Book Launch Cafe

Caroline Myss' new book Defy Gravity

Just released October 13, Caroline Myss' new book Defy Gravity

October 28 (9am pacific) Book Launch Special on Hayhouseradio.com. Listen from anywhere you are with an internet connection! 

Join Caroline Myss for this enlightening hour as she introduces us to the material in her powerful new book, Defy Gravity. Joined by author Andrew Harvey (The Hope: A Guide to Sacred Activism), Caroline opens up about some of her own personal struggles and how she came to believe that healing is a mystical experience.

An afternoon with Ray Bradbury

I didn't know much about Ray Bradbury besides the unread paperback, Fahrenheit 451, that's sitting on our bookcase. It was such an honor to hear him speak at the Lobero Theater last week. The witty intro was by Steinbeck's son so it was a double treat.

Ray Bradbury really captured the audience's with his story telling like he was just having chat with you. I wonder how such a creative imagination has such peace in his mind. His presentation was about Farenheit 451, the Santa Barbara Reads selection. He also talked a lot about his support of libraries all over the world and how meaningful that is to him. Learn more about him on his website, RayBradbury.com.

Ray Bradbury at the Lobero Sunday, free

"The things that you do should be the things that you love and things that you love should be the things that you do ... Imagination should be the center of your life." - Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury a southern Californian and author of Fahrenheit 451 is this year year's Santa Barbara Reads selection ... and he will appear at the Lobero Theatre!

This event is free and open to the public - first come, first seated. Mr. Bradbury will be introduced by author Thom Steinbeck.

Sunday, October 11, 3 pm. TALK. Ray Bradbury, author of Fahrenheit 451 and many other books, speaks at the Lobero Theatre, 33 E. Canon Perdido St. Free, but limited to the first 680 people who show up.

Ray Bradbury, changing the way people think through his writing. He has published more than five hundred published works -- short stories, novels, plays, screenplays, television scripts, and verse. Imagination at its most creative!

This program is supported by a Big Read grant.

"You find the author that can lead you from the dark."  ... "Go to the library and discover yourself." - Ray Bradbury on seeking out books in the library

Please, support your public library! Donate what you can or donate your time. They are the stable and the good when all else is changing at a rapid rate. Go here for Santa Barbara's Public Library page.

Big Sur(ge) of energy bathe in it

 

(freeforming it in Esalen breathing in freedom for the Self; nude luxurious bathing at its best atop the bath house oh but it is more than that, just look beyond the surface)

Big Sur has a surge of energy that has a tremendous power over me and I'm sure for those who have visited but couldn't explain what it was. This power is a life-giving power that if you allow it into your being, your consciousness stirs a mass of confusion to awaken and enliven the receiver. This place keeps bringing me back. It was first a camping trip to Big Sur that I felt this un-easiness. I wanted away from that raging river. The symbolic nature of that river could still be felt and now understood.

After a restless night's sleep, I awoke with a peacefulness. My first taste of this Big Sur vortex of energy. Second calling was at Esalen. I learned to work with my energy and patterns of energy I call intuition that Isubconsciously held down. Maybe the power involved in this knowing evoked a sense of responsibility, something I wasn't prepared for yet. The priming was happening, whether I wanted it or not, but I did. I was drawn there for a reason. Since that day, I have delved deeper into these patterns of energy that present itself to me. After those experiences I researched a little on Big Sur and Esalen. It is a sacred place; a spiritual playground for those ready to hear the messages and meanings.

Esalen: America and the Religion of No Religion

Esalen Cookbook

Henry Miller books:

Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch 

Tropic of Cancer

Tropic of Capricorn

here for Henry Miller Library book and music events link

"I am just having a good time.

And, I think this is a very important part of life–that people learn how to play, and that they make life a game, rather than a struggle for goals, don't you know."

--Henry Miller

This is Henry, Henry Miller from Brooklyn.

Special message to my readers

Fantastic Fall to you!

This is a reminder that earlier this year I dropped the author "book party" in a sense that I am not featuring new books, latest books, most popular books, etc... if I do then it is by chance. I am getting back to my mission which I will honestly say that I strayed from. Getting back to the mission of sharing my reading, either personal or professional, that is shaping my life. It's a very personal journey but one I hope that share our connection with each other. The internet is a great space to do this.

