This guide book covers all the bases, and even includes interesting historical digests of various districts in the Los Angeles area, the high desert and the low desert. The information is organized to assist tourists on short or longer visits, includes lots of "hidden" opportunities to eat, sightsee, or shop away from the beaten path, and is even helpful for a new resident to the L.A. area, who may not be sure where to start digesting this incredible city or the landscape around it. Highly recommended.

This guide gave me all of the information I needed to have a wonderful vacation. The information was candid, and thoughtfully presented. There were many tidbits of information/ sights I would never had thought to see if it wasn't for this book. My vacation consisted of renting a car at LAX touring along the coast (stopping at places recommended in the guide) Heading down to San Diego and then returning to LAX by traveling inland and seeing Temecula etc. It was a fun filled 10 days and all I used was this guide. If you just want the basic tourist jargon, buy a Frommers guide, not a hidden one... :-)

I notice that you still haven't fully corrected the information about the translator. His name is A. Leslie Willson. Could you please DELETE the reference to Michael Willson, who was not involved in any way with this translation?

Sorry, this is not a review.I am the translator, Leslie Willson. I have no idea how Michael Willson got involved (whoever that is). Could you correct your entry?I would be much obliged.

These are warm and fun romances about love with the "boy next door". The two different narrators (one man and one woman) really offered good variety.

What a great idea. These are short romantic stories, just long enough for a long walk or a work-out. I listened to mine in the car and it made the commute bearable. Both offer well-plotted romances, profesionally narrated by a man for one story and a woman for the other. It takes a lot of imagination to make a short story come to life on an audio tape, and these met the challenge well. I heartily recommend them.

Though titled _Homosexuals in History_, this work is
not a dry, heavily footnoted, archly worded, jargon
laced, academic piece. Rather, it is immensely interesting,
engrossing, enlightening, and an excellent background to
serve as base for further academic or personal research
on the time periods and the personalities dealt with in
the book.
Rowse gives his own perspective in the "Preface": "This
book is decidedly _not_ pornography. It is a serious
study -- or series of studies -- in history and society,
literature and the arts. Many men of genius or great
eminence appear in it: kings like James I and Frederick
the Great, artists of the stature of Leonardo da Vinci
and Michealangelo; intellectual giants such as Erasmus
and Francis Bacon; many poets, writers and composers,
scholars and collectors, soldiers and statesmen, patriots,
politicians. The subject offers immense variety, men of
very different psychological make-up, character, tastes,
and gifts. Many more could have been included, but my
aim has been to be representative, not exhaustive. And
I hope, by the way, that these studies may throw some light
on the predisposing conditions to creativeness: in the
psychological rewards of ambivalence, the double response
to life, the sharpening of perception, the tensions that
lead to achievement."
This work is not a mere recounting, but rather an intelligent,
absorbing, often witty, even humorous, and most often very

sympathetic account of these lives and the contexts in which
they found themselves living and involved.
Rowse does not deal with ancient times, for he says that
his interests as an historian began with the Renaisssance,
"the transition from the medieval to the modern consciousness."
There are 16 chapters, titled: Medieval Prelude; Renaissance
Figures; Elizabethans and their Contemporaries; Francis
Bacon and the Court of James I; Courts and Coronets;
Federick the Great and Some Germans; Regency Connoisseurs;
Russia and Some Russians; Eminent Victorians; French Poets
and Novelists; From Ludwig II to Rohm; Edwardians and
Georgians; The Great War; Cambridge Apostles; A Handful of
Americaans; and Cosmopolitan.
Each of these chapters has the lives interwoven with
perceptive, intelligent, engaging comments about the
times, the values and hypocrisies, the acceptance --
or lack of it (both by the societies -- and sometimes
crushingly, by the individuals themselves... many sad
examples of the effects of repression, guilt, fear,
diastrous attempts to "normalize").
The sections of most interest to me, and in which Rowse
really shines, are his extensive knowledge of the ins-and-
outs of British cultural history. For he includes not
merely the eminent persons one might have encountered, but
also lesser known, but highly interesting and influential
people as well. Thus, in the excellent chapter on "Eminent
Victorians," we read: "In the [English] public schools the
classics were the be-all and end-all, the Alpha and Omega,
of education. They portrayed the relaxed and natural
attitude of the Greeks and Romans -- as of all Mediterranean
peoples -- towards sex." Within this context, Rowse continues
to discuss the scholars, thinkers, and writers who were
influenced by that education and by the writings produced
within Victorian times which examined and enlightened the
Victorians about that Classical era of art, philosophy,
and accepted male desire and love. In this chapter, Rowse
recounts the careers of John Addington Symonds, Horatio
Brown, Lord Ronald Gower, the Marquis of Lorne, Roden Noel,
Edward Carpenter (a modern activist for enlightenment,
humanitarianism, and acceptance -- a devotee of Whitman and
Thoreau), Walter Pater (incredibly interesting and absorbing
reading), and Oscar Wilde.
The other chapters which deal with the French, the Germans,
the Russians, and the Cosmopolitan figures like Constantine
Cavafy, the Greek poet of Alexandria in Egypt, in the early
1900's, are also excellent.
Each reader may take away his own assessments and "readings
of history" -- but the text seems to say, repression and
trying to tough it out, or change, or normalize through
marriage have only brought sadness and damage (not only to
the self, its sense of its own value and identity -- but
also to others). But profligate, decadent, hedonistic
pursuit of pleasure and self, using others as objects,
rather than relating to them as persons, is equally
horrendous. The message seems to be about the desire
for caring love, more than carnal pleasure.
* * * * * * * * *

