AI

If you love Mana, you'll love Isabella. If you love funky Kogaru-Lolita fashions, you'll love Miwako. If you've ever wanted to design beautiful clothes or model or just look at a really cute goth boy, you'll love the others. The art is brilliant! (& very similar to I.N.V.U.)This story is also hillarious^.^

If you love this book, I reccomend Under the Glass Moon.

Ai Yazawa does it again. Her gorgeous art makes this book great- for paradise kiss fans or anyone else who happens to open it. Yazawa is a creative genious and her fashion designs are beautiful, using the gothic lolita style that has become increasingly popular in the US. I suggest you read this book...if not for the awesome story, then for the even more awesome art.

This is a great shoujo/fashion manga by the talented Ai Yazawa, packed full of an amazing attention to fashion...It is a fashion manga after all, it's focus point being on the less sociably acceptable styles ie: Gothic Lolita or in the case of Arashi and his family, punk. Not only are the outfits portrayed in the story fabulous, the story it's self is solid. The drawing ranging from simple and elegant to technical and elegant (this goes back to the detail payed to the fashion aspects). Paradise Kiss revolves around the life of Yukari aka Caroline, who after being hunted down by Arashi, on the streets, to be the model for a fashion show, gets swept up in the world of the Yaza School for the Arts student designer group Paradise Kiss. Paradise Kiss consists of George (Yukari's love intrest, also the head of Parakiss because he designs the clothes), Miwako (who's sister also attended Yaza School for the Arts and is now the top desinger for Happy Berry), Arashi (Miwako's Boyfriend), and Isabella (a stately drag queen, who cooks a mean feast). Yukari who was frustrated with her school and her demanding mother, breaks out into the modeling world...but soon finds things aren't as easy as they seem at first glance, especially not her tangled relationship with George. I can't wait until the next issue comes out in the US, to bad i have no clue when that will be. The Tokyopop website says Paradise Kiss is OT (older teen 16up) but the books say T (teen 13up), so *shrug*, there's a little profanity and a little nudity so you be the judge.

This is a nice introduction to chinese new year. I will use it as a informational guide and have my Chinese-Vietnamese students look it over to facilitate a discussion about their new year. Thanks.

This is a simply written and beautifully illustrated book about the Chinese New Year. Through delicate line drawings and jewel like colors the author/illustrator captures the essence of Chinese mythical creatures, flora, fauna, heavenly creatures and mortals. We learn about Chinese zodiac symbols, gods, how Chinese people prepare for the New Year, why they eat special kinds of foods on New Year's Day, the symbolism of specific flowers as gifts, and the meanings of Chinese characters hung on doorways. Demi is the talented author and illustrator of many children's books with Chinese themes. This book is definitely one of my favorites.

Need an excuse to explore ethnic and religious holidays and practices? This is your vehicle. The interesting and exciting practices surrounding Chinese New Year can so easily be compared in writing, drama and story-telling of many other cultures. You cannot go wrong with this book.

The Appreciative Inquiry Handbook: The First in a Series of AI Workbooks for Leaders of Change is a "must have" guide for organizational development practitioners and facilitators. Whether you are a leading change at a Fortune 500 or creating transformation within a small community organization, this volume provides an excellent consolidation of AI tools. If new to the technique, this book is particularly helpful because the process is laid out in an easy to understand and easy to deliver format. The authors begin with a review and background of the process, and then introduce you to AI-step by step. The resource section is very generous, providing templates for course outlines, handouts, overheads, and exercises. For seasoned users, this book is a splendid reference tool you'll want on your practitioner shelf. Again, the resources provided can serve as a tool chest for stimulating new ideas. While the authors worked to clearly define and explain the process via cases and narrative, they also help the reader to understand why the process is more than typical organizational development techniques. The AI Handbook is clearly written and will help change agents on their journey to create, generate, and cultivate learning cultures within their organization.

For anyone interested in appreciative inquiry, this book has cases, worksheets and presentation materials that can be used right now. What a novel idea to give away the tools on the CD. Well organized and readable, I keep it handy at my desk.

Excellent resource.

This book covers all the bases needed to understand appreciative inquiry and apply it in your own organization. The sample interview guides, worksheets and resources provided are very helpful and big time-savers. Appreciative Inquiry is a paradigm shift toward a mindset of helpful and constructive dialogue that seeks to get at the heart of issues and work towards creating an environment that is built on trust, hope, and collaboration. I highly recommend this approach as well as this book!