So you'll see some remnants of me getting off track of my aims for BLC. Sometimes getting off track you meet great people along the way and great authors and get back to your original reason that start from your heart and aided by your brain. So, this is a reminder that what I will be posting are books that are a personal reflection on what interests me at the moment and any thoughts stirred by my readings. You will not find popular books here but books that will probably stir your thinking and churn your patterns of behavior into something that might not make sense. As Beckwith says "Energy goes where energy flows". Into a book and outpours a new born thought or behavior. That's what a good book will do no matter fact or fiction.

That was my original intention with the 28-day reading challenge. Read about it here. I still love this challenge but my time takes me somewhere else right now.  I am reaching out for help in getting this reading challenge off moving forward and into the minds and hearts of readers and non-readers. Go to the Reading Challenge  page if the challenge resonates with you and you are internet savvy enough and passionate enough to answer this call. Post your interest with a comment along with your contact info or email me: maria@booklaunchcafe.com.

Thanks for reading and hope you will tell your friends about BLC. Challenge yourself to open to your greatness. Even if you stop reading, know the truth is always inside unfolding the pages of your wisdom. Excavate it, get un-comfortable with it and share your truth to benefit your world. 

Why Our Health Matters, an important book by Weil, MD and his CALL FOR ACTION

Dr. Weil's book,  Why Our Health Matters: A Vision of Medicine That Can Transform Our Future, was just released this month and it was on my reading list. Sometimes I just have to ditch the reading list. When the call to read it comes, ride the energy. I just gulped in 3 days, including taking notes.

Weil breaks the book down into digestible pieces of  (1) how our health care system (he calls it our sick care system) got to the crisis it is today then to (2) where we need to be and (3) how to get there. It's an eye opening book with constant reminders of how we must trust our body's innate healing capacity and rely less on new technologies and medication to quick fix our symptoms and get to the root of our issues. More importantly though is to take preventative self care which requires looking at our lifestyle, nutrition, and environment to maintain our health, before illness sets in.

Why Our Health Matters addresses a complex issue of our health care crisis and what we can do as individuals. It's an important book to me as I further develop my training as an Ayurvedic practitioner. Developing an awereness of our problems and needs and when to integrate "whole-person" medicine and "western" medical technologies, where it does have its place too.

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Excerpted from Chapter 5 Doctors of the Future
"The doctors of tomorrow will have to be different from most of those today..... "In the years to come we will want more of our doctors to rely on the human body's ability to heal. I believe this change will happen naturally as our present system of disease management diintegrates under the weight of self-destructive expense and the reality of poor outcomes."

"The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in teh care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease." Edison went on to say, 'There were never so many able, active minds at work on the problems of diseases as now, and all their discoveries are tending to the simple truth that you can't improve on nature.'

"The wisdom of Edison, one of the fathers of the age of technology, holds true today and should guide us to the future. Tomorrow's aspects of a physician's professional life: his or her personal qualities, education, training, philosophy of treatment, and way of interacting with the community..... The doctor exemplifies and models health and health promoting behavior."

 

My recommended Fall to Winter reading list

My book list is always long. It's like life, constantly changing and in motion. So if you didn't complete your Summer reading list... well that's ok, I'm on to Fall books that will carry you to Winter. It's not your typical New York Times-ish reading list. This is my journey and if you want to come along for maybe a little bit of the ride with me, here's my short list I recommend. Now it's not for everyone.

The books here are  geared to humanity's current needs right now, caring for Mother Earth, working on our own spiritualism, and addressing our health care crisis. Why getting back to high touch (vs high tech) medicine and seeing not just the symptoms but the whole person is the direction we ought to be taking.

1. The Serpent of Light beyond 2012
2. The Power of Kindness
3. Brida
4. Animal, Vegetable, Mineral
5. Why Our Health Matters: A Vision of Medicine That Can Transform Our Future

Victor Villaseñor on Louis L'Amour

Here's a video that came my way of one of my favorite authors, Victor Villasenor talking about his friend Louis L'Amour, a popular American writer of western fiction (rivaling Zane Gray) and wanted to share with you.

