Currently

Loving: Sunshine! Spring has sprung in Melbourne and with it comes the lovely warm sunshine! Days are getting longer and soon daylight savings will be upon us once again :) 

Reading: Finding Happiness in the Most Unlikely Places by Donald W McCullough. It reads as though it was written recently, not 22 years ago! Using simple every-day easy-to-understand language it looks at the Beatitudes. It has been refreshing to read; the lack of Christian lingo is delightful! 

Watching: Suits session 2. If you don't watch Suits you have to start! The wit, plot twists, suits and comical banter are fantastic! I have no idea what I'll watch once I finished the season... maybe I'll go back to Community to a bit, till I can find something as good as Suits. If you've got any suggestions about what I should watch next - let me know.

Anticipating: A conference in Nashville, followed by visiting friends in Montreal and San Francisco! Turns out I'll be there in the middle of the pre-election American Presidencial campaign fiasco. I really don't think I have any idea about what this trip will be like, or what opportunities will come from it.
But what I do know is that I'm going with the view of doing as much as I can, see as much as I can and speak to as many Americans (more than Canadians) and telling them that we get our mail delivered by Kangaroos! If stereotypes count for anything, I think most will believe me ;)

Listening to: Will Reagan and United Pursuit, I need some new worship music and Will is on it.

Planning: Holidays! I'm going to have to write a list soon of all the possible things I could do in the States and Canada, otherwise I'm going to forget. But first I'm still planning out all my accommodation. One step at a time. Once accommodation is sorted, I'll focus on planning more around the fun stuff :)

Working on: Winding up old projects - finishing well. 

Wishing: It was October already! I'm ready for the long haul flight.... not so ready to decide what to pack but ready to fly away for adventures!

What are you wishing for?

Join the celebrations!

Tomorrow is the first ever children's book launch from my publishing house, Ashworth Publishing. We're having the launch at The Little Bookroom in 759 Nicholson St, Carlton North, Melbourne at 2:30pm. There will be cupcakes, colouring-in and story telling - come join us!

What's the children's book your launching?
It's called Mitchell the Pixel and is aimed at children 3-7 years old.

Mitchell the pixel is a digital square.
He lives in your computer and doesn’t have hair.
Join him as he explores what it is to have friendship,
face up to bullies and find forgiveness.
While all along, staying true to his unique self.
Who authored and illustrated Mitchell the Pixel?
It was written by Leon James Wisewould and illustrated by Paul Nash.
Leon has been writing since he was a child himself. Paul has been doodling, drawing and painting since he was a child too.

Why did you start a publishing house?  
A couple years ago I wrote a children's story called Johnny Big Toes - available in November, 2012. The main character was inspired by my dear friend, AshLee, and there is an elephant, a ferrari, a giant snail, and the world's largest underground car park.

AshLee encouraged me to look at having my story published. That was when I realised that by starting my own publishing house I could be less focused on generating massive profits, and more focused on inspiring children to be children.

It wasn't long before Leon and Paul Nash, the Mitchell the Pixel illustrator would be excited to publishing the first Ashworth Publishing children's book with me.

UPDATE: See pictures from the day here

The Joy of Books

Whether you like reading them, looking in them, or enjoy basking in the knowledge that they contain so many amazing worlds and ideas. It's hard to deny that books are more magical compared to an iPad or kindle when you see such a cute short like this one!

Books Read in 2011

For me slow and steady wins. That's how I read, slow and steady.

Here is a list of books I read in 2011 (according to my Readernaut account).
It's pretty clear that 2011 was a hard year work wise. I was learning how to deal with issues regarding my job, how I'd pay for life now and in the future. Not to mention discovering more about the Lord and where He was in all this and how He was (and did) help me through all this.
The book titles link to Amazon and authors names link to author website.

• When It Pours, He Reigns; Overcoming Life's Storms - Holly Wagner
• The Happy Intercessor - Beni Johnson
• Beginner's Guide to Wealth - James Whittaker, Noel Whittaker
• Managing Your Career (Lessons Learned) - Fifty Lessons

Do you remember what you read in 2011?

God is not One:The Eight Rival Religions That Run The World and Why Their Differences Matter

My next book lined up and ready to go: Stephen Prothero's "God is not One:The Eight Rival Religions That Run The World and Why Their Differences Matter".

