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Think.Believe.Inspire | Oh, the Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss
Out of all the works by Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You’ll Go! has always inspired me to move forward in life and to forge new paths. Even though I know at some roads I’ll fall, I still have to keep moving forward and embark on this journey of ambition that will take me to great places.
So, I leave you with a heavy dosage of witty wisdom from Dr. Seuss. 
Oh, the Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss
*Buy the book, the illustration makes this read such a brilliant experience*
Oh, the Places You’ll Go!
Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.
You’ll look up and down streets. Look ‘em over with care.
About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.”
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you’re too smart to go down any not-so-good street.
And you may not find any
you’ll want to go down.
In that case, of course,
you’ll head straight out of town.
It’s opener there
in the wide open air.
Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy
and footsy as you.
And when things start to happen,
don’t worry. Don’t stew.
Just go right along.
You’ll start happening too.
OH!
THE PLACES YOU’LL GO!
You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers
who soar to high heights.
You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed.
You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you’ll be the best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.
Except when you don’ t
Because, sometimes, you won’t.
I’m sorry to say so
but, sadly, it’s true
and Hang-ups
can happen to you.
You can get all hung up
in a prickle-ly perch.
And your gang will fly on.
You’ll be left in a Lurch.
You’ll come down from the Lurch
with an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are, then,
that you’ll be in a Slump.
And when you’re in a Slump,
you’re not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself
is not easily done.
You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.
Some windows are lighted. But mostly they’re darked.
A place you could sprain both you elbow and chin!
Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?
How much can you lose? How much can you win?
And IF you go in, should you turn left or right…
or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite?
Or go around back and sneak in from behind?
Simple it’s not, I’m afraid you will find,
for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.
You can get so confused
that you’ll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place…
…for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or a No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a sting of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.
NO!
That’s not for you!
Somehow you’ll escape
all that waiting and staying.
You’ll find the bright places
where Boom Bands are playing.
With banner flip-flapping,
once more you’ll ride high!
Ready for anything under the sky.
Ready because you’re that kind of a guy!
Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done!
There are points to be scored. there are games to be won.
And the magical things you can do with that ball
will make you the winning-est winner of all.
Fame! You’ll be famous as famous can be,
with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.
Except when they don’t.
Because, sometimes, they won’t.
I’m afraid that some times
you’ll play lonely games too.
Games you can’t win
’cause you’ll play against you.
All Alone!
Whether you like it or not,
Alone will be something
you’ll be quite a lot.
And when you’re alone, there’s a very good chance
you’ll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.
There are some, down the road between hither and yon,
that can scare you so much you won’t want to go on.
But on you will go
though the weather be foul
On you will go
though your enemies prowl
On you will go
though the Hakken-Kraks howl
Onward up many
a frightening creek,
though your arms may get sore
and your sneakers may leak.
On and on you will hike
and I know you’ll hike far
and face up to your problems
whatever they are.
You’ll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You’ll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life’s
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.
And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3 / 4 percent guaranteed.)
KID, YOU’LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!
So…
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O’Shea,
you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!
*** The above text was copyrighted in 1990 .
Hey Diddle Diddle: Books I Loved As a Kid
Bookstores are my addiction; give me some coffee, I’ll browse for hours! Whenever I see a bookstore, especially if it isn’t a mainstream chain, I have to clear my schedule and go spend several hours browsing every section. And even though I don’t have any kids (and not really big on the idea of having them,) I find myself stopping by the children section for the sack of nostalgia.
Not just for the sake of nostalgia, but on occasion I’ll read children’s books and help my mom decide what type of children’s books she would love to illustrate. And last weekend, while spending a good hour or so in the book section at Daedlus Books, I couldn’t help to get all giddy reading some of the books I myself loved as a wee child.
Talk about shelf-life! Some of these books have been around for over a decade and I bet some of the ones I was reading in the 90s have history that go back decades before. Let’s talk about Hey Diddle Diddle. Remember? The cat and the fiddle, the cow jumped over the moon, and how about those running spoons? Classic nursery rhyme, a book that I loved as a kid.
Hey Diddle Diddle was (and still is) a great story that is booming with whimsical charm, but there are a few other books I loved as a kid. So in the spirit of memory-lane and the joy that comes from reading a great book, here are a few of the books that I cherished.
Do you have any books that you loved as a kid? Feel free to share!
Double Latte Books: Affordable Book Formatting Directly for CreateSpace & Kindle
Curious about publishing your own book?
Or perhaps you’ve attempted publishing with CreateSpace and Kindle, but to no avail, your efforts were halted by formatting issues.
Well if either of those questions are concerns you’ve experienced, then fret not, the solution is here.
