Address_of_Happiness_website

In association with GLAAD and Believe Out Loud , the Family University non-profit is raising some funds to manufacture and distribute in Washington DC a “Special Edition” of The Address Of Happiness around the Supreme Court’s response on DOMA.

If you support marriage equality and can donate ten dollars, it would sure help! You’ll get a bracelet and a tax write off as well as hopefully changing a heart on the issue! They are raising funds on the Indiegogo site.

They just started today so please help fill those undernourished coffers. Here’s a pic of the bracelet, modeled off of “Livestrong”. And remember that happiness can be pursued, but it’s own true address of found at the door of love!

Be Happy Wristband from The Address Of Happiness

Here are some of the reviews from around the country from everyday folks and a few coming in from around the world.

ADDRESSES FROM AMERICA

COLORADO

I want all my straight, gay, atheistic, bible-toting, lost/found, peers/friends/detractors to read The Address Of Happiness. I read it non-stop. I couldn’t stop reading. It was (and is and will forever be) a beautiful piece of writing. My heart swelled…I was like a child, again, following the singsong poetic narrative. I fell in love with and for Maddie and Britney. I cried at the first punch…I was steeled knowing there had to be more…and there it was, served up; and I cried again. It will turn our world upside down…AND it will make us ask questions, lots of questions. The reading experience was like being in a lyrical version of Carl Sagan’s Contact, but with a twist. Through its whimsy and charm, it astonishingly answers the existential question: “Who are we and why are we here?” No doubt the author, a strong man of faith, will be branded a heretic for dare opening a steel door that few wanted pulled back to reveal that the Mysterim Tremendum was love, forgiveness and mercy.

Carl Brackpool , CEO of an International Technology Company

PENNSYLVANIA

I say this with absolute conviction: the world needs comfort and kindness; warmth and goodness. The Address of Happiness will awaken you, stir you, enlighten you, inspire you, ignite you and empower you to fill this world with beauty. The world needs this book now more than ever. May it do for you what it did for me: fill you to the brim with hope and aspiration to find the kingdom of love within!

Amy Ferris, Author, Marrying George Clooney

ILLINOIS

“I feel that I have just read a parable…a story to tell a truth. I am overwhelmed with emotion. I find in Happiness a message that is very similar to what I found in John Wesley – there is a love that is always within, seeking to find expression and response, the gospel message in more modern terms. This story is the message of life – always moving forward into the limitless unknown, always seeking the best, the more perfect. Happiness resolved the question of marriage between two persons of the same-sex by celebrating the love between the two persons involved. I loved the message.

Rev. Dr. Donald Black , United Methodist Minister

TEXAS

“She could not wait to be born and begin her search for the one her heart loved.” So begins the remarkable journey of Maddie and Britney, two gentle souls matched in Heaven and destined to meet on the earthly plane (and even beyond). Their quest to hear each other’s inner celestial “music” animates this lovely, poetic fable, which has much to teach about the divine melody of Love that resounds within us all. During their search for each other, I was reminded of Audrey Hepburn’s wonderful line in the classic film Sabrina, when her father chastises her for dreaming too much, for “reaching for the moon.” No, Audrey says, “The moon is reaching for me.” Mr. Kirkpatrick’s luminous new book is spellbinding. I couldn’t put it down.

Rex McGee, Writer, Teacher, Father

CALIFORNIA

I remember feeling enlightened after reading Jonathan Livingston Seagull. The Address of Happiness gave me a similar — even more spiritual — sense of tranquility. The Address of Happiness is a gift to the Universe – and perfectly timed. It beautifully captures the fact that love transcends all else. When I put the book down, I felt as if I’d been for a swim in a lake of serenity. It is a remarkable journey that reconnects us with the sacred.

Doug Collins, Director for a Not For Profit

IDAHO

As a secular humanist with spiritual longings – one who believes, like Emerson, in a direct relation to God (read: the great mysterious universal presence) , I found The Address Of Happiness an irresistible invitation to a loving, and gentle relationship to what the poets call, Mysterium Tremendum. If all of us could have the enormous faith that the remarkable Maddie and Britney have in this wonderful journey – what a world it would be! If nothing is impossible for love, how can we ever be against it?

Samantha Silva, Author, Once Upon a Carol

WISCONSIN

“Love is the universe’s greatest mystery and greatest truth. Among two members of the same species, who among us dare to defame God’s blessing of it?”

Joel Rogers, Professor of Law, Political Science, Public Affairs and Sociology – University of Wisconsin

NEW JERSEY

The Address of Happiness is a gorgeous work of whimsical fiction. Not only does this book lift you up, it cradles you in its warm embrace and holds you for that extra squeeze. It is a modern meditation on fate, acceptance and, above all, love…a gentle reminder which, frankly, I needed in my life at the moment more than I ever realized.”

