I was really excited to see this was actually a book. My first introduction to this story was in the form of the show Mysteries at the Museum on the travel channel. I’m a sucker for anything based in fact and history so I found out there was also a movie that my mom and I watched it was there I learned of the book so I got it on audible. The book is written by Kate Moore.
Well into the 1920s, the dangers of radium were not known to the public, although some executives and scientists in the industry were increasingly aware and protected themselves in the factories where the women worked. Especially deadly to the dial-painters, they were instructed to point (lick) their paintbrush tips while painting the numbers on the dials. They were not warned about dangers and did not suspect problems until they began to suffer severe symptoms, including anemia, radium jaw (deterioration of their jaw bones), and deadly cancerous tumors.
Five sickened former dial-painters in New Jersey sued the U.S. Radium Corporation beginning in 1927, but their case was hampered by a two-year statute of limitations. After the women testified in January and April 1928, the U.S. Radium Corporation was granted an adjournment until September. The delay provoked a backlash of newspaper criticism.On June 4, 1928, the New Jersey women accepted an out-of-court settlement.
I absolutely loved this book! It’s not terribly long I had it on audible so I was able to listen to it in a day. It runs 15 hours long on audible I’ve listened to longer. It’s a great book if your interested in history.
Britney’s book starts off the same as Jamie Lynn’s she speaks of her parents families and her fathers drinking. That’s one thing both books can agree on her father was a drunk. Britney speaks on her relationship with her brother Brian whom she says she was very close with. She speaks of her close with her relationship with her mother and the effect her fathers drinking had on her mother and on herself. She talks about her early years of talent shows and auditioning for Mickey Mouse club the first time and not making the cut. She was an understudy in an off Broadway show and speaks of the years living in New York. then she auditioned a second time for Mickey Mouse club and in the mean time she played basketball. She shared a dressing room with Christina aguilera. She talks about a family member passing away and not having the money to go home and Justine Timberlake’s mother loaned them the money to go home. She speaks of drinking with her mom when she was 12, but how it was “different” then when her dad drank.
She later talks about auditioning for Jive records and how she wasn’t nervous but probably should have been. She was 15 when she signed a record deal. She spoke about meeting max Martin for the first time. she spoke about going to Sweden to record and how she basically lived in the studio booth. Did you know Britney came up with the video of her first single? The original video was suppose to be futuristic and space themed. She spoke about meeting back up with Justine and how madly in love she was in with him. She talked about running into celebrities in the early years like Steven Tyler, Madonna and Mariah Carey. Around that time she started to take Prozac. She talks about the VMA’s and performing I’m a slave for you with the snake and how terrified she was. She speaks about Crossroads the movie she did in 2001,She criticized herself for taking the role to seriously. She even auditioned for the Notebook but was glad in the end she didn’t get the role. She was approached to do Chicago, she criticized herself again for not doing it and not taking more risks at that time with her career. Soon she talks about Justine and how he cheated on her. She confesses she cheated on him with her choreographer wade Robinson. She discusses getting pregnant with Justin’s baby and having an abortion, she leaves very little to the imagination when she talks about the abortion. She talks about the devastation of Justine breaking up with her via text message. Unlike Jamie Lynn’s book Britney threw Jamie Lynn under a bus talking about going home after the breakup and how she was a bitch and ungrateful for everything Britney had done for the family. She talks about cry me a river coming out and the shame she felt and the double standard of women cheating on men was seen as one way but men who cheated on women was celebrated. She talks about not feeling shame for Justine talking about their sexual relationship. She talks about setting eyes on Colin Farrell, and the whirlwind romance. She discussed at length the influence Madonna had on her.
