I Know I Am But What Are You

A Daily Show correspondent turns her unique wit on herself, discussing what it was like to be raised by a Wiccan mother, her parents' uncomfortable sex talks, all the strange jobs she had on the road to The Daily Show and much more.

'Birrell has a grand eye for the small detail that is the hallmark of a well-made story.' -- The Toronto Star Kleptomaniacs, convicts, roof-walkers and homicidal hippies: populated as they are with lives both ordinary and extraordinary, Heather Birrell's stories pull at the sinews of the strange until the strangeness shapes itself into something familiar. At the same time, they mould the day-to-day into something new and wholly unexpected. Oldrick must come to terms with his ex-girlfriend's new lover and a belligerent barista in the midst of a smelly garbage strike. Young Misha learns about the complexities of grownup love when his mother is bitten by a stingray. Home-schooled Rational gets a tutor and learns that his 'hunker in the bunker' family isn't quite what he thought it was, and bus-bound Marion, in love with a married man, finds solace in conversation with a convict. The stories in I know you are but what am I? are like snow domes – perfect little self-contained worlds that you can hold in your hand, turn upside down, shake until the meaning settles in a hundred different ways. Here are children and adults, men and women, all struggling to define themselves, all searching for ways to belong. This is a lucid, dextrous collection that marks the ascension of a writer to watch. Heather Birrell's stories have been shortlisted for both the Western and National Magazine Awards and have appeared in numerous Canadian literary journals. A frequent book reviewer and winner of the Journey Prize, she also works as a high school teacher and a creative writing instructor.

After being diagnosed with terminal cancer, a professor shares the lessons he's learned—about living in the present, building a legacy, and taking full advantage of the time you have—in this life-changing classic. "We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand." —Randy Pausch A lot of professors give talks titled "The Last Lecture." Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can't help but mull over the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy? When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave—"Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams"—wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because "time is all you have . . . and you may find one day that you have less than you think"). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living. In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come.

In this intensely personal and highly motivating book, bestselling author, pastor, and Passion founder Louie Giglio shows you how to embrace your “smallness” in light of God’s greatness—and live with more meaning than you have ever dreamed possible. Our God is more expansive and powerful than we could ever imagine, the all-mighty creator of galaxies beyond our reach. But He is also the loving creator who has formed and fashioned you. Yet, as valuable as you are to Him, God’s best for your life is to invite you into a story that is all about Him. I am not…but God knows my name. I am not…but He has pursued me in His love. I am not…but I know the Creator of the universe. I am not, but I know I AM! Now updated with all new content to encourage you in your quest to live for what matters most.

A unique individual with a fascinating life story, Ivar Giaever is a scientist who won the Nobel Prize in Experimental Physics in 1973. In his own words, Giaever relates an absorbing tale of how important luck and good fortune have been in shaping his life. He narrates the story of an ordinary childhood in Norway and an unremarkable undergraduate career at university. After finishing his engineering degree, he served in the Norwegian army and married his childhood sweetheart, Inger Skramstad. His desire to make a better life for his new family led Ivar to Canada and then to the United States. Even without an advanced degree in a scientific field, Ivar was given the opportunity to work with cutting-edge scientific researchers at General Electric R&D in Schenectady, New York. While there, he completed his PhD at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute -- one of the United States' oldest technological universities. His work on superconductivity led to worldwide recognition and the Nobel Prize. This memoire is more than the story of an accomplished, world-renowned scientist: it is an engaging reminiscence of an independent, highly creative thinker and problem solver who loves games and puzzles, skiing and windsurfing, and time with friends and family. Dr Ivar Giaever's fascinating story intertwines his views on the nature of science, scientific processes, contemporary issues such as global warming, and the great benefits the Nobel Prize has afforded him. Written with humor and often tongue-in-cheek, 'I am the Smartest Man I know' is one man's meditation on science, intellectual inquiry, and life itself.