Paul Russell Smith, Writer, husband and father of three

MARYLAND

“If , indeed, we do believe that each of us is created in God’s own image, that each and everyone one of us is a Lilly in His Field, then we are going to need more stories like The Address Of Happiness which so lyrically illustrates this point. Could this be Love Story for the new millennial reader? Let us hope.”

Marykay Powell, Motion Picture Producer , Random Hearts

MASSACHUSETTS

The Address of Happiness is beautiful and thought-provoking. I found myself rereading many passages to really absorb the meaning. I feel like it truly inspires a desire for a deeper conversation on many levels. Love, life, religion, spirituality, humanity. I have struggled with trying to find my place as a gay person, gay parent throughout the years. So much of this story resonates. I felt it described the root of the inner turmoil of Maddie quite well. Also, as someone who in this part of my life identifies as an atheist with an open mind, your story really made a seamless connection between the spirit of creation and love. I felt this was quite powerful and left me exploring my own beliefs.

Monica Bautista, Single Working Mom of Two

SOUTH CAROLINA

This is a love story that rips through the boundaries of our earth-bound imagination and takes us to the divine! The Address Of Happiness will make you believe, once and for all, that everlasting love is truly possible. The beautifully written prose allows the reader to fall hopelessly in love with Love. Every page of this book is a gift! A thought-provoking , mesmerizing delight! I cannot wait to read it again.

Debora Baker, Artist

NEW YORK

I’m a rabbi, so I support marriage equality. My support of marriage equality is an expression of my faith. It arises from fundamental principles found in the Hebrew Bible and the rabbinic tradition, among them, that each human being is made in the divine image, that affording full dignity to every person is a religious obligation, and that we are commanded to pursue social justice. It arises from the Biblical injunction that it is “not good” for a person to be alone, and that the opportunity to create a family is an essential aspect of our humanity, and of our obligation to express, as fully as possible, the image of God reflected within.”

Rabbi Jan Uhrbach, Conservative Synagogue, Sag Harbor

GEORGIA

“I understand what it means to be completed in another. I lost the one I was meant to love. The Address of Happiness encourages me to hope for a day when my love will be restored.”

Windsor Ruch, Marketing Executive

ADDRESSES FROM THE WORLD

ENGLAND

I am far from America, but I am right at home, having just read The Address Of Happiness. What a beautiful and touching story! When I read of the author’s aunt who inspired the story, I could only think that she must be very proud. There is no doubt that she is smiling from Heaven, believing in the power of God who pushes mankind forward to a shining destiny.

Ileen Maisel, Producer, The Golden Compass, Romeo and Juliet

CHINA

There are no boundaries if we believe in the power of love. The Address of Happiness is a beautiful gift to all of us who dream of a better world.

Mars Lu, Producer, musicals

BRAZIL

The Address of Happiness impresses with its wit, intellect and compassion. This piece of prose poetry is an uplifting reminder of how love conquers all. Two people, regardless of who they are, meant for each other, can make this world a better place. It is a poignant and powerful read, sometimes whimsical, often more than a little sad, a metaphor for life. I thoroughly enjoyed it and will continue to reap the benefits of its message, as I hope others will.

Bill Dix, Project Manager

GoodReader-travels in transmedia

Goodreader is the best free app I have found for editing, making notes and general research on the iPad. Through Dropbox or simple email, get the pdf onto your iPad. A pdf immediately becomes a book in the Goodreader program. So you can flip the pages just as if you were in the Kindle program.

The great news is that there is a vast menu for annotations for that pdf: text boxes, hand written notes, highlights. They are all available in a range of color to suit your creative fancy.

Once you finish your changes on the pdf, you can save them as a “flattened annotated file”. What does that mean? Essentially, all your notes are, of course, saved; but you also have a complete index of every textbox change that has been made.

The index is hyperlinked to the specific page change as well as from the index back to the specific change. It is a great resource. The index becomes a bible for your future work. It’s a terrific document for ticking off changes from one single document. Depending on the next stage of work, your index could be one page or a hundred pages. Somehow, the index makes the work seem less daunting.

This is a great tool for writers who want to get a “fresh” view of their work by looking at in another format. It’s a heck of a lot more efficient than Truman Capote’s method of sticking the manuscript in the desk drawer and pulling it out a month later. That works, too – but sometimes we do not have that luxury of time.

I am not a “Pages” fan for editing. As hard as Apple pushes, I do not think Pages will replace the WORD doc in the near future. Apparently, you can also edit straight onto the Goodreader program with a WORD doc but I have not tried it out. But for PDF on iPad, I don’t believe there is an easier, more impactful app out there.

David Paul Kirkpatrick : Travels In Transmedia…

Archives For The Arts

The Address Of Happiness Campaign on Indiegogo