Film adaptations to his work included hollywood stars... John Wayne (Hondo), Sophia Loren (Heller in Pink Tights), Alan Ladd (The Guns of the Timberland), Natalie Wood (The Burning Hills), and Sean Connery (Shalako), starring also Brigitte Bardot. 

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The Vortex
This Leading Edge work by Esther and Jerry Hicks, who present The Teachings of Abraham, will help you understand every relationship you are currently involved in as well as every relationship you have ever experienced.

International Literacy Day is today, September 8!

Cheers to International Literacy Day!

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So, last month marked the end of the Reading Rainbow, partly because there wasn't  one entity who would put up the money to renew their broadcasting rights but partly because of the shift from educational TV programming. Reading Rainbow started in the early 80s and inspired many children to read because they made reading... exciting.

My question is this. What happens when the excitement factor fades? This normally happens in middle school or high school when required reading and book reports spring up and these books are... well, not so exciting. When a book that has challenged thought and reason becomes too cumbersome to read further and is no longer exciting, what happens to the reader? The reason for reading then is dependent on the excitement factor rather than a deeper more lasting purpose. What is that purpose? I think it varies for each reader. For me, reading expands my mind and my heart. 

I value reading programs and appreciate the work to encourage literacy. The effort is great and the funding limitless. However, the good news is there are things each of us can do at home to take responsibility for increasing our literacy in our community. The primary responsibility has to come from home, the parents or the family. There's much truth to the saying "A child learns what it lives".  If parents demand their children to read and espouse the value of reading, but don't read themselves then it is much more challenging to get a child to pick up a book. Here are some tips to encourage reading in your home:

1. Read together with your child
2. Make reading a daily habit, scheduled at the same time each day so the child looks forward to reading time with a parent, sibling, aunt or family friend. 
3. Have a wide range of books on a bookcase on various topics accessible
4. Carve out a room in the home dedicated only to reading. Make reading a sacred space, no matter the space size. It creates in the mind of the child how special reading is.
5. Take time out for yourself to read too for your pleasure; children learn what they live.
6. Talk about and refer back to the books read in the household. This is a great way to connect with each other in a positive way and encourages critical thinking skills if done so in an engaging manner. 

These are tips from my young growing years. My parents kept a beautiful bookcase of books in the living room and though they never told me to go in there and read, I was intrigued and picked up books I normally wouldn't have like... Word Power Made Easy, Pocket Medical Dictionary, Brainteaser books, Normal Vincent Peale's books, the Power of Positive Thinking.

I hope these tips encourage your household to take pleasure in reading and to inspire a lifetime of reading, learning and discussing.   

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The New Literacy

Has reading taken a back seat to instant information available on our phones, internet, social media? 

This Wired article claims we are in a new age of literacy, that all online social networking happening is actually causing kids to write more. That can't be bad news for writing or is it and what about reading? This makes for an interesting topic for discussion.

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Meet the Author of "Schizandra and the Gates of Mu"

Schizandra and the Gates of Mu is the first book in a series. Astrology, yoga, 2012, raw cacao, and synchronicity are intertwined in this work of fiction by Laura Bruno. Get to know her, click here.

Book video: RICH BROTHER RICH SISTER by the Kiyosaki's

Rich Brother Rich Sister by Emi Kiyosaki and Robert Kiyosaki
Two different paths to God, Money and Happiness

I went through a phase of reading many of Kiyosaki's books & audio. I just related to his thoughts about money. I even played Cash Flow with friends and my husband. The object of the game: get out of the rat race. And today's reality is we are out of the rat race!  

Dr. R. Buckminster Fuler once said that "It's a good waste of money to just make money." We all need to money to survive. I think it's in how you earn your money and the purpose behind that will give us a glimpse into our future.

I managed a bank in my early 20's then managed the finances for PBS.org in my late 20's. I was fortunate to have a foundation about the importance of managing money. But managing my own, I was learning.

