I’ve done bad things. I’ve lied. I’ve cheated. Whenever my family gets doughnuts, I hide the blueberry fritter so no one else can eat it. This issue of Record is all about shame, and the stories we'd rather not tell.I’ve done bad things.I’ve lied. I’ve cheated. Whenever my family gets doughnuts, I hide the blueberry fritter so no one else can eat it.And yet, it’s not me who does those things, not really. It’s another guy, another me that I push to the side of my head. I’m a nice guy. How could I do bad stuff?In this issue, we wrote about events we’re not proud of. It wasn’t easy. Dredging up those dark, wriggling bits of ourselves, throwing them into the light, taking careful pictures to record for posterity, we learned some uncomfortable truths about who we are.What we are, is stories. Some of which we’d rather not tell. It’s not easy to come to terms with the shameful parts, to admit that the same guy who gives money to the homeless guy by the subway is the same guy who undresses women in bars. But, on a positive note, I believe that by writing through them, by admitting our faults, we merge the shameful stories with the narrative of our life, and I think that makes us a bit more whole.

This is the account of the experiences of Ruth and Naomi from the Bible book of Ruth. It tells the conversations that might have taken place when Ruth is trying to decide to go with her Mother-in-law or stay with her own family.Have you ever wondered what actually took place when Naomi announced she wanted to go home to Israel? This is my interpretation of the conversations that might have happened as Ruth and Orpha try to decide to go with Naomi or stay with their own families in Moab.See if your feelings would be the same as I felt for the two young women as they work through this tough decision. Thrill with them as they both come to the decision that is best for them with the blessings of their Mother-in-law.

This poem set journeys into the postmodern American psyche. The book walks the streets in ecclesiast humor, insight, meditation, and atomic power of desire for culture. An odyssey offering commercial mind's regress wrote to our age of medication and lack of focus. How our deepest desire for love, lust, and lucidity all commingle. Ideas about culture ranging from classical past, to present.This poem set journeys into the postmodern American psyche. The book walks the streets in ecclesiast humor, insight, meditation, and atomic power of desire for culture. An odyssey offering commercial mind's regress wrote to our age of medication and lack of focus. How our deepest desire for love, lust, and lucidity all commingle. Ideas about culture ranging from classical past, to stagnate commercial present. The poems bend and blend our heritage, and create no distinction between our loves and commercial vapidity. The book starts in the funny trippy way some pop culture personas have influenced our lives. From Cary Grant dropping acid in the 50's, to the salacious Debbie of Dallas the book covers the gamut of pop culture. The book then goes into a dream state of pop culture. Popular pop subjects Kurt Vonnegut, Orson Welles, Sergei Eisenstein, tripping to a movie theater, subway voyage, Bonnie Raitt, and Michael Bolton turning and twisting into a mind meld. The Jeremiads arriving last into our collective unconsciousness on the foibles of our society. With poems on Jersey Shore, cell phones, righteous persons, and a Howl inspired poem called 2 My Generation (The Baby Boomers Children). This book can not be missed. It will tap you consciousness, inspire, and drive your soul. The first work penned from a unique and embryonic writer.

The year is 1920 and Godfrey Leduc has a difficult decision to make. Stay on the family farm in rural Quebec or make the move out West and start his own? Family, love, and a bit of humour set against the backdrop of post-WWI Canada make this semi-biographical work an entertaining read for all ages.The last transmission of Kalmor Yintih, the first leader of Jazidal- the capital home world of The Federation of Stellar Systems. The Federation of Stellar Systems (FSS) Gazette Editor’s Note: Kalmor Yintih was killed in battle aboard the Ilmytine fighting in the Jazidal civil war. His last known message to his fleet was, “Fight on brave men, for we fight not in hope of victory over worlds or minds, no we fight to conquer all that has trapped us within these walls. I will take you to victory, follow me now and we shall cry out in victorious reign upon this sky.” Kalmor Yintih was survived by twelve children and fifty-seven grand and great-grandchildren. He was buried next to Vadek in Kaltrow four province. Pealar was the great rebel fighter over the first War, she is honored along with Kalmor. The shrine on Bedriod moon is a tribute to Kalmor and Pealar’s victories. Vadek was unknown until Kalmor’s last message. 

