Factoid Friday #6

"In the episode “Born this Way,” character Emma Pillsbury’s OCD is brought to the limelight when each character is asked to reveal a trait that he or she often perceives as a flaw. At first Emma hides that her OCD affects her deeply, but over the course of the episode, the once laugh-worthy quirks are replaced by portrayals of how her need for cleanliness affects many of her daily functions. The show also advocates both medication and counseling."

Quote from  http://psychcentral.com/lib/changing-media-depictions-of-mental-illness/0008213

This is a positive way that media is trying to deal with mental illness.

APA Reference
Holliday, R. (2011). Changing Media Depictions of Mental Illness. Psych Central. Retrieved on March 21, 2014, from http://psychcentral.com/lib/changing-media-depictions-of-mental-illness/0008213

Vocab Story

        Stars are a divine sanctuary. They drip from nighttime clouds like water droplets, free-falling through space, never able to land. Maybe they can see us, down here on Earth. Perhaps they realize that we are all credulous and sanctimonious creatures, drunk on fake ideas of love and life.
        "Silly humans," I'm sure they'd say, "Can't you see how small you and your problems are?" They are only a pittance of the universe, and we are simply specks of dust, sizzling on the surface of their shine. The stars cannot expiate our flaws, no matter how guilty we make them feel with our constant stories of their inevitability.
        Or perhaps they are deities, keeping us under sanction for our mistakes. They shine brightest on the darkest nights. Sometimes, even though they're gazing upon us, we cannot see them at all. This must be when they're angry at us for our sacrilege.
        Who consecrated these floating fire-orbs anyway? They're tragically beautiful. You can never get close to them, or they'll scorch you alive. You can never hide from them all, either. No matter where you go in the universe, they will follow. Whether it be in the Milky Way, or on a small planet in a galaxy not yet discovered, stars will always be around. Is that why they've received apotheosis? "God is always watching," is a common phrase within theology.

        Whatever they are: chaotic gods or peaceful demons, stars will be above us until we run out of time for existence. No one can deny that, atheists or pantheists, monotheists or polytheists. Maybe we'll never know why they hide in the heavens, but if we don't, it's probably for the best. The hierarchy of universal enlightenment keeps humans secure in the last rung. For now, we'll have to keep our feelings of star-induced insignificance close, for that's all we are able to understand.

FTA: 80-120 Quotes

"I want what you want. There isn't any me any more. Just what you want." Page 106
So this is a classic love and war. He is torn between Catherine and serving his country

"You'll never get married. . . . You'll fight before you'll marry. . . . Fight or die. That's what people do. They don't marry." Page 108
I don't think it could get any more reality of war than this. You're going to die, you can't have love forever, soon it'll be all over.

"Life isn't hard to manage when you've nothing to lose." Page 137
Reality of war and loneliness. If you don't have anything to live for, why not take the risk?

"Perhaps wars weren't won anymore. Maybe they went on forever." Page 118
Grim reality of war, it never truly ends until one side stops and leaves. Even then, the effects last forever.

Factoid Friday #5

One in four adults suffer from a mental disease or illness in the United States.

Health , N. I. O. (2014). The Numbers Count: Mental Disease in America. Retrieved from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-numbers-count-mental-disorders-in-america/index.shtml

FTA: 80 Pages Quotes

Pages 1-30

"All thinking men are atheists." Page 8
This gives us insight into his religion and government were affecting people at this time.

"Evidently it did not matter whether I was there or not." Page 16
This is the reality of war. People are gonna die even if you're there to protect them.

Catherine: "I didn't know about anything then. I thought it would be worse for him. I thought perhaps he couldn't stand it and then of course he was killed and that was the end of it."
Henry: "I don't know."Catherine: "Oh, yes," she said. "That's the end of it" Page 19

So this is love and war. Catherine lost in war, but is ready to love again.

"I did not care what I was getting into. . . . I did not love Catherine Barkley nor had any idea of loving her. This was a game, like bridge, in which you said things instead of playing cards. Like bridge you had to pretend you were playing for money or playing for some stakes. Nobody had mentioned what the stakes were." Page 31
This is also love in war. Henry is toying with his feeling but letting a war front stop him.


Pages 31-80

"It doesn't finish. There is no finish to war. . . . War is not won by victory. . . . One side must stop fighting. Why don't we stop fighting?" Page 50-51
This is the reality of war. It's never going to end

"I was blown up while we were eating cheese." Page 63
This is also war reality, war waits for no one.

"What you tell me about in the nights. That is not love. That is only passion and lust. When you love you wish to do things for. You wish to sacrifice for. You wish to serve." Page 63
This is love and war. Henry loves Catherine, but he has a war duty.

"You cannot know about [happiness] unless you have it" Page 72
I think this falls into love. Love makes you happy, and they are hinting that henry is not happy until he is in love.

FTA: 1st 40 Pages

So far I like this book. Lt. Henry seems like an interesting character. I like that he's in the Italian army. I went to Italy this summer and loved it so having an Italy connection is nice. Now I'm not sure where I stand on Catherine yet. She seems a little too dramatic and girly for me. I don't know, I just get a vibe from her telling me not to like her, but we'll see. I'm excited to continue on.

Lost Generation

Lost Generation refers to the time between the end of World War I and the Great Depression. The literature that falls into this category tell coming of age stories during and after WWI.  Ernest Hemingway was the one to popularize the term in works such as The Sun Also Rises and A Moveable Feast. But it is Gertrude Stein who gets credit for the term. Authors of this era included  F. Scott Fitzgerald,T. S. Eliot, John Dos Passos, Waldo Peirce, Isadora Duncan, Abraham Walkowitz, Alan Seeger, and Erich Maria Remarque. 

There are novels. paintings, dance, poetry within this genre. Including All Quiet on the Western Front