TWO CHOICES

Hi Friends,



Hope you all have a good Fathers' day. I have received a very touching story from a distant friend whom I have not met before. But the most important thing, I truly appreciated dearly is his generosity to share this with me. After reading it, I thought of an idea, which I decided to blog it out through my blog so as it is permanently there for the reading pleasure of everyone at large. By doing so, I also will return his favour, which he did not expect from me. As such, what you have benefited is from him. It is the way I learn to be caring of society, so I hope that everyone can be better off and create a better world for us to stay.


Please continue to read the great story that provoked me a lot and hope you like it too, which I received from George.


Two Choices


What would you do?....you make the choice. Don't look for a punch line, there isn't one. Read it anyway. My question is: Would you have made the same choice?


At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question:


'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is done with perfection.


Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do.


Where is the natural order of things in my son?'


The audience was stilled by the query.


The father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Shay, who was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.'


Then he told the following story:


Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?' I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.


I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, 'We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.'


Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart. The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted.


In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three.




In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again.


Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.

At this juncture, do the others let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game?

Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.

However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact.

The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed.


The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay.


As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.


The game would now be over.


The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman.


Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.

Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates.

Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, 'Shay, run to first!

Run to first!'

Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base.

He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.

Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!'

Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base.

By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball. The smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team.

He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head.

Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.

All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay'

Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to third!

Shay, run to third!'


As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home! Run home!'

Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team


'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world'.

Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day !

AND NOW A LITTLE FOOT NOTE TO THIS STORY:

We all send thousands of jokes through the e-mail without a second thought, but when it comes to sending messages about life choices, people hesitate.


The crude, vulgar, and often obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion about decency is too often suppressed in our schools and workplaces.

If you're thinking about forwarding this message, chances are that you're probably sorting out the people in your address book who aren't the 'appropriate' ones to receive this type of message Well, the person who sent you this believes that we all can make a difference.


We all have thousands of opportunities every single day to help realize the 'natural order of things.'

So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice:


Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up those opportunities and leave the world a little bit colder in the process?


A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats its leastfortunate amongst them.


You now have two choices:


1. Share
2. ignore


May your day be a Shay Day! You choose!


James Oh

My Utmost for His Highest

My Utmost for His Highest: Traditional Updated Edition (My Utmost for His Highest)



by Oswald Chambers

No surprise to me that this book has received a remarkably high score of 4.36, out of 5.00 from 1,625 ratings and 191 reviews .


With humor and humility, Chambers speaks plainly to the common man struggling with devotion to Christ in daily living. Worldly cares and self-serving desires begin to lose their appeal as Chambers aides the reader in transforming his mind by viewing life through the instruction of God's Word. Richard Halverson, former chaplain of the United States Senate, attests to this: "no book except the Bible has influenced my walk with Christ at such deep maturing levels." This is Chambers's chief desire, directing the reader to "shut out every other consideration and keep yourself before God for this one thing only--My Utmost for His Highest... determined to be absolutely and entirely for Him and for Him alone." --Jill Heatherly


With the brief introduction and attestments from others, I strongly suggest this book be read especially for those who seek soul searching journey to excel in work for His Highest, as the name of the book suggested.


At last, but not least, I would like to throw the ball to your court for you to revert your feedback after you have read this book. Happy reading and look forward to your feedback.





Together we work together to serve His highest.


To your success,


James Oh

WHITESMOKE MAKES WRITING MUCH EASIER

Hi, Friend,

First of all, Hello and WELCOME to all my new followers!!! I have noticed that there is a sudden increase in term of followers and I am absolutely honoured that you all have joined me here.

There is no coincidence that I was introduced by a buddy friend lately of this great product, WhiteSmoke New Version 2011. It is the most comprehensive writing tool in today's world and will be of great help to those who write a lot.

After some research, I discovered that this world-leading language solution come with the most advanced technology in the world that you can be assured that your writing will be no less than perfect at your fingertips.

   Below are its salient features of the above tool:-

• World best Grammar, Spelling, Style & Punctuation checker
  Have your texts enhanced with advanced algorithms that check your grammar, spelling, punctuation, style, and more!

• Full-Text Translation
  Using advanced statistical machine translation (SMT) technology, you can translate full texts in one click.

• Multilingual Dictionary
  Translate single words and get usage examples for every word you translate.