When your 100-year old husband of 55 years has passed on and you, at 88, can see your own end, and when you have spent most of those years seeking and living the good life, and when you take the time and trouble to record your thoughts for posterity, it is surely worthwhile for us, the readers, to take note and reflect on what might be of value in our own goal of living the good life. This is not a biography of the husband, Scott, nor an autobiography of Helen but it is offered as a tribute to Scott's being as Helen knew it. She wants Scott to be remembered as an unassuming, kindly, wise, husband as well as a principled, uncompromising, intellectual radical; she also wants to share with us his peaceful, intentioned, and premeditated ending.

Born in the upper echelons of society, he worked alongside immigrant laborers in the Pennsylvania mine run by his grandfather. This was a formative experience that resulted in his speaking publicly in his early twenties on liberal reform. '''Even before I began the study of economics,' he said in an early lecture, 'I was impressed by the monstrous inequality which exists between the rich and the poor in modern society. The rich enjoy wealth, leisure, and boundless opportunity. The poor are overwhelmed by misery, overwork, and insanitation. The rich have a heaven of opportunity; the poor a hell of misery, and the heaven of the rich is founded upon the hell of the poor. If I was impressed by these conditions before I had studied them, I was appalled after having given them careful consideration. I had heard of poverty; I believed that misery and vice existed, but I was not aware that they were prevalent in every town and city of the land. Ability and capacity were suppressed; together with the progress which might well be attained, were opportunity more universal ... The poor are ignorant of the fact that by standing together at the ballot box, they might revolutionize conditions in a decade.'"

Very soon he had offended the powers that be with his outspoken views and he would never teach again in the United States. From that point Scott's life can be summed up in these sentences: "The living of an ideal involves payment of a certain price ... the further the ideal is removed from the common practice, the higher the price that must be paid for it ... If your ideal is to live a mentally active, mentally honest life, to seek the truth, then you may have to sacrifice even food, clothing, and shelter to get it." and "The majority will always be for caution, hesitation, and the status quo - always against creation and innovation. The innovator - he who leaves the beaten track - must therefore always be a minoritarian - always be an object of opposition, scorn, hatred. It is part of the price he must pay for the ecstasy that accompanies creative thinking and acting." Scott was aware of the price he would have to pay for his convictions; he regretted enormously the loss of the day-to-day contact with his university students who lost an outstanding educator; but he never regretted standing alone. One of his file cards clearly defined the problem: "If a man is one step ahead of the crowd he is a leader; if two steps ahead, he is a disturber; if three steps, he is a fanatic and not to be trusted." Scott was too many steps ahead of those in authority and he was a danger who had to be removed. At the age of 34 his chosen career was in ruins; his books that had been standard textbooks in public schools were banned and royalty income ceased. He was at the low point of his life and that was when he met Helen.

Helen, born in 1904 into a family of high principles and adequate means was the unconventional child, always reading and addicted to the twelve volumes of the Book of Knowledge at a young age. She had a talent for the violin, preferred the company of trees and rocks, drew and wrote poetry. She did not accept unquestioningly the world in which she lived. As a teenager she felt there was a power and a purpose in the universe and queried what we are here for and what life is all about. At seventeen, she sailed to Rotterdam to study the violin, met up with the Theosophists and the young Krishnamurti who she followed for several years on his mission to be a world teacher. But she saw the vast abyss between the ultra rich and the homeless in Bombay and Calcutta while Krishnamurti surrounded himself with the well to do, the famous and the influential. It was time for her to strike out on her own path. She returned to Ridgewood and there received a phone call from Scott.

The formative years for both of them were over; they were ready for each other; they were ready to build a life together; they were ready to create their version of the good life. We have much to learn from this couple because their life together was built on high principles. We are indeed fortunate that Helen left us this book.

Having encountered the Nearings in Mother Earth News in the 70's I quickly became an avid admirer as well as a sincere follower of their wisdom. Thus I was overjoyed to buy Helens book because it allowed me to see a side of both Scott and Helen I never knew that well. The man whom I had admired as a wise soul but a tad put off by people, comes across as such a loving and yes "romantic" soul which made me like him even more. And Helen sharing how she was raised and the experiences she had and how she was encouraged by Scott to spread her wings and not allow him to fence her in, is a must read for any woman who questions where she belongs in the whole life circle.

