Discombobulated

Hallucinations. Voices that weren't mine. Dark caverns governing my emotions. Life with mental illness was desperate, yet hopeful. Discombobulated invites you to enter my world. Travel the journey with me.

Wayne Rudolph Davidson delves deeper into his family history in this second book of his When Clans Collide trilogy. Exploring his own personal branch that stems from the genealogical trunk of the distinguished Davidson family tree, he writes from the perspective of an African-American male born in the post-World War II era caught in a firestorm of extraordinary social change, civil disturbance, and a burgeoning drug culture. His life runs in tandem with the migration of African-Americans from the rural South to urban centers in the North and historic events such as the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Senator Robert F. Kennedy. He seamlessly blends his family genealogy and his own mistakes and triumphs with American history. From being an unemployed autoworker living and working in a dark tunnel to positions of responsibility and authority as a member of the U.S. Army in strategic places around the world, in this book, the author gets a chance rarely given to African-American men: to tell his story before his peers instead of before a magistrate.

Almost every family has that one member that nobody wants to invite to bring along on their family vacations. When it was announced to Uncle Barry that the Dyson family were going on a fun European vacation - without him, Uncle Barry started making plans of his own. He was going to do whatever it takes to come along or he'll sabotage their dream vacation. And there was no way interfering jealous Barry wasn't coming along. Now, with the stakes at an all-time high, the Dyson family must do everything conceivable (but legal) to make sure that they're on that plane and as far away from troublesome Uncle Barry as far as possible. But that was only the least of their worries...

After learning, in DISinformation, that losing his feathers (moulting) is a perfectly natural part of life, Woody the Canary is told by his so-called buddy, Sir Humphrey, the Princess Parrot, that his trilling song is dis-com-bob-u-lat-ing to all his feathered friends. Woody can hardly say the word, let alone track down who finds his song so unpleasant.

Colossal Words for Kids is a book of 60 hilariously illustrated rhymes to boost vocabulary, reading skills and spelling. Each poem in this fun and funky book teaches a specific important word, its meaning and spelling, in an innovative and accesible way that kids will love. Using rhythm and wordplay, the poems help build a colossal vocabulary, thinking skills and literacy. But most of all, this book delights young readers with the fun and silliness of the English language. Building a colossal vocabulary has never felt so natural, or so much fun! Each word in this collection is defined in a simple rhyme. Using rhythm, humour and logic, each word's meaning is made clear and accessible. Kids will want to try them out straight away: it's a ready-to-use collection! From Ambiguous to Zealous, the words in this book are for 7-12-year olds. It may seem inconceivable for one book to encompass such a wide age span! But in fact, inconceivable (and all the words in this book) were selected from vocabulary lists intended for older children, so that younger children can challenge themselves and discover a wealth of great new words!

Mental illness has been my life. It began with deep dark feelings of internal horribleness at age 10 and culminated with a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder in my late 30s. What is it like to live with a mental illness? Confusing. For years I could not decipher between real and not real. Dreams, hallucinations and real life blended into one reality. My hallucinations mostly consisted of my being raped. It could happen at any time. Voices would tell me to do things such as drive into a wall or shred my skin. Still, until a major breakdown at age 34 where I discovered I had no self, I was able to hide my terrifying life. I've been hospitalized 2 1/2 times and one year I took medical leave from my job. Proper diagnosis took years. My diagnosis history included Histrionic, Major Depression, Multiple Personality Disorder, and finally Schizoaffective Disorder. With the right therapist, and time, came the correct diagnosis; with the correct diagnosis, came the medication that helped bring my life under control in a good way. The journey has been a long one. Writing my story has been one of physical and emotional need. I had to write it. My message is one of hope. My therapist has written her perspective, too, adding to the completeness of my story. I want people to have a better understanding of mental illness. I want people to know how horrible a mental illness can be, and that there can be hope.

A fancy little package for true word lovers. This utterly debatable list will be a conversation starter and a very entertaining book to carry around. We’ve taken our million-selling Pocket Posh® format (over 1.5 million copies in print) and packed this pretty purse-sized book with 120 words that are truly fun to say, words such as discombobulated, lagniappe, onomatopoeia, and baba ganoush. From absquatulate to zoilist to words found in between (such as hullabaloo, phantasmagorical, and obstreperous), Pocket Posh Word Power: 120 Words That Are Fun to Say offers a list of smile-inducing words that will raise everyone's spirits along with their word power. This Pocket Posh Word Power collection promises a gargantuan vocabulary boost inside an effortlessly portable, ergonomic package that features fun cover embellishments, an elastic band closure, and a convenient lay-flat binding. In addition, each entry provides pronunciation, part of speech, definition, usage in a sentence, and etymology information.

"It was only the warm up night, but long ago I lost the ability to set my disco dial to moderate lunacy or even slight mayhem; long ago that switch snapped and now I'm stuck permanently on DISCO BONKERS." From Las Vegas to Moscow, New York to Shanghai, DISCOMBOBULATED features fifty unbelievably true tales of high living and low-cost slumming, with a celebrity cast featuring Kylie Minogue, Take That, Paul Oakenfold, Fatboy Slim, Coolio, gangster Dave Courtney and many more. Revered clubbing correspondent Simon A. Morrison (DJmag, Ministry of Sound) takes readers on a pocket-sized, decade-spanning tour of the nightlife of five continents, bringing together the snappiest, wittiest and hippest dispatches of the last eight years, to make one of the classic books of the clubbing generation.