fall leaves on nails Audiobooks

Ecosystems require balance to survive, and when that balance is compromised, as in the extinction of a resource or a species, disaster can fall onto the system as a whole. This vital management of resources can be seen in economic systems, as well. A healthy ecosystem is like a healthy economy, with competing mechanics inadvertently working in concert to sustain itself. In both of these worlds, we observe that when a healthy distribution of resources is achieved, systems can not only function, but flourish. The United States’ recycling system has the potential to create over one million new jobs and remove a massive amount of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. A functional recycling system can also save money by providing manufacturers with high quality materials to generate new items. However, this potential has yet to be embraced. Unlike the layers of systems seen in a thriving and healthy forest, our recycling system is bottlenecked, clustered, and contaminated. How can the United States – one of the leading nations on innovation and technology – lag behind in the most obvious of resource recovery systems? Where in the history of recycling did we veer so far off course as to continue hovering at a dismal 34% recycling rate, while other nations have rates double that or more? In the years following World War II there was a rise in recycling efforts but in recent years there has been a great decline. Americans want to recycle, and to know that their actions make a difference. They want confirmation that their time spent sorting recyclables from trash isn’t wasted. But while we see many efforts to support recycling much of our waste still ends up in landfills. Throughout Reduce, Reuse, Re-imagine, Beth Porter provides a great resources about recycling, explaining the complexity, guiding individual action, and contextualizing its history. This book reveals how we arrived at this state of dysfunction, and what steps we need to employ to be an active participant in strengthening our recycling system. Nature knows how to recycle itself, decomposing waste back into the soil to continue the circle of growth. We should follow its lead.

She’s a runner, but the campus star quaterback runs faster than she does! Rocky has had a chaotic life from which she concluded three fundamental things: life is a succession of problems to be solved, men are assholes to be avoided and promises are only binding on fools who want to believe in them. So, unlike the other girls on campus, boys are not a priority for her. Worse, she sees them as an obstacle to her success! But during a student party, she meets Jude. Freshly transferred from Harvard to play on Brown’s soccer team, Jude is the new star on campus. Handsome and inaccessible, he is the type not to get attached: the perfect candidate for a one-night stand. But the chemistry is too strong. And though Rocky is determined to run away from him, he is determined to conquer her heart.

Chocolatier Lanie Heaven has good friends, a booming business, and the adoration of the citizens of Merritt, Alabama. But she also has a secret. After the devastating breakup with her long time college boyfriend, she lost a baby and the hope of ever having a child - the thing she desires above all else. Though still grief-stricken eighteen months after the accident that killed his wife and best friend, Judge Luke Avery is lonely for the company of someone other than his three-year-old daughter, Emma. When Luke moves into the apartment above Lanie's candy shop, Lanie and Emma fall in love at first sight and Luke finds himself along for the ride. It's so easy for the three of them to slip into a life as sweet as the candy in Lanie's shop. But when Emma calls Lanie Mommy, Luke realizes things have gone too far; he has to propose to Lanie or walk away. He isn't ready for marriage, but engaged isn't married. Lanie eagerly accepts but as the evidence stacks up, she must accept that Luke's love is not equal to her own. Can Luke find a way to slay his demons before the sweet life they have created goes completely south?

“It is a book for the living as well as for the dying.”—Lama Govinda We are in the midst of a powerful psychedelic renaissance. After four decades of hibernation, the promise of the psychoactive ’60s—that deeper self-awareness, achieved through reality-bending substances and practices, will lead to greater external harmony—is again gaining a major following. The signs are everywhere, from the influence of today’s preeminent psychedelic thinker Daniel Pinchbeck, to the renewed interest in the legacy of Terence McKenna, and to the upsurge of collective, inclusive (and overtly tripped-out) cultural phenomena like the spectacle of Burning Man. The Psychedelic Experience, created in the movement’s early years by the prophetic shaman-professors Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner, and Richard Alpert (Ram Dass), is a foundational text that serves as a model and a guide for all subsequent mind-expanding inquiries. In this wholly unique book, the authors provide an interpretation of an ancient sacred manuscript, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, from a psychedelic perspective. The Psychedelic Experience describes their discoveries in broadening spiritual consciousness through a combination of Tibetan meditation techniques and psychotropic substances. As sacred as the text it reflects, The Psychedelic Experience is a guidebook to the wilderness of mind and an indispensable resource from the founding fathers of psychedelia.