We must own a good five hundred books that we love, but this book is amongst a handful that get read and re-read over and over, with something new being learned each time. I also think the book like all their books is a must read, because it reminds us how fascists this country (united states) has been and can be and the price sincere patriots often pay. As well as the value of taking the path less traveled and not relinquishing ones personal integrity or perseverance. And that in the end the good guy can win.

In today's youth-obsessed contemporary culture, it is a rare treat to be able to find a book so full of loving wisdom written by someone so involved socially, politically, and spiritually in the events of the 20th century. Therefore, I was enthralled in reading Helen Nearing's moving, absorbing and often quite disarming recollections and reflections on her life, both as an individual and as the lifetime partner of one of the most celebrated critics, iconoclasts and individualists of our time, economist, philosopher and social critic Scott Nearing.

The two lived lives singularly devoid of apologies, half-efforts, or excuses, living it largely on their own terms, based on their own labors and ingenuity. Early in the 1930s they struck out from New York City to escape the Depression and social convention by starting a revolutionary experiment in rural Vermont. In many respects the experiment succeeded, yet they were never able to transform it from a personal adventure to one more largely social and community-based in the Vermont setting. With the coming of ski resorts and encroaching exurbia in the early 1950s, the Nearings moved once again to rural Penobscot Bay in Maine to start again.

Of course, in due time they were suddenly "discovered" by the baby boomers and the counterculture in the late 1960s, and became the elder statesmen of the 'back-to-the-land' movement of the late sixties and early seventies. In all this, Scott and Helen continued in their commitment to a socially aware, civically responsible, and environmentally sustainable way of living. By the time Scott died at age 100 in the early 1980s, thousands of curious counterculture hopefuls made the pilgrimage to visit with the Nearings at their celebrated farm in rural coastal Maine.

This is a lovely, thoughtful, and wise book, full of the almost endless love and care and compassion Helen Nearing brought to all of her endeavors for her many decades of purposeful and socially responsible living. This book is no small treasure; it looms large and lovely for those who are aware of the incredible journey the Nearings made as fellow citizens, and also of the loving and special relationship these two rugged individualists shared. I have read it several times, and love having it on my bookshelf. I suspect you will too.

It's not every day you see a book on any Eastern philosophy that is easily accessible by pretty much anybody who can read. With /Zhuangzi Speaks/, Tsai Chih Chung has given us a great gift. I must admit that I initially had low expectations for a cartoon version of Chuang-Tzu's writings. After having read through it, however, I say with confidence that this is truly a wonderful book that makes the sometimes puzzling Taoist principles much easier to understand.

/Zhuangzi Speaks/ is definitely worth a read by fledgling and long-time Taoists alike, as well as their loved ones (who may not understand much about the Tao), and anyone else who is even the least bit curious about Chuang-Tzu and his ideas.

This book is a great primer on Daoism. At the same time, the illustrations are often downright funny. The comic format makes it perfect for the compulsively busy friend you want to give some Daoist inspiration. I've read though this book countless times and always seem to find some new insight every time I pick it up. It is worth every penny.

This was my first book on Daoism, and I was very impressed. It conveys the principles of Daoism amusingly and interestingly. Not only is it full of 100% daoist wisdom, its a lot of fun to read! You can read this 10 times and still find it interesting. Buy it!

As a beginning Taiji student, I've found this book to be a great tool for further developing/practicing at home. It is a great guide to those studying the short Yang 37 form style. I've found it supplements training by helping you remember the essential footwork, handposition, and weight transfers from class. The pictures can be a little challenging as they are 'mirror' images of what you are actually doing. However, they are all there in a complete pull-out form as well, including footwork. The writing is to the point and descriptive. The book does NOT provide the transitions between each form very well though and thus I recommend it a supplemental tool to going to your taiji class. It will be a well-worn book though!

This book is really comprehensive. It has many pictures and descriptions of them to help you along with the forms. I'm taking a Tai Chi class at my college, and this book is the perfect companion. It is very well layed out and can be easily followed. Of course it is always necessary to have an actual master, but this book is probably the best on the market. Many Tai Chi books are confusing and poorly made, but this is one of the few that is not. Learning Tai Chi straight from a book is a little silly, at least look for classes or a video. But this is the perfect companion piece to perfecting your Tai Chi. If you want to buy the best, this is the one - no question about it.

