Virginia Woolf - Becoming a Writer

By the time she was twenty-four, Virginia Woolf had suffered a series of devastating losses that later she would describe as “sledge-hammer blows,” beginning with the death of her mother when she was thirteen years old and followed by those of her half-sister, father, and brother. Yet vulnerable as she was (“skinless” was her word) she began, through these years, to practice her art—and to discover how it could serve her. Ultimately, she came to feel that it was her “shock-receiving capacity” that had made her a writer.

Welcome to the Galápagos Islands! As you follow a path through the black lava rock on one of the islands, you may hear the sea lions barking or the hum of a white-lined sphinx moth flying past your head. The Galápagos Islands are full of life, from a huge tortoise trudging toward a cactus patch to a Galápagos barn owl gliding in the air, ready to snatch up a Santa Fe rice rat. Day and night in the Galápagos Islands, the hunt is on to find food - and to avoid becoming someone else's next meal. 

When Ernst Stavro Blofeld brutally murdered the girl whom James Bond had married only hours before, the zest for life went out of Bond. He went to pieces, was even on the verge of becoming a security risk. M, however, was persuaded to give him one last chance.

In speech after speech, Barack Obama has “fired up” millions of enthusiastic supporters with his inspiring vision, rousing rhetoric, and charismatic presence His outstanding communication skills gave rise to an unprecedented political movement and fueled Obama’s success in becoming the first African American presidential nominee of a major U.S. political party.