Against the background of Socrates' insight that the unexamined life is not worth living, Reading Our Lives: The Poetics of Growing Old investigates the often overlooked inside dimensions of aging. Despite popular portrayals of mid- and later life as entailing inevitable decline, this book looks at aging as, potentially, a process of poiesis: a creative endeavor of fashioning meaning from the ever-accumulating texts - memories and reflections-that constitute our inner worlds. At its center is the conviction that although we are constantly reading our lives to some degree anyway, doing so in a mindful matter is critical to our development in the second half of life.
Drawing on research in numerous disciplines affected by the so-called narrative turn - including cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and the psychology of aging - authors Randall and McKim articulate a vision of aging that promises to accommodate such time-honored concepts as wisdom and spirituality: one that understands aging as a matter not merely of getting old but of consciously growing old.

The central theme of this book is the study of self-dual connections on four-manifolds. The author's aim is to present a lucid introduction to moduli space techniques (for vector bundles with SO (3) as structure group) and to apply them to four-manifolds. The authors have adopted a topologists' perspective. For example, they have included some explicit calculations using the Atiyah-Singer index theorem as well as methods from equivariant topology in the study of the topology of the moduli space. Results covered include Donaldson's Theorem that the only positive definite form which occurs as an intersection form of a smooth four-manifold is the standard positive definite form, as well as those of Fintushel and Stern which show that the integral homology cobordism group of integral homology three-spheres has elements of infinite order. Little previous knowledge of differential geometry is assumed and so postgraduate students and research workers will find this both an accessible and complete introduction to currently one of the most active areas of mathematical research.

These popular and proven workbooks help students build confidence before attempting end-of-chapter problems. They provide short exercises that focus on developing a particular skill, mostly requiring students to draw or interpret sketches and graphs. New to the Fourth Edition are exercises that provide guided practice for the textbook's Model boxes.

"A gut-wrenching, wildly inspiring story about overcoming the most daunting obstacles through steely tenacity, sheer will, and a great big dose of motherly love." --Jeannette Walls, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Glass Castle An inspirational and powerful memoir from the United States's most decorated winter Paralympic or Olympic athlete, The Hard Parts is Oksana Masters gripping account of overcoming extraordinary Chernobyl disaster-caused physical challenges to create a life that challenges everyone to push through what is holding them back. Oksana Masters was born in Ukraine--in the shadow of Chernobyl--seemingly with the odds stacked against her. She came into the world with one kidney, a partial stomach, six toes on each foot, webbed fingers, no right bicep, and no thumbs. Her left leg was six inches shorter than her right, and she was missing both tibias. Relinquished to the orphanage system by birth parents daunted by the staggering cost of what would be their child's medical care, Oksana encountered numerous abuses, some horrifying. Salvation came at age seven when Gay Masters, an unmarried American professor who saw a photo of the little girl and became haunted by her eyes, waged a two-year war against stubborn adoption authorities to rescue Oksana from her circumstances. In America, Oksana endured years of operations that included a double leg amputation. Still, how could she hope to fit in when there were so many things making her different? As it turned out, she would do much more than fit in. Determined to prove herself and fueled by a drive to succeed that still smoldered from childhood, Oksana triumphed in not just one sport but four--winning against the world's best in elite rowing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, and road cycling competitions. Now considered one of the world's top athletes, she is the recipient of seventeen Paralympic medals, the most of any US athlete of the Winter Games, Paralympic or Olympic. Oksana's astonishing story of journeying through a series of dark tunnels is "as true a tale of grit as I've ever heard, with a message filled with triumph and beauty--that what doesn't kill us makes us stronger, if we are loved" (Angela Duckworth, New York Times bestselling author of Grit).