She talks about the Diane Sawyer and how humiliating it was. She talks about going to Vegas and hanging out with Paris Hilton and innocently just having. She talks about getting married at the little white chapel again the words innocent fun was thrown around, that marriage last 55 hours. Later in the book she talks about meeting Kevin Federline, she talks about needing to live up to expectations of the world but not needing those expectations with Kevin. She discusses finding out he had kids with an ex girlfriend. she proposed and he said no then proposed to her. She talks about hating the Femme Fatale tour literally everything about it. She marries Kevin and at this time she learns to say “no” she fired her management team and was excited to start a family. She talks about yelling at an actress who her sister claims was causing issues on the set of zoey 101 both books mention the incident, draw your own conclusions. She talks about the early years of being a mom to Sean Preston and pregnant with her second son and the trauma of being in the public eye with children. She talks about how money and fame went to Kevin’s head. She admits to having prenatal depression. She talks about Gimme More and how tacky it was and she wasn’t proud of it. She talks about the rush of making the blackout album and how proud she was of the work of that album. She talks about how Paris Hilton was there for her when she divorced Kevin. She admits other then alcohol adderall was the only drug she was into. She talks about the infamous night with Paris and Lindsay. She admits from suffering from postpartum depression. She talks about Kevin keeping the boys from her and after weeks she went to his house to see the boys, later that day she went to a salon and shaved her head she says it was her way of saying fuck you to the world. Overall listening to her words about the invasiveness of the press makes me feel for Britney they feel like they had a right to her and that she doesn’t deserve privacy. She talks about entering rehab even tho she claims she didn’t have a substance problem. She also talks about the infamous VMA performance promoting blackout album where she ran into Justin before the show, and sobbed in the dressing room afterwards. She talks about the conservatorship where she had two conservatorships one of the person (Britney) and one over her estate. She learned her dad owned thousands of dollars in debt at the time. She talks about her mother writing a book about her crazy ass family, and her mother profited off her name and image. She talks about being considered to sick to make choices for herself but healthy enough to make an album and promote it. She talks about not having it in her to fight back against her family anymore. She claims she played by the rules simply for her kids. Her father literally became a millionaire with Britney under a conservatorship. She talks about the Vegas residency and how the guy she was seeing got her into supplements and her dad didn’t like that so he sent her to rehab. She talks about the control he had over her body and how over the years people felt like they had some kinda right to her body.
After her Vegas show ended her dad had a cognitive test done that her dad said she failed. She was forced into a hospital program. Her kids where a pawn in her dad’s scheme to control her if she didn’t do what she was told she wasn’t allowed to see her kids, also she was put on lithium. she was at the treatment center for two months, then she was moved to another facility run by the same people, it was there at the hospital she learned of the free Britney movement. She talks about calling 911 to report conservatorship abuse on her father.
So there you have it both Spears books in review and their views on somewhat similar situations. I honestly have a lot to digest I’m still a fan of both Britney and Jamie Lynn, I don’t blame Jamie Lynn for the situation with Britney because I believe she was scared of her father and felt she had to play nice with her father to not end up in the same situation as her sister. I blame a lot of the turmoil on their parents specifically her father.
Growing up I was all about boy bands and the pop princesses of the day, that includes Britney Spears one of my best memories was when I was about 12 or so my brother Kevin got me a Britney Spears in concert VHS tape for Christmas he would go on the regret the gift because I literally watched it several times a day every day for years. I grew up watching all the drama Britney and her family went through play out on tv and in the magazines so when Jamie Lynn her sister published a book of course I got it, and of course once I got wind of Britney’s book I preordered it so fast I think smoke came out of my fingers. So in this blog post I will be discussing both books and leaving it up to you to decide what to believe.
First up is Jamie Lynn’s book. The first three chapters are standard background type information on her family and her upbringing her siblings being much older then her she points out she was unplanned, she also goes on to point out her dad had a vasectomy. The first few chapters she mentions quiet often her dads drinking problem and how it put a strain on her parents relationship until their divorce in the 2000’s. Through out the book Jamie Lynn also mentions her sister Britney’s on going struggles in the public eye but never once mentions mental health or anything along those lines. She discussed the Justin/Britney breakup and how difficult it was on Britney and also on her stating it was an example of what a relationship should look like. She discussed finding out about being pregnant with her daughter and how contrary to popular belief wasn’t the reason her show Zoey 101 ended. She discloses the struggle of staying in a relationship with her daughters father while he was running around and partying and the day she finally decided for her safety and the safety of her child she left. She speaks of the conservatorship by saying that one of the requirements was Britney stay sober and regularly got drug tested and as a way of being accountable her father Jamie drug tested along with Britney. She talks about her mental health and the steps she took to take care of herself including therapy, her diagnosis of OCD,anxiety and depression helped her move forward in her life. Over all this was a great book it doesn’t throw her sister under the bus like so many speculated she would she stuck to her life and what her experiences where in the public eye she mentions her sister and the family drama but doesn’t dwell on it. Check back tomorrow when I post about Britney’s book
Discrimination is defined as the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of ethnicity, age, sex, or disability. Now you may think Amanda your 34 what discrimination could you possibly have experienced. The short answer more then I’d care to ever admit too. In my last post I got a lil off topic so I hope to break down bits of information from that post and make smaller post in the next few weeks and go into more detail.