The public outcry for a return to moral education in our schools has raised more dust than it's dispelled. Building upon his provocative ideas in On Becoming Responsible, Michael Pritchard clears the air with a sensible plan for promoting our children's moral education through the teaching of reasonableness. Pritchard contends that children have a definite but frequently untapped capacity for reasonableness and that schools in a democratic society must make the nurturing of that capacity one of their primary aims, as fundamental to learning as the development of reading, writing, and math skills. Reasonableness itself, he shows, can be best cultivated through the practice of philosophical inquiry within a classroom community. In such an environment, children learn to work together, to listen to one another, to build on one another's ideas, to probe assumptions and different perspectives, and ultimately to think for themselves. Advocating approaches to moral education that avoid mindless indoctrination and timid relativism, Pritchard neither preaches nor hides behind abstractions. He makes liberal use of actual classroom dialogues to illustrate children's remarkable capacity to engage in reasonable conversation about moral concepts involving fairness, cheating, loyalty, truthtelling, lying, making and keeping promises, obedience, character, and responsibility. He also links such discussions to fundamental concerns over law and moral authority, the roles of teachers and parents, and the relationship between church and state. Pritchard draws broadly and deeply from the fields of philosophy and psychology, as well as from his own extensive personal experience working with children and teachers. The result is a rich and insightful work that provides real hope for the future of our children and their moral education.

Forget the 10,000 hour rule— what if it’s possible to learn the basics of any new skill in 20 hours or less? Take a moment to consider how many things you want to learn to do. What’s on your list? What’s holding you back from getting started? Are you worried about the time and effort it takes to acquire new skills—time you don’t have and effort you can’t spare? Research suggests it takes 10,000 hours to develop a new skill. In this nonstop world when will you ever find that much time and energy? To make matters worse, the early hours of prac­ticing something new are always the most frustrating. That’s why it’s difficult to learn how to speak a new language, play an instrument, hit a golf ball, or shoot great photos. It’s so much easier to watch TV or surf the web . . . In The First 20 Hours, Josh Kaufman offers a systematic approach to rapid skill acquisition— how to learn any new skill as quickly as possible. His method shows you how to deconstruct com­plex skills, maximize productive practice, and remove common learning barriers. By complet­ing just 20 hours of focused, deliberate practice you’ll go from knowing absolutely nothing to performing noticeably well. Kaufman personally field-tested the meth­ods in this book. You’ll have a front row seat as he develops a personal yoga practice, writes his own web-based computer programs, teaches himself to touch type on a nonstandard key­board, explores the oldest and most complex board game in history, picks up the ukulele, and learns how to windsurf. Here are a few of the sim­ple techniques he teaches: Define your target performance level: Fig­ure out what your desired level of skill looks like, what you’re trying to achieve, and what you’ll be able to do when you’re done. The more specific, the better. Deconstruct the skill: Most of the things we think of as skills are actually bundles of smaller subskills. If you break down the subcompo­nents, it’s easier to figure out which ones are most important and practice those first. Eliminate barriers to practice: Removing common distractions and unnecessary effort makes it much easier to sit down and focus on deliberate practice. Create fast feedback loops: Getting accu­rate, real-time information about how well you’re performing during practice makes it much easier to improve. Whether you want to paint a portrait, launch a start-up, fly an airplane, or juggle flaming chain­saws, The First 20 Hours will help you pick up the basics of any skill in record time . . . and have more fun along the way.

Having this opportunity to write this book, The Blessing.The Spiritual side of Poetry, Volume 2 of the series of Life Issues. Is truly a privilege and honor. I Thank God for the accolades in my life. For he is the reason for the blessings. I dont know what I would do without Him. This book is personal, but not just for me but for all mankind. Its an entry into life issues to life situations that reveal the true blessing. God is so amazing, even through the diversity of our lives, he still remains Faithful and true. You have to love him, because he loves you. So walk in the likeness of him, for he is The Blessing. Amen