A delightful journey with a young, lonely boy who lives only in the light because of his fear of the dark. He meets a young girl that shows him the beauty and magic of the dark, along with all the creatures that live in the dark. He learns that he has a choice to 'turn on' the light or the dark.

A wonderful exploration of the male and female energies. A must read for anyone interested in Sex Magick.

This book features bamboo illustrated for contemplation and koans for consideration. Different from every other Tao book I've seen and enriching because of the gentle breezes of fresh thought that waft through the mind of the beholder.

I am a pastor and have a couple thousand books of my own. Of those I have a couple dozen I wish I could see get into the hands of every Born-again Christian Church Leader. This is one of those books. On this subject, the only book I've read that I like better is Watchman Nee's very hard to find book: The Normal Christian CHURCH Life. This book differs from that one in that Nee's small book deals just with the Theology of Team ministry whereas this one covers a lot of the practical application of those Biblical principles as well. These principles could be church-life changing for many a weary and struggling pastor. Can't afford a 2nd/3rd staff member? Can you afford not to hire one? Take a cut in pay if you have to, until the extra man draws in enough new membership to defray his cost. But DON'T ruin your health, your marriage and family life, and your ministry trying to be a little bit of all the ministries God never called you to, while NOT exercising the precious gifts God did give the Body of Christ through you. Get the book, you won't regret it.

Dr Ray takes you on a step-by-step journey towards a successful transition to Self-Directed teams. Everything from Whats to Whys, Designing a system for success, etc. There are alot of good illustrations of potential issues and tangible benefits of a team-based culture.

I have purchased this book for my staff to be used as a reference text while making this journey.

Review of: Technical and Business Writing for Working Professionals by Ray E. Hardesty

(Review appeared in Technical Communication: The Journal of the Society for Technical Communication, May 2002. Reviewed by Laura A. MacLamale, M.A.)

As industries evolve, so do the roles of employees. For example, the e-commerce evolution marked a need for corporate Webmasters, and employees had to adopt the skills necessary to assume a corporate Internet presence. In the evolving corporate structure and workplace, non-technical employees may need to acquire technical skills, and technical employees may need to acquire skills in information design and writing. This concept of technical employees acquiring writing skills is the principal focus of Technical and Business Writing for Working Professionals, written by Ray E. Hardesty, former book review editor of Technical Communication.
Hardesty credits the "change...in the business world" with placing writing responsibilities "on the shoulders of professionals for whom writing is not their primary specialty." The author states his goal up front: "to serve the audience of working professionals who may need a concise refresher course on the use of the English language in general and the use of language in the professional world in particular."
At 229 pages, including an index, the book is a fairly quick read. It's divided into three main parts: "Basics of English, "Technical Writing," and "Business Writing." Each of these main sections consists of several separate lessons, and each lesson has a "Memory Solidifier" at the end for self-quizzing.
"Basics of English" provides an overview of standards of the language, with emphasis on parts of speech and sentence structure. "Technical Writing" offers a discussion of standards and styles that establish the ideal approach to your audience. "Business Writing" contains suggested approaches to communicating in industry, from electronic memos to oral presentations.
The first section is intended as a primer for busy professionals and students with more experience on the technical side than the writing side. Hardesty breaks the section into chapters based on the parts of speech. Although the general discussion of various components of grammar is helpful, some of the examples could be stronger to directly clarify the concepts that they are intended to support.
For writing professionals, the section is more of a resource to consult occasionally for the basics. My copy has some highlighted notes on some concepts that need reinforcement from time to time. (Reminders on the proper uses of that and which, and restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses are always appreciated.)
The second section, "Technical Writing," highlights the "rules" of good technical writing. This section is aimed at technical employees who are familiar with the content but not with the task of explaining it to a non-technical audience. Here you will find practical advice about acronyms, units of measure, syntax and usage, and other writing conventions. This section also emphasizes the need to "Visualize your readers!" This consideration is necessary for all technical writers, but especially for those who are familiar with communicating advanced technical concepts with other subject matter experts but not to a non-technical audience.
The third section, "Business Writing," is the strongest. All types of business communication are discussed here, from e-mail and letters, to reports and proposals. The author again stresses the importance of "visualizing your audience" across the various media. The chapter on the internal report is relevant to both technical and non-technical writers who are required to write white papers in their jobs. (White papers describe a product, service, or technology, and are usually circulated within an organization to influence a business decision.) Those who are charged with writing them would find applicable information on organization and content here.
The discussion of proposal writing is also relevant to writers of all stripes, as this seems to be a form of communication that many professionals and students are not familiar with. A somewhat specialized niche in writing, proposal writing can be particularly demanding, detail-oriented, and deadline-driven. Requests for proposals are usually quite specific in their requirements, and the proposal writer's precision becomes extremely important.
Because this section covers the everyday writing that all industry employees are likely to participate in at one time or another, "Business Writing" is probably the most relevant portion of this book, and the most thorough.
The "Memory Solidifiers" throughout the book may also contribute to its value as a resource, for they allow readers to make notes on their own terms and view those notes as needed when questions arise. For readers who prefer to consult their own notes rather than scan through textbooks, the "Memory Solidifiers" would be an added bonus.
In my current position, we have the opportunity to train business professionals in writing skills. For that purpose, I would recommend this book to the trainer as a source of topical overviews and demonstration ideas. The "Business Writing" section would be my main reason for recommending this book, in part because it's the strongest and in part because it's the most relevant to our purpose.
Indeed, as industries evolve, so do our roles. Although the audience for this review contains many technical communicators, the target audience of this book would include a larger pool of employees with less writing experience. For that audience, the book would be a good introduction to basic concepts. It would make a handy quick reference to keep on hand, along with a standard such as Strunk and White's The Elements of Style. For an audience of technical communicators, this book would be a companion piece to both Strunk and White and a technical style guide as a reinforcer of the principles of effective business communication.

