Eat Fried Worms: A Book Review

What's the grossest thing you've ever eaten? Tongue, oxtail, durian? What if you had to eat worms, one a day, for fifteen days? That's the bet that Billy takes on in How To Eat Fried Worms, by Thomas Rockwell.

Tom will be Billy's second, and Joe will be Alan's. He can eat the worms any way he wants: boiled, stewed, fried, fricasseed. Joe and Alan will provide the worms, but there has to be one of them present when it gets eaten, to be sure there is no cheating.

If Billy can do it, Alan will pay him fifty dollars. That would be enough money to buy the mini bike that George's brother was going to sell before he leaves for college.

How bad could a worm taste? Billy had eaten fried liver, salmon loaf, pigs feet. Well...could he use ketchup or mustard or anything he wanted on it?

Yup.

Okay, the bet was on!

Trouble started from Day One. Tom was arguing with Alan and Joe, who wanted to dig the worm from a manure pile. They ended up digging up a night crawler from across the field. A big, fat, juicy, red night crawler.

"Awrgh!" cried Billy. "A night crawler isn't a worm!"

After consulting in the dictionary, they had to agree that it was a worm all right. A python-sized worm, maybe, but still a worm, and fair game. Ugh.

Billy glopped on ketchup and mustard and horseradish and a few drops of lemon juice, then salt and pepper. The next piece they added cinnamon and sugar, a bit of cheese, some cracker crumbs and Worchestershire sauce.

After he had eaten the whole thing, Billy got up, started flapping his arms like a big bird and hopped around the barn, crying, "Gute, gute. Ver'fine, ver'fine. Gute, gute."

Train Your Dog Not to Bark

When a dog is irritated by any sort of heat, cold, hunger or thirst it gets its owners attention by excessive barking. It also barks when it is in pain, sick, lonely or sometimes just plain bored. Dogs will also bark to alert you when someone is near or they sense some sort of danger. Dogs are very jealous companions and will even bark when you are talking to a person or ignoring them. Some breeds are more prone to barking than others.

So how exactly do you get a dog to stop barking so much?

One way could be to focus on teaching the dog TO bark! When you can train your dog to bark on cue you can usually pick up on training them to stop barking on cue as well. Another great example is to teach your dog isolation. Your dog should be able to be alone during certain times of the day without having to continually bark. At first this can be difficult and your dog may think that you have forgotten him or are ignoring him which may prompt him to bark even more but after letting it bark for a while they realize that they are merely wasting their own breath.

Have You Punched in Yet? (Career Book Review)

Looking to get a job and eventually move up in the world? Do you need to get experience or perhaps, just get a job even if it is a step down for you; under-employment? If so, wow, there is a great book I read mostly for fun, but as I read I felt I was there, and got a much better understanding of what the front-line employees in the US go through. The book I'd like to recommend to you is:

"Punching In - The Unauthorized Adventures of a Front Line Employee," by Alex Frankel, Collins Publishers, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, New York, NY (2007), pp 223, ISBN: 978-0-06-084966-5.

An interesting article to read which immediately made my memory recall upon reading this book was one I read in Quality Progress, an industry trade journal in November of 2007, beginning on page 55 titled; "Turning the Tables: Six Questions to Ask Your Interviewer," writer by Joe Conklin. In that article he suggests how to turn difficult questions during the hiring procedure into conversations which uplift your intellectual status, thus your value, while allowing you gain pre-employment intelligence.

The author of this book writes in a similar genre as the author of "Nickled and Dimed" but at a higher level of employment, namely rather than working at places like a 24hr. Waffle House, Walmart, or Gas Station mini-mart - the author of "Punching In" worked for UPS, Starbucks, Whole Foods, and sold iPods at the Apple Store, and also entered the well-known manager program for Enterprise Rent-a-Car.

A Personal Financial Book Review (Credit Scores Count)

We seem to live in a world of credit. It seems to propel our society and civilization. However, far too many citizens do not understand how credit works, and they really have no clue as to the benefits or economic enslavement which can be caused by compounded interest. It's amazing that we do not teach this in our schools, and that financial literacy does not rank up there with reading, writing and arithmetic because it is quite obvious that these are just as important to success in life in our modern society.