The photos on the cover have varied over the thirty years this book has been printed. My preference is the original one with Chen Man Ching vice the leotard clad dancers, old people, etc. that had evolved from marketing. This book is a classic. The highest point are the photographs of Chen Man Ching. What an example of elegant and correct Tai-chi.

In 1890, Fragrant Lotus is a young Chinese girl who loves her grandmother very much. But one day her grandmother decides it is time that she bind her granddaughter's feet, a tradition going back a thousand years, and Fragrant Lotus' life changes forever.

Though having bound feet is exceedingly painful, her grandmother does an extremely good job and through the beauty of her feet, Fragrant Lotus is able to move up through society and gain wealth, power, and prestige normally out of reach for the lower-class. However, the Communist revolution is coming.

Where once Fragrant Lotus was the epitome of female beauty, in the 20th Century, footbinding becomes a symbol of the "old" China...a China that the government wants to escape. Fragrant Lotus continues to 'stand up' for footbinding, but it is a losing battle.

In this book of fiction, the author draws comparisons between the bound feet of Chinese women and the "bound" minds of modern China after the Communist revolution. Readers of Chinese fiction, literary fiction, historical fiction, and those interested in Chinese history will devour this novel.

What a treat it is to stumble upon a master storyteller! Feng Jicai tells this story with brilliant wit and intelligence. Kudos to the translator as well. He uses historical references to fill the reader in on the tradition of foot binding, as well as weaves a creative plot. The book focuses on Fragrant Lotus, a girl who has her feet bound in the golden lotus style, and her father-in-law, who collects daughters-in-law to serve his foot fetish. He and his other "lotus loving" friends have contests and long debates in their quest for the perfect bound feet. Fragrant Lotus eventually reigns supreme in the family by virtue of her stylish feet, but Jicai uses an ironic twist at the end of the book to ask the reader an underlying political question-- why the people of China have participated in things that caused them to suffer, such foot binding and the Cultural Revolution, and why social change often comes about with cruelty. This question is all the more touching because Feng Jicai's family was persecuted during the Cultural Revolution.

Subtitled "a novel of foot binding", this book was first published in China in 1986 by the enormously popular Chinese writer, Feng Jicai and translated into English in 1994.

Told as a "once upon a time" story, the writer skillfully combines myth, reason and a compelling tale while bringing the reader into the world of the "three-inch golden lotus", the tiny bound feet of Chinese women.

Everything I have ever wondered about this fascinating custom is right here in this book. From the agonies inflicted upon young girls whose childhood includes broken bones and searing pain to the high esteem these tiny feet bring them as adults, it's all here, including the group of men who erotically adore them.

Set in the early part of the 20th century, Fragrant Lotus has her feet bound by her grandmother as an act of love and tradition. Later, her small feet catch the eyes of a wealthy man who makes her the bride of his oldest son. The women of the family all compete in family "foot contests" at which "lotus loving" friends of her father-in-law spend hours debating the fine points of the history of foot binding and its many nuances.

Through the years, Fragrant Lotus becomes the head of the family and comes face to face with the changing movement to outlaw foot binding.

At only 229 pages, this book is a great read on many levels. The writer really captures the world he has set out to describe, does a excellent job of characterization and keeps the tension high with his minute descriptions of the foot contests. He also has a way of making this all into a satirical tall tale as the concepts of truth and reality are constantly explored. Deceptively simple, this story has a far deeper meaning as a metaphor for the cultural revolution as standards of beauty change.

Highly recommended.

Here's the letter I wrote to the author, Bill Douglas:
Thanks! I can't tell you what a difference the book and DVD have made in my life. I am sleeping better, my career is looking up (stress was a major problem for me; I write and was dealing with life-changing stress-induced writer's block) based on lessons I'm learning from T'ai Chi and QiGong meditation. This is feeling life-long. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I found this book an excellent book to learn about the art of T'ai chi and Qi Gong. This new version with the drawings help to learn the moves much easier. The book and the videos are excellent tools to learn a good technique to learn how to relax and improve my health.

