I never dreamed marching band could change my life anymore than it already had. So how did it change my life? I had grown to love my four years of marching band in high school. I missed it when I graduated. As a college student, I watched the band at practices and followed them to contests. Hanging around the band paid off. When I got the chance to become a staff member, I jumped at the opportunity to help the marching band. Find out what being a staff member meant to me and how much more it changed my life in Confessions of a Marching Band Staff Member.

I hated marching band my freshman year of high school. So why did I stay in for three more years? When I first joined marching band, I didn’t know anyone. I had a hard time making friends because of my shyness. Even worse, the staff and upperclassmen yelled at me when I couldn’t march in step. And then we didn't make state finals by one point. Find out why I stayed in band for three more years and how it changed my life in Confessions of a Marching Band Member.

Effortlessly acquire an SAT vocabulary through hilarious high school essays Every year, 9 million American students expend large amounts of time and energy preparing for proficiency and entrance exams like the SAT, ACT, PSAT, and SSAT with a heap of vocabulary flash cards and a fat volume of repetitive practice tests. Each one of them, along with their parents and teachers, wishes that there was a less painful way to prepare for test day. There is, and this book is the solution: a collection of ten well-written, entertaining essays by recent college-graduates-turned-writers that honestly and amusingly recount wild, traumatizing, and hilarious high-school events, using common SAT words as a study tool. (*gluteus: any of the large muscles of the buttocks; esp: gluteus maximus)

Praise for Confessions from the Corner Office "As usual, Aylward and Moore have created a path that helps the reader identify and develop critical instincts, behaviors that not only create energy around business life, but can make personal lives richer and more rewarding." ---- Kenneth Keymer, CEO and President, VICORP Restaurants "However you define your corner office, this book helps you develop the instincts you need to build deeper relationships and be more successful both personally and professionally." ---- Andy Andrews, author of the New York Times bestseller, The Traveler's Gift "In Confessions, authors Aylward and Moore capture the reality of our humanity within the corridors of corporate America with real stories about real people." ---- Clifton L. Taulbert, Pulitzer Prize-nominated author of The Last Train North "An insightful, practical guide to achieving a winning management style. I applaud the authors' ability to motivate with empathy rather than intimidation." ---- Jerry Langley, Executive in Residence,Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame

“Describes a life that explores, in ways that only fine fiction can, the differences between myth and illusion, between real psychic gifts and false ones.”—The Denver Post This American Book Award Winner follows the story of the young Mei-li Murrow who is dubbed “Madame Psyche” after she accidentally predicts the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Although she wins fame and fortune, Mei-li seeks a truer spirituality, and embarks on a pilgrimage that takes her to the death-soaked Europe of the First World War, to a utopian commune in the Santa Cruz Mountains in the 1920s, to the Depression-era migrant work camps and cannery strikes, and finally to the Napa State Hospital, where she finds wisdom and peace among the outcasts of the asylum. Mei-li’s modern-day epic is grounded in the history of Northern California in the first half of the twentieth century and peopled by comrades of many classes and cultures and by lovers both male and female. Yet her central odyssey remains one of inner discovery. In Confessions of Madame Psyche, Dorothy Bryant has created a character who is so honest in her search for truth, growth, and spiritual understanding that this quest becomes inherent to her survival. “Breathtaking and heartbreaking . . . It is in the specifics of time and place that Bryant roots the book’s magic. It is in her characterizations that the magic convinces . . . A beautiful story has, very simply, told itself.”—The Denver Post “Fascinating and beautiful.”—Ursula K. LeGuin “Intricate, appealing [and] profound.”—Women’s Review of Books