If you are interested in maintaining a high credit score, and you have found things on your credit rating which are either incorrect, erroneous, or perhaps, even fraudulent, then there is no doubt you'd like to correct these things. If so, there is a great book that I'd like to recommend to you on this topic, one that I have in my personal library, the name of the book is;

"Credit Correction Manual; How to Repair Your Credit -Step-By-Step Guide" by Henry C. Simons

The book describes the psychological behavior of consumers with credit cards; their greed, needs, and wants, which leads to abuse and deep debt, eventually economic enslavement. Mr. Simons also discusses the fundamentals of credit. In Credit he talks about the four C's;

Character

Capital

Capacity

Collateral

The book also describes in full "The Fair Credit Reporting Act" or FCRA of 1970, and how you as a consumer are protected, and have rights. There is a full chapter about the Federal Trade Commission's role in protecting consumers from credit fraud. I highly recommend this book to anyone who owns a credit card. Indeed, I suppose that's just about everyone. So please consider this.

Here Ways To Love Your Startup Book Review

The first, and most obvious thing I came to realize while reading this interesting book, is how much the author, Bruce Mancinelli loves Startups. My guess is that Bruce has hundreds of ways that he loves startups, but wanted to save some of "the Ways" for a sequel, or simply wished to limit the sheer volume of pages that might encompass. I share Bruce's enthusiasm for startups, and thus thoroughly enjoyed his sound, pragmatic and sometimes amusing advice and anecdotes. It should come as no surprise that Mancinelli loves startups, according to his biography, he has been involved with seven startups and is currently the Executive Director of INC.spire, a business incubator program and part of the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce. INC.spire is a very successful incubator program having enjoyed a 96% graduation success with its clients.

50 Ways To Love Your Startup offers entrepreneurs, would be entrepreneurs, and home office type businesses (SOHO) a pragmatic, step by step approach to creating or accelerating a startup. Succinct reviews of important startup mechanics including:

Landing the big idea

Writing a coherent, measurable and actionable business plan

Insuring your business, business basics for startups

Budgeting, cash management and the importance of zealous bill collection

Marketing - both tradition, web and buzz

And responding to surprises and challenges

The author offers clear and succinct advice on helping would be entrepreneurs become successful entrepreneurs.

Though there are many worthwhile chapters, or should I say, "Ways to love your startup", several seemed particularly germane considering the current business climate for entrepreneurs. Ways 36 -38 discuss financing and financing alternatives including microloans, the SBA, peer to peer and incubator alternatives. And Way 38, Don't Forget the Company is an important credo. I concur that raising capital is not the company's business, quoting that second half of the title from Way 38. And for any entrepreneurs getting that sinking feeling, Way 26, Man the Ship, Chip: Avoid Titanic Events seems like a natural.

Book Of Lucky You (Review)

Lucky You: How to get Everything You Want and Create Your Ideal Life Using the Law of Attraction, David Hooper, 2009, ISBN 9781608420032

Everyone has heard of the Law of Attraction, but does it really work? How can the average person get the universe to send some good things in their direction?

A central concept of the Law of Attraction is that "like attracts like"; we attract people and situations that correspond with our dominant thoughts. Negative thoughts attract negative events, while positive thoughts attract positive events.

You need to get in the habit of saying positive things to yourself each day; it all comes down to beliefs and attitudes. It is going to take practice, but it is very much worth it. The book gives plenty of examples of things to say to yourself; the actual words are not as important as the attitude behind them. For instance, don't focus on getting a million dollars. Focus instead on the peace and freedom you will feel when you no longer have to worry about whether or not you can pay the monthly bills. Focus instead on the joy you will feel from contributing to a local organization that helps people in need.

Most people are much too impatient when it comes to the Law of Attraction. They ask for a million dollars, look around and ask "Where's the money?" Then they convince themselves that it doesn't work, get angry and sullen, and all that negative energy flowing out of them attracts more negative energy to them. Let go and trust that the universe will fulfill your request when it thinks is the right time, not when you think is the right time.

the Curious Life of Human Cadavers (Stiff)

Do you know why cadavers look swollen after they rot? That is thanks to all those little flesh eating creatures we call maggots and bacteria. They too have secretion system. The only different is, when we die, our muscle stops working (d'oh!) thus OUR secretion system fail to dispose any garbage within our body. Voila! We become their toilet.

Have you seen Wizard of Oz? One of the characters "melts" when she dies. That's what happens to cadavers too. They simply melt after awhile.

Human is supposedly still alive even after the bodies are separated from their heads, they will stay alert and aware of their surroundings, and most probably still able to feel pain.

There's and old tradition in China that daughter in laws should show their respect to their mother in laws, by providing some of their own meat and serve it as soup for the mother in laws when they fall ill.

THOSE are some of the stuffs you'll learn from Stiff, The Curious Life of Human Cadaver.