WhiteSmoke vs. MS Word

You may ask yourself: "Why not use MS Word's built-in grammar checker? Well, we ran a sample text through WhiteSmoke 2011 and MS Word 2010


There are the results:

MS Word detected:

2 spelling errors, 1 grammar errors and 1 style error

When writing to colleagues or friends, you want to make sure you don't have any grammar or spelling errors. You can't leave anything to chance when your readers' perception of you is influenced by what you write.

WhiteSmoke Writer detected:

2 spelling errors, 7 grammar errors and 1 style error

Other features of the WhiteSmoke New Version2011

• Full Integration
  Works from any text application and is fully integrated with Microsoft Outlook to automatically check your emails
• Artificial Intelligence
  Your texts will always be secure with Natural Language Processing (NLP) technology.
• Statistical Machine Translation
  Full-text translations are more precise than ever with Statistical Machine Translation (SMT) technology
• Automatic Updates
  Directly connected to the WhiteSmoke servers, allowing your software to improve as we update our technology.

WhiteSmoke & Other Products

	WhiteSmoke	Other Products
Advanced grammar, punctuation and style checkers
Automatically checks all emails sent from Outlook
Works wherever you write (Word, PPT, etc.)
Self-improvement writing tool with tips
Get usage examples with matching adjectives
Corrects regular & contextual spelling mistakes
Alerts to word repetitions and missing words
Translates full texts in one click
Hundreds of ready-to-use letter templates

This powerful software appears to be irresistible offer if the above information is accurately reflected. In this connection, I would love to hear some feedback from those who have used it before.

If you have not used it before and you are US citizens, then this software gives you a Free trail for 30 days. So give yourself a try and let us know the outcome. Thank you for your kind action.


Looking forward to hearing from you

James Oh

Skype me at james.oh18

AN INSPIRING MAIL FROM A DISTANT FRIEND

Very happy day, my dear friend,


Today I have received an email from a distant friend, whom I have not met before. However, it was very kind of him to blog my article on his novel, which I have blogged it out through the links below:-

 http://profileofauthor.blogspot.com/2011/06/ivan-king.html


http://liftyouup.blogspot.com/2011/06/ivan-king-author-valley-of-steel.html


One point that touched me dearly is that his blog issue did not deter him from rebuilding it and convey his heartfelt thanks and all the sweet comments, far beyond what I deserved. Lately, he was having problems with his Blog; well here it is, someone hacked into his gmail account and deleted it. Upon doing that he/she also deleted his blog. I am deeply sorry for him and truly know how he felt. This is because both had taken him so long to build and much efforts had been put in. He is a real man of steel, who chosen the painstaking process to rebuild his new blog. And now his new blog finally is out and he instantly put a shout out to me, which I am truly touched and appreciates what he has done for me. Our friendship begins to blossom and I write to thank him and I feel honoured to be treated as his brother.



Append below is the message he has blogged out for your reading pleasure.



Thursday, June 16, 2011


A SHOUT OUT TO: James OH,



Dear Followers,
 This week a renowned Book Blogger, James OH, has gone out of his way to review my Novel, Valley of Steel, and was kind enough to post it on his blog. I am forever indebted to people like him and it’s only with the help and support of such devoted friends will I ever achieve anything. Thank you James Oh.; and this is my Shout Out to YOU:



You’re amazing you know that? WOW!! Words cannot describe how I feel right now. Sometimes your closest friends and even family don't care about your work, or simply do not believe in you; but for you to reach out to me, a perfect stranger, someone whom you have never met. WOW, I'm humbled by your generosity and kind spirit. I am FOREVER grateful to you. Thank you so much. This means a great deal to me and as soon as the paperbacks arrive I will send you out an autographed copy.



Thank you.



LINK TO JAMES OH BLOG: http://liftyouup.blogspot.com/2011/06/ivan-king-author-valley-of-steel.html



Alternatively, you may visit his blog at the link provided below:-


http://ivankingauthor.blogspot.com/2011/06/shout-out-to-james-oh_16.html

With this, I write to put on my record for my memory what all the good actions he has done for me, which I appreciate from the bottom of my heart. Here, I must say that I am really enjoy working with him. So, stay tuned and I shall update you for any future development especially in regard to his future novels and hope that you too will continue to give him whatsoever support he needs. Thank you for your kind support.

