Inside this book are stories about insects, piano teachers, talking birds, dead birds, ex-convicts, suicide attempts, tarot cards, and bible verses. Some of the stories happened to Korby and some of them he just made up. It doesn't really matter which are which. Up to this point in his life, he has been a professional singer-songwriter, traveling around by himself, playing songs for small audiences, selling CDs out of a suitcase. Occasionally there have been moments where the light shined particularly bright, but mostly it's just been him and a guitar, making music in living rooms and clubs and the occasional concert hall. He has met a lot of people, most of whom leaned like him toward the fringe side of the social spectrum. He's written some of them into stories hunched over a laptop in the backseat of a touring van, or in the lobby of a Best Western, or on the cracked vinyl couch of a rock club's green room, poking a keyboard with a pair of sweaty pointer fingers. And then when he was seven he fell in love with the Ramona Quimby books, and then it was the Great Brain books, and then the Roald Dahl. Most of his best friends have been characters from stories he's read. He's always been drawn to fiction because it tells you the truth you need to know. And the truth he needs to know is that, despite considerable advances in science and industry, the world is still a big fat piece of magic.

This volume explores the relationship of hero to celebrity and the changing role of the hero in American culture. It establishes that the nature of hero and its function in society is a communication phenomenon, which has been and is being altered by the rapid advance of electronic media.

The HERO Effect is based on Kevin Brown's highly sought after keynote experience.In a fresh and entertaining style, Kevin shares ideas, strategies and principles that will inspire and equip readers to show up every day and make a positive difference. At the heart of Kevin's message is a simple, yet powerful philosophy for life that drives every thought, every action and ultimately every result we achieve both personally and professionally. Your team will be motivated to reach beyond what is required and do something remarkable!This book is designed to help individuals and organizations:Achieve greater results by eliminating "ordinary" thinking and mastering the habit of excellence.Own the moments that matter (and they all matter) by taking responsibility for their attitude, their actions and their results.Create meaningful relationships and deliver an extraordinary experience for every "customer" at work and at home.

A Hero Like You looks at everyday heroes and highlights qualities such as loyalty, compassion, resourcefulness, justice, and courage. The lyrical rhyme and relatable illustrations remind us that we all have the opportunity to be a hero by helping others, doing right and making the world a better place. "What the world needs is a hero like you!"

Dear Inner Critic, meet your inner heroes! As a creative person, you are familiar with the critic--that nagging presence in your head that is always trying to point out your shortcomings. But there is hope: Your inner heroes are also always with you at your worktable. Through the creation of your personal Inner Hero Creative Art Journal (a series of loose-leaf cards, each with a new mixed-media technique), you will invite an inner conversation that will illuminate your best self. Your inner Scribe, Tarot Reader, Alchemist, Gardener and Wise Woman each long to be introduced to your inner critic and to show you a positive and more supportive perspective. Those who wish to step up to their inner critic will soon hear a gentler voice. • Overcome negative self-talk--Each chapter introduces a variety of ideas and exercises to release your inner heroes. • Discover a new format--Loose-leaf watercolor pages become art-journaled cards you will use over and over again to make meaning of your journey. • Mixed media techniques--Discover art-making techniques using inks, photos, watercolors, fabric, eggshells and more to use in your own art journaling. • Additional online content--Links to downloadable worksheets and inspiring variations are sprinkled throughout the book. Step out of the critic's shade and into the warmth and comfort of your own creative light.

In Hero Maker, you will learn how to bring real change to your church and community by developing the practical skills to help others reach their leadership potential. Drawing on five powerful practices found in the ministry of Jesus, Hero Maker presents the key steps of apprenticeship that will build up other leaders and provide strategies for how you can: activate the gifts of those around you help others take ownership of their mission develop a simple scorecard for measuring your kingdom-building progress With rich insights from the Gospels, Hero Maker is packed with real-life ministry stories ranging from paid staff to volunteer leaders--from established churches to new church plants. Whether you lead ten people or ten thousand, Hero Maker will not only help you maximize your leadership impact; but, in doing so, you will also help shift today's church culture to a model of reproduction and multiplication. Chicago pastor and church planter Dave Ferguson and award-winning writer Warren Bird make a compelling case that God's power and purpose are best revealed when we train and release others to further advance the Kingdom of God. By becoming a hero maker and investing in others, you can join a movement of influencers that are impacting thousands of people around the world. Everybody wants to be a hero, but few understand the power of being a hero maker.

What does it mean to be a hero? The ancient Greeks who gave us Achilles and Odysseus had a very different understanding of the term than we do today. Based on the legendary Harvard course that Gregory Nagy has taught for well over thirty years, The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours explores the roots of Western civilization and offers a masterclass in classical Greek literature. We meet the epic heroes of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, but Nagy also considers the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, the songs of Sappho and Pindar, and the dialogues of Plato. Herodotus once said that to read Homer was to be a civilized person. To discover Nagy’s Homer is to be twice civilized. “Fascinating, often ingenious... A valuable synthesis of research finessed over thirty years.” —Times Literary Supplement “Nagy exuberantly reminds his readers that heroes—mortal strivers against fate, against monsters, and...against death itself—form the heart of Greek literature... [He brings] in every variation on the Greek hero, from the wily Theseus to the brawny Hercules to the ‘monolithic’ Achilles to the valiantly conflicted Oedipus.” —Steve Donoghue, Open Letters Monthly

Analyzes the modern myth of the cowboy as it appears in movies, advertising, the rodeo, and fiction, and gauges its effect on American thought

What was a hero in Classical Antiquity? Why is it that their characteristics have transcended chronological and cultural barriers while they are still role models in our days? How have their features changed to be embodied by comic superheroes and film? How is their essence vulgarized and turned into a mass consumption product? What has happened with their literary and artistic representation along centuries of elitist Western culture? This book aims at posing these and other questions about heroes, allowing us to open a cultural reflection over the role of the classical world in the present, its meaning in mass media, and the capacity of the Greek and Roman civilizations to dialogue with the modern world. This dialogue offers a glimpse into modern cultural necessities and tendencies which can be seen in several aspects, such as the hero’s vulnerability, the archetype’s banalization, the possibility to extend the heroic essence to individuals in search of identities – vital as well as gender or class identities. In some products (videogames, heavy metal music) our research enables a deeper understanding of the hero’s more obvious characteristics, such as their physical and moral strength. All these tendencies – contemporary and consumable, contradictory with one another, yet vigorous above all – acquire visibility by means of a polyhedral vehicle which is rich in possibilities of rereading and reworking: the Greco-Roman hero. In such a virtual and postmodern world as the one we inhabit, it comes not without surprise that we still resort to an idea like the hero, which is as old as the West.

To Be A Hero is a modern day setting allowing players to step into the roles of super-powered heroes and villains. In this setting, super-powered beings have existed throughout the ages and the classic conflict of hero versus villain has spurned on history's most defining moments. The battle of good against evil, justice against injustice, freedom against tyranny continues to be played out to the modern day with the player characters at the head of this epic struggle.The main book contains 7 brand new origins, the To Be A Hero's unique take on races. It also contains 6 basic classes, 20 all new prestige classes, as well as new skills and skill uses, feats, unique equipment, firearms and complete rules for super-powers and super-powered beings with over one hundred unique powers. To Be A Hero captures the essence of the super-hero genre and makes it playable and balanced in a way previously unseen.