It's been around for quite sometimes, so I was late reading it.

The Adventures of Mad Martin (Review)

The Adventures of Mad Martin, Elly Cares, (Kindle e-book)

This is a connected group of modern-day detective stories about an investigator whose methods are not just quirky or unique, but downright bizarre. However, no one can dispute her record in solving crimes.

Molly Martin is a woman with long, flowing red hair, bright green eyes, and is one of those people who marches to the beat of a different drummer. She lives in a mansion with her assistant, Brian (who she constantly calls Johnny). Martin is a billionaire, so she can afford it. She has a closet full of bags of cheese doodles. The local police detective, Detective Carple, gets a headache whenever she is around.

A man is found dead inside a beautiful old building that has become an apartment house. The body is actually the top and bottom half of two different people, and one of the female residents has, literally, fallen in love with the building.

In the forest, miles from anywhere, five people are found dead, face down in the mud, with their lips and fingers removed. It has to do with some residents of a nearby small town trying much too hard to create the "perfect" town, and a little boy who brings new meaning to the word "creepy."

A woman comes to Martin, very concerned about her sister, living at a local mental hospital. The sister has been making great progress in her recovery, frequently calling and writing letters. All of a sudden, there has been nothing from the sister, for several days. Did she run away? Has she been kidnapped? Is she still alive?

The Blind Side (Book Review)

The true story about Michael Oher is an amazing story that is often viewed as controversial or inspirational. Regardless on your perspective of the story, you can be inspired by this story of his life.

The book is similar to the movie that won a best actress award for Sandra Bullock. There are some differences but the crux of the story remains true. When the movie came out in 2009, most critics did not like the film. They viewed aspects of the story as being stereotypical and negative. Many of the film goers loved this film especially those who enjoyed family movies or films of a spiritual nature.

The author of the book, "The Blind Side", is Michael Lewis. He wrote many sports books in football and baseball. You can see much of the football perspective in the beginning part of the book. The evolution of the position of the left tackle (which is the blind side of right-handed quarterbacks) has revolutionized the passing game of football. Why has the position of the left tackle changed the passing game? The offensive line is misconstrued as an unskilled position. In reality, all football teams need an offensive line to execute their running game or passing game. In particular, the value of the left tackle has gone up considerably. This is not a disrespect for the other offensive linemen- the center, guards, and the right tackle. The defensive linebackers (in particular, Lawrence Taylor) would attack from the blind side of the quarterback and often injure the quarterback. Everyone would accept that the quarterback is extremely valuable part of any football team. The left tackle became a sort of an asset protection for the team. Not anyone can play left tackle. You had to have the physical attributes such as long arms, huge body frame, quick feet, etc.

What Exactly is Singing Success? (Singing Success)

"Singing Success" is a product created by Brett Manning, the renowned singing coach and tutor, that is aimed at anyone who wants to learn to sing. Brett himself reportedly uses the same methods outlined in his product that he uses with some of his top students, such as Keith Urban, Mark Kibble or Hayley Williams. Does that instantly mean, however, that by purchasing this product you can be the next Hayley or Keith?

As with any product, it is important to weigh up just what exactly it is you are buying, how much it will cost and more importantly, will it actually work? Rather simply, you wouldn't purchase a car knowing that it'll work for 3 months before breaking down, likewise, you wouldn't buy a vocal training kit if you didn't think the long-term benefits were worth it.

Any vocal coach will tell you that just about anyone can learn to sing. Singing can be defined as a continuation of natural speech but if anyone can learn sing, can anyone learn to sing well? Like any skills, proper tuition is one of the key elements of success and it must be some comfort to know that the man training you has trained some vastly successful artists.

How To Good Writing

Every writer has a favorite book or author to help them in their quest to be a better writer. For myself, it is Mitchell Ivers' Random House Guide to Good Writing which has inspired me to write and to write well.

Ivers' book identifies what is good writing, the voice and tone of writing, structure and plot, grammar, and more. What I like about the book is that Ivers writes in a style that is easy to follow and not overflowing with verbosity: Ivers goes straight to the point when giving examples. So, when you read "Guide to Good Writing" you come away wanting to write not having to write. In other words, what some instructors make to be a chore, Ivers clearly replaces with the joy of writing.

Ivers' writing exercises are particularly useful to help writers develop their own style. The Random House Style manual is included as an appendix to the book. In addition, Ivers includes examples from Poe and Emerson, two of my favorite classical authors. Reread Poe's "Masque of the Red Death" and you will be inspired, if not a little bit frightened!