I think this book is an excellent supplement to formal instruction in T'ai Chi or for anyone interested in taking up Tai Chi in their studies. Bill Douglas' makes learning and appreciating this internal martial art fun. The book gives good information on the different styles and background. The photographs and explanations are as clear as can be expected from a book. Could use more pictures but I found that his video on Tai Chi (Anthology of T'ai Chi & Qigong) is excellent and the two together are a great reference to have.

This text has been and still is tremendously illuminating to me. Though I have read it as casual reading a couple times, I have found it most useful when digested a concept at a time. The explanations while thick are neccessarily so. Professor Cheng has throughly described each motion and it's application. A very complex task indeed. Each time I work out I pick a section of the book and try to refine that portion of the form. Each time I am amazed by Cheng Tzu's ability to turn a movement I have made thousands of times into something new and amazing. I highly recommend this text to any serious student of Tai Chi. I also warn any novice student that they should start with one of Cheng Man Ching's more elementary texts. This one is difficult to comprehend if aren't already familiar with Cheng Man Ching's style of Tai Chi.

This is a beautiful edition of Cheng Man Ch'ing's text on Chi Tai Ch'uan. There are other translations of this text available, but this is by far the best for several reasons. First, it is hardcover, and the layout is beautiful. The cover has a color print of one of Cheng's paintings, and there is an example of his calligraphy on the inside. The book is also larger than other editions I have seen, and the prints and pictures are printed larger and more clearly as well. The larger pictures of Cheng performing the Tai Chi form are especially useful. And, while this may not matter everyone, this edition of Cheng's book is also the only one authorized by his estate, and contains a preface by Cheng's wife. I highly recommend this book.

The book is very clear in its message, the treatise is awakening, making us to refresh our study in Taijiquan, and for me, especially the chapter "Swimming on the Land" is enlightening.

The instructions are written and shown with drawings of the figures. I found this book valueable in helping me remember the sequence of positions, and in remembering the details of movements. However, since the drawings are in mirror image, they were somewhat difficult to transform into movement.

In all honesty I am tempted to purchase another copy of this book in case something bad happens to the copy I currently own. Yes I liked it that much, and yes I think it has that much value. As far as the deeper aspects of Tai Chi you should look elsewhere but, I have yet to see a book that is better than this when it comes to describing the Tai Chi movement. The only thing better than this book is watching someone demonstrate the form. If you want a book to help you memorize all the moves to supplement what your master teaches you, I highly recomend this. It is important to cultivate Qi energy I know, but it is just as important to learn the basics moves first. If you want to move in water you have to relax and let yourself float, while using smooth and correct motions to get to the other end of the pool. So it is with Tai Chi; you use graceful movement, to let your spirit float in the vast ocean that is Qi energy. In the same way that relaxing and yielding in the water allows the body to move better in a swiming pool or ocean, so to does yielding and relaxing allow the spirit to move in far vaster ocean of energy. This means then, that this yielding nature, like in swiming, must be acompanied by graceful and skilled movement to yield the maximum benefit. With careful practice with an instructor, this book, and a lot of patience and determination its possible to master this art. Oh, one last thing. Please keep in mind that martial arts, any martial art, are not sports. Martial arts were designed for the purpose of defense through physical harm, i.e. maiming or killing. To reduce the martial arts to something like a sport competition is to take it as lightly as one takes a children's game like baseball. Martial arts should never be taken lightly, least of all something as potentially dangerous as Tai Chi. The martial arts are just that; arts. Treat this like an art form, and you will find many rewards.

This book is the best overall Yang Tai Chi book I have read for a variety of reasons. One: It contains a plethora of drawings to go with each portion of the forms. Even though photos normally look better, a good drawing can more easily show exactly how the movement should be carried out. These drawing are very good, they include movement arrows so that you can see the intended direction of movement to get to the position of the next drawing. In addition, at the end of each complete form is a diagram showing the relative positions of the feet through out the form. Second: It contains alot of information. This book covers the Yang simplified and standard forms, as well as basic push hands techniques. The only thing that it lacks on is information on theory, so if you are looking for a book on Tai Chi theory, this isn't the book you are looking for. Third: The editor left no wasted space and organized the information very well. The book is crammed with information and is nice and compact. It is still large enough to get the job done and takes up less space on your shelf, or wherever else you keep it. Fourth: The price is very reasonable for a martial arts book. Especially given the quality of the book. So if you are looking for a great reference book on yang Style Tai Chi, this is the book I would suggest to you.