Triple bill of thrillers. In 'Catch .44' (2011) Tes (Malin Åkerman), Kara (Nikki Reed) and Dawn (Deborah Ann Woll) are three women with guns who are working for crime boss Mel (Bruce Willis). When they find themselves the victims in a double-crossing drug deal that turns out to be more of a set-up than a heist gone wrong, they set out to get their revenge. Forest Whitaker and Brad Dourif co-star. 'Switch' (2011) is a French-language thriller in which a woman's attempts to spice up her life through switching apartments goes disastrously wrong. Sophie Malaterre (Karine Vanasse), a Montreal fashion designer, initially enjoys swapping apartments with a French woman she met over the internet, Bénédicte Serteaux (Karina Testa). Sophie's first day in Paris is like a dream - but her second is a nightmare. She is awoken by the police, led by Detective Forgeat (Eric Cantona), who have discovered a dead body in the duplex, and seem unable to distinguish Sophie from Bénédicte... 'Hijacked' (2012) stars Randy Couture, Dominic Purcell and Vinnie Jones. Paul Ross (Couture), a grizzled government agent, has been investigating an influential crime organisation known as The Tribe for a number of years. Just when he begins to feel that he is making progress with the investigation his personal and professional interests interconnect. When a private jet carrying a wealthy businessman and Ross' former fiancée, Olivia (Tiffany Dupont), is hijacked by The Tribe, Ross is the only government agent on the scene. How will he cope?

A new mystery from Randall Silvis, critically acclaimed master of crime fiction When powerful men pull strings to get what they want... someone almost always ends up dead There's not much that would convince retired police sergeant Ryan DeMarco to take on another private investigation case, but he can't refuse a nine-year-old Michigan girl begging for help finding her biological father. The road trip to the Upper Peninsula promises DeMarco and his partner, Jayme, a chance to heal from their last case, which ended in a traumatic brush with death for DeMarco. But things aren't as they first appear in the woods of Michigan, and the seemingly simple paternity investigation soon morphs into something deadly. The deeper DeMarco, Jayme, and the rest of their team dig, the more ugly truths they reveal, all while doing their best to keep one member of their team, from falling prey to her own kind of darkness. This investigation just might be the most emotionally troubling one DeMarco and Jayme have yet encountered, for there are plenty of people who will do whatever it takes to shut them down before the truth comes to light. Acclaimed author Randall Silvis expertly weaves a shocking tale of secrets and lies in When All Light Fails, a suspense-fueled mystery that will leave readers guessing until the very last page. "[a] chilly suspense novel."-The New York Times Sunday Book Review for Two Days Gone "...a suspenseful, literary thriller that will resonate with readers long after the book is finished. A terrific choice for Dennis Lehane fans."-Library Journal, Starred Review for Two Days Gone "An absolute gem of literary suspense... told in a smooth, assured, and often haunting voice, Two Days Gone is a terrific read."-Michael Koryta, New York Times bestselling author of Those Who Wish Me Dead for Two Days Gone Ryan DeMarco Mystery Series: Two Days Gone (Book 1) Walking the Bones (Book 2) A Long Way Down (Book 3) No Woods So Dark as These (Book 4) When All Light Fails (Book 5)

Steven Seagal plays tough mercenary John Seeger in this action movie. When Seeger is blackmailed into leading a highly dangerous rescue attempt to free a billionaire's kidnapped son in South Africa, he goes along with the mission. But when Seeger finds out that he's been double-crossed the gloves come off - and now there's going to be hell to pay.

Written by the leading authority on legal decision making, Professional Judgment for Lawyers integrates empirical legal research, cognitive and social psychology, organizational behavior, legal ethics, and neuroscience to illuminate and improve decision making by attorneys, clients, judges, arbitrators, mediators, and juries. Key Features: Analyzes the quality of decision making by lawyers, clients, judges, mediators, and arbitrators Shows how race, gender, age, roles, experience, personality, perception, memory, and emotions affect decision making by lawyers and judges Identifies deficiencies in professional decision making and proposes corrective steps Discusses impact of professional judgment and decision making on major societal issues like access to justice, plea bargaining, mass incarceration, superannuated judges, and public confidence in the judicial system Describes strengths and weaknesses in personal decision-making styles and provides a self-assessment tool to evaluate individual styles Integrates law, neuroscience, psychology, behavioral economics, analytics, and organizational behavior in a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary examination of legal judgment and decision making This book has the unique capacity to replace idealized, theoretical concepts of legal decision making with empirical analyses and practical applications for lawyers, judges, law students, and other knowledgeable readers intrigued by the law, justice, and decision making.