 Wishing him a Great Success,



Look forward to seeing you again and have a fruitful day everyday,

James Oh



Skype me at james.oh18

COURSE ON PERSONAL LEADERSHIP WORKSHOP

Hi! Friend,



I am so excited to share with you very good news. This good news is that everyone is a winner. This truth is well recognised and accepted by most of the management gurus worldwide. As such, to achieve the success that was bestowed to us, we need to understand ourselves in depth well i.e. what we are truly designed for. However, the truth of knowing ourselves is not an easy task and it is sad to say that most people do not know themselves well enough to attain the success they seek for.


That is the main reason that drives me to touch on this critical issue, the Personal Leadership workshop, with the view that you will take advantage of it for your own benefits. This workshop, as stated below, provides you a special tool to help you to discover your personality, your potential and your weaknesses. This is critically important for you to know more of yourself so that you have the right mix so as to stretch yourself to your fullest potential. When you know more of yourself, you can position yourself to a much better position to deal with all the relevant elements more effectively so as to produce maximum outputs at all times.


The details of the above course AND the trainers, as stated below, for your reference and action.


Personal leadership workshop


Date – 8 July 2011 (Friday)


Time – 9 am to 5 pm


Venue – Dorsett Regency Hotel, Jalan Imbi , Kuala Lumpur


Introductory Fee – RM350 only (inclusive of a comprehensive copy of your personality and buffet lunch)


If you wish to register for the workshop, please call Alex Lee at 012-2876093 or email - alexleehumanimpact@gmail.com


The personal leadership workshop is run by Human Impact training consultancy firm


Trainer profiles are as follow


AUDRY CHAN - PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT


AUTHOR / MASTER TRAINER

Audry Chan is a firm believer and is totally committed to the development of Human Capital Potentials. Her personal vision is to build vibrant people in all walks of life with great visions, focus and set goals with good moral values in living out their lives. She strongly believes that every individual is capable of maximizing his/her own abilities and talents that when laid into actions will contribute towards the growth of his / her organization, nation building and oneself, in achieving personal victories, living out a balanced life. The individual can and shall become Man and Woman of Excellence, having integrity, living lives with full filled commitments, accountabilities, and responsibilities with strong leadership qualities.


Audry holds degrees in Behavioral Science, Hotel Management and a Diploma in Human Resource Management. Audry is also an NLP and Time Line Practitioner. Audry started her career in the hospitality industry, as human resources manager and moved on as Director of HR involved in all aspects of Training, and being posted on assignments in and around the Asia Pacific Region - Hong Kong, Australia, Vietnam. She was later as the Executive Director with MATA and served the 6 ASEAN Countries as their Secretary General for FATA (Federation of ASEAN Travel Associations.) and ASEANTA (ASEAN Tourism Associations) Audry’s last appointment was with ICC as Management Consultant, before embarking on the quest as entrepreneur in her own training establishment – Human Impact Enterprise and conducted training in the regions of Malaysia, Singapore , Philippines over the last 14 years.

ALEX LEE PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT AND PRINCIPAL TRAINER

Alex Lee have a great passion in developing an individual great potential and talent in sales and management capability in realizing their dreams and aspirations in life. He believes every individual has the capability to pursue their life purpose and dreams with the right training, coaching and leadership. His desires and strong drive of pursuing learning and excellent in job out have inspires many of his students and employees to achieve great success in life.


Alex Lee is a graduate in Economies from University of Malaya. In addition, he also qualified for Associate of Insurance Institute of Australia, Chartered Financial Consultant from American College, USA. Certified Financial Planner (CFP) from FPAM and Registered Financial Planner (RFP) from MFPC. Furthermore, he had completed the certification courses on Napoleon Hill’s science of success and PEAKS psychometric personality profiling recently.


Alex Lee has more than 25 years of senior corporate working experience in both insurance and Consumer banking in various capacities including branch and regional manager, Head of sales in life insurance and unit trust management company, Wealth management Head in a regional Bank and the last position he was held before venturing into full time training consultancy business was the consumer product head in a well established local bank. His great and well diversified experience in Sales, training, marketing and products will add value ,depth and delivery into training sales, marketing and management leaders in a very effective manner.

