Gracie, known as Boopy because of the nonsense rhyme she keeps repeating, decides to become the best poet in the world by writing a poem that truly comes from her heart.

Poetry. California Interest. Women's Studies. Film. THE LIVING AIR by Masiela Lusha is an exceptional book of poems. Her works are based on formal associations, which open a unique poetic vein. Multilayered images arise in which the fragility and instability of our seemingly certain reality is questioned. By applying a poetic and often metaphorical language, her work references romanticism and symbolism, her poems want to amplify the astonishment of the spectator by creating compositions or settings that generate tranquil poetic images that leave traces and balances on the edge of recognition and alienation. --Geoffrey Gatza When I discovered Masiela Lusha's impressive list of accomplishments in the cinematic arts, I have to say I was not surprised in the least. Ms. Lusha's poems skillfully dramatize the most ethereal of philosophical ideas, showing us what's at stake as we 'stalk the truth.' This book will invite you in, then 'release you as a learner, ' subtly illuminating through its performative poetics what questions we should be asking of the world around us. --Kristina Marie Darling 'We stalk the truth / As poets, ' writes Masiela Lusha, in what could stand as the manifesto for this remarkable book. Authoritative yet tender, sensitive yet austere and controlled, these poems in their varying stances explore truth after truth. Keats, Donne, Homer and parable all suggest themselves, yet the voice is always distinctly Masiela Lusha's, a formidable talent in contemporary American poetry. --Roger Craik Masiela Lusha's poems are missives from inner space -- heartfelt, evocative lyrics of immediate presence. 'A poet is a lonely collector, ' Lusha writes, inviting readers to walk with her 'Where the streets are thin / And the world is tight around me.' THE LIVING AIR is alive with 'alphabets of experience' that celebrate the journey of our lonely (and necessary) collecting. --Tony Trigilio

In this eagerly awaited autobiography, comedian and prime-time television star George Lopez tells the heartbreaking yet humorous story of his inspirational rise from dead-end kid in the Valley to giving a command performance before the president of the United States. It is a rare story that touches us so deeply with its humor, sadness, and powerful message that it transcends the walls of race, culture, and class that divide us. Why You Crying? is just such a story. Abandoned by his migrant-worker father at the tender age of two months, deserted by a wild, mixed-up mother at the age of ten years, Lopez grew up angry, alone, teased, and tormented in California's San Fernando Valley, raised by grandparents who viewed love as a four-letter word. Inspired by his idols, Freddie Prinze Sr. and Richard Pryor, Lopez sets out on a tumultuous twenty-year journey into the manic world of stand-up comedy -- trying to learn a skill nobody can teach; scoring one night and bombing the next; fighting anger, alcohol, depression, and doubt all while battling the barriers built to keep Chicanos from breaking through, especially on network TV. Today, the George Lopez show is a prime-time hit on ABC and his sold-out stand-up performances attract thousands of fans of all ages, each drawn to the sidesplitting riffs mined from a life so sad it had to be funny. Why You Crying? takes an outsider from the San Fernando Valley to Warner Bros. studios to inside the Emmys to plush Pebble Beach and all the way to the halls of Harvard. Along the way it's pure G. Lo -- raw, real, and, ultimately, uplifting.

Discover the Gift presents a simple roadmap to a journey of self-discovery that will undoubtedly change your life forever. Sharing their own heartfelt personal stories of tragedy and redemption, Demian and Shajen introduce us to eight fundamental steps that will help you discover the gift within you and prepare you to share that gift with others. Along the way, you will receive both direction and support from a wide range of the world's most influential transformational leaders, people from all walks of life who not only live their gift every day but who have made it their purpose to help you do the same. Among them are His Holiness the Dalai Lama, His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Mark Victor Hansen, Dr. Sonia Powers, Mary Manin Morrissey, Dr. Barbara De Angelis, Jack Canfield, and Michael Bernard Beckwith, to name just a few. Inspiring as well as practical, Discover the Gift illuminates that place inside each of us where an extraordinary gift awaits to come alive. Your destiny awaits. Discover the gift. It's why you're here.