What are the components of youth cultures today? This encyclopedia examines the facets of youth cultures and brings them to the forefront. Although issues of youth culture are frequently cited in classrooms and public forums, most encyclopedias of childhood and youth are devoted to history, human development, and society. A limitation on the reference bookshelf is the restriction of youth to pre-adolescence, although issues of youth continue into young adulthood. This encyclopedia addresses an academic audience of professors and students in childhood studies, American studies, and culture studies. The authors span disciplines of psychology, sociology, anthropology, history, and folklore. The Encyclopedia of Youth Cultures in America addresses a need for historical, social, and cultural information on a wide array of youth groups. Such a reference work serves as a corrective to the narrow public view that young people are part of an amalgamated youth group or occupy malicious gangs and satanic cults. Widespread reports of bullying, school violence, dominance of athletics over academics, and changing demographics in the United States has drawn renewed attention to the changing cultural landscape of youth in and out of school to explain social and psychological problems.

I first heard “Jessie’s Girl” in the summer of 1981. Some people might say I’ve become obsessed with Rick Springfield since then. I call it love of a man and his music. From the age of 12 until adulthood, my love of Rick and his music has grown. He isn’t just a good-looking rockstar. He is so much more than that. His smile melts my heart, but his songs heal my mind in ways I never thought possible. Confessions of a Rick Springfield Fan is the heartfelt story of my devotion to him through the years.

A hilariously brilliant compilation of all things related to band-nerd utopia will have you at cello! This sharp installment of the 13th Chair series from DJ Corchin is laugh-out-loud funny! Socrates. Plato. Aristotle. Mere child's play! Band Nerds Confessions is the newest addition to the Band Nerds Book Series. With over 800 quotes, anecdotes, and thoughts from the 13th Chair, there isn't a larger source of band hodgepodge genius on the planet. We've all wondered what our messy music lockers say about us. Or dreamed of the many ways instruments can fit together to form a super robot. Truly thought-provoking words await you. Go ahead, open to any page and transport yourself to the humorously inspiring music world of the 13th Chair!

Confession One: Musical theatre and chess were my true loves. I was a mixture of nerd and drama queen. I liked to think of myself as raspberry ripple ice cream. The perfect combination of sauce to creamy goodness. Confession Two: I was an adaptable kind of girl. Until it came to my dreams. Four years of hard work and I finally got into the college I’d fantasized about since I was a little girl. But sometimes things didn’t work out how you wanted them to. One incident—and a Viking helmet—was all it took to have my aspirations snatched away at the end of my first year. And now I was here. In a state I hated. A second college I didn’t want to go to. But no other choices available. Confession Three: Alcohol was the enemy. All I wanted was to blow off some steam before I met my new fate. To let loose, and have a little fun. I was never meant to wake up in a hot guys bed and not remember how I got there. Confession Four: He was my new roommate. Running out of his house the morning after the night before was the last time I was meant to see him. I could forget it ever happened and start my sophomore year unscathed. Until I found out he was my new roommate...along with another thirty guys. I was the new frat girl in town, and life was about to get a whole lot of messy.

Meet the gritty, sexy world of television news and the serenity of life in Italy. Denise DiBella is asuccessful, beautiful, andintelligentno-nonsense broadcastnewsand sportsreporter.Through her colorful exploits, she paints a vivid picture aboutthe highs, lows and lovesof lifewithin the news business. Working in New York City, the number one television market in the country, Denise thought she made it to the top and had it all by the time she reached the age of 29.But something happenedupon arriving at the pinnacle of success and she started to realize the tremendous costs she paid to reach such lofty heights. Denise begins to question, "What's next when you finally reach your dream? How do youknow when enough is enough if all you see ismore pain and more sacrifice? Where do you find the strength to journey forward when your heart tells you it's time to move on? And, should you just let it all go and take a leap of faith hoping it will pay off? After taking a bold jump, Denise moves to Italy armed withonlyher catand two suitcases.Thereshe finds answers, but differentonesthan what she expects.Even after moving across an ocean, Denise asks, "No matter how far you run, can you ever really escape yourself?" Go along with Denise while she reports on her wild ride through loss, divorce, affairs of the heart, addiction, and so much more in Confessions of a Television Reporter.