IVAN KING - AUTHOR "VALLEY OF STEEL"

Hi ! Folks,


Although Ivan King had a humble beginning, it did not deter this steel man from shining. It is very interesting to note that he has a very strong determination to fan the flames and face the fire. This man is my model and he has chosen the encouraging path to record his childhood memories in his novel, Valley of Steel.


The book recorded events which are heart warming and gut wrenching; forcing the reader to laugh and cry, cannot be more precise than what have been prescribed by reader review. Please get hold of this book and check it out yourself. Don't take our words for granted. Let us know whether you agree to our views of it.


This book may bring you back to your old days which may offer you some light to shape your past events, similar to the way written by the above author, which of course will be of its kind.


Here, I chose not to disclose too much of it and let you do your own discovery. I am sure you too will enjoy reading it.


Append below please find the information of the author.


BIO

I was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1977, though my stay in Rio was to be short lived. Adopted from an orphanage, I was raised in Ipatinga’s, Valley of Steel. My favorite author is Hemingway; yet my favorite book, is Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath. When not writing or reading, I play chess, the guitar, or else am out and about, perhaps at a Chinese buffet.


When I was eight, I read my first book, Judy Blume’s Superfudge and the rest is history. That is the story behind how my passion for reading began; how it ends…has yet to be written.


Currently, I am working on a couple dozen writing projects and turning some of my novels into screenplays. My first published novel, Valley of Steel, is a memoir of my life growing up in the favelas, or slums, of Brazil.


My favorite quote: “Today we do what nobody wants to do, so that tomorrow we will be able to do what nobody can.”


Title: Valley of Steel


Genre: Memoir


Languages: Portuguese, English


Overview


Sometimes Fate is unkind. Who would dare to look back and risk her wrath?


When you’re a child of the favela, in the Valley of Steel, you know that Fate comes like a whirlwind, lifting some to great heights and slapping others down without reason. Rescued first from an orphanage in the slums of Rio de Janeiro and then from the bleak streets of Ipatinga in Brazil’s Valley of Steel, Ivan, has been favored by Fate. When a phone call from Brazil interrupts his privileged life in America, he learns his best friend has committed suicide back in the rugged Valley of Steel, and only he knows the real reasons why.


This is the story of one man’s journey home after self-inflicted exile. The story of a boy who saw more than any child should and the man he grew into–and how that man came back to the Valley of Steel to avenge his childhood and stare down the demons of his past. It’s a story of survival, redemption, and joy. Of childhood memories that burn in the soul and what happens when one man has enough courage to fan the flames and face the fire.


Happy reading and look forward to receiving your feedback, as usual.


James Oh


Skype me at james.oh18

INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR - KERRY ROCKWOOD WHITE 

It is a great pleasure to have Kerry Rockwood White "Much Ado About Russian" review today. A very warm welcome, Kerry and thanks Kerry for giving us the chance to get to know you more and also for allowing us a glimpse of the world that you have created inside your writing. Thank you very much. Let her walk through her profile and book, as appended below, before we kick off the Q + A session.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR -Kerry Rockwood White
Kerry Rockwood White is the author of the book below.
AVAILABLE ON KINDLE NOW!
Do you love Vampire Fiction? Are you hungry for a new series to sink your teeth into?
It is now available in Kindle and Nook . The paperback is now available HERE.

The Fair Hero Series is a new series of vampire fiction that debuts with Much Ado About Russian, a thrilling combination of mystery, fantasy, romance and humor. You'll love Hero Fletcher, a sassy and sarcastic heroine who discovers the tall dark handsome stranger she has just met is even stranger than she imagined!


Q&A portion:

James: When did you begin to write?

Kerry : I've written off and on most of my life. When I was a young girl in school I would often ask if I could write my own story rather than do a book report.

James : What made you choose this genre and the title of your book?

Kerry: Frankly, one day my husband and I were making jokes about something to do with vampire stories or movies. I don't recall what it was exactly. Something had just struck us funny. I made a comment about a "Women's Guide to Dating Vampires". The seed was planted and after that the idea of creating my own vampire story started to grow.

Kerry:
As for the title, the main character is named Hero Fletcher. Her father, and English Lit professor, named her Hero after Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. And the mystery in this book revolves around an antique Russian snuff box. Hence, Much Ado About Russian.