When I started kindergarten another students parent didn’t want me in their class because they didn’t want their child to “catch” what I had that was my first exposure to discrimination because of my disability and I was 4 or 5 years old, yeah kinda fucked up I know.
I experienced discrimination in Girl Scouts quiet often after sixth grade I dropped out because I became more aware at that time that I wasn’t liked by some of the other girls and even the mothers involved.
Other times I’ve experienced discrimination include my one relatives father, who made the comment at a family function when I was little about how children who are disabled shouldn’t exist, another relative who actually married into the family and then divorced so they aren’t family anymore said that kids with disabilities shouldn’t be in classrooms with “normal” kids, and in that instance they where talking about mental disability not the physical kind but still kinda fucked up don’t you think? I’ve also had the fun experience of people wondering why my mother didn’t have an abortion or why I wasn’t put up for adoption.
Most recently my experiences with discrimination involve me trying to find a job, my first job was at a day care when I was 16 but I never had an issue per say with discrimination at that time it was more my mental health was so bad I ended up quitting. I worked at a local library (Birdsboro for the locals wondering and no I don’t have an issue calling them out) and I didn’t disclose that I was handicapped, got the job low and behold after 90 days which if you don’t know is the standard probation period for most jobs, I was fired. I don’t have proof just a lot of he said she said but they falsely accused me of somethings and supposedly had documentation that’s I signed which fyi I never did. And all of this occurred after my co-worked found out that I was handicapped. But again it was he said she said situation. Because of this specific situation I’ve always been very guarded about disclosing my disability and not just in the work place. I’m still struggling to find work to this day there are gaps in my resume but I remain hopeful.
So I have to say I went back and forth the last few days how I wanted to do this post at first I was gonna read a book about someone living with spina Bifida and write a review but I was having issue finding the “right” book. Ultimately I decided to write a post about my story about spina Bifida and while every case is different with spina Bifida I hope that it sheds light on this defect and more people learn about it. also as I write this post I wanna edit and say it does take a left turn and go into bullying and mental health but it all ties into spina Bifida but I also have a habit of going off topic and I’m sorry 😝.
So let’s start with the basics what exactly is Spina Bifida? Spina bifida Latin for ‘split spine’ is a birth defect in which there is incomplete closing of the spine and the membranes around the spinal cord during early in development in pregnancy. There are three main types: spina bifida occulta, meningocele and myelomeningocele. Meningocele and myelomeningocele may be grouped as spina bifida cystica. The most common location is the lower back , but in rare cases it may be in the middle back or neck.
So for example I was born with myelomeningocele and my spine was incomplete at the L4/L5 vertebrae of the spine. People with spina Bifida at this level typically either use a wheelchair full time to get around or if your stubborn like me you use AFO’s commonly known as leg braces. It’s also not uncommon for bladder issues I’d say 99% of the people I’ve met use a catheter for the bathroom that 1% that don’t catheter have something called neurogenic bladder and basically all that means is a person can’t hold their bladder so when they gotta use the bathroom there’s no waiting it’s then and now or they are gonna have an accident.
So I get two questions often get are 1. did my parents know I was going to be born with spina Bifida? and 2. Am I the only handicapped person in my family? So no my parents didn’t know I was born in 1989 and as I understand it women who where expecting at that time didn’t go often for ultrasounds like they do now, and yes I am the only person on both sides of my family born with spina Bifida. At this present time all they know about spina Bifida is a deficiency in folic acid can contribute to it but usually by the time a women who is expecting a child knows she’s pregnant the damage is already done so taking folic acid supplements doesn’t do much good. There are some advancements in the medical field with “treating” spina Bifida and I say it like that cuz there isn’t an actual treatment for spina Bifida however there is a surgery that women can have while still carrying the baby that closes the spine before birth and can make the effects of the spina Bifida less severe.
