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Fearless Fantasies
A girl I knew had trouble reading Dyslexia had her tied in knots I watched her try but end up weeping This was something she couldn’t be taught She was scared her classmates would find out I told her not to fret what they said That in herself she should not doubt If she tried she’d overcome this dread I sat next to her and as we worked She began to regain some self-esteem She read some words right and up she perked Together we can build a dream
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For Amanda
The talent that she shows Cannot compare with The talent that she hides The wisdom that she knows Is hidden in the glyphs Deep within her eyes Her beauty as it grows Will be at the heart of myths Told with hearty sighs Just listen to the crows Of her kin and kith As her trade she plies Happy Birthday and Congratulations on your graduation!
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Courage is facing your fears
When most people think of someone who is courageous, they think of firefighters, soldiers, and other people facing extreme danger. But courage also applies to the agoraphobe who manages to go out into public or the person afraid of spiders who must enter a shed “full” of spiders to get the lawnmower out. Fear can be a rational or irrational. Many people think that something that they themselves are not afraid of should not be scary to anyone. Nearly everyone goes out in public almost every day. Whether it’s to get groceries or go to work. They think nothing of it. But what about the woman down the street who was ‘mugged’ while at the city park. Then after recovering from her injuries, was ‘assaulted’ on her way to work. A second stroke of bad luck hits her before she had fully recovered from the first. Admittedly this is an extreme case, not something that commonly occurs, but a true event. Could you blame her for being afraid of people in general, or men who looked like her attackers in specific? And if she’s afraid of people, how could she bring herself to go to a grocery store or work.…
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My History with The Great Conversation
The Great Conversation is the first book of the series The Great Books of the Western World. You can find it in the reference section of most libraries. To understand my relationship with this collection, a little personal history is required. I was an Electronics Vocational student in high school that graduated in the bottom third of his class. Not a great start, but I graduated. I went on to enroll in an Electronics Engineering degree program. I did great my first trimester, earning a 4.0. This boosted my confidence and I went into the second trimester thinking this is easy. Unfortunately, most of the first trimester was over what I had learned in two years of high school vocational studies. The real challenge was just beginning and I did not have the discipline and study skills to succeed. My grades quickly plummeted and I dropped out. Shortly thereafter, I attended the Ohio State Fair and they had a booth selling the Encyclopedia Britannica. Now this being 1982, Al Gore had not yet invented the internet and I did not have Wikipedia at my disposal. With a little coaxing I was convinced to purchase the complete set of the Encyclopedia…
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From Television Addict To Book Addict
Around the middle of last year, I made a life changing decision. I realized I was watching too much television and it was affecting me in a negative way. I was recording over twenty shows per season on my DVR cable box. This would require me to watch for to five hours of shows every day. I became more and more frustrated and irritable. I would just shut out the rest of the world and watch TV. This all changed when I started reading again. I have always loved to read. I used to be a very avid reader. However, life got in the way and I stopped reading. Most of the books I was reading either applied to work or my gaming hobby. However, books that really made me stop and think, ones that made me question what I really knew; none. One of the first books that got me fired up was “The Epic of Gilgamesh”. Being a Dungeons & Dragons player, this classic piece of literature really hit home for me. Here was a fantastic tale that stimulated my creativity and made me ask questions about what I knew. It was the first time I realized other…