James: Where do you get the inspiration for your stories?

Kerry: Some of the inspiration comes from my own life. I lost my mother to cancer a few years ago, and in the book, Hero has also lost her mother to cancer. Much of the inspiration just comes from things that interest me or that I believe people would find interesting. I like pop culture and you'll find a lot of pop culture references in the book. Hero and I are very similar in that regard.

James: Can you enlighten us a little more about your books?

Kerry: Hmm, what to say without giving too much away? :) Well, no sparkling vampires. (not that there's anything wrong with that) The first book has vampires, obviously, shape shifters and faeries. Other supernatural characters will appear as the series goes on. The supernatural world is all striving to solve an ancient puzzle. The Russian snuff box that is central to the plot of the first book is a piece of that puzzle. Each book will focus on the mystery as well as the relationship between the main characters, Hero and Kin.

They are light-hearted, funny and quick-paced. Hero has a great "voice". I love the way she communicates with the reader. I believe readers will indentify easily with her and enjoy her sarcasm and humor. As for the vampire angle, I believe I've added a few tweaks to the standard/modern take on the vampire lore.

James: Is there anything else you would like your readers to pay special attention in regards to your book, which you have not mentioned above?

Kerry: The faeries. The source of their magic. I may have very special plans for them in the future :)

James: When do you plan to publish your book 2.

Kerry: I hope to have it out by December.

James : How many volume of books for the above series ?

Kerry: I don't have a set number planned. Hopefully, if people enjoy it, it will be an ongoing series.

Thank again Kerry Rockwood White for joining us today. Let us wish her a fulfilling day.

Thank you!

LILIAN JACKSON BRAUN BETTINGER-'THE CAT WHO' MYSTERY AUTHOR DIES AT 97

'THE CAT WHO' MYSTERY AUTHOR DIES AT 97

Hi! Readers,

Lilian Jackson Braun Bettinger, 97, who is no stranger in the publishing industry has died at the age of 97. This is another typical author who had surpassed 90 years. Append below is a brief history of her past significant contribution to this industry.

The best-selling author of The Cat Who mystery novels about a journalist named Jim Qwilleran who solves crimes with the help from his cats Koko and Yum Yum ( Saimese), died June 4, 2011 at a hospice in Landrum, South Carolina. She had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The author and former Detroit Free Press feature writer had lived there for the past 23 years.

Braun's first book The Cat Who Could Read Backwards was published in 1966, which led the New York Times to call her "the new detective writer of the year. The familiar setting for most of the tales took place in a fictional town of Pickax, in Moose County — a town modeled after Bad Axe, Mich., where Braun and her husband lived until the mid-1980s.

Braun published the first three novels of the series in the mid-1960s while working at the Detroit Free Press: “The Cat Who Could Read Backwards,” “The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern” and “The Cat Who Turned On and Off” all received critical acclaim. The budding mystery writer then disappeared from the publishing scene for nearly 20 years.

Earl Bettinger, her husband recalled that the books’ publishers at that time wanted her to introduce sex and violence into her stories, which she wouldn’t agree to. However, she began working at the Free Press in about 1950 as the newspaper’s Good Living editor. She wrote about interior design, art and architecture, and reviewed kitchen gadgets and other new household products until she retired in 1978. Her creativity and determination enable her to succeed in her stand of no compromising her initial beliefs.

Subsequently with the encouragement of her husband, she resumed writing “The Cat Who . . .” series several years later. One critically important point need to take note is that all of her books were written in longhand before she turned them over to a typist. This pain taking process did not deter this aspiring author to end there, but she continued to shine. In addition to “The Cat Who . . .” series, Braun wrote two other books that were collections of short stories. 

Now, you can see vividly that her determination overwhelm all her odds and deliver all the novels available today. Her spirit in shaping the landscape of the publishing industry will never be forgotten, but in memoris forever. Let her spirit rest in peace with God. In this conjuction, may I request that we observe one minute of silence to show due respect and honour she truly deserved. Thank you in advance.

Braun was born June 20, 1913, in Chicopee Falls, Mass. Her first husband, Louis Paul Braun, died in 1969 and left behind her second husband, of Tryon, N.C.

Thanks for your precious time reading this article and look forward to hearing from you.

James Oh

Skype me at james.oh18