That’s another question that comes up quite often, how many surgeries have I had? I always start off by saying I’m extremely lucky to not have had as many as other people in my position to date as far as my spina Bifida is concerned I’ve only had 6 surgeries the last being in 2006 or 2007 when I was just 17 years old. My first four surgeries occurred in the first year of birth, so when I was born first we had to find a hospital that had a bed for an infant that specialized in spina Bifida my parents options where Hershey medical hospital, children’s hospital of Philadelphia and I believe (cuz I honestly don’t remember) but I think the third was DuPont. So within the first 24 hours I had my first surgery and I was also born with hydrocephalus which is common in spina bifida patients so I had a shunt placed at a few days old for that (more on that condition coming) but unfortunately my shunt malfunctioned when I was six months old so I had another surgery THEN it malfunctioned again when I was nine months old so back to the OR I went finally I caught a break and didn’t need another shunt replacement until I was 17.
So I mentioned hydrocephalus and I know your say WTF is that? Simply put its a build-up of fluid in the cavities deep within the brain.The extra fluid puts pressure on the brain and can cause brain damage. It’s most common in infants and older adults. So literally I’ve had a total of four brain surgeries three of which occurred before I was a year old, major flex if I don’t mind saying so myself.
So I get a lot of questions about my childhood and let me just start off by saying I HAD THE BEST CHILDHOOD EVER! I get so sad for the people I met who’s parents coddled them because they had disabilities or because of health issues they had in general, first off by no means where my parents cold and horrible people but my parents definitely came from the mind set of telling me at a young age that the world wasn’t made for someone like me and I just simply have to adapt to it. My house isn’t some special made house like you see on little people big world where they had everything lowered to their height and all that, speaking of height I got teased a lot in school for being short so let me just clear the air, I didn’t win the lottery in the height department (thanks mom) my mom who is the oldest of five is 5’3, her mom my nanny is 5’3 ish and her mother was 4’11 or so I was told she died before I was born so dunno there but I’ve seen photos she was little. So there’s that, there’s also the issue of being born with spina Bifida and that typically people with spina Bifida are on the slightly shorter side so there you have it, and if your wondering I’m 4’11. But back to my childhood it was awesome! I will be the first to point out I was an unplanned pregnancy made apparent by the fact of the age gap of my siblings and I. Christopher my oldest brother is ten years older then me and Kevin the middle child is seven years older then me. My brothers on the other hand are only three years apart. I was a typical younger sibling I teased my brothers and tagged along with them and their friends growing up. Chris and I are the most alike we both LOVE to talk and we are full of energy supplied by our diagnosis of ADHD. Kevin is the polar opposite, which my mom will blame on Chris mostly because when they where kids Chris would answer for Kevin when my mom would ask him questions. To this day Kevin will sit back and watch Chris and i bicker back and forth rather then join in.
While home life was the best, school was another story, first off before I even started school my mom pretty much had me in every early childhood intervention class you could think of in the early 90’s one including Easter Seals. But when I was about four or five it was time to start school. So first thing you have to understand is I’m a complicated child I was a social butterfly once I got to know people but until then I am utterly the most painfully shy person you will ever meet and that stands true to this very day and I’m thirty-four! But kindergarten was amazing I made friends most of which I still have to this very day. As easily as it was for me to make friends some parents weren’t thrilled with the idea of a handicapped child being in the class, I to this very day remember there was a parent who was concerned that their child would “catch” what I had, yep you read that right. Over all elementary school was average I had friends and I played with some after school I did have one girl in my class who was a neighbor who’s parents basically told her to be friends with me and she had to befriend me to be nice which was whatever she thought her poop stank like roses and I didn’t care much for her anyway. I also was in Girl Scouts in elementary school I dropped out after 6th grade because I was being low key bullied by another girl and I didn’t want to deal with it anymore.
