Imagine waking up in the middle of the night and wondering whether where you were in San Francisco or San Diego, New Delhi or Nashville, Amman or Emeryville? And why you were where you were?This is the story of a modern Nomad, a Hi-tech immigrant who becomes a refugee in Nashville during the meltdown of technology industry in Silicon Valley. In the last chapter, the author moves again to yet another interesting place.The author captures the contrast and similarities between the places beautifully, using both colorful words and colorful photographs, combining stunning imagery with his equally stunning imagination to convey thoughtful messages to us "the snowflakes descend slowly, floating in the air, allowing the air current to carry them with it, letting it change their paths. They have chosen not to confront their destiny, choosing instead to enjoy every second of their short lives, their journey to the ground." A funny and yet very poignant story!

This is the expanded second edition of the colot interior version of the book. This edition has been published in 2001. Some of the reviews refer to the older edition published in 2008. Inspired by author's stint at Amazon.com. Seattle, a medley of lush green hills surrounded by snow capped mountains and sparking blue waters. Congo.com--an Internet company based in Seattle which has taken the stock markets by storm, and is transforming itself from an online retailer to an eCommerce platform, led by a CEO who leads this transformation but is not afraid to act goofy. In the middle of all this lands a former executive from Silicon Valley. It begins as a story of a technologist leaving behind his beloved Silicon Valley for Seattle. It unfolds into a moving story capturing Seattle's beauty, its interesting people and culture; and the inside scoop on the dot-com world. Technology. Innovation. Humor. Wit. Imagination. They all come together very nicely in Seattle Adventures.

Literacy Pledge: For every copy of this book sold in United States, Canada or Europe, we will donate a textbook to a child in need. Find out more about our pledge at www. world-literacy.info. Please also read Author's statement in the "Author's Biography" section. Behind Amazon's quirky smile logo lurks a cold and calculating giant machine. Author Kalpanik S. reveals his own smile as he tells the somewhat quirky story of his complex, and often hilarious, relationship with Amazon. From the sophisticated wit in his portrayal of the courtship period in "How To Get Hired By Amazon In Ten Days", to the dark humor of the disillusionment period in "The Cold, Calculating Machine", Kalpanik's story is more than just an insider's view of the giant machine known as Amazon.com. It's a modern, universal story of the uneasy relationship between an individual and today's gargantuan corporations. In the end, it is also a story of redemption for creative and freethinking individuals that define America. Acclaim for the book ... not only does the author makes us feel the vitality of the Hi-Tech worlds of California & Seattle but his very emotional experiences as an immigrant, a father and a dislocated worker.I love his leaps of imagination, and the words which hook us in, make us think this is our story. For example, here is what it means to yearn for acceptance: "I looked at Seattle's glistening skyline on one side and its beautiful waterfront on the other and asked it the same questions I had asked San Francisco sixteen years ago: will it accept me? Or will its people treat me as someone different, not one of them?" Overall, a hip, funny and yet very poignant story! .....John Lehman, author of "Everything is Changing" This edition of the book was revised in December 2011 to include author's perspective on the 2011 Amazon Warehouse scandal, where a detailed investigative report on worker treatment at a regional warehouse by a local newspaper caught national media attention. Confessions of a foreign born author I must confess that English is my third language, and even though this book has been edited by several professional native English editors, it is obvious-even to me- that this book is written by a Foreign-born author. Foreign-born or not, I believe I have a talent for storytelling, and I have converted a dull topic-the transformation of Amazon from a retail website to a marketplace-into an interesting and lively story. This is more of a little book than a big one. Being a technologist, I tend to be concise in my writing. The printed version of this edition is about 220 pages. This may be too little for a few readers, too much for others, and hopefully, just right for the some. So, If you are looking for a 1,000-page treatise on Amazon that can be used as an example of perfect grammar in the High school English grammar class, then this book may not be the right book for you. There are several other books on Amazon which are written in perfect English but are perfectly boring. A book about Amazon can be pretty dry, so I have tried to add some humor. In my attempt to make this book funny, a few facts may have been stretched. I quote this passage from 21 Dog Years: Doing Time @ Amazon.com, written by Mike Daisey, a fellow Amazon alumnus-turned author: "Some facts were injured in the telling of this story. The truth, however, remains unharmed." That applies to this book as well. To respect the privacy of the people involved in this story, their names have been changed - with one exception. Trust me, there really is a guy named Jeff Bezos who works at Amazon. All in all, I am proud of my work, Enjoy! [Signed] Kalpanik S. Note: Portions of this book have been previously published under titles "Seattle Adventures", "Artificial Imagination" and "Welcome to the USA".