Everyone knew that Oceanford's most infamous rich kid, Ned Fletcher, was madly in love with his genius childhood sweetheart, Angeline Emmerson.But after an accident, Angeline falls into a coma, and Ned loses his memories.Two years later, Angeline wakes up from her coma. At this point, Ned already has another lover. For the sake of his new lover, he forces Angeline to agree to a divorce. Angeline leaves after being thoroughly disappointed.Five years later, Angeline is about to marry someone else when Ned shows up at her door."I remember everything now, Angeline. You can't marry someone else!"An adorable child says, "Mommy, don't talk to the bad guy. Daddy will get jealous!"After that, the child reaches for Sean Lawson, who has just gotten out of his car. "Carry me, Daddy!"

When the cynic... Fredi doesn’t believe in love. She might be a successful bridal gown designer but that’s just business. Sure, she’s watched her three best girlfriends fall head over heels with the men of their dreams but she’s certain that’s not in the cards for her. That doesn’t mean that she’s not interested in some fun with a handsome movie star––one who just happens to be her assigned date for her best friend’s wedding in Monaco. Meets the movie star... Zayn’s used to women falling at his feet so he’s utterly captivated by Fredi’s quick wit and her refusal to be impressed by him. Their chemistry is off the charts and their connection is something unexpected. Sparks are about to fly... With only a few days before Fredi disappears back to her life, Zayn is determined to convince her that she can trust him with the one thing she swore to never give anyone–her heart. Each book in the Girls Weekend Away series is STANDALONE: * What Happens in Vegas * Meet Me In San Francisco * The Nashville Bet * A Match Made in Monaco

Part memoir, part cultural exploration, this book covers the author’s journey as she grows up in an evangelical Christian home, leaves religion behind as a young adult, and goes on to raise children in a family outside of religious belief. Maria Polonchek weaves a personal story with up-to-date studies and philosophic exploration of what it means to raise secular children in an otherwise religious world. Offering careful and respectful advice for other parents who are raising their children outside of a particular religious belief system, she explores the many other ways of instilling identity, belonging, and meaning into our lives and the lives of children. Honest and irreverent, the author admits to her religious “baggage” and searches for better understanding of such topics as religious education, morality, awe, death, purpose, and meaning, and tradition from secular perspectives. She interviews experts, looks at various studies, and turns to a variety of sources for answers, while maintaining a casual and personal tone. While she ultimately argues for parents to let their children shape their own beliefs, she encourages families to tend to existential and social needs that sometimes go unnoticed or unconsidered in life outside religion.

Imagined by one of the world's leading experts on Buddhism, this fictionalised conversation presents the essential biography of its famously wise founder. A relaxed chat with the Buddha tells us what he thought about impermanence, karma, mindfulness, compassion, love, and everything else that leads us toward a true understanding of ourselves and the cosmos. We know him as the Buddha, the "Awakened One". Born Siddhartha Gautama 2,500 years ago in northern India, he became one of the world's greatest spiritual leaders. He suffered as we do, then by his own efforts found the key to liberation from the bonds of desire, hatred and ignorance. As Westerners living in relative prosperity, we can identify with this man who had it all - love, success, money, talent, privilege - but set these things aside to search for something deeper and more enduring. This book presents an account of the Buddha's life followed by a series of plausible and illuminating but imagined conversations, which probe all aspects of his philosophy for living. The insights he conveys here offer us practical wisdom for a better life.

After being secretly married for three years, Holly Sinclair's husband suddenly asks for a divorce. She hides the pain and leaves after taking the money he gives her. From that day on, her life goes uphill. She restores precious masterpieces and determines their authenticity. The world of vintage pieces is her oyster.After the divorce, a certain ex-husband is filled with regret when he sees Holly on TV, showing off her skills. He turns into her loyal fan and chases her around the world. "I'll give you my heart and soul, babe. Please, come back to me."Holly says, "Sorry, but I'm busy. I have too much to do!"Later, she meets the man who saved her when she was younger. On the day of her wedding, she receives some horrible news. She leaves her groom at the altar and mourns her ex-husband's supposed death. Pain is all she feels.Then, her ex-husband suddenly shows up, wounded but alive, and gets on one knee before her while holding out a diamond ring. "Let's remarry, babe!"

When Maddie McGuire finds herself tumbling over a cliff while hiking The Cotswold Way, she uncovers much more than ancient woods. Terrified by her shocking discovery, she returns to the safety of her international internship at the Roman Baths only to find competition in the form of the tittering, aristocratic Gwendolyn De Valence, who has captured the attention of everyone Maddie hopes to impress. Turning to her boyfriend Constable Edward Bailey, only reveals dark secrets about his past, leading her down a dangerous path which, this time, she may be unable to escape.