This book is good as a reading book or as a quick reference for scholarly research in the area of LGBT studies. I personally found Rowse's treatment of King James to be a good starting point for a paper I wrote on homosexuality in Jacobean England.

After bemusing the possible dynamics of the aforementioned literary work, there is a possible conundrum between the civilities of modern progressive ideology and past marxo-realism. This fixates itself by properly realigning the over-stated political asylums of post-regressive truism. A parallel universe then exists between confounded pluralism and unfounded singularities of cognition. This then beckons the ponderance of man's own independence of separate dualities. A sort of presupposition, if you will. To be or not to be, that is in essence all.

For anyone who, like me, wasn't able to go to college and finds themselves a little clueless at parties when people start talking about politics, history and the like, this book is great. Several concepts are explained in ways that make you want to learn even more about them. The only thing I didn't like so much is the title, because it makes me feel like I have to "hide" the book because I don't want friends to see it on my bookshelf and know I'm cheating! It's not so much that I want to impress people as I don't want to sound like a complete idiot, but still, the title is good cause it caught my attention, and they DO give some great advice for how to handle yourself in a group discussion at a party, etc. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to feel a little more confident in discussions about cultural topics and the like.

In this book Bataille shows how "project" -- the realm of work not just physical but also the incessant discourse running through one's interior mind -- is a prison, a prison based upon our inauthentic interaction with the world: one puts everything off until later, one lives in a "hazy illusion". But this viel can be broken, says Bataille, through the dynamic ground of non-knowledge, the point one reaches when the quest for the "summit", for God and Absolute knowledge, dissolves. This point is the height of drama and is ultimately the last act of folly (like when Sisyphus realizes his fate of rolling a rock up a mountain). One then experiences a fusion of anguish and ecstasy; one is moved by Inner Experience, something that, paradoxically, is not "inner" nor "experience", but rather is like a slap in the face, a slap simlilar to what a zen monk receives in meditation when he or she realizes who he or she IS: emptiness.

Georges Bataille was a French writer and philosopher during the surrealist period. He founded many literary movements in the form of magazines and critical reviews within surrealist circles such as, "Acephale", with friend and contemporary artist, Andre Masson. Other contemporaries of Bataille's include, Salvador Dali, and Bataille's nemesis, self-professed 'leader' of the surrealist movement, Andre Breton.

The book, "Inner Experience", was compiled post-humously from notes Bataille kept with the intention of putting into book form. Nonetheless, "Inner Experience" is very comprehensive and essential to understanding Bataille's philosophies of base materialism, expenditure, the sacred and the need to transgress the limits of experience.

Recommended reading by Bataille: "Story of the Eye", "Documents", and "Visions of Excess" a collection of essays (edited by Allan Stoeckl). Also, to learn more about Bataille, look up "Against Architecture: The Writings of Georges Bataille", by Dennis Hollier

Read about inspiring women!!! Get a behind the scenes story about famous women artists, while seeing some of their paintings as illustrations. Also, find out what inspired the famous paintings that you love!!

An inspiring story about great women who made a difference. Come read about the troubles of the famous artists you look up to! Find out what the paintings you love are based on! Get an inside look at all the women artists from Georgia O'Keefe to Frieda Kahlo. Find out how they got to be the great artists they are! See some of their paintings!!! This book is recommended for future women artists, women artists, and former women artists. Also recommended for people of all ages who like history and biographies. A good story.