'Nerd royalty' Ben Goldacre 'Laugh-out-loud funny' Bill Gates 'Totally brilliant' Tim Harford WHAT IF you still had so many more strange questions about the universe? And WHAT IF Randall Munroe, former NASA roboticist and xkcd creator, were prepared to move mountains, fill the solar system with soup and alter the space-time continuum to answer them? Whether it's how to make a lava lamp out of lava or feeding the inhabitants of New York to a T. Rex, welcome to the weird, wonderful (and sometimes terrifying) world of WHAT IF? 2

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. This Advanced Introduction presents a focused narrative about political decision-making based on the work that has defined public choice as a discipline. Randall G. Holcombe emphasizes the theoretical foundations of Public Choice, examining the way that voter preferences are aggregated through democratic decision-making, the way that political exchange leads to the production of public policy, and the way that the constitutional framework within which political activity takes place is designed. He provides a concise discussion of the main models of Public Choice in an engaging manner, giving readers a foundation for understanding the theoretical and empirical work in the field. Each chapter ends with a Notes section that discusses the research on which the chapter is based, with an emphasis on the pioneering work that has shaped the development of Public Choice. Undergraduate and graduate level students in economics, political science and public administration will find this introduction an essential resource for understanding political decision making. Instructors in those fields will find this book a useful and affordable text and an indispensable resource for teaching Public Choice.

Action-packed thriller starring Bruce Willis and John Cusack. When widowed mechanic Paul (Jason Patric) decides to question his daughter Beth (Gia Mantegna) for not being in school, he is shocked to learn that she's been kidnapped by an old enemy from his previous life as an assassin. With the help of Beth's friend Angela (Jessica Lowndes) and his buddy Sam (Cusack), Paul, formerly known as The Prince, goes in pursuit of notorious crime boss Omar (Willis), a former rival from his violent past. As he ventures from Mississippi to Omar's stronghold in New Orleans, Paul is forced to confront a past life that's been buried for 20 years as his carefully cultivated identity begins to unravel...

Mercedes-Benz A-Class petrol & diesel (Sept '12 - Feb '18) Hatchback (W176 Series - commonly known as 'third generation' or 'Mark 3'): A160, A180, A200 & A220. Petrol: 1.6 litre (1595cc). Diesel: 1.5 litre (1461cc), 1.8 litre (1796cc) & 2.1 litre (2143cc). Does NOT cover 2.0 litre (A250) petrol models, '4Matic' (4WD) transmission, or performance A45 AMG models.

This cutting-edge Research Handbook brings together international scholars to provide a comprehensive overview of motivation within and beyond the field of public administration. Discussing the implications of contemporary research for theory and practice, it offers suggestions for the development of future research in the field. Contributions offer cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary insights into the theories that underpin motivation research and how motivation drives decisions across public, nonprofit, and private sector settings, highlighting key sector differences that influence decision-making. Covering a wide range of core motivational topics and subfields relevant to the study of public and nonprofit administration, chapters emphasize the key motivational factors that affect employee recruitment, selection, and retention and how they affect - and are affected by - employee behavior. Providing a wide-ranging coverage of the field, this Research Handbook is critical reading for scholars, researchers, and upper-level students of public administration and policy. It will also benefit practitioners in public and nonprofit organizations in need of a deeper understanding of the links between motivation and employee behavior.