Four years ago I started thinking about going into business for myself. I arrived to Starbucks 1 hour early each morning on the dot before work and read as many pages as I could of Kiyosaki's Rich Dad's Before You Quit Your Job: 10 Real-Life Lessons Every Entrepreneur Should Know, until I devoured and soaked into my every being, the last page. It was that day that I finished the book and was OK with the decision that I DID quit my job. It has been quit a journey since.

Since my days managing other people's money (OPM), I didn't tell many people what I did in the past for a living. I didn't talk about money to family and friends because I thought the people I did talk to related money with greed, evil, dishonesty, un-bendably rigid with money because of their reactions when I did talk about it. It seemed like a taboo subject along with another topic I was so interested in at the time... spirituality.

It is good there is more thought and talk about money and how fun it is to earn it to give us enough to make our lives better and others' too. There is a lot of power behind that.

This leads me to belive that true wealth is financial and spiritual prosperity. They are more connected than I ever thought.

Available on Amazon
Rich Brother Rich Sister

God Money Happiness
Millionaire entrepreneur and author or Rich Dad Poor Dad teamed up with his sister, a peace-loving, working mother ordained by the Dalai Lama as a Tibetan Buddhist nun, to bring you a book about... MONEY.

Emi's debt started piling up after having surgery and not having enough income to pay it back. Robert came to the rescue but with a tall order. He would give her the money, but only if she learn how to make more of it. He would be her guide. I love the lessons we all know but do we really live it.

• Being true to your calling That's what the world needs now... our gifts.   
• Speak the truth
• Practice generosity
• Our individual paths don't have to be at odds with each other. Allow us to create our own life path. 
• We have the power to help ourselves

 

The Book Studio: Buzz Aldrin interview

Here's a neat book link I found, the Book Studio. Neat mainly because WETA TV/FM was my first step into the non-profit world as a major gifts development coordinator. Long title for make those who give big gifts and my job was to make them happy.

The Book Studio follows the lineage of their educational roots when the founder Elizabeth Campbell (1902 - 1994) was an educator and started WETA from a hotel room in Washington, DC. Her drive, vision, heart and ambition to create educational TV has been an inspiration to me throughout my career. 

The Book Studio was originally piloted as a project called Author Author. Here astronaut Buzz Aldrin talks with Bethanne Patrick about his memoir, Magnificent Desolation: The Long Journey Home from the Moon. Do you remember where you were when he made his first steps on the moon?! 

Edible Schoolyard video featuring Alice Waters Chez Panisse

My fun summer reading is the (authorized) biography of Alice Waters in the book called "Alice Waters and Chez Panisse: The Romantic, Impractical, Often Eccentric, Ultimately Brilliant Making of a Food Revolution". Lots of colorful characters play in this book and I'm only on chapter 6, Jeremiah 1973-75. The new chef is introduced.

"Jeremiah Tower looked, spoke, moved, and dressed like no one Alice Waters had ever met. He made sure Alice knew right away that he'd gone to Harvard." "He adored food."

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I could feel the tension of not only the restaurant business at work here but of Alice's purest vision of Chez Panisse. Never mind that she owned only a small slice of her vision but she remained to be in control for the most part of the evolution of Chez Panisse. Interesting and enjoyable read so far at 3 pages per night, the pace I can go at right now given my schedule. We do what we must to in the book world to savor the pages!   

Alice Waters, 25 years later, continues to bring the organic slow food movement across the country to kids in Washington, DC and to her community in Berkeley with the Edible Schoolyard vision brought to fruition. 

Edible Schoolyard: A Universal Idea

Ayurveda and Nutrition

I mentioned in my previous posts that I'm studying Ayurveda which is an evolution of my interests (food, pleasure, yoga, herbs, astrology, breathwork, spirituality, humanity, nature) blending harmoniously together. It is an incredible journey of learning and discovering and most importantly I am putting what I am learning into practical use in my own life!

What is Ayurveda? It is ancient system of healing from India that addresses the whole person's health -- physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health. The word "Ayur-veda" translates to the "knowledge of life". It is in the knowledge of life that we get to know our Self... the eventual aim of this science is that we live our intended life purpose so we will share our gift to humanity.

