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.
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Pride, last week, was alright. It's the same thing from last year with freebies. Of course, who doesn't love freebies.
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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
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Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Solomons Island
Last weekend, KT took me out on a little surprise weekend getaway to Solomons Island. Solomons Island reminded me of a miniature Rehoboth Beach with sprinkles of Key West. It's just really cute, small with its own boardwalk.
We get there and dropped off our stuff at the nearby Holiday Inn Select. The hotel itself was ok. At first, it looked like...wow! But, once you get settled in, you start to notice its flaws. But I can say that they acutally have an Olympic-sized pool.
We walked down the boardwalk and explored little shops. We made mental notes of which ones to come back later that night or the next day.
When we were done, we walked back to the hotel. KT is my hero!!! About halfway walking back, KT spotted a fire growing from the mulch around a tree on the side of the road. Apparently, someone walked by or drove by and flicked off a cigarette. The cigarette cherry lit up on some flakes of mulch. KT tried to stomp out the fire but it only spread out the fire. So, he just put dirt on the fire, which doused it out and isolated the cigarette onto the asphalt.
It was just a good thing that KT saw the fire. If not, there would have been a big fire with a burnt tree.
After that, we headed back and swam in the pool. Ah, it was so nice to go swimming!!
We were supposed to go fishing the next morning but we backed out because of the weather. But, it was no biggie because we plan to go to North Carolina in July for a long weekend. We'll definitely go fishing then.
I wish I had pictures to post but KT forgot to pack the camera when he planned this trip. I only have pictures from my Sidekick. I took pictures of restaurants and bars that I posted for Yelp.com.
Anyways, it was interesting to see how many beaches there are in Maryland that are an hour or less from home. I'm sure we'll go back and explore other beaches.
Solomons Island is nice if you like small places. I'm not sure if we'll go back again. We practically touched every places there.
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We get there and dropped off our stuff at the nearby Holiday Inn Select. The hotel itself was ok. At first, it looked like...wow! But, once you get settled in, you start to notice its flaws. But I can say that they acutally have an Olympic-sized pool.
We walked down the boardwalk and explored little shops. We made mental notes of which ones to come back later that night or the next day.
When we were done, we walked back to the hotel. KT is my hero!!! About halfway walking back, KT spotted a fire growing from the mulch around a tree on the side of the road. Apparently, someone walked by or drove by and flicked off a cigarette. The cigarette cherry lit up on some flakes of mulch. KT tried to stomp out the fire but it only spread out the fire. So, he just put dirt on the fire, which doused it out and isolated the cigarette onto the asphalt.
It was just a good thing that KT saw the fire. If not, there would have been a big fire with a burnt tree.
After that, we headed back and swam in the pool. Ah, it was so nice to go swimming!!
We were supposed to go fishing the next morning but we backed out because of the weather. But, it was no biggie because we plan to go to North Carolina in July for a long weekend. We'll definitely go fishing then.
I wish I had pictures to post but KT forgot to pack the camera when he planned this trip. I only have pictures from my Sidekick. I took pictures of restaurants and bars that I posted for Yelp.com.
Anyways, it was interesting to see how many beaches there are in Maryland that are an hour or less from home. I'm sure we'll go back and explore other beaches.
Solomons Island is nice if you like small places. I'm not sure if we'll go back again. We practically touched every places there.
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Friday, May 25, 2007
Elite Yelper
I'm excited!
I've been offered to join the Elite Team of Yelp.com.
Yelp is a site where real people give real and honest reviews of restaurants, salons, doctors, retail stores and so many other places. People like to read/hear about reviews and whether you recommend them or not.
I started Yelp'ing earlier this month and...I guess...I just became fascinated with it. I just simply submitted reviews of places that I've been to.
So, c'mon over and check out my reviews. Perhaps, you'll Yelp as well.
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I've been offered to join the Elite Team of Yelp.com.
