Thursday, June 14, 2007
Twilight Children
I just love Torey Hayden. Torey Hayden is a teacher and a specialist in elective mutism. In all her other books, Torey chronicled her encounters with memorable children/students in her past classes. Most of them come from abusive homes. With Torey, they're able to open up and share their most shocking secrets. With Torey's help, they'll address the issue and hopefully move on.
In this particular book, Torey has left the teaching environment. She is now working for a hospital. While she may be a specialist, the teacher in her emerges from time to time.
This particular book centers around 3 people:
- Cassandra is a bright 9 year-old girl. 2 years before, she was abducted by her divorced father. When found and returned to her mother, she was not the same. She was abused and neglected by her father, who was already addicted to drugs.
Cassandra isn't like any other children that Torey had. While she may be abused, Cassandra is a smart little girl. However, she can never fully comprehend why things are happening to her or why she keeps getting in trouble. Torey is forced to think if something else is happening here.
- Drake is a cute little 4 year-old boy with charming smiles. The problem with Drake is that he doesn't talk, except to his mother. This is a unique case for Torey because she has never encounter something like this with elective mutism. However, Torey has something else to deal with. The grandfather expects miracles since he has money and comes from a "pedigree" family lineage.
- Gerda is something else. Gerda is an 82 year-old woman who has just suffered a stroke. As a favor from a nurse, she is asked to assess Gerda and get her to talk once again. With no experience with geriatrics, she decides to give it a try. The thing is, Gerda can talk but she kinda goes into a trance and talks about her childhood past. Torey tries to have a conversational interaction with her but Gerda just rants about her past. Is there something in her past that Gerda is trying to tell Torey?
I just love Torey because you learn when she explains theories, diagnoses, disorders, illnesses in laymen's terms. She gives examples and analogies that help you understand better.
In this book, she talks about multiple personalities. Of course, that was the vogue diagnosis of the 70's. However, it soon became overused and overrated. These days, it's called a dissociative disorder.
However, what really jumped at me was that she explained that this is tricky. The reason being is that everyone dissociate...everyday. In fact, it is normal to dissociate. Children dissociates when they role-play, like when playing "house", "doctor" or whatever. When called on by their parents or whomever, they drop the role-playing and return/respond as children. Adults dissociate as well. Most of us do so when we're driving. We're driving but not really paying attention. We're deep in thoughts. It's usually a sudden stop or a car honking that quickly brings us back to "reality" and take appropriate actions.
So, it is normal to dissociate. It's when dissociation becomes maladaptive or destructive that causes concerns.
Anyways, great book! Torey is one of those authors whose books I just cannot put down. I have to read through the book in one sitting.
**********
Pride, last week, was alright. It's the same thing from last year with freebies. Of course, who doesn't love freebies.
**********
Saggy Pants Ban
Mayor Carol Broussard, of Decambre, Louisiana, said that she'll sign the ordinance banning saggy pants. The ordinance will penalize anyone, with saggy pants, up to 6 months in jail and a $500 dollar fine.
Broussard said she has nothing against saggy pants but that discretion is needed when worn. "Undergarments or certain parts of the body" should not be shown.
What do you think of this?
Labels: gay life, reviews, society
|
Monday, June 04, 2007
Pride Week
Happy Pride!
This week is Pride Week in DC! Check out the link below for event information for the week. See you at the parade and at the Sunday festival!
www.capitalpride.org
Labels: gay life
|
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
The Zookeeper
I love learning new words, phrases, concepts and the like. I was reading The Zookeeper and came across "openly closeted". I thought it was an interesting play with 2 words that sounded oxymoronic.
The question is what is an openly closeted person. This term seems to be applied to celebrities or well-known public figures. According to postmodernbarney.com, they "are gay, live their lives as gay men or lesbians, but steadfastly refuse to actually go that one step beyond and publicly acknowledge that, yes, they're gay". North Dallas Thirty says that an openly closeted person is one that refuses to answer "that question".
So, who are the openly closeted people? According to Citizen Crain, they are Anderson Cooper, Sean Hayes, Ricky Martin, Clay Aiken and former NYC mayor Ed Koch. According to the Washington Blade, David Dreier, a member of the GOP House leadership, is openly closeted.
Interesting, eh?
Anyways, below is my review for The Zookeeper as appeared in Amazon.com:
*The Zookeeper* was a good read, being light on plots.
Sam Metcalfe is a zookeeper at the National Zoo in DC. He is mainly responsible for black howler monkeys. Sam has some great ideas for projects and renovations for the Zoo. However, his proposals are constantly being shelved or rejected. He's also a "keeper" of other people's lives:
Jack - He's an older guy at the Zoo, who trained Sam when he first came on. He's responsible for the big cats. His wife has been dealing with cancer. Jack deals with it by drinking. At times, he comes to work ineberated.
