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Publisher's Pride: Books on Bestseller Lists - RV Oopsies (MacDonald)

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  Today's publisher's pride is RV Oopsies by Larry MacDonald, which reached #174 in travel humor. (This book has been in the Amazon top 100 nearly every month since its release.) Book Description:  101 Hilarious (and Painful) Lessons from Real-Life RV Mishaps Every year, thousands of people hit the road in their RVs chasing freedom, fun, and the great outdoors—but even the best adventures come with their fair share of epic fails. From backing into trees and bending jack stands to the infamous black tank blunders, RV life is full of surprises… and not all of them are good ones. For over a decade, author [Name] has asked fellow RVers one simple question: “What’s the dumbest thing you’ve done while RVing?” The answers? Outrageous, laugh-out-loud funny, and surprisingly educational. RV Oopsies gathers 101 true stories of RV mistakes, misadventures, and mechanical mayhem , each offering a valuable lesson to help you avoid making the same costly—or messy—error. Whether you'r...
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Precerpt from My 20th Language

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  My Walks to School In my last two years of high school, I used to walk to school with my best friend, D. I would meet her at her house. While she finished getting her things together, I would talk to her mother, a native speaker of French with pretty darn good English. A lovely lady. Our morning conversations, however brief, were among the highlights of my day, every day. Upon occasion, I would ask her for help with my French homework, if there was something I did not understand or know. One of her “explanations” has stayed with me for decades. I could not remember the gender of one of the nouns in the assignment. “Is the article le or la ?” I asked her. She did not know. “Just say it fast,” she advised. So, l’ it became! In so many conversations in the future with all kinds of people, even in college classrooms, I would just say it fast—and I nearly never got caught! Which makes sense because a lot of expressions in French are “just said fast.” Whole sentences get contra...
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The Advantages of OACD in Study Abroad Programs

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  Study abroad programs promise immersion, but immersion alone doesn’t guarantee transformation. Many students return home with vivid memories yet limited linguistic or cognitive growth. The difference lies not in the destination but in the design. Open Architecture Curricular Design (OACD) provides the framework that turns cultural exposure into deep learning. 1. OACD transforms experience into structured learning Traditional study abroad curricula often rely on passive exposure—students live in the target culture and hope learning will happen organically. OACD replaces this hope with intentional design. It structures experiences around adaptive tasks that connect classroom learning with lived reality: Language modules that evolve based on local interactions. Reflective tasks that link cultural observation to cognitive development. Flexible pacing that adjusts to the learner’s evolving proficiency. Instead of treating immersion as an uncontrolled variable, OACD makes it the curri...
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