This is the extended second edition of the book. Some of the reviews refer to the first edition, which was published 3 years ago. A young man full of hope and aspirations who travels to a new world. A technology whiz kid who becomes a Silicon Valley executive by age 33. An old world romantic confused by the definition of love in the brave new world. A true story so imaginative and incredible that no fiction writer could have thought of it. It begins as a story of ambitions, aspirations and young love at the University of California in 1987. It unfolds in the fast moving world of Hi-Tech industry in Silicon Valley San Francisco and Seattle. From the west coast we jump to Nashville for a brief detour to sample the software industry there, and then get back to Southern California, where we hold our breadth as our narrator survives the infamous wildfires. Technology. Art. Wit. Literature. Humor. Imagination. They all come together in this wonderful tale of man's journey though space, time, life and love.

This expanded Second Edition of the book was published on May 27, 2011 and has 12 new chapters. This humorous photo-book follows one man's journey through United States as he ventures from Silicon Valley to Seattle, San Francisco to San Diego in a quest for his dream job and his search for a place he could call home. The book starts in 1987, at University of California campus in Davis, where it all began, where Artificial Imagination was conceived. We then fast forward by 15 years to 2002. Our main character, a Executive in the Software industry and working in Silicon Valley. Soon, he is heading to Seattle to work for Amazon.com at a lower level management position. We read one lively story after another about the life in the Northwest and learn about his lovely wife and two daughters. Our adventurer then heads to Nashville to work for a software company, and finally returns to California, when he gets caught in the infamous wild fires of 2007. Kudos to the author to be able to find humor in the middle of the Inferno! A Review by John Lehman, the author of Everything is changing A Review by John Lehman, the author of Everything is changing I was half way through this book when I realized it is almost poetry in the form of prose. I am not just referring to the short paragraphs, but the imaginative leaps, stunning imagery and most importantly, words which hook us in, make us think this is our story . . . . We see them on the page but live them in the theater of our imagination. This book reminds us that we share the mysteries of the human mind and soul, no matter what our occupation, no matter where we were born. "Why I am here may appear to be a simple question, but . . . is there a deeper purpose of being where we are?" We know that the question applies not only to the location where we spend our lives, but also to overall existence, and our place in the time continuum. Just as the author who traveled from New Delhi to Silicon Valley felt he has traveled forty years into the future, so do I, sitting in the agricultural landscape of Wisconsin felt that I have had a glimpse into the vitality of the Hi-Tech worlds of California and Seattle. I feel I am in the hands of a good guide. Here is what it means to do research in Computers: "Rip apart an electronic system and you see nothing moving, nothing vibrating, it's almost a make-believe world, a child's fantasy, a writer's imagination." and what it means to yearn for acceptance: "I looked at Seattle's glistening skyline on one side and its beautiful waterfront on the other and asked it the same questions I had asked San Francisco 16 years ago: will it accept me? Or will its people treat me as someone different, not one of the? And will I accept it, call it my home? Right then, she appeared from no where, as if the city had sent her to answer my questions . . ." I loved the section addressing Seattle's slacker sun, that comes late to work, like at 9 AM and goes back home at 4, the observation that for males, until the age eight, we want every young woman to be our mother, then for the next thirty years our friend and when we have daughters, we feel like bringing every young woman a glass of warm milk and cookies. His first day in Nashville, the author looks out of his window and sees snow. The conclusion he draws about the snow flakes very fittingly describes his life and the message we can take with us from this hip, funny, poignant, beautiful book: "the snowflakes descend slowly, floating in the air, allowing the current to carry them with it, letting it change their paths. They have chosen not to confront their destiny, choosing instead to enjoy every second of their short lives, their journey to the ground." Welcome home, Kalpanik! John Lehman, author of Everything is Changing

From the moment Athene sprang full-grown from her father Zeus's head, a new image of the feminine was born. Starting from a penetrating analysis of the goddess's mythologies and beginnings, Jungian analyst Ann Shearer examines how mainstream consciousness, from the early Church Fathers onward, has diluted and even suppressed the original power of the image of Athene. photos.