by assassination-for-hire and sexual exploitation are fueling religious extremism, and will become the future funding base for Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Welcome to the Dark Side is the face-paced prequel to Maggie May, dealing with Marvin Gray’s battles with alcoholism, forbidden romances with Arab women, and failed attempts to protect the innocent.
The book is trying to define the beautiful and the dark side from a man and a woman, that are in love of each other, but not as theory ... but as a result of analyzing facts that are happening on the timeline of the love story. It’s a book about a fairy tale, with 2 lovely characters that are not understanding, but also are not accepting that the meaning of an abstract love ... or an imposible story is to enjoy only the beauty of what is going on. The 2 people from the essays get lost so many times, that not even the people around them can’t see if the story itself is real or not. But it’s all a journey of accepting the beautiful and the dark side from the person that you love so much. After the first period when you are blinded by love, it comes the second episode when you see that you are not in love with a god, but with a human being ... and just as you have millions of imperfections ... the same has also that magic person that you fall in love with. It’s a book that defines the fact that we should accept the things just as they are ... and love with an opened heart ... no matter what is going on. The nice part is that the book is not a collection of imaginary stories ... but essays that talks about a real story between 2 adults that wants to redefine and also restart their lives ... but in the end just enjoy the fact that they met ... losing any expectation at all as the story to become a real one. Today you are happy, tomorrow you are not .. and the essays describes this in a very honest, but also beautiful way ... all those amazing moments spent togheter.
And one day ... we just laugh of our fears: I met Dana maybe 15 years ago. We've worked together on a project. But ... the project delayed so, so much ... that we ended up becoming friends. Easy... easy ... we've started to talk about lots of things ... especially our lives. ... even details ... which had to do with intimacy. We lost contact ... by already few years ... but something still reminds me of her. She was the first woman .... which telling me her life ... made me understand the woman. You see ... firstly she was married with a guy in Norway. ... a wealthy guy. Unfortunately ... he was treating her very bad in there. She was cheated. Manipulated. Offended. And ... actually husband saw her more as a slave than a wife. One night she left from that beautiful mansion which meant for her ... only a hell ... with a plastic bag with few things in it. Abandoned the husband. ... but also her child. Most certainly ... the experience itself was horrible ... that Dana could abandon her daughter in there. And ... to be honest... hearing this story ... even if we were friends at that time ... I've started to judge her. I was thinking ... "what type of person is Dana ... if she could abandon her child?! Why she left alone?! Why she didn't took her child also?!" I had lots of questions into my mind ... but maybe the fears made her act like that. And ... the Universe acted nice with her .... cause later on she found a new man. Again .... a wealthy guy. They had a good business in Paris. ... a beautiful 600 sqm house with swimming pool and garage. 2 Porsches. Short story ... all a couple could dream. Somehow ... the story was repeated. She was living the same experience again .... but this time she really had the life she thought she will have first time when she married. But ... again ... Dana surprised me with her perceptions. After being cheated many, many times ... in the first marriage .... Dana asked to her second husband to swear in front of God ... that he will never cheat on her. ... somehow believing him ... that all will be different than her first marriage. But one day ... Dana told me something that really changed.... my whole perceptions about the woman. It was a long talk. We've spoke on the phone that day maybe 2-3 hours. Somehow ... laughing .... she said ... "I've spoken recently with my husband ... and i've just told him... that if he will ever cheat on me ... i just want him to ... use a condom." I said ... "What?!" "Yes. It might happen. In France ... things like that can happen. I simply .... changed my mind. I know it can happen ... and my only request was to use a condom ... so that i don't get infected with ... a disease." I could not believe it. But ... at that time ... i was too busy to analyse all that ... in micro details. It was funny ... how she changed her perceptions. Extremely funny. Most probably ... she became realistic. Extremely realistic. And ... wise. Or maybe ... she allowed her husband ... what she started to adore doing. Flirting. Tasting energies. Connecting to new souls. ... without believing that this is something bad. But ... being realistic enough ... she knew that playing this game ... it might all end up ... as cheating. So ... she was into that point ... when she knew that ... we all have a dark side. Including her husband. Including herself ... but even if the marriage was nice ... that didn't necessarily meant that betrayal could not happen. I was just listening her ... for hours. And ... indeed I've learnt a lot from her ... but still ... even today ... when i analyse all a lot ... i can't agree with such obviously real case scenarios. Cause ... i am not a open minded person. I am ... too utopian. In my beliefs. In my actions. In my writings. In ... all. Maybe .... Dana was for me a great teacher ... but ... i am indeed ... a stupid student ... at this school of life.