Double Latte Books
Founded by Janie & Ramon McGee, Double Latte Books is an affordable publishing company that has not only self-published 14 titles via CreateSpace & Kindle, but they have effortlessly aided other authors and creative folks in their pursuit of publishing their works.
CreateSpace is an amazing self-publishing print on-demand service that has revolutionized the market. However, for those who are new to book publishing and e-books, the formatting involved can become a headache. Well, leave your worries behind, and let Double Latte Books deal with the “hassle” for you.
With affordable rates and exceptional customer service, Double Latte Books will format your books with a guarantee of them being approved by CreateSpace for publishing. Not only will Double Latte Books make the formatting a breeze, but they will also help with cover design for Kindle and paperback books.
Oh, and the advice they provide is award-winning, and free. Suggestions for ways to make your book even more marketable are a service they provide without an extra charge; Double Latte Books wants you to be successful and have your works reach the masses!
So if you’re in need in some affordable book formatting, then Double Latte Books is your solution. Rates starting as low as $100 for an 80-150 page book. They will assist you in starting a CreateSpace account, setting up your book for Kindle, and aiding you in retrieving your ISBN. Trust me, Double Latte Books has got you covered.
Do you need editing and proofreading? Well then, they got you’ve covered as well. For additional cost, Ramon McGee, who has a BS from Princeton in Literature, will edit your book. He has years of professional experience, so you’re surely getting the best of the best!
Additional Services:
And for those who are interested in publishing their MP3/Audio CDs on CreateSpace, Double Latte Books can help you with that as well.
Janie has already released two CDs via CreateSpace and you can buy them on Amazon.com.
For more information, contact Janie McGee at doublelattebooks@live.com
P.S. If you’re in the need of Illustrations, cover designs, and artwork, then you’ll also want to check out Little Liza Jane and the amazing artwork of Janie McGee.
Save $$$ | Rent Your Textbooks & Plant a Tree
Remember the days in middle school & high school when your teacher would assign you a textbook for the entire semester/year? It would usually be during that first or second day of class. The teacher would show up with a pile of books (sometimes a cart) and would go over how precious the books were. Some teachers would even have a contract you’d have to sign, and if you broke that contract then you would be in big trouble; it was literally life or death if anything happened to that book.
Ah, I used to love those days. I didn’t have to worry about spending cash on a textbook. The only thing I’d probably have to buy is a book cover to protect it, but even that could easily be made out of a brown paper bag or newspaper (creative & cheap.) Being a middle school & high school student wasn’t as expensive as college, but of course college is often the path you need to take in order to get a good career making decent money (college isn’t everything, but it sure does help.)
As a college student in my senior year, I can’t even begin to tell you how much money I’ve spent on textbooks. During my underclassmen days I probably spent well over $500 a semester on textbooks online, and that was just textbooks I bought used on Amazon.com & other websites. Luckily I always had a little bit left over from tuition, but sometimes the money did come out of my parents pocket. But those are trials of the past. Thanks to Chegg.com I’ve been able to save hundreds of dollars on cheap textbooks and in the end simply return the books I really didn’t want in the first place.
There is nothing worse than having spent a bunch of money on textbooks, and in the end not being able to sale back the books for a decent price. Ah man, I’ve been mad so many times when I found out a new edition of a textbook has come out, which essentially decreases the value of the book I had bought for more than $80. But with Chegg.com I’m able to rent my textbooks, and at the end of the semester ship them back for free in the adorable orange Chegg box.
If you’ve never rented your textbooks before, then I’m telling you it’s awesome! For instance, this semester each of my textbooks cost about $60 or more for a used copy on Amazon.com. My technical report writing book was $167 used on Amazon.com & new for about $200. But with Chegg.com I was able to rent each of my books for about $30 and save almost $205.
Not only did I save money, but I also helped plant a tree. Yes, I helped a tree get planted somewhere in the US. I’ve actually planted a tree when I was in elementary school.We did a project in which we all got in groups and planted a medium size tree which would grow to full size as the years progressed. I never went back to see if that tree grew very tall, but it was such an amazing project to be apart of. Since I haven’t planted any trees since then or done anything with Habitat for Humanity, it feels nice knowing I saved money; Chegg.com worked with American Forests to plant a tree.
Every time you buy a book with Chegg.com, they plant a tree. So you’re actually helping the environment. Not only does planting a tree help the biodiversity of forests, but renting textbooks also limits the amount of paper used to reprint books. So if your goal was to be more “green” in 2012, then consider renting your textbooks and helping the environment by allowing Chegg.com to plant a textbook either in the US or World (you get to choose either one after checkout.)
Don’t go spend thousands of dollars on books you might not ever read again. Save money, rent textbooks, and a plant a tree!
©Jasmine McGee.ThinkSoul25. http://thinksoul25.com
