The true story of my medical fight spanning over 20 years. Diagnosed in May 1994 with primary systemic amyloidosis clinically confined to the heart. Prognosis was 6 to 16 months, with multiple organ failure expected. In 1994 99% of amloidosis patients with my diagnosis were dead within 2 years. August 1994 I had an autologous bone marrow transplant with stem cell rescue. A phase 1 clinical trial offered ONLY at Boston University Medical Center. I was the second amyloidosis patient offered this treatment. Recovery, the long journey back, in painful detail. As of September 2014 still vertical.

Lawrence Finkle, known simply to his die-hard Minnesota Wild fans as Viper, isn't used to hearing the word "no." He lives his whole life just a little on the reckless side. After all, life is just one big game, right? Wrong. When what was supposed to be an innocent bet goes horribly wrong, he's left to deal with the aftermath-and the guilt. In an effort to make things right the best way he can, he ends up falling for the one person on the planet he never should have. The old saying goes that two wrongs don't make a right . . . or do they?

Try it. Right now. Picture the lights going off in the room you're sitting in. The computer, the air conditioning, phones, everything. Then the people, every last person in your building, on the street outside, the entire neighborhood, vanished. With them go all noises: chitchat, coughs, cars, and that wordless, almost impalpable hum of a city. And animals: no dogs, no birds, not even a cricket's legs rubbing together, not even a smell. Now bump it up to 95 degrees. Turn your radio on and listen to 80 percent of your city drowning. You're almost there. Only twenty-eight days to go. Joshua Clark never left New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, choosing instead to band together with fellow holdouts in the French Quarter, pooling resources and volunteering energy in an effort to save the city they loved. When Katrina hit, Clark, a key correspondent for National Public Radio during the storm, immediately began to record hundreds of hours of conversations with its victims, not only in the city but throughout the Gulf: the devastated poor and rich alike; rescue workers from around the country; reporters; local characters who could exist nowhere else but New Orleans; politicians; the woman Clark loved, in a relationship ravaged by the storm. Their voices resound throughout this memoir of a unique and little-known moment of anarchy and chaos, of heartbreaking kindness and incomprehensible anguish, of mercy and madness as only America could deliver it. Paying homage to the emotional power of Joan Didion, the journalistic authority of Norman Mailer, and the gonzo irreverence of Tom Wolfe, Joshua Clark takes us through the experiences of loss and renewal, resilience and hope, in a city unlike any other. With lyrical sympathy, humility, and humor, Heart Like Water marks an astonishing and important national debut. A portion of the author's royalties from this book will go to the Katrina Arts Relief and Emergency Support (KARES) fund, which supports New Orleans-area writers affected by the storm.Visit www.NewOrleansLiteraryInstitute.com to find out how to make a direct and positive impact on the region.

As a youngster growing up in a small textile community, Belmont, NC, Jack was exposed to a wide variety of experiences. His mother's only rules for him were, "Be home for meals", and "Don't disgrace the family." This gave Jack freedom to explore his world, and did he ever! After his father died when Jack was twelve years of age, he spent three summers on his uncle's tobacco farm in South Carolina, which gave him lessons in economics, sociology, and human nature. Some episodes are hilarious, some are lessons in life, and all are insightful! br> Not many youngsters have been exposed to such a variety of rich experiences. The book is mainly for adults, however, youngsters can read it with pleasure and envy.

You can make the furniture you want at a fraction of the price of store-bought furniture. Not only will you save tons of money, but you'll also make environmentally sustainable pieces that are solidly built, using real materials like metal, wood, concrete, and other recycled ready-mades. The projects in this book don't require special skills, prior experience, or even a garage full of tools. You'll be walked step-by-step through the process of making furniture, from where to buy the materials (or where to scavenge) to how to make the most of the tools you own.