These are the stories Wil loves to tell, because they are the closest to his heart: stories about being a huge geek, passing his geeky hobbies and values along to his own children, and vividly painting what it meant to grow up in the '70s and come of age in the '80s as part of the video game/D & D/BBS/Star Wars figures generation.
Wil Wheaton--blogger, geek, and Star Trek: The Next Generation's Wesley Crusher--gives us five short-but-true tales of life in the so-called Space Age in Dancing Barefoot. With a true geek's unflinching honesty, Wil examines life, love, the web, and the absurdities of Hollywood in these compelling autobiographical narratives. Based on pieces first published in Wil's hugely popular blog, www.wilwheaton.net, the stories in Dancing Barefoot chronicle a teen TV star's journey to maturity and self-acceptance. Far from the usual celebrity tell-all, Dancing Barefoot is a vivid account of one man's version of that universal story, the search for self. If you've ever fallen in love, wondered what goes on behind the scenes at a Star Trek convention, or thought hard about the meaning of life, you'll find a kindred soul in the pages of Dancing Barefoot. In the process of uncovering his true geeky self, Wil Wheaton speaks to the inner geek in all of us. The stories: Houses in Motion - Memories fill the emptiness left within a childhood home, and saying goodbye brings them to life. Ready Or Not Here I Come - A game of hide-n-seek with the kids works as a time machine, taking Wil on a tour of the hiding and seeking of years gone by. Inferno - Two 15-year-olds pass in the night leaving behind pleasant memories and a perfumed Car Wars Deluxe Edition Box Set. We Close Our Eyes - A few beautiful moments spent dancing in the rain. The Saga of SpongeBob VegasPants - A story of love, hate, laughter and the acceptance of all things Trek.
What's the secret to a life of happiness? "In this delightful book brimming with humorous and poignant passages, radio personality Hugh Hewitt provides the answer. The starting place is generosity, he says, and there are seven gifts that are sure to improve the lives of both giver and receiver: encouragement, energy, enthusiasm, good humor, graciousness, gratitude, and patience. Anyone can give these gifts, but Hewitt shows that some people are particularly well placed to offer them: parents, spouses, family members, friends, teachers, coworkers, and fellow church members. Channeling his skills as a broadcaster, journalist, lawyer, and teacher, Hewitt weaves stories about these seven gifts and seven givers with inspiring and motivating observations to help readers become generous in the ways that matter most. "The Happiest Life is not simply a delight to read, and not merely a glimpse under the hood of a remarkable man. It’s a map to what Robert Frost once described as the road less traveled—the road that leads to a life of meaning and gratitude and joy.” —Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., Archbishop of Philadelphia "Reading this book is the next best thing to sitting down for a long conversation with my friend Hugh Hewitt.” —Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary “Wanna be a happier person? Know anyone else who does? What if this book could actually help with that? Cutting to the chase—it can. And it will." —Eric Metaxas, New York Times best-selling author of Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy and 7 Men: And the Secret of Their Greatness
In this “guilt-free ticket to refocusing your priorities” (Parents Magazine), ABC News reporter (and mom to three) Genevieve Shaw Brown reveals the deceptively simple golden rule for maternal happiness and how today’s busy moms can live better, healthier lives. Award-winning reporter Genevieve Shaw Brown was hell-bent on raising her kids to like vegetables and eat more than chicken nuggets for dinner. She woke up at five a.m. every morning to prepare perfectly portioned meals of turkey meatballs along with veggies, couscous, mashed cauliflower, and sliced fruit for her small children. While eating lukewarm mac-n-cheese out of a brown paper box and feeling sluggish and tired most of the time, she realized that she had never considered eating what she made for her kids. After that, Brown put herself on the “Baby Diet”: she ate the healthy food her kids ate, minimized snacking, and created a more regimented meal plan. She felt better, lost those stubborn pounds, and prepared a short segment on her new diet for Good Morning America that went viral. After that, she began thinking further: what happens when you treat yourself the way you instinctively treat your children? From sleep training to exercising to making time for friends, Brown shares her own stories, expert advice, and innovative hacks to address the common issues mothers face while teaching women how to care for themselves with the same love and attention they give their children and families every day. The Happiest Mommy You Know is the life-changing and incredibly positive approach to the challenges of modern parenting—and gives parents permission to finally treat themselves better.
The bestselling author of You Can Retire Sooner Than You Think and host of Money Matters reveals the 10 essential habits for a rich, rewarding, and blissful retirement. What does it take to have a truly happy retirement? Is it money? A mortgage-free home? An active social life? A long-lasting marriage—or maybe a new one? Finance expert, author, and radio host Wes Moss asked more than 2,000 of the nation’s happiest retirees to find out—and their answers may surprise you. Through a series of revealing surveys, Moss noticed a pattern of distinct, recognizable habits that the happiest retirees shared, from the simplest of lifestyle choices to the smartest of financial strategies. These are the kinds of habits anyone can develop—the perfect road map to a healthy, secure, and joyful retirement—sooner. Whether you’re already retired or just starting to make plans, these 10 simple actions and attitudes can make a profound difference in every aspect of your life. The book is packed with hard-won wisdom and invaluable advice on how to make little changes now that will have the biggest impact later. It’s filled with proven ways to develop smarter habits with: Money (“Think river, not reservoir”); Family (“Get your kids off your payroll”); Housing (“Live mortgage-free”); Investing (“Be a tomorrow investor”); Spending (“Be pound wise—so you can be penny foolish”); and much more. With these 10 transformational habits, you can stop obsessing over money, stay socially connected, and start enjoying your new life—as the happiest retiree on the block.