Yelp is a site where real people give real and honest reviews of restaurants, salons, doctors, retail stores and so many other places. People like to read/hear about reviews and whether you recommend them or not.
I started Yelp'ing earlier this month and...I guess...I just became fascinated with it. I just simply submitted reviews of places that I've been to.
So, c'mon over and check out my reviews. Perhaps, you'll Yelp as well.
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Monday, May 07, 2007
Zanzibar on the Waterfront
As posted in Yelp.com:
Last Friday night, I headed over to Zanzibar on the Waterfront for the monthly DPHH (Deaf Professional Happy Hour). I had a good time there.
I think that Zanzibar is like the most expensive bar that I've been to. By expensive, I was referring to the cover charge. Only because I had an invitation, my cover charge was $10. Now, I've paid that cover charge before at other place. It was just that I saw that the regular cover charge was $30 bucks. $30 bucks!?!?!?! Dayum! I could treat 20 people to Dairy Queen for 30 bucks!
Anyways, keep in mind that I only went to the SkyClub at Zanzibar. I didn't check out their restaurant. I just went straight to the bar! (By the way, friends of mine did eat there and said they were not impressed.)
SkyClub was nice. First, you gotta take the elevator up to the third floor. So, I went up there. It's actually kinda dark. (Not quite Deaf-friendly.) There's one place that well lit but it's hidden. There's a couple of window walls where you can view the people dancing on the second floor.
Anyways, the SkyClub is nice...kinda roomy. Beautiful decors around. There are a couple of flat-screen TV's, with sports playing. You can walk out to the patio outside for some fresh air. You can see the Potomac River, dotted with boats.
You better bring the bank with you if you wanna drink there. I got a Long Island Tea for $12 bucks. Normally, I wouldn't have complained. But, my drink was in one of those mini tall glasses, made for mojitos. You can barely fit in 2 fingers in the glass. I was like, oh no no no, girl, you better spike my drink real good! But, damn, it was worth it! After 2 LIT's, I had a good buzz going on.
While it was a nice place, I'm not sure that I'd go back. I prefer someplace low-key with some drinks that doesn't cost me a week's worth of groceries, ya know.
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By the way, there's another DPHH tomorrow night. I kid you not.
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Last Friday night, I headed over to Zanzibar on the Waterfront for the monthly DPHH (Deaf Professional Happy Hour). I had a good time there.
I think that Zanzibar is like the most expensive bar that I've been to. By expensive, I was referring to the cover charge. Only because I had an invitation, my cover charge was $10. Now, I've paid that cover charge before at other place. It was just that I saw that the regular cover charge was $30 bucks. $30 bucks!?!?!?! Dayum! I could treat 20 people to Dairy Queen for 30 bucks!
Anyways, keep in mind that I only went to the SkyClub at Zanzibar. I didn't check out their restaurant. I just went straight to the bar! (By the way, friends of mine did eat there and said they were not impressed.)
SkyClub was nice. First, you gotta take the elevator up to the third floor. So, I went up there. It's actually kinda dark. (Not quite Deaf-friendly.) There's one place that well lit but it's hidden. There's a couple of window walls where you can view the people dancing on the second floor.
Anyways, the SkyClub is nice...kinda roomy. Beautiful decors around. There are a couple of flat-screen TV's, with sports playing. You can walk out to the patio outside for some fresh air. You can see the Potomac River, dotted with boats.
You better bring the bank with you if you wanna drink there. I got a Long Island Tea for $12 bucks. Normally, I wouldn't have complained. But, my drink was in one of those mini tall glasses, made for mojitos. You can barely fit in 2 fingers in the glass. I was like, oh no no no, girl, you better spike my drink real good! But, damn, it was worth it! After 2 LIT's, I had a good buzz going on.
While it was a nice place, I'm not sure that I'd go back. I prefer someplace low-key with some drinks that doesn't cost me a week's worth of groceries, ya know.
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By the way, there's another DPHH tomorrow night. I kid you not.
Labels: reviews
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