Very usable in it's small page spiral format. Flipping pages as one cruises north or south is easy, and takes very little space at the helm. The annotations indicating marina locations save looking in separate guides when a stopping point is desired. Some obvious side trips (e.g. Banana River) are omitted and would have helped increase usefulness if included.

The charts are well organized and very reliable. Only a minimum number of aids were missing or changed in number. Some of the bridge info is a little dated but generally did not cause any navigational problems.

Second in the girls devotional series developed by Linda Washington and Julie Chen, "It's Me, Leslie," brings us the journal of a young girl trying to come into her own as a believer in Christ.

Genuine and engaging, Washington pulls the reader into the life of Leslie, a lively 11 year old, by peaking into her journal.

Likely in the first in the series, "Just Plain Mel," Chen has amusing sketches and doodling of everything from the "old church mother" (I've got one just like her in my church too!) to dialogue bubbles, ice cream and scratched out portions of entries Leslie must've reconsidered.

There is nothing stuffy about "It's Me, Leslie," and you can be confident that this is not just kid-friendly, but hip to what your preteens are going through. It's fresh, challenging, sometimes goofy, while retaining the innocence and purity of youth. The book always points the reader toward Jesus.

Issues such as materialism, unfriendly churches, self-confidence, gossip, spurring others on to "love and good deeds" are all discussed in this highly creative approach. Bible-centered, verses are printed before each entry area for the reader to think about when responding to the things going on in Leslie's life.

It is well-written, with a focused, stream-of-consciousness tone not found elsewhere.

I fully recommend "It's Me, Leslie," by Linda Washington. Inquisitive and curious preteen girls will love this, and beg for more. Try it in small groups, with a Bible in hand.

Anthony Trendl

I bought this devotional for my nine-year-old. She really loves the format. It is handwriting font with lots of doodles (looks like the Amelia books).The subjects are right where she's at too: Gossip, Do clothes make the Christian?, mean girls, sharing your faith with others.

There is spce for her to journal her thoughts on each subject. I would highly recommend this book as both a devotional for a girl and a beginner's journal.

I have been gently and slowly working through these exercises for the last two years. Like the twelve week exercises in Julia Cameron's The Artists Way, it takes more than just a few weeks to absorb all the lessons that can be learned from this book. Though I was at first resistant to some of the material, I have found that it has proven trustworthy over time. Offers excellent insight into the mind/body/spirit connection through the lens of quantum physics, shamanism, consciousness research, and systems theory. I have recently found confirmation of the validity of this work in my study of the healing arts. An excellent companion for the creative artist as well as the spiritual pilgrim.

This is an excellent book dealing with the expanded possibilities of the mind and 'consciousness' from a Shamanic point of view. Don't let the word Shaman or any such thing put you off - within psychology and the study of the mind, there are patterns and different ways of explaining similar or even identical things. This is one such case.

Leslie Kenton introduces us to the concept of using the abilities of our mind to free ourselves from tension, worries and to create for ourselves time, compassion and a greater sense of being. This is done over seven chapters, where recent ground-breaking research through science, physics, quantum mechanics, philosophy, biology and psychology [to name a few] are combined with the old traditions of shamans [not the weird people TV makes us believe, but like people with insight and understanding, purpose and a passion for life, who know where they are going!].

This book is self-help, because it then leads you on a daily, thirteen-week journey of shifting your state of mind and outlook on life, through a series of 'mind journeys.' Once again, traversing the realms of the mind is nothing new, nor is it a 'new religion sweeping the nation' [it never asks or implies to change your beliefs, etc. the course and your beliefs/ religion work in conjunction with each other].The mind has different states: Alpha, Beta, Theta, Delta and each one serves their own purpose. We are in Delta mind state when sleeping and a peak state of learning is achieved when in Alpha state. Leslie [or rather her book] leads you through 13 steps [one large step a week - trust me, they are big ones!] that teach you to harness the power of your unconscious mind and use it to your advantage.

As afore mentioned this book teaches unlocking the unconscious mind from the shamanic point of view. For example, Soaring to the Heavens [Quantum Leap 4 of Leslie book] is similar to achieving an Alpha state of mind and going to a higher region of the brain.

Overall, even if you do not do the exercises within this book, it is still an interesting read for those of you with an open mind and a willingness to create a better life for yourself. It has made a difference in my life and my outlook on life indefinitely. The book is set out in an easy-to-read fashion with very inspirational, if not also encouraging, quotes that keep you fully engaged in the book/course.