A young couple who are down on their luck, come across a large sum of money. Just when they think all their problems have been solved, a new set of problems present themselves.This is the first translation into English of the verse drama Germanicus by the Afrikaans poet N.P. Van Wyk Louw. The work was based on the first three chapters of the Annales of the Roman historiographer Tacitus. After the death of Emperor Augustus, his successor Tiberius’ adopted son Germanicus recoils from the cruelty inherent in imperial rule. In the end he helplessly acquiesces, finally welcoming his own death as a means of escape from the burden of empire. The drama has been considered a highlight in Afrikaans literature since its publication in 1956. Its interest lies in its amazing sweep of words, Louw’s sense of history and his portrayal of the inevitability of the corruption inherent in power. Louw’s great monologues dominate the debates between his main protagonists. His poetic Afrikaans had a grand eloquence that swept his audience along in a torrent of densely-argued meaning. Such conciseness offered severe challenges to the translator. Claassen’s colloquial translation manages to capture both the essence of Louw’s dramatic dialogues and the rhythmic cadences of the original poetry. The translator provides a lengthy Introduction, aimed at both a classical and a theatre-going readership, explaining the historical background and discussing Louw’s interpretation of Tacitus’ narrative and the constraints under which a translator works. A brief overview of the contents of the drama’s eight scenes is followed by a select bibliography.

Sacrificed to dark spirits known as the Enorahts and transformed into an eternal being of brilliant white light, a young peasant girl named Violet is cursed to search the world as a kelesnae until she finds the one who will help her regain her human form. Four hundred years pass before she finds Nate, a sullen boy who unwittingly becomes the key to Violet’s rebirth.Sentenced to death for stealing by the malicious pastor of her village, sixteen-year-old Violet is strung up in the woods to await her punishment: to be consumed by the evil horde of dark spectres known as the Enorahts. Violet then becomes another entity entirely, an immortal being known as a kelesnae, now cursed to roam the earth in search of someone kind who can bring her back to the physical world.Violet manages to find Nate, a sullen boy with a newly broken heart, and she becomes part of his life after he unwittingly helps her regain her human form. At the same time, Nate struggles with his growing attraction to her and with the world’s reaction to Violet’s presence, which eventually turns on a dime thanks to her curse. This leaves Nate with the harrowing task of protecting Violet, consequently leaving him open to attack from the dark forces that first killed her.