Laurel - She is Sam's childhood best friend. She's the chef and owner of Terra, a trendy restaurant in Dupont Circle. She has been pressured by her sisters to take care of their mother in Pennsylvania. Their mother has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
Jamie - He is Sam's nephew. Sam is a father figure for Jamie. Jamie pretty much has a good relationship with his mother. However, problems arise every now and then. Jamie has expressed going to a particular high school but his mother is set on another school.
After a blind date, Sam has struck gold with Dean. Dean is a closeted meteorologist for the local news channel. Dean is like the perfect gay man...having a wonderful job, toned body, fantastic place and an impressive circle of friends.
Sam is in love with Dean. Dean seems to reciprocate the feeling. However, things start to change especially when Dean aims for an anchorman position in New York City.
From this moment, Sam realizes that he's losing control as a "keeper". The worst is his own life. He starts to question decisions that he has made. But before he can straighten out his life, he feels that he needs to make sure the the people in his lives are alright.
Overall, it was a good read with simple plots. This is something that you could read over the weekend. It's simply boy-meets-boy-and-boy-wonders-if-this-is-the-happy-life-and-if-he-is-content-with-it.
|
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Gays & PDA
I love my Advocate magazines. I look forward to getting a new issue in my mailbox.
I just got a new issue but I wasn't finished the previous one. I was reading about this story where this gay couple were reprimanded for public display of affection while on the plane (American Airlines). I was like, where was I when this was happening?
Here's the link for the summary. I do encourage you to read the article.
Basically, this gay couple, in a new relationship, boarded an AA plane for NYC from Paris. They were holding hands and giving each other quick kisses. When the plane took off, Stephan Varnier, a writer, laid his head on the shoulder of George Tsikhiseli, a TV journalist.
A flight attendant came up to them and told them the purser wanted them to stop that.
The couple hailed the purser. The purser replied that she had said no such thing and that they were not out of order. The couple then proceeded to ask the purser if the flight attendant would've harrassed them if they had been a straight couple. The purser's demeanor immediately changed and left. She came back a few moments later and said that passengers had indeed been complaining about their behavior.
The couple then inquired the purser to indicate which passengers complained which she refused to provide. They asked for the flight attendant's name. Also refused. Then they asked for an AA representative to meet with them when they boarded, which was also refused.
The purser then told them if they did not behave, she would have the plane diverted back. 30 minutes later, the captain reaffirmed that if they didn't behave then they would divert back.
When the story came out, American Airlines defended their employees. Of course, why am I not surprised. Their defense was: “Our passengers need to recognize that they are in an environment with all ages, backgrounds, creeds, and races. We have an obligation to make as many of them feel as comfortable as possible.”
Ok, I've flown on planes many many times. I've seen straight couples making out and doing other forms of PDA. Does that give me the right to notify a flight attendant to complain that I'm not as comfortable as possible? I've seen and heard babies crying their heads off, just about the entire flight. Does that give me the right to push that button that'll summon the flight attendant and allow me to complain? Hey, I'm not as comfortable as possible and I expect to be. Do you see where I'm going with this? Do you see how silly that is? So, why is it ok for others to do it but certainly not ok for gays to do so?
|
I just got a new issue but I wasn't finished the previous one. I was reading about this story where this gay couple were reprimanded for public display of affection while on the plane (American Airlines). I was like, where was I when this was happening?
Here's the link for the summary. I do encourage you to read the article.
Basically, this gay couple, in a new relationship, boarded an AA plane for NYC from Paris. They were holding hands and giving each other quick kisses. When the plane took off, Stephan Varnier, a writer, laid his head on the shoulder of George Tsikhiseli, a TV journalist.
A flight attendant came up to them and told them the purser wanted them to stop that.
The couple hailed the purser. The purser replied that she had said no such thing and that they were not out of order. The couple then proceeded to ask the purser if the flight attendant would've harrassed them if they had been a straight couple. The purser's demeanor immediately changed and left. She came back a few moments later and said that passengers had indeed been complaining about their behavior.
The couple then inquired the purser to indicate which passengers complained which she refused to provide. They asked for the flight attendant's name. Also refused. Then they asked for an AA representative to meet with them when they boarded, which was also refused.
The purser then told them if they did not behave, she would have the plane diverted back. 30 minutes later, the captain reaffirmed that if they didn't behave then they would divert back.
When the story came out, American Airlines defended their employees. Of course, why am I not surprised. Their defense was: “Our passengers need to recognize that they are in an environment with all ages, backgrounds, creeds, and races. We have an obligation to make as many of them feel as comfortable as possible.”
Ok, I've flown on planes many many times. I've seen straight couples making out and doing other forms of PDA. Does that give me the right to notify a flight attendant to complain that I'm not as comfortable as possible? I've seen and heard babies crying their heads off, just about the entire flight. Does that give me the right to push that button that'll summon the flight attendant and allow me to complain? Hey, I'm not as comfortable as possible and I expect to be. Do you see where I'm going with this? Do you see how silly that is? So, why is it ok for others to do it but certainly not ok for gays to do so?
Labels: gay life
|