Book Review (Reality Checked)

Reality Checked - Life through Death, is a moving saga about finding meaning in a world of suffering and pointless hate based on the color of skin. Former school teacher and Theologist, Victor Waller has incorporated many of life's issues through the lives of his characters who were forced to make decisions in hopeless situations. Racism, revenge and hate are rampant in this book. Domestic abuse and the dangers hidden within our society's foster care system are also addressed.

There is only one main character - Catherine Brown - along with a host of supporting characters. Catherine grows up under the terrible threat of racism - which many use simply as an excuse to harm another human. In fact, her father and uncle were orphaned at a very young age through a racist attack. The fairy-tale romance of her parents slid away as fears of her father's suspected infidelity enforces her mother's accusations that she is being poisoned. Never really knowing the truth, Catherine stumbles through her youth and into adulthood.

Unfortunately, a disturbed individual brutally murders her family and Catherine is dragged away by the police and incarcerated for many years. She survived the harsh environment through the friendship of her cellmate - and their hunger for revenge.

As an old woman, Catherine is only free from the bars of her prison. Her body is now her jailer - it is discovered that she inherited her mother's mysterious illness. Thinking she had no family remaining alive, Catherine is surprised when she is invited to a family reunion. This reunion proves to be one of Catherine's greatest challenges. As she seeks to repair the family discord, she is contacted by a person from the past and her chance for revenge is handed to her on a silver platter.

Book Of Jagannath Culture

Jagannath Culture -The principle of SarvaDharma samanwaya

Orissa is the land of Jagannath culture. It represents the religious worships of orissa. It has unique and valuable religious tourism resources. The state has something for everyone. The monuments- the sun temple at Konark, the Jagannath temple at Puri, the Lingraj temple at Bhubaneswar are the sacred places of Orissa attract thousand of pilgrimages from the different parts of world in recent time. The beautiful yatra, Car festivals of Lord Jagannath motivate many devotees from different parts of the world. There are many spots of Orissa, which deserve to be publicized worldwide by international tourism. The temple architect and sculpture of Orissa are world famous. Apart from Indian culture, Orissa like any other region of the country have no separate culture of own. Lord Jagannath is the presiding deity of Orissa culture. It became the symbol of unified religion and culture among the Jainism, Buddhism, shaivism, vaishnavism and Shaktism from time to time. But Jagannath is the lord of universe, almighty and omnipresent. The sacred place, Puri of Orissa is prominent as purusottam kshetra. In the Hindu belief it is one of the four centers of salvation from ancient times ,the people of India regarded four places, namely, Badrinathin the north, Rameswaram in the south, Dwaraka in the west, and Puri on the eastern sea cost as their destinations for pilgrimage. Puri was thus recognized as one of the most sacred places of India from an immemorial past. It is also known as 'Shreekshetra1, Niladri, Sankha kshetra and Martya-baikuntha.

According to Vedas and the Puranas the Purusottam appears in the Puri. Therefore it is called Purusottamkshetra, the place of Jagannath or Purusottam, i.e., the Supreme Being or the Lord of the universe is a place of great antequity. According to old tradition, Sanskrit Brahma Purana and Scandha Purana as well as in Oriya Mahabharata of Adikavi Sarala Das and Darubrahma Gita of Jagannath Das, a Savara leader named Biswabasu worshipped the image of Nilamadhava at a secret place named Nilakandara on the eastern seashore.

The king of Malawa, Indradyumna "advanced towards Utkal to take possession of that divine Image. But Nilamadhava disappeared from his original place and floated in the sea in form of a huge log of wood.

The Book Review From a Tough Guy (Wrestling Tough)

In a sport where your opponent is there to break you to their will, being tough is a requirement that is more than just physical or mental. It's everything. The moves are all the same, you're matched by weight class, and everyone is watching the two of you. In the book, Wrestling Tough, author Mike Chapman discusses the very essence of the sport of wrestling and while giving readers a glimpse into the toolbox of every great wrestler. Chapman does not only use wrestlers but he also touches on other great athletes and coaches from a variety of sports and how these skills, traits and habits all help develop a winning mindset for the mat and for the rest of your life.

Wrestling has been around since the beginning of man, and is one of the purest sports to the characteristics of man and nature. Two people attempt to compete against each other and force their will upon them and claim what is there's. The Epic of Gilgamesh, is listed as the oldest piece of literature in existence today. It is a story of a warrior king who battled for his lands in an epic wrestling match a wild man from the outlands of his kingdom. The story of Gilgamesh and Enkidu's battle for Uruk is a story that is over 4,000 years old. Uruk was believed to be in a land called Sumer, which many historians have cited to being the location of the Garden of Eden, this is the place from which god had expelled Adam and Eve for disobeying him.