This is an enthrawling short story that starts with instant anxiety, drama and fear. In this Story RUBY is faced with conflict and danger immediatley. This short story will grip instantly.There are as many Gods in this universe as there are beings. And the game we play is called “Touch.” It’s a form of spiritual hugging. Easy to begin, pretty much impossible to bring to a close.How it came about: Before the beginning of the universe, before there even was a universe, we all held hands—well, figuratively speaking. We touched, I guess would describe it (hence the name of the game), and touching we synchronized, and synchronized we decided (on three, everyone: 1-2-3) to BE. So now we all WERE. Simplicity itself.Then we decided to decide (on three, everyone) for the universe to BE. And so it WAS and still IS. Very much so. And, yes, I’m talking about this physical, Capital-U Universe, the one with galaxies, stars, planets, black holes, oceans, parking tickets, crazy politicians, and inane commercials. Yes, this one.The rules of “Touch” are few and simple.Rule number One says that once we’ve made the Big One—which is basically somewhere to play this game—anyone of us can, if synchronized with (i.e., touching) anyone else—either one or many as the case may be—decide on a new smaller (I guess that would be lower-case-u) universe, within the Big One. “Sub-universe” would be as good a word as any. And from then on they, those who co-decided, would share this thing, this co-created sub-universe, and it will remain real as anything, going forward.Nazi Germany was/is a pretty blatant example of this, if deadly and in very bad taste. Rome was/is another. Soccer huddles, too.Your marriage is probably one. Trysts often are. Most romances, for sure.Now, according to rule number Two, to end one of these sub-universes (for they can all be brought to a close, i.e., ceased), all you have to do is re-synchronize and non-decide the thing. Non-decide might also be a word for it. You know, like dis-appear. First it appears then it disappears—first you decide then you non-decide. But non-decide is closer to the truth, so we’ll stick with that.So, first you decide, then you non-decide. Really, it’s as easy as 1-2-3. Could not be simpler. And to end the Big One altogether (and this is rule number Three), all we have to do is re-synchronize and non-decide IT. I ask you, what could be simpler?On paper.For, oh yeah, there is a rule number Four (and why we agreed on this one I shall never know, but it’s on the books, I’m afraid, and still very much in force): In order to end the Big One, in order to un-BE (non-decide) the entire universe, each and every sub-universe, large and small, must first be non-decided. That’s right, before we can all touch and un-BE the lot, i.e., the Big One, we must clear out all the sub-ones.I guess we decided this into the “Touch” rules to protect the Big One, to make it hard to vanish, i.e., make it last. And that has worked (and still works) like a charm for the Big One, as you know, is still very much in play.Needless to say, this all happened a few unforeseen complications ago, for by last count there were 8,444,547,856,334 first generation sub-universes on this planet alone, and each of these have since sprouted many, many, many generations of subs who in turn, well you get the point.And to make matters a little more harrowing (from the standpoint of climbing back out of this sizeable hole by ending the Big One), by now most of us have not only forgotten the name of the game, but that this is all, in fact, a game.And, sad to say, the handful who do remember are mostly locked up (for their own protection, or so the story goes).

An accurate depiction of the entirety of the human race and it's inevitable descent into love.Originally titled The Oranges; Banana You Glad I Didn't Say Orange: A Love Story is definitely an accurate depiction of the past and present of the planet and its relationship with the human population. Oranges, war, love, and absolutely no sarcasm.

Gene One: Introducing the monk Gregor Mendel, his friends and his enemies. How and where Mendel presented his results to the world - made history - and no one understood a word he was saying.These Brother Gregory stories are historical scientific fiction. They start on a cold night in Brno in 1865 when the world learns, for the first time, about the mechanism of genetic inheritance. A giant scientific mystery was revealed, but the time was not quite right. Why? Meet Gregor Mendel, his friends - and his enemies - and find the answer.

What will you do when Death comes knocking? Death lurks around every twist in the path, within every dark shadow. The Gods may demand more than humans are willing to give. Spirits from beyond the grave can rise from cursed ground to walk among the living bringing horror and death.Death may come in the most innocuous of guises when one least expects or death may be expected but still fought against to the last breath.Death Songs presents four short stories of people facing death, or something worse. A tribe's medicine man must appease the gods before his village drowns. A woman faces off with vengeful spirits to protect her village from death. A man encounters a woman with a strange profession after a violent disaster. A lone man stands up to the spirit world to protect his wife.

It should have been a perfect match: Paul Ernest's research abilities and Corke Industries extreme wealth. But, sometimes medical research doesn't always give the results anticipated.1193 is a dangerous and confusing place--especially if you're from 2009.Life has not been going as planned for 25-year-old twins Jill and Joanna Mason. Jill, an engineer and secret thrill-seeker, longs for adventure. Joanna, a wedding planner and aspiring writer, is recovering from a bad breakup. A vacation is just what they need to lighten their spirits. But neither one expects what happens next.While horseback riding through Sherwood Forest, the sisters are mysteriously transported to the 12th century where they're caught in the middle of a deadly feud. Joanna is taken captive by Guy of Gisbourne. Young women in his castle are dying, and she must identify the killer before she becomes his next victim. Meanwhile, Jill enlists Robin Hood's aid in saving Joanna. But his incompetency may cost Joanna her life. As the sisters discover hidden talents and romantic entanglements, they must decide if their destiny actually lies in the past.