In 2001 I started 7th grade and my dear readers that’s where things get interesting in my life. SO, 7h grade was pretty meh for me nothing special made friends was nervous about jr high you know same as everyone else experience I guess. I made a lot of friends that year joined a club and that was really it sorry guys if I disappoint you. It wasn’t until my freshmen year things got rough for me. At this point my freshmen class was at the Jr. high and would be going up to the high school the following school year to make more room for seventh and eighth grades. But anyway, everything was fine the first few weeks into school but I wanna say after the first month or two is when things took a dark turn. There was a student in my grade who that year was in three maybe four of my classes and he just started pointing out how I walked funny one day in class like he would literally mimic how I walked and everything. So I would brush it off and was like whatever pretty soon he would make fun of me or make comments to me in every class I was in with him. I went to the vice principal at the time to report it and he called the student in and talked to him, it continued. A few weeks went by and in that time when I say I was in the vice principal’s office every single day two or three times a day I’m not even remotely exaggerating. After a while they called a cop in to talk to him, that did nothing. Next they call his mom in and have her and her son read an article about spina Bifida and then discuss it, did it work? Nope. Next thing you know they call the mother in one more time and do you know what her excuse was as to why her son was bullying another student? His father was serving our country in Iraq, yep his father was gone and that’s why he was doing it. While I applaud anyone who served our country, I myself have several family members who have served, it doesn’t give someone the excuse to bully another person. During all of this I became withdrawn, normally my mom picked me up after school and I wouldn’t shut up about my day. However after the bullying got this bad which was maybe half way through the school year my mom was lucky if I said two words to her at the end of the school day. As for friends none of them knew what was going on I felt let down by my vice principal since nothing ever came of telling him what was going on so I just stopped talking about it. I became extremely depressed. As if verbally bullying wasn’t bad enough by this time it also became physical at one point he pushed me down a set of three steps that led to one of the wings of the Jr. high building.
On to high school which if it wasn’t stressful enough that I was starting a new building and they brought up the ninth graders as well so that just made it more chaotic, I was also very anxious at this time. Summer was great I was my old self talking,laughing, just enjoying life. But then high school loomed over me as august approached and I became depressed and anxious I had the worst fear that the bullying would continue. I started cutting classes, and hanging around the wrong people basically. I wasn’t into partying but I did get a little wild I don’t want to get into details here but I was doing things that looking back on it I’m very ashamed of. Long story short tenth grade just consisted of lots of anxiety and anger issues I had a hard time focusing in class and had to leave class and would hide in one of my teachers class rooms out of anxiety. And before you ask no my bully wasn’t in any of my classes that year. In tenth grade I had surgery on my shunt which had malfunctioned which meant another surgery which happened a few weeks after I turned seventeen. Bare with me here cuz it’s around this time things get fuzzy after the bullying started in ninth grade I started to have blackouts I would get so depressed and have rages of anger that I would just black out and sleep for like an hour and wake up and not remember a single thing that happened. Prior to my surgery I had seemed out help from my pediatrician for depression I was put on medication Solly for depression and it helped (kinda) after my shunt surgery my depression got better at first but a few weeks post op. It reared its ugly head again and I started back on the depression medication. Then I got tired of taking my medication it wasn’t helping and I was at a very high dose so I just decided to cold Turkey stop taking it after about a week my parents figured it out and took me to the hospital they didn’t know what to do with me I was out of control emotionally I was beating up my mom, fighting with her staying in bed, crying none stop it was horrible. So my parents had me admitted to the hospital psych unit for teens. Technically I admitted myself but I don’t remember it that way but we will leave it at that. So I spent three days of my spring break in the psych hospital. To answer your questions, no there’s no padded walls and no there wasn’t any jackets with straps. After my three days there I went to the out patient program at the hospital for teens it was meh, lots of therapy, an hour of school every day, hospital food not much to say.
Junior year I don’t remember much of at all so this paragraph will be short as hell, sorry. I got worse depression wasn’t getting better at this point I was seeing a therapist weekly and was seeing a proper doctor for meds I still didn’t have a diagnosis but bipolar started being thrown around at this time. I also did another stint of out patient therapy cuz I wasn’t going to school at all by this point like flat out refusing to leave my bed my anxiety was that bad.
Senior year, everyone looks forward to it right? College, becoming an adult, moving bout of your parents place all the things. Ya that’s not the story here sorry to tell you. So at this point your probably wondering why I’m spilling my guts and telling you my life story cuz it started out being about spina Bifida and now it’s about how shitty high school was well my dear reader as it turns out my senior year we learn through going to doctors and talking to them about what’s going on with me that bipolar disorder is pretty darn common in people with spina Bifida. Yep. But I hadn’t been diagnosed yet as a matter of fact my therapist suggested to the school psychologist that they do the testing for me to be diagnosed and his response? He said that there wasn’t anything wrong with me and I was just acting out for attention, I know what your thinking we where floored too. So in attempt to have a somewhat normal high school experience I got a ticket to prom I planned to go with a kid I kinda liked at the time found out he only wanted to get in my pants and ended that pretty quick. A few weeks before prom I ended up back in the out patient program again basically the school didn’t wanna deal with me at this point and would just ship me off to which ever program would take me. However and I’m gonna make this short, one day I got into a disagreement with the head of the department/ program at the time like he was basically the principal of the school. He proceeded to call my mom of which I told him not to cuz I knew she was asleep and he did anyway woke her up put her on speaker and began to tell her how disrespectful I was and how I wasn’t gonna amount to anything in my life and I was basically going to rely on my parents the rest of my life. Ya good times. So I immediately discharged myself right there with my mom on the phone requested the papers to sign, I was 18 at this time so my parents and basically any adult couldn’t do anything so I signed and my mom came and got me and that was that. Oh and that guy in charge of the out patient program who told my mom I wouldn’t amount to anything? Ya he’s now the director of the chapel of the hospital or some shit like that, funny right?