I am excited by my learning and discoveries. We're learning about Nutrition and I wanted to share 2 excellent books I read and reference that you might enjoy on your path to well-being:

Conscious Eating
Healing With Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition (3rd Edition)

Ayurvedic eating lifestyle tips:
Eat only to 75% full
Eat your largest meal (midday) between 12-2p when your digestive fire is greatest
Eat organically grown produce, if possible, for more prana
Don't eat when you are angry or sad
Eat foods cooked by a happy cook for higher energetic value

Inspirational Author: Dave Eggers

I'll confess that one of my guilty pleasure is getting a pedi. I have happy feet today. I just had to say this because finally, in the stack of magazines to choose from at the salon, there sat quietly.... Ode Magazine, a non-tabloid magazine that doesn't portray women and young girls in a superficial manner nor are they in the business of scandalizing celebs... hallelujah sing the praises to Ode and for the nail salon for having digestible intelligent reading!

I usually stare into space and empty my mind but this time I enjoyed an inspirational article by Dave Eggers, author of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. The article talked about his beliefs on youths expressing themselves through storytelling, which can make all the difference in the world.

It made a difference for me as a young girl. I was shy, very shy in school but when it came time to story time or reading out loud, my hand was one of the first to go up. I felt heard. I felt brave so it gave me a sense of confidence. It felt like magic that I could just make stuff up. That magic I called then is our imagination and creativity, something we all have that needs regular exercising and toning just like a skill we're polishing.

Here's an excerpt from the article....

"If you can learn how to write well, you can start expressing yourself," Eggers says. "You’ll be able to bring order to a chaotic world that seems beyond your control. You’ll have power when you’re able to explain clearly what you need, what your dreams are, how you can overcome the problems in your community. If you can write extremely well, many doors will be opened so you can succeed in school, in life."

Read the full article by Marco Visscher on Ode's website.

Video Book Trailer: The Art of Racing in the Rain

It took me a while to bounce back after reading Merle's Door by Ted Kerasote. I'm almost ready to pick up another dog inspired book my sister recommended, The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. Here's a preview... Enjoy! 

A review of Little Soul Productions DVD

As you can probably tell I am drawn to those that highlight our natural abilities and gifts like our self-esteem and using our internal guidance system. This is one such the video produced by southern California parent, Teri Johnson and partners Brooke and Meredith Sloane who recognized the need for increased self-esteem in our children... and they did something about it, created a fun interactive DVD for kids and parents!  Click here to sample the video on Little Souls website. 

Self Esteem
Activities to Empower Little Souls
New DVD by Little Soul Productions
Release date May 2009

DVD Review

Parents everywhere are buzzing about this amazing DVD that helps them support their child's emotional growth. Whether your child already has great self-esteem or is struggling, this DVD offers great tips to help your child understand what makes him or her unique and loveable. Included in every DVD is a parent guide that addresses each activity and gives parents the tools to get the most out of the DVD as well as adapt the activities as their child evolves.

Join Heartly and his friends as they learn about self-esteem. Through three fun-filled activities, children will discover how to feel good about themselves, recognize their special gifts and learn to listen to their heart. It's an amazing journey with an incredible destination. . . increased self-esteem for your child!

You can view clips from the DVD and purchase your copy today at Little Soul Production website.

Literary bug, literally

I awoke one misty coastal morning to find this lady bug sheltered in a book I left outside. It's a library book so thankfully the library puts a hard plastic coating on paperback books to keep them from wearing out too easily... in my defense it sprung back into its original shape once the sun shone upon it.

So what was the book she tucked herself under? The Essential Transcendentalists by Richard Geldard. I'm deeply committed to raising my consciousness through twice daily meditation (TM) and to understand the core [writings] of the Transcendentalists I looked to Emerson, Thoreau and Bronson Alcott. These spiritual thinkers keep me inspired.

I wonder is it any coincidence that this lady bug, a gift from nature, is sending a message, to listen to what's inside of me rather than look to external "noises". Seems many people I talk to there's a huge shift taking place within them and around them. It's all too confusing to cling to others ideas, too many it makes your head spin anyway and in this time of much needed change, a good place to start is within ourselves. Go deep and listen dear seekers.