As long as there has been man walking the earth it would be safe to say there has been some form of wrestling. There are over 50 variations to wrestling that are practiced around the world today in more than 150 nations. Wrestling is a sport that is talked about in the bible and participated in world-wide from villages to the Olympics with over 40 centuries of history to hold it together. The people to participate in it and the characteristics that are built from being involved in what may be the most demanding sport known to humankind also make it stand alone.

The fundamentals to wrestling tough start with simply choosing to wrestle. Both Abraham Lincoln and George Washington were known as wrestlers of considerable skills. The idea to choose to wrestle is a tough one, but many educators promote the sport as an ideal way to instill discipline and values that will allow people to succeed in life. While you can choose to play some of the more popular sports like basketball, baseball and football, wrestling demands something of you at every practice or event. Every time a person wrestles they can expect to be pushed to their limits and they can expect to want to quit, but wrestling demands that you want to win more.

Understand toughness and building confidence are foundational attributes that any wrestler has to push themselves to obtain. Understanding toughness is the difference between quitting and winning in a lot of cases. It is the process of knowing something is hurting and knowing if that pain is going to stop you from drilling, training, and winning in competition. It is moving past the setbacks and standing before an opponent and knowing they are nothing special no matter what the circumstances maybe. Building confidence goes hand in hand with understanding toughness, as a wrestler you have to build from the pain and torments of training. The rigors that a wrestler would endure must be felt and understood that the pain of today is to make them a successful champion when the whistle blows. The confidence built through physical preparation cannot be given to you with a game plan executed in one day, but is a day-to-day plan that will allow you to know that no one could have possibly trained harder.

Dan Gable is mentioned time and again, as expected in a book about wrestling tough, as his style of wrestling and coaching was that of tenacity and honest destruction. His focus and dedications are that of which legend was born. This same intensity was passed down to what is known as "Gable's Boys" in the wrestling world, as he never quite picked what he would call the best wrestlers so much as the wrestlers that matched his style. He then took the time to destroy those wrestlers to be made again into a better mold, a Gable mold that was confident that they could pressure their opponents to wrestler their way: the Gable way.

Gable taught focus and determination to all of his athletes through preparation. This however requires one thing from the participants, commitment and dedication to their goals. This was something that many coaches have come to understand through watching successful athletes, but with wrestlers this can be spoon fed one murderous second at a time. Every takedown is that one that wins the match, every drill is that one point or a dire situation the pin you need to win. These little goals lead to bigger goals: state titles; national titles; world championships; and the Olympics. While wrestling tough it is however important that you have to want it before every practice before you can actually put in the level of intensity to get that far.

Bear Bryant was known as one of the greatest coaches of all time in college football, winning 6 national titles. He also held the sport of wrestling in high esteem, requiring every player to participate in wrestling during their spring training, to prepare them both physically and mentally. When it comes to preparation, wrestling drives a person to the outer limits of themselves and face to face with giving up or pushing onward against a person.

Here Books To Strengthen Your Marriage

There are many wonderful books out there with steps and tips on how to improve, enhance and keep the freshness and beauty of your marriage alive. Gary Chapman writes The 5 Languages of Love, a book that seeks to unlock the secrets of what makes a marriage happy and what makes it work. His main point is that unhappiness comes from the speaking of a variety of love languages that get crossed in the works. For example, words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service, and physical touch are all different languages identified in the book and explained, so that people can understand what their spouses are saying even when they aren't exactly saying it. This will help you decode the various kinds of communication, gestures, and languages present in a marriage and when you become savvy about all of them, it will overall improve your relationship.

The 7 Principles for Making a Marriage Work is a book by John Gottman who discusses the various things that form an emotionally intelligent couple. By using some signs of a troubled marriage as well as many studies conducted in his love labs, he disproves many divorce myths and demonstrates problems with clear examples that can help you relate to the situation. Including many checklists and quizzes, this is an interactive way to learn about marriage and the various ways of communication.

Emerson Eggerichs writes Love and Respect: The Love She Most Desires, the Respect He Desperately Needs. Using biblical research as well as some psychological founding, this author works an argument that emphasizes the importance of unconditional love and respect for one another so that people can really enjoy the benefits of marriage as expected by the heavens. Basically he urges that the communication code between married peoples be cracked so that there as understood grounding between the two and a shared communicative bond. This is a great book for getting closer to your spouse and learning the basics of communication.