Have you ever wondered what hypnotherapy can do for you? Is it time for your transformation from the inside out? Are you looking for real change to deal with those issues? Scratching beneath the surface is about getting a little deeper and how hypnotherapy can help...

The inspiring story of one of Detroit’s most creative and prolific storytellers. Scratching the Surface: Adventures in Storytellingis a deeply personal and intimate memoir told through the lens of Harvey Ovshinsky's lifetime of adventures as an urban enthusiast. He was only seventeen when he started The Fifth Estate, one of the country's oldest underground newspapers. Five years later, he became one of the country's youngest news directors in commercial radio at WABX-FM, Detroit's notorious progressive rock station. Both jobs placed Ovshinsky directly in the bullseye of the nation's tumultuous counterculture of the 1960s and 70s. When he became a documentary director, Ovshinsky's dispatches from his hometown were awarded broadcasting's highest honors, including a national Emmy, a Peabody, and the American Film Institute's Robert M. Bennett Award for Excellence. But this memoir is more than a boastful trip down memory lane. It also doubles as a survival guide and an instruction manual that speaks not only to the nature of and need for storytelling but also and equally important, the pivotal role the twin powers of endurance and resilience play in the creative process. You don't have to be a writer, an artist, or even especially creative to take the plunge, Ovshinsky reminds his readers. "You just have to feel strongly about something or have something you need to get off your chest. And then find the courage to scratch your own surface and share your good stuff with others." Above all, Ovshinsky is an educator, known for his passionate support of and commitment to mentoring the next generation of urban storytellers. When he wasn't teaching screenwriting and documentary production in his popular workshops and support groups, he taught undergraduate and graduate students at Detroit's College for Creative Studies, Wayne State University, Madonna University, and Washtenaw Community College. "The thing about Harvey," a colleague recalls in Scratching the Surface, "is that he treats his students like professionals and not like newbies at all. His approach is to, in a very supportive and non-threatening way, combine both introductory and advanced storytelling in one fell swoop."

Orphaned at a young age when his parents are killed in a car accident, Adam Swanson lived his life without questioning his surroundings or ever considering whether God actually existed, but after he gets a visit from the Arch Angel Gabriel, that all changes. Through a series of bizarre glimpses into the supernatural, he quickly begins to learn that there is indeed more to this life. When his grandfather dies and leaves Adam both his house and an unusually large amount of money, he finds a strange book that reveals an ancient family secret placing him directly in the middle of an age old plot to bring the anti-Christ into the world. As Adam struggles to figure out what his place is in the world, he learns that not only is there more going on in the supernatural realm than the could have ever imagined, there is also more going on in the natural realm than meets the eye. This fast paced thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat and questioning what is just beneath the surface.

Dive in for hours of fun and creativity as your artwork appears like magic while you learn about 20 of the ocean's most fascinating creatures.

Adolescence hasn't been fun for Liss Lawrence. And after a year in Vancouver, when she's finally adjusted to her new situation, a freak car accident sends her life spinning out of control and crashing into the world of the malions, a hidden race silently helping humanity from secret enclaves underground. Liss's knowledge of the malions endangers her family when Jaredsons Securities takes an interest in her accident. Few know the men of Jaredsons Securities, an international intelligence company specializing in missing persons cases, are actually the Vykhars, ancient malion enemies whose true purpose is the eradication of the malion race. The Vykhars will stop at nothing to find out if Liss is connected with the malions, and if they do, they will exploit her. Perhaps more dangerous still are Liss's growing feelings for Rion, a strong-willed malion scarred by his encounters with Vykhars and carrying a secret that could destroy their relationship. But Liss has a secret and scars of her own, and Rion's fiercely protective nature threatens to tear them back open. Can this pair of unlikely lovers survive the dangers of the Vykhars? And can their love survive their own misconceptions?...

Winner, 2019 Saul Viener Book Prize, given by the American Jewish Historical Society A groundbreaking history of the practice of Jewish name changing in the 20th century, showcasing just how much is in a name Our thinking about Jewish name changing tends to focus on clichés: ambitious movie stars who adopted glamorous new names or insensitive Ellis Island officials who changed immigrants’ names for them. But as Kirsten Fermaglich elegantly reveals, the real story is much more profound. Scratching below the surface, Fermaglich examines previously unexplored name change petitions to upend the clichés, revealing that in twentieth-century New York City, Jewish name changing was actually a broad-based and voluntary behavior: thousands of ordinary Jewish men, women, and children legally changed their names in order to respond to an upsurge of antisemitism. Rather than trying to escape their heritage or “pass” as non-Jewish, most name-changers remained active members of the Jewish community. While name changing allowed Jewish families to avoid antisemitism and achieve white middle-class status, the practice also created pain within families and became a stigmatized, forgotten aspect of American Jewish culture. This first history of name changing in the United States offers a previously unexplored window into American Jewish life throughout the twentieth century. A Rosenberg by Any Other Name demonstrates how historical debates about immigration, antisemitism and race, class mobility, gender and family, the boundaries of the Jewish community, and the power of government are reshaped when name changing becomes part of the conversation. Mining court documents, oral histories, archival records, and contemporary literature, Fermaglich argues convincingly that name changing had a lasting impact on American Jewish culture. Ordinary Jews were forced to consider changing their names as they saw their friends, family, classmates, co-workers, and neighbors do so. Jewish communal leaders and civil rights activists needed to consider name changers as part of the Jewish community, making name changing a pivotal part of early civil rights legislation. And Jewish artists created critical portraits of name changers that lasted for decades in American Jewish culture. This book ends with the disturbing realization that the prosperity Jews found by changing their names is not as accessible for the Chinese, Latino, and Muslim immigrants who wish to exercise that right today.

The largest, most comprehensive, and most entertaining reference of its kind, The Dictionary of Clichés features more than four thousand unique clichés and common expressions. Author Christine Ammer explores the phrases and terms that enliven our language and uncovers expressions that have long been considered dead. With each entry, she includes a thorough definition, origin of the term, and an insightful example. Some of the clichés brought into the limelight include: • Blood is thicker than water • Monkey see, monkey do • Brass tacks • Burn the midnight oil • Change of heart • Moral fiber • By the book Whether clichés get under your skin or make you happy as a clam, The Dictionary of Clichés goes the extra mile to provide an essential resource for students, teachers, writers, and anyone with a keen interest in language. And that’s food for thought.