For eleven seasons, she was head of one of America's favorite television households. Now meet the lovable real-life woman behind the Happy Days mom. Before she was affectionately known to millions as “Mrs. C.,” Marion Ross began her career as a Paramount starlet who went on to appear in nearly every major TV series of the 1950s and 1960s—including Love, American Style, in which she donned an apron that would cinch her career. Soon after came the phone call that changed her life . . . In this warm and candid memoir, filled with recollections from the award-winning Happy Days team—from break-out star Henry Winkler to Cunningham “wild child” Erin Moran—Ross shares what it was like to be a starry-eyed young girl with dreams in poor, rural Minnesota, and the resilience it took to make them come true. She recalls her early years in the business, being in the company of such luminaries as Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, yet always feeling the Hollywood outsider—an invisibility that mirrored her own childhood. She reveals the joys of playing a wife and mother on TV, and the struggles of maintaining those roles in real life. But among Ross's most heart-rending recollections are those of finally finding a soulmate—another hope made true beyond her expectations. Featuring producer Garry Marshall's final interview—as well as a touching foreword from her “TV son” Ron Howard, and a conversation with her real-life son and daughter, Marion Ross's inspiring story is also a glowing tribute to all those who fulfilled her dreams—and in turn, gave us some of the happiest days of our own lives.
Perfect for expecting parents who want to provide a soothing home for the newest member of their family, The Happiest Baby on the Block, the national bestseller by respected pediatrician and child development expert Dr. Harvey Karp, is a revolutionary method for calming a crying infant and promoting healthy sleep from day one. In perhaps the most important parenting book of the decade, Dr. Harvey Karp reveals an extraordinary treasure sought by parents for centuries --an automatic “off-switch” for their baby’s crying. No wonder pediatricians across the country are praising him and thousands of Los Angeles parents, from working moms to superstars like Madonna and Pierce Brosnan, have turned to him to learn the secrets for making babies happy. Never again will parents have to stand by helpless and frazzled while their poor baby cries and cries. Dr. Karp has found there IS a remedy for colic. “I share with parents techniques known only to the most gifted baby soothers throughout history …and I explain exactly how they work.” In a innovative and thought-provoking reevaluation of early infancy, Dr. Karp blends modern science and ancient wisdom to prove that newborns are not fully ready for the world when they are born. Through his research and experience, he has developed four basic principles that are crucial for understanding babies as well as improving their sleep and soothing their senses: ·The Missing Fourth Trimester: as odd as it may sound, one of the main reasons babies cry is because they are born three months too soon. ·The Calming Reflex: the automatic reset switch to stop crying of any baby in the first few months of life. ·The 5 “S’s”: the simple steps (swaddling, side/stomach position, shushing, swinging and sucking) that trigger the calming reflex. For centuries, parents have tried these methods only to fail because, as with a knee reflex, the calming reflex only works when it is triggered in precisely the right way. Unlike other books that merely list these techniques Dr. Karp teaches parents exactly how to do them, to guide cranky infants to calm and easy babies to serenity in minutes…and help them sleep longer too. ·The Cuddle Cure: the perfect mix the 5 “S’s” that can soothe even the most colicky of infants. In the book, Dr. Karp also explains: What is colic? Why do most babies get much more upset in the evening? How can a parent calm a baby--in mere minutes? Can babies be spoiled? When should a parent of a crying baby call the doctor? How can a parent get their baby to sleep a few hours longer? Even the most loving moms and dads sometimes feel pushed to the breaking point by their infant’s persistent cries. Coming to the rescue, however, Dr. Karp places in the hands of parents, grandparents, and all childcare givers the tools they need to be able to calm their babies almost as easily as…turning off a light. From the Hardcover edition.
What do you think of when you hear the phrase ‘nineteenth-century schooling'? The bullies of Tom Brown's Schooldays? The cane-wielding headmaster of Dotheboys Hall in Nicholas Nickleby? Or Latin lessons, writing slates, learning-by-rote and the smell of ink? In this lively and engrossing book, Marion Aldis and Pam Inder separate the truth from the fiction by examining the diaries, letters and drawings of children and teachers from schools across the United Kingdom. The result is a vivid picture of what it was really like to be at school in the nineteenth century. Among the characters in this book are Ralphy, hopelessly unteachable but an avid collector of ‘curiosities’; Miss Paraman, sadistic teacher in a Dame School; Ann, who became a bluestocking in spite of chaotic home-schooling; Gerald, who spent too much time at Harrow School on cricket and socialising; the Quaker school where both girls and boys studied algebra, chemistry and shorthand; Sarah Jane, enrolled in a lace school at the age of six; and the National Schools where children were absent during the harvest.