Drug addict almost dies and the afterlife forces her to relive the parts of her life that made her what she is today.Naomi Boyd, on the run from the law, was shot and left for dead on the street by her good-for-nothing accomplice. Now, as she dies, she is forced to relive a fractured, insane version of her life. Color, her guardian angel, is just trying to make her a good person again. A hippy named Bobby brings forth her untainted desires to expand her mind via drug use. General Deed brings up ghosts from her past and forces her to face her inner demons. And Marry Lauper even makes an appearance and shows her the shortcomings of fast times and loose money. She has to face who she was, what she has become, and who she wants to be all before she dies. Otherwise, she'll be stuck in a hell for an imperfect version of herself forever.

If you give in to temptation, eventually you will get burned. You will get trapped in a lifestyle of sin. If you play with temptation, eventually Satan will have you trapped. Satan makes you think that there are no consequences to playing with temptation. He will make you think that you can get away with it. But he will trap you if you give in. Eventually you will become a slave to that sinThe following is taken from intro story.Imagine that you loved Mike and Ike’s (the candy). You loved them so much that you would do anything to get them. In fact, you loved them so much that you would dream about them when you were at school. You couldn't wait until payday. That’s when your mom would give you your monthly allowance. Each month, when she would give you your $12.29 allowance, you’d race to the closest grocery store, head directly towards the candy aisle and grab yourself a handful of Mike and Ike boxes. You’d head to the checkout counter with your handful of Mike and Ikes. The checkout line seemed soooo slow every time you’d try to buy your M & I’s, but they were worth the wait. You finally made it to the front of the line and the clerk started ringing up your stash of candy. The clerk finally finished ringing them up and you whipped out your money and paid for them.They were yours now and no one could take them away from you. You ran home as fast as you could to add them to your already huge stash of M&I’s. You made it home and headed for your bedroom where your treasure was hidden where no one could find it. You head towards your top secret, highly confidential, enter at your own risk, camouflaged, hidden in a really, really, really tough and inaccessible compartment, for your eyes only place. You were so proud to have concealed the M&I’s in a place that only you and God could find. If you had the money, you would have put guard dogs, barbed wire and electric fences around it. But for now, you had to settle for a home-made booby trap system. This story is kinda what temptation is like. If you give in to temptation, eventually you will get burned. You will get trapped in a lifestyle of sin. If you play with temptation, eventually Satan will have you trapped. Satan makes you think that there are no consequences to playing with temptation. He will make you think that you can get away with it. But he will trap you if you give in. Eventually you will become a slave to that particular sin. This week we are going to study about temptation and what it is. Temptation itself is not a sin. It’s when you give in to the temptation that it is sin. If temptation was a sin, then Jesus would have sinned because He was tempted in every way just as we are. The difference is that He never gave in. But often we do. Especially when we play around with temptation.

In this dark comedy series, a Jewish brother and sister sneak back into time with their uncle’s time machine and accidentally kill Hitler. They are delighted until they get back to the present and see the awful and odd things that have happened as a result, they find they have no choice, they must save HitlerIn this dark comedy series, a Jewish brother and sister sneak back into time with their uncle’s time machine and accidentally kill Hitler. They are delighted until they get back to the present and see the awful and odd things that have happened as a result, and each time they go back and try and fix things, reality get progressively worse, until they find they have no choice, they must save Hitler. This first book in the series chronicles their trip back in time when they kill Hitler and the awful result when they return to present day New York. You also get to meet a group of scientists who are working on an array of humanity killing projects, from zombies to contacting aliens, and the creation of a cat-dog.