So with only a month of school left what would happen? Well as it turns out there was only two options 1.kids peace of which I knew in our area had a shitty reparation and there was another program my school had been made aware of that was an alternative school for at risk youth. It was about an hour away in Pottstown so they set up a tour of the school. To say it was a school is not right I was basically in a building that had been once used for something else of which I’m not sure what that was. So I went on this tour the principal also named Amanda was really nice, another student showed us around the program in question was called community service foundation or CSF for short basically the way this program ran was there was a back room and a front room kids where divided up between the two sides and every morning you started off in group therapy, you know stereotypical sitting in circle and talking every single morning started off with an affirmation that a person picked every day a different person each day, a quote or a song lyric it literally could be anything. Then after that we put up dividers in both front and back of the building and we went from area to area for our schooling each class started off sitting in a circle and talking then we had class and if any issues arouse during class we sat in the circle and discussed it. Long story short you learn to hate circles. After a classes was lunch and then we had more group therapy divided again between front and back of the building. We also had specials we got to pick two that we really wanted to be in and one just incase one of those was full. I picked photography and music class and the art class as my third option I was really artsy at this point so I liked anything where I could express myself. So anyway after my tour of meeting the other kids and the staff Amanda told me to call her when I made up my mind about attending it wasn’t up to the parents they literally expected the students to call them with their choice. They even said they had students who called them I r he parking lot or on the way home. Well I ended up loving the place after the tour and so did my mom so yes I did indeed call her fifteen minutes after leaving to accept going there. So I started the program the next day from what I remember cuz again I was blacking out from my depressive episodes so I don’t remember a lot. And at this point it was three weeks before senior prom and about a month before graduation. I had a rough start to the program but adapted pretty quickly I took a school bus that picked me up everyday there was maybe three other kids that came from my school district at that time, that’s another thing kids from all the school districts in the area went to this place and the schools were responsible for providing transportation there were also foster kids in this program the program CSF had a foster home program where kids lived and then attended the program. Senior prom came I went alone I ended up sitting with a few friends and had a pretty decent time overall, I don’t regret going despite the fact I wasn’t actually at my school. I also got to attend graduation practices and all CSF gave me permission to leave for practice for graduation and anything else I would need to attend. It was Important for me to actually get my high school diploma I knew how hard it was for people to get jobs and be accepted into college programs if they had GED’s and my only other option was a certificate of completion which I wasn’t excited about. However for me to get my actual high school diploma I needed to attend an extra semester of school meaning I wouldn’t actually graduate until 2009. So I came back to CSF in the fall did what was asked of me some of it was difficult like the swearing rule, if u swore you had to come up with three alternative words for whatever word you said and at that time I swore as I put it “worse then a sailor” yep I eventually swore so much I had to sign a contract I forget what the contract said but basically I had to give up cursing and if I didn’t I had to miss future field trips. But I was able to curb my mouth long enough to graduate CSF was amazing they would have special days planned for students who were leaving early like me since I graduated after the first semester of the following year which meant I left in January of 2009 they had a graduation ceremony just for me. My parents where there and my niece who at the time was only a few months old, both my brothers, and a few of the staff from my high school who actually supported me through everything that I had been through. One of the students sang a song during the ceremony and my brothers best friend who is like a third brother to me presented me with my diploma. A few weeks after graduating I started working with an agency that helps people with disabilities find work and one of the first things they did was do the testing my school psychologist refused to do and at 19 I finally had a diagnosis I have bipolar 1 disorder, general anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, ADHD, math deficiency disorder, and short term memory loss. So ya that’s basically my story.
