Noise

Introducing a heart-wrenching yet inspiring book of poetry and journals based on a young woman's journey to recovery from an eating disorder.

Now!

In my concern for the spiritual state of the world, I felt compelled to share my life story where I felt there was a progression toward the holy spirit ever so gradually but at least it was a progression. I did explore various ways of life. As a high school student, I was happy to be university-bound. As a university student, I was happy to explore freethinking as well as pursue dance, which was a repressed desire ever so gradually coming towards fruition. This art form brought another dimension of self-discovery through choreography and performing, and through the people that I met. This led to a spiritual conversion which is exemplified by a trip to Israel and the fruits that it brought forth.  

Nowhere to Call Home

In many cities and small communities across Canada, the individuals and families that experience homelessness are often invisible to the greater community around them. People may walk by or see someone that is homeless, yet they feel a disconnection. They see homelessness as an experience that happens to "other people" not something that could ever affect them. However, Leah's work bridges the gap between "us" and "them" by bringing humanity to all the faces of these individuals. Leah does a wonderful job of highlighting the heart and the struggle that everyone can relate to. People that experience homelessness have families, they have favorite foods, pets, jobs, goals, and dreams along with their struggles. Leah's photographs capture the story of homelessness with all of its rich complexity in an image and through conversation. * Gail Hoekstra, Executive Director; and Carlin Dykstra, Housing Stability Support Worker, Welcome In Drop-In Centre

Nurturing Creativity Through Poetry Writing

After a few years of teaching high school English, Michael was disillusioned with uninspiring conventional curriculum. Good students simply tolerated the boring content-driven curriculum better than the less academically inclined students. He started reading about an old concept, through a new term: Emotional Intelligence. An epiphany struck: If emotional intelligence (EQ) development was more of an indication of future success than IQ and was vastly more teachable, why did schools not emphasize the development of emotional intelligence?

For the next 25 years as a high school English teacher, Michael drew and learned from vast resources to better understand, articulate, and embed Healthy Habits of the Mind in his everyday lessons. He developed a list of Healthy Habits of the mind which he could discuss with students. Appreciating a curriculum that became relevant and engaging, students invested energy and often discovered their own creativity and voices.

Eventually, Michael understood how developing writing skills and Emotional Intelligence strengthen and reinforce each other. Students who took more risks, succumbed to fewer fears, and developed a revision mentality were better at all life’s tasks, not just writing.

Peeling the Onion: From Matthew Shepard's Murder to "Don't Say Gay"

This book weaves glimpses of some of the author’s experiences; intertwined with the experiences of friends, family and acquaintances; in his half-century journey to understand the impact of oppression and trauma on his life and the country. The author explores how the murder of his young friend Matthew Shepard, and being briefly thrust into the national spotlight, affected the direction and focus of that journey. The book chronicles his movement from the deafening silence of growing up in the “don’t ask don’t tell” environment of Wyoming; through that horrific murder; and into decades of painstakingly slow, positive, change toward social justice; accompanied by a growing negative backlash culminating in “don’t say gay” and other hate-based legislation.

Plights and Perils of Persevering Pioneers

I have been blessed with a long life. A jack-of-all-trades and master of some. From tinker to truck driver, life is the best on-the-job training program ever devised. Life presents a new learning experience with each sunrise. We must make the most of each one. As you near the end of life's road being tired, worn out, and weary, you still try to find purpose. You look for any light at the end of the tunnel; not seeing one, you still move on. Human nature pulls, pushes, and prods us forward. Throwing in the towel is not an option. My life of trials and tribulations has been 55 plus years in the making, and it only seemed to strengthen me. My purpose in life has to be honoring the memory of my ancestors, who gave so much to prepare the way for me. May they all rest in peace, knowing they ran their race well.

Poems: Story from My Heart

Peace, peace, peace

Where are you?

I have been looking all over for you

Wherever you are

Please come on out

Please dwell in us

As our family

From my childhood, yearning for peace and the brotherhood of mankind has been in my heart.

Korea was ruled by Japan from 1910 to 1945. During WWII, my father, a Korean Christian minister, was taken to prison because he refused to walk up to the Shinto temple and bow down to the picture of their emperor. My brother, my best friend, volunteered to join the Japanese army in the hope of having his father released from prison. He left home as a vibrant 15-year-old boy and returned home as a worn-out, injured 18 old man. He died a year later. Then during the Korean War, my father was taken away by the North Korean communists. He never returned. Also during the Korean War, I let my dog, my best friend, go because Mother said we did not even have enough food left for people. Through her travails, my mother led us onward with love and grace.

Now in my twilight years, I, a professor emeritus of electrical engineering, who once was an authority in his field, have decided to share what is in my heart. Not only on topics related to war and peace but also other life experiences through the medium of poetry.

Politics, Police and Other Earthling Antics

Porter Brothers' Tragedy

The Porter brothers, Glenn and Steven, were in their twenties and had their whole lives in front of them.  They found jobs and worked at a business where the wealthy owners had two beautiful daughters. Glenn and Steven pursued these two girls with hopes of marriage. The Porters eventually quit working at the business, and everything turned against them. The two daughters labeled the Porter Brothers as runners, men who run away from the responsibility of marriage, while their rich parents put out a statewide man hunt alert for the state of Maine. The Porters were blacklisted statewide. Their story caught on like wildfire through the rest of Maine. Many people were jealous that they could become rich overnight by marrying these two wealthy daughters. There would be more than one murder attempt on the Porter brothers’ lives in order to prevent them from becoming rich. This is the Porter Brothers’ Tragedy, filled with romance, violence, and stories of torture and disappointed hopes. 

Postcards for Choo Choo Grandma

STOP FALLING, AMERICA!

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Every second, an older adult (65+) falls.” Falling is the number one cause of preventable injuries in the United States.

If you or your loved ones and friends are worried about falling, this book of 170 original quirky and humorous postcards, created by a loving son to save his elderly mother from falling, will inspire and motivate you to walk slowly and watch your step to:

NOT FALL.

Safety bonus: WAYS TO PREVENT FALLING

Private Escape: Sometimes I Think!

This collection of poetic themes, philosophy, and personal thoughts is provocatively written to excite the reader’s mind. Duke’s journey into the realms of spiritual redemption and to establish a footing in the truths of reality will stimulate your mind. The romantic ensemble is tasteful and pushes the envelope of erotica, while the prisoner’s pastime section is both sad and rewarding. Written during the first six months of the pandemic, it is emotional and thrilling. 

Quest for Judaic Identity

Judaism is a religion.

Jews are people.

While the two are closely associated, they are, nevertheless, distinct entities. The Old Testament identifies a Jew as an individual who is a direct lineal descendant of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and, if male, they must be circumcised.

The Jew acquires Jewish genetic identity at the moment of conception. That identity is not lost by conversion to another faith or adoption of atheism. A converted Jew who returns to Judaism is not obliged to convert back since that person never stopped being a Jew. Jewish genetic identity cannot be created or altered by conversion which simply involves religious instruction, blessings by a cleric, and immersion into a ritual bath.

In the third century A.D., the rabbis altered the biblical source of Jewish identity from the Jewish male to the Jewish female causing abject retrospective and prospective confusion. Today, As a result of that change, a Jewish husband married to a gentle wife must procure a token, but ineffectual conversion for his wife, before childbirth, in order to maintain that his child was born Jewish.

Without a verifiable identity, a person does not exist.