The planet was very small, about the size of a bocci ball. It was actually a second moon of Earth but it was heavily populated. The President of the United States wanted it delivered to him so that he could inspect it in person. The World Minister of the tiny planet would not accept this event. The events that followed will amaze you.What if the Long Chronology in archaeology is wrong? What if Creationism and Gradualism are wrong? What if all religions are based a lie, the same lie?What would you think then? How would you see the rest of mankind? How would you see yourself?Are you strong enough? Are you one of the many who will not be able to accept new truths?Can you emotionally handle the Long Chronology, Creationism, and Gradualism being false and unscientific notions? Are you capable of adjusting to the reality that all religions are based on the same lie which began as a misunderstanding of reality and nature by primitive people?Are you able to accept historiography, forensic science and logic without an ideological bias in considering new information which will alter your beliefs?Whether you consider yourself a free thinker, open-minded or someone who esteems intellectual honesty and integrity of thought you will be chagrined, upset, angry and disbelieving. This will occur to the emotionally balanced amongst you.How did people react when they found out the world was not flat? How did people react when they found out the Earth was not the center of the universe? How will you react when you find out everything you have been taught is wrong and hardly more than a bald-faced lie?You will try to find flaws in the minutiae to maintain your beliefs. You will shake your head and say “but it can’t be…they [the savants] couldn’t be so wrong.” No one likes to be proven wrong. But this is not just a case of being proven wrong. It is a life altering change in how we will see ourselves and our modern human history. It will explain man’s inhumanity to man for example.This novel, the four essays and historical tidbits will change the way you think…about life and about human development from the end of the Palaeolithic period. The four essays are particularly cogent in showing the unique ideology of Gradualism and explaining why the Long Chronology became religious dogma 1,700 years ago.This novel utilizes historical connections, forensic science and logic without an ideological bias and what can be known about the chronology of our modern human era starting in the Mesolithic period.I have placed at the end of the novel four essays as well as historical tidbits such as the forensic science showing the Old World was in contact with the New World at least in the Neolithic if not earlier. There is not a lab in the world which can rebut the evidence found by Dr. Balabanova et al. There is not a genetics study which can rebut the findings of Dr. Brown et al.Work with the facts and live with the truth.There is good news. The conclusions I reach does not impact the concept of theism. The explanations of religion and ancient contacts once devoid of ideology will enhance our understanding of human history in the modern era; the social and cultural developments.I hope you enjoy the novel as an adventure during the second great tumultuous period in our modern history. I hope you do not have any physical problems from the conclusions I have drawn from a wide array of data.Who should read this novel? Only those among you who have emotional equilibrium and are not ideologically predisposed. Otherwise, I cannot be held responsible for physical side effects you may experience. This adventure takes place during the second greatest tumultuous period in our modern era. It is the time of the Exodus and the great submergences throughout the world.

Outcast for protecting lives, a highly skilled, disillusioned 6-person crew embarks on a 6-year corporate deep-space mission, but together emerges as an uncompromising human force when confronted by greedy syndicates and aliens in the lawlessness of space.At the turn of the next century, corporations embark on costly endeavors in a land-rush to declare resource-rich planets as their own. Some missions will require 10 years or more. Many of the people who join such missions exist on the fringe of society or are fed up with their earthly existence. One such highly skilled, yet disillusioned crew embarks on a deep-space mission to claim an earth-like planet in the Chi Draconis system for Chaste Holdings. Ostensibly, most of the crew has joined the mission for money, but each carries their own secrets with them into space. The ship, the U.S.S. Humanity, is large and luxurious compared to its tiny crew. In the depths of space, each will end up fighting for personal ideals and survival in the lawlessness of space.Humanity is a tightly woven tale in which each character is bound to the other in ways they don’t yet realize. Each one has sacrificed and suffered for that in which they believe, which, when taken together, makes them an uncompromising team. A team the eccentric owner of the ship had reasons to assemble, for the planet to which they are destined is, unbeknownst to the crew, inhabited. A crew that has learned to distrust society and expect nothing from others will fight and learn to trust again. Alone, in the emptiness of space, they will defend an exiled alien race from ruthless corporate and enemy alien fleets.

Things are not always as they seem when two experienced Chicago Detectives investigate a seemingly routine murder and robbery case.Opening night. The bridge to the Noh stage is only a few footsteps ahead, and the audience is waiting for you. Your mask is in your hand for the lead role, Shanne. Opposite you is your best friend Quinn, playing the sinister jester Punchinoni.You're all ready, all your lines are memorized, and your character is familiar and natural. All you have to do is step out on stage.Put on your mask. Step into your character. Take a deep breath.It's the role of a lifetime. It starts now.