from the book's back cover: "america. today. walking through the city. any city. life is modular. mix and match friends. cell phones. disposable computers. bored kids creating self tailored disorders. finally, sexuality is not an issue. besides it's a currency in itself. accelerating technology. and music. and raves. and djs. life is a record where the turntable needle plays only the good parts. floating political communities of wannabe radicals where information is prestige. so some think. wish. want. and believe. isolated micro-communes. a global mega corporation with only three employees. girls who study the history of the united states through all of its 2 am parties. guys who try to forget life from day to day and unknowingly sell their memories on the emotional black market. shopping is a lifestyle. design is a nation. nanotechnology in the hands of the young. some checkout mainframe computers from the local library. others obsess over new versions of the united states that upload daily across the internet." -

this is a technology satire that references everything from raves, electronic music (autechre, aphex twin) to organic architecture (lebbeus woods) and minimal graphic design. this is a book that plays with structure as much as ideas and character. (it is about 212 pages). some have called it designer cyberpunk, others have called it avant mech. some pages have one or two words on them, other pages are filled completely-actually the book is written like a long computer program pseudo-code. the book was originally written in novel form and then rewritten in program form-it does contain a complete, coherent story. i have had people love it and others hate it immensely. it is very sparsely written but very dense with information. ultimately the reader will decide. because it is so short, i would read the book all the way through before questioning the book's story, motive or its design.--

reviews, comments and criticisms welcome. ray ogar.--

other books you might read: _cigarette boy_ by darick chamberlin, _slaughtermatic_ by steve aylett, _ribofunk_ by paul di filippo, _arc d'x_ by steve erickson... cds: anything by autechre, aphex twin, while, funkstorung, pan sonic, icarus.

Discussion of U.S. color television picture tube/CRT industry with data from 1989-93, published in May 1995. Describes product, domestic industry structure, consumer characteristics, foreign industry profile, US trade measures, foreign trade measures, US market, foreign markets, US imports/exports/trade balance.

Available free of charge from U.S. International Trade Commission, Washington DC. Your tax dollars at work.

For similar works on other products, see ...

Ray Reyes has written a book that outlines a philosophy for life, as well as a philosophy for teaching. This book has served me well over the years; I use the commandments at back-to-school night to give parents an idea of my approach to teaching, and I refer to it throughout the year during those moments when times are difficult. It is a great addition for any professional library and gives a much-needed positive message.

Thought provoking, excellent content with compelling characters. Book holds your interest throughout. While this is fiction, it is evident the author based much of the writing on factual events involving detailed and extensive research. Very well written and very enlightening. A good read for all ages.