A trio of former college friends reunite 20 years later to share the stories of their adventures, rivalries, secrets and losses while reevaluating the events of a single night that shaped all of them.

Fire can fascinate, inspire, capture the imagination and bring families and communities together. It has the ability to amaze, energise and touch something deep inside all of us. For thousands of years, at every corner of the globe, humans have been huddling around fires: from the basic and primitive essentials of light, heat, energy and cooking, through to modern living, fire plays a central role in all of our lives. The ability to accurately and quickly light a fire is one of the most important skills anyone setting off on a wilderness adventure could possess, yet very little has been written about it. Through his narrative Hume also meditates on the wider topics surrounding fire and how it shapes the world around us.

Describes the experiences of a newcomer to the Yukon when he attempts to hike through the snow to reach a mining claim.

I have my senior year planned: keep my head down, don't make any waves, and get the diploma. I've done the popularity thing at Savage River High, but after two years away, I have no interest in reclaiming my crown. The last time I put myself in the spotlight, I was left in shambles. Unfortunately, my carefully laid plans go to hell when I grab the attention of dark, forbidding, and brutally hot Sebastian Vega. He looks at me like he wants to kill my puppy or eat me alive. Quite possibly both. Sebastian is everywhere I go, and he's decided I'm the twisted game he wants to play, whether I'm a willing participant or not. The question is...what will I have to lose in order to win? Authors Note: This is a DARK high school bully romance with mature themes and dubious situations that some readers may find offensive. If you're looking for a nice guy, prince of a hero, this story isn't for you.

Sacred Playgrounds explores the wisdom of camping ministry for Christian education and faith formation, examining its rich history and fundamental characteristics with compelling stories, groundbreaking research, and theological grounding. Christian summer camp is an integral part of the ecology of faith formation in North America, though it has received surprisingly little attention in the scholarly community until now. Camping ministry is often dismissed as simple fun and games or a brief spiritual high that does not last. However, camp experiences often serve as deeply relational and immersive faith experiences that have lasting impacts on participants. Five fundamental characteristics combine dynamically in the effective camp experience: participatory, faith-centered, safe space, relational, and unplugged from home. Together, they open the space for participants to consider new understandings of God, to have time for deep self-reflection, and to build intentional Christian community. These camp experiences are essential components in a larger ecology of faith formation, including the home and congregation. The insight and evidence presented in this book demonstrate that the contributions of camping ministry must be taken seriously among scholars, Christian educators, and ministry professionals.

From the writers of acclaimed blog Pen & Palate, a humorous coming-of-age (and mastering-the-art-of-home-cooking) memoir of friendship, told through stories, recipes, and beautiful illustrations. Getting through life in your twenties isn't easy--especially if you're broke, awkward, and prone to starting small grease fires in your studio apartment. For best friends Lucy Madison and Tram Nguyen, cooking was an escape from the daily humiliation that is being a twenty-something woman in a big city. Pen & Palate traces the course of Lucy and Tram's devoted friendship through miserable jobs and tiny apartments, first loves and ill-advised flings, successes and setbacks--always with a shared love of food at the center of the narrative. A modern take on Laurie Colwin's classic Home Cooking, this coming-of-age memoir for the Girls set weaves together comical (mis)adventures and recipes meant to be shared with a best friend and a bottle of wine.

Billy Joel has sold over 150 million records, produced thirty-three Top-40 hits, received six Grammy Awards, and been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Fans celebrate him, critics deride him, and scholars have all but ignored him. This first-of-its-kind collection of essays offers close analysis and careful insight into the ways his work has impacted popular music during the last fifty years. Using diverse approaches, this volume serves as a model for how any scholar can approach the study of popular music. Ultimately, these chapters interrogate how popular music frames our experiences, constitutes our history and culture, and gains importance in our daily lives.

In the 1970s, while their contemporaries were protesting the computer as a tool of dehumanization and oppression, a motley collection of college dropouts, hippies, and electronics fanatics were engaged in something much more subversive. Obsessed with the idea of getting computer power into their own hands, they launched from their garages a hobbyist movement that grew into an industry, and ultimately a social and technological revolution. What they did was invent the personal computer: not just a new device, but a watershed in the relationship between man and machine. This is their story. Fire in the Valley is the definitive history of the personal computer, drawn from interviews with the people who made it happen, written by two veteran computer writers who were there from the start. Working at InfoWorld in the early 1980s, Swaine and Freiberger daily rubbed elbows with people like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates when they were creating the personal computer revolution. A rich story of colorful individuals, Fire in the Valley profiles these unlikely revolutionaries and entrepreneurs, such as Ed Roberts of MITS, Lee Felsenstein at Processor Technology, and Jack Tramiel of Commodore, as well as Jobs and Gates in all the innocence of their formative years. This completely revised and expanded third edition brings the story to its completion, chronicling the end of the personal computer revolution and the beginning of the post-PC era. It covers the departure from the stage of major players with the deaths of Steve Jobs and Douglas Engelbart and the retirements of Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer; the shift away from the PC to the cloud and portable devices; and what the end of the PC era means for issues such as personal freedom and power, and open source vs. proprietary software.

What if a happier life was only a few simple choices away? A successful entrepreneur living in Southern California, Scott Rieckens had built a “dream life”: a happy marriage, a two-year-old daughter, a membership to a boat club, and a BMW in the driveway. But underneath the surface, Scott was creatively stifled, depressed, and overworked trying to help pay for his family’s beach-town lifestyle. Then one day, Scott listened to a podcast interview that changed everything. Five months later, he had quit his job, convinced his family to leave their home, and cut their expenses in half. Follow Scott and his family as they devote everything to FIRE (financial independence retire early), a subculture obsessed with maximizing wealth and happiness. Filled with inspiring case studies and powerful advice, Playing with FIRE is one family’s journey to acquire the one thing that money can’t buy: a simpler — and happier — life. Based on the documentary

Don’t Just Plant Your Garden…Plan It Fifth-generation homesteader Melissa K. Norris has found gardening to be one of the easiest and most complex things there is. It really is as simple as plopping a seed into the soil, giving it adequate light and water, and watching it grow. But if you want to get the most out of your garden and produce more food each year, you need a plan to help you stay on track. This indispensable guide includes everything you need to plan your garden, execute your plan, and record your results, saving you time and hassle—and allowing you to have fun with the process. You’ll discover a series of charts and worksheets to identify which gardening zone you are in, which crops make sense for your family, and how much you’ll need to plant. Then you’ll refer to a set of monthly instructions based on your gardening zone and put together a customized plan using yearly, monthly, and weekly charts to help you stay on track. The more you use this planner, the more you will get out of your garden, and the more you’ll enjoy providing your family with healthy, organic fruits and vegetables all year long.