From two of the founding members of the influential collective, the Royal Art Lodge Constructive Abandonment is a series of small paintings featuring surreal vignettes with animals and children weighed down by the pressures of life. With absurdly comedic interactions, the text varies from straightforward to even more abstract and nonsensical than the images that it accompanies. The paintings reference child's play or literature and some are seemingly without reference, completely untethered. Michael Dumontier and Neil Farber are founding members of the Royal Art Lodge. Since the dissolution of the influential Winnipeg art collective, Dumontier and Farber continue to work and create art together. Constructive Abandonment is a partnership not only of two of today's great contemporary artists but also of cohesive dissonance. Pages that could be forgettable one-liners become investigations into intellect and our ability to draw correlations between contradictory elements in a single image.

As a parent, you have certain rights and responsibilities in the care and upbringing of your children. Sometimes those rights are challenged, and you need to know what to do if that happens. Unmarried Parents' Rights (and Responsibilities) contains detailed information on the issues single parents and divorced parents face. It provides a step-by-step guide to taking legal action. This book helps you take control of situations and provide for your children in the best possible way. Find valuable shortcuts to get to the heart of your matter. Look for: -Tip boxes on subjects like how courts determine custody, visitation time and child support -Extensive references to websites, organizations and agencies that can be contacted for information and assistance -Sample legal forms to speed you through the court process Being a single parent is hard-Unmarried Parents' Rights (and Responsibilities) makes it a little easier.

“Constructive wallowing” seems like an oxymoron. Constructive is a good thing, but wallowing is bad. Right? But wait a minute; is it really so terrible to give ourselves a time-out to feel our feelings? Or is it possible that wallowing is an act of loving kindness, right when we need it most? Just about everyone loves the idea of self-compassion -- the notion that maybe in spite of our messy emotions and questionable behavior, we really aren’t all that bad. In recent years there’s been an explosion of books that encourage readers to stop beating themselves up for being human, which is terrific. Unfortunately, readers who aren’t interested in Buddhism or meditation have been left out in the cold. Self-compassion is an everyday habit that everyone can learn, even if they a) aren't particularly spiritual, b) find most books about self-compassion too serious, or else c) have already overdosed on meditation. Constructive Wallowing: How to Beat Bad Feelings by Letting Yourself Have Them is the first book to cut right to the chase, bypassing descriptions of Eastern philosophy and meditation techniques to teach readers exactly how to accept and feel their feelings with self-compassion for greater emotional health and well-being … while making them laugh from time to time. It seems that the wisdom of “keeping your friends close and your enemies closer” applies to emotions as well as people. It’s tempting to turn away from menacing, uncomfortable feelings like anger, grief or regret and treat them like unwanted guests; however, ignoring them just seems to make them stick around. They lurk in the background like punks with switchblades, waiting to pounce as soon as they see an opening. By learning to accept and embrace, rather than suppress, difficult feelings, people can keep their sense of personal power and, better yet, gain greater understanding and ultimately esteem for themselves. Feeling bad can actually lead to feeling better, faster!