Pictures In My Head

"The Irish actor leads the reader through his career on stage and screen as both producer and actor."--Cover

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.

Story of a theatre workshop for children held at the Metropolitan Duane United Methodist Church, New York City.

A Wrinkle in Time meets Stranger Things in an out-of-this-world fast-paced middle grade story about a sister and her special little brother fighting to save the world from an interdimensional catastrophe. Mary Day’s life has always been different, because her little brother, Albie, is different. He doesn’t speak, but he can communicate with Mary via mental telepathy, sending her—and her alone—“mind memos.” To Albie, Mary is Pearl, the person he holds most precious. Then, one snowy day, Albie transmits an alarming two-word message: Bad order. Soon after, Mary and her best friend, Brit, discover a mysterious red mist in the woods that seems to draw them in . . . and turn all their feelings negative. A visit from three extraterrestrials (hilariously trying to pass as human) reveals the truth: there’s a disastrous leak in the dimensional universe—and if Albie can’t repair it, angry, evil thoughts will overtake the entire population. Can Mary, Brit, Brit’s brother Lars, and Albie save the world? And will Mary finally realize that she, like Albie, has something special inside herself?

"In 'Rethinking Thought, ' Laura Otis gives readers a multi-dimensional tour through the minds of thirty creative thinkers to illustrate how the experience of productive thought can vary across the spectrum. Focusing on individual experiences with planning, problem-solving, reflecting, remembering and forging new ideas, Otis approaches the question of what thinking is by analyzing variations in the way thinking feels. Drawing from her own experience as a neurocscientist-turned literary scholar, Otis aptly juxtaposes creative thinkers' insights with recent neuroscientific discoveries centering on visual mental imagery, verbal language, and thought. By offering distinct psychological portraits of famous figures like controversial novelist Salman Rushdie and engineer Temple Grandin, Otis treats scientists and artists with equal respect, and creates a fascinating dialogue in which neuroscientific findings and introspection engage with each other as equal partners. 'Rethinking Thought' encourages readers to resist the temptation of classifying people as 'visual' or 'verbal, ' and to instead consider how thinkers combine both skill-sets and how their abilities can be further developed as a result. By showing how greatly individual experiences of thought can vary, this book aims to help readers in all proessions better understand the diverse pool of people with whom they work and interact with"--Page 4 of cover.

It's simple: If children don't understand what they read, they will never embrace reading. And that limits what they can learn while in school. This fact frightens parents, worries teachers, and ultimately hurts children. 7 Keys to Comprehension is the result of cutting-edge research. It gives parents and teachers—those who aren't already using this valuable program—practical, thoughtful advice about the seven simple thinking strategies that proficient readers use: • Connecting reading to their background knowledge • Creating sensory images • Asking questions • Drawing inferences • Determining what's important • Synthesizing ideas • Solving problems Easily understood, easily applied, and proven successful, this essential educational tool helps parents and teachers to turn reading into a fun and rewarding adventure.

The idea that some people think differently, though no less humanly, is explored in this inspiring book. Temple Grandin is a gifted and successful animal scientist, and she is autistic. Here she tells us what it was like to grow up perceiving the world in an entirely concrete and visual way - somewhat akin to how animals think, she believes - and how it feels now. Through her finely observed understanding of the workings of her mind she gives us an invaluable insight into autism and its challenges.

The precise relationship between high-functioning autism and Asperger Syndrome is still a subject of debate. This volume provides a general overview of the disorder and present diverse opinions on diagnosis and assessment, neuropsychological issues, treatment, and related conditions. A special section features personal essays by individuals diagnosed with autism or Asperger Syndrome. The result is a comprehensive and useful survey of the current state of the field that will be of great interest to clinicians, teachers, researchers, and parents.