Foxen are foxlike humanoids living in harmony with nature. Maoh finds his peaceful life turned upside down when his ancestral spirits choose him for a special destiny. After unusually savage animals invade Maoh’s small farming town, he finds himself caught up in a journey of mystery, ancient spirits, and epic adventure.In the Queendom of Yclau lies an underground royal prison that embraces the worst of the past and the best of the future. The Eternal Dungeon is old-fashioned in its equipment and ahead of its time in its treatment of prisoners, seeking to put their best welfare above all else. Torture is part of the process of assisting the prisoners.The High Seeker, Layle Smith, embodies this contradictory institution: a man of deadly impulses, the head torturer binds himself strictly by the dungeon's code of conduct. His efforts to maintain this delicate balance are altered, though, by the introduction into his life of Elsdon Taylor, a vulnerable prisoner who is coming to terms with his own darkness.A winner of the 2011 Rainbow Awards, this 2016 edition of the omnibus on love and adventure is 460,000 words long, containing the first four volumes in the Eternal Dungeon series, as well as the prequel novella "The Unanswered Question."The Eternal Dungeon is a speculative fiction series set in a nineteenth-century prison where the psychologists wield whips. The series is part of Turn-of-the-Century Toughs, a cycle of alternate history series (Young Toughs, Waterman, Life Prison, Commando, Michael's House, The Eternal Dungeon, and Dark Light) about adults and youths on the margins of society, and the people who love them. Set in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the novels and stories take place in an alternative version of America that was settled by inhabitants of the Old World in ancient times. As a result, the New World retains certain classical and medieval customs.Review"It takes really hard subject matter, and a character that in most books would be the major villain, and makes you love every single word. . . . If you want oh my god world building, read this." —LGBT Fantasy Fans and Writers.Excerpt"If you should grow bored, you might want to peruse this. You'll need to know the contents."Elsdon took the book from him and looked down at the title stamped in gold upon the cover. "Yes," he said slowly, "I'm eager to read this anyway. Mr. Sobel made your Code sound interesting. I'll do my best to finish this before I have to leave here." He looked up as he stopped speaking, and his voice caught.Standing beside him was a man with a face. His eyes were the color of summer leaves, and his coloring was a pale yellow-brown. He looked to be fairly young, in his thirties. He had high cheekbones that gave him a somewhat foreign appearance, but otherwise he had quite an ordinary look to him. Elsdon might have passed him on the street without taking notice.His expression held a stiff formality that reminded Elsdon of a voice that had become familiar to him.Suddenly the stiffness in the mouth relaxed into what might have been the beginning of a smile, if it had not been so faint. "We do have faces, Mr. Taylor," the High Seeker said. "I know that children are commonly put to bed with scare-tales about faceless Seekers.""I'm sorry." Elsdon swallowed. "I didn't mean to stare. I just didn't realize that Seekers were allowed to raise their hoods around prisoners.""We're not allowed to lift our face-cloths when we're in public," Mr. Smith replied. "It's part of our uniform, which we must wear at all times; it helps to keep our relations with the other dungeon inhabitants on a professional level. However, when we're in private with friends or neighbors, we are permitted to show our faces."Elsdon couldn't speak for a minute; he stared down at his shoes. Finally he looked up and said diffidently, "I'm glad you think of me in that way, as a neighbor. I – I'm starting to think of the Eternal Dungeon like that. As a place to live, not just a place to be imprisoned."The High Seeker made no reply. . . .

A desperate thief hatches a plan to acquire the funds he needs to start a new life. His plan goes awry when the house he breaks into proves to hold a dark secret, and instead of valuables he finds an ancient ritual and the Children of Llothora!The Children of Llothora tells the story of an asylum inmate in his own words, describing the decline and public disgrace in society which leads him to resort to crime in an effort to start his life over somewhere else. But inside the decrepit house of the town's mysterious elderly recluse the would-be thief encounters forces beyond his understanding, an ancient ritual that promises new life at a horrible cost, and the alien children of the long-forgotten goddess Llothora.The Children of Llothora is a short story written in a style paying homage to H.P. Lovecraft and his contemporaries. A must-read for fans of horror and weird fiction alike!