Said to have a "provocative agrument that, contrary to popular understanding, all religions are not simply "different paths to the same God" it will hopefully be a page turner.

It is refreshing to see that among the eight religions Stephen Prothero has included atheism, not a religion that many stand up and call a religion (that I have experienced).

Below is a short YouTube video where Stephen Prothero explains a little more about the idea behind writing the book and what he hopes the book will achieve.

'Son of Hamas' Buy the book. Watch the YouTube video's

*This is a straight up copy and paste from the BBC's site. But I have bought the book, watched the YouTube video's and now I want more people to read this MinD-BlowinG story!

'Son of Hamas' who spied for Israel - By Lyse Doucet BBC News, New York

Hamas leader's son 'was Israeli spy'. For Mosab Hassan Yousef, everything begins and ends with God. The startling journey of the eldest son of a Hamas leader, a Christian convert, and former Israeli spy, has shocked, angered, and intrigued. We meet in New York on the day his new book, Son of Hamas, is published in the country he fled to a few years ago. Before we start our interview, a burly man in his entourage asks his own question. I take him for a bodyguard, possibly an Israeli. "Could we say our prayers first?" he asks our BBC team. And then, they bow their heads in Christian prayer asking for God's blessing.

Green Prince

Mosab Hassan Yousef repeatedly makes it clear in our wide-ranging interview that he now sees himself walking in the path of Jesus Christ, whom devout Christians regard as the son of God. He says he is also suffering for his beliefs, "carrying the cross," as Jesus did, as told in the Bible. The man whose Israeli code name became the Green Prince admits how he has gone from being "a prince in my country to the lowest possible level, of being a traitor". But he is still a man on a mission: "I want my people to understand I am not doing what they want, but what they need."

His book tells the story of a young man raised in a strict Muslim family in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, in the folds of the Hamas movement. But he lands in an Israeli prison before he is 20, experiences Israeli torture, but also witnesses torture by Hamas inmates against other Palestinians. A young Palestinian's rage against Israeli occupation is soon matched by growing hatred of what he sees as the corruption of the Palestinian Authority, the violent ideology of Hamas and finally the precepts of his own Islamic faith. His mood is still surprisingly upbeat. "I am more optimistic than at any time in the past, and hopeful about the future. I am sure I will help my people as I helped them in the past, even though they didn't appreciate it." But he expressed hope that one day they would, even if it was not in his own lifetime.

Disowned

Appearing relaxed, and dressed casually in jeans and an open-necked shirt, 32-year-old Mosab said he wrote this book because what he did had "opened a thousand questions in everybody's mind". He makes the bold assertion that in a decade of spying for the Israeli intelligence agency Shin Bet, he served his own agenda, not theirs. "This is a dangerous statement," he boasts, "but I say it with a lot of confidence."

He describes his agenda as "stopping bloodshed" - disrupting Palestinian suicide bombings against Israelis, and Israel's assassination of Palestinian leaders, including his own father. He claims to have stopped then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon from killing several key Hamas members, and said he saved the life of current President Shimon Peres. He said he had to do "the right thing". But this week his father, Sheikh Hassan Yousef, who is in an Israeli prison, disowned his son on behalf of the entire family. "This is really hard," Mosab admits. "On the eve of releasing a book, I should celebrate with family members." But he believes his problem is not with his father, who has clearly been the most important person in his life. "My problem is not with my father, but his God."

'Not in hiding'

For a convert who speaks so strongly against Islam, and what he sees as its support for acts like suicide bombings, he shows no fear aside from the presence of his bodyguards. He and his aides make a point of letting us know his book will soon be published in Arabic. Most copies will be free."I am not in hiding… you can find out where I live on Facebook," he says, referring to his page on the social media site. Mosab says neither Shin Bet nor Hamas tried to prevent his story from being published. But he flashes a smile as he reflects on the irony that both organisations shared the same interest in stopping it. Barely suppressing a wide grin, he says he has more secrets to reveal but will not do it now, lest he harm operations that may be underway. For now, he says he is spending time "building many bridges". But he admits he has also burnt some old ones.The interview over, he is still thinking about his God. He looks me in the eye and says "I think you are a Christian".

*You can purchase his book off his site http://sonofhamas.com*

Reading.

Reading is how we learn. How we explore ideas.
And sometimes its just because we like to look at pretty pictures.