My point of sharing this all with you reader is to show if your going through something your not alone I know people say that all the time and trust me I still roll my eyes when people say it but it’s true your not alone and everyone has a story and just because someone is handicapped doesn’t mean they are less then or are less capable. I’m 34 years old now I was 19 when I graduated and I’ve had struggles in the 16 years since I graduated I’m struggling with getting a job (maybe I’ll do another blog post about that?) I’ve struggled with relationships but am currently in an amazing one. I still struggle with my depression. But things are getting better I still have issues because of my spina Bifida as a matter of fact things will only get harder as I age I count my blessings everyday that I’ve been luckier then most in my situation tho.
I hope to do more post like this in the future if you have any questions about anything I’ve posted please don’t hesitate to comment and I’ll answer the best I can.
But honestly let me know in the comments if I should do more post like this about my life or if u think I should keep it about books?
Moreina di Bianco is a young healer who believes in medicine, not magic, even though she possesses a second sight she can’t explain. When the Faranzine Talisman chooses Reina to end a war she must put her beliefs aside and harness the magic within. There’s just one problem with Reina’s two companions. They are also featured in the talisman’s prophecy as potential suitors.
I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! And I’m not just saying that because author L Ryan Storms is a librarian at my local library. I own this whole series (three books total) and I love it. I enjoyed the magic elements mixed with ancient prophecy. It was a good mix of love story but not in your face or obvious love. Personally I would recommend this book to anyone who loved witch and wizard by James Patterson.
Out in the secluded woods, at the couple’s lake house, Adam engages in a passionate affair with Kelly Summers. But one morning everything changes. Kelly is found brutally stabbed to death and now, Sarah must take on her hardest case yet, defending her own husband, a man accused of murdering his mistress.
Ok so here’s the deal guys I posted a few weeks ago for suggestions on books for my next blog and my friend came up with three books this was one of them, and she didn’t disappoint me with this suggestion! I loved this book I have to admit I was intimidated by the 64 chapters listed but this was a pretty easy read for my unmediated ADHD brain. I simply loved this book there are some plot holes and such and if u have a basic understand of the judicial system somethings will bother you but besides that this is a great book! I have a kindle and I have kindle unlimited so I was able to get this book for free by the way.
George Orwell’s Animal Farm reflects on events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917. Orwell was a Democratic Socialist, Orwell described Animal Farm as a satirical tale against Stalin and in his essay “Why I Write” wrote that Animal Farm was the first book in which he tried with full consciousness of what he was doing “to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole.”
Between November 1943 and February 1944 Orwell wrote Animal Farm when the United Kingdom was in wartime alliance with the Soviet Union against Nazi Germany and the British held Stalin in high esteem, something Orwell hated. Time magazine chose the book as one of the 100 best English language novels.
Snowball, Napoleon and Squealer take old Major’s ideas into “ a complete system of thought” which they call Animalism a reference to Communism. Soon, Napoleon and Squealer partake in activities associated with humans which was prohibited. Later Squealer is hired to alter the seven commandments through the revision of the commandments Orwell demonstrates how political dogma can be turned into propaganda.
So aside from my love of books and my love of Disney my other love is music. I recently acquired my parents vinyl collections and started adding to it. I have everything from Jimmie Hendrix to The Sound Of Music soundtrack. One of my fondest memories is of my mom cleaning while listening to records when I was a kid.
One of my moms favorite artist and mine is Sir Elton John so we were both thrilled when he wrote a book. Naturally she purchased a physical copy and I got the audible version. The audible version is read by actor Taron Egerton who played Sir Elton John in the movie Rocket Man. I’m also a fan of his work so I was pleased he was doing it.
Sir Elton John talks about his early years of going to clubs to play shows, getting a job to support his spending habit even at a young age, he talks about hiding from Andy Warhol with John Lennon while on cocaine binge. He also talks about being rapper Eminem’s AA sponsor. Over all this book is exactly what I expected from the great Sir Elton John I laughed I cried and everything in between I wish I could read it for the first time all over again.
A few months ago I went to the Franklin Institute for the 100 years of Disney celebration. Anyone who knows me knows I love Disney I’ve been asking my mom to take me to the Franklin institute for this exhibit since I found out about it. But because of her work schedule I asked a friend to go instead. It was amazing if you get the chance to go, do it!
At the gift shop I picked up this book called The Story of Disney, and it’s literally that it starts off with Walt’s life as a child and goes through the entire 100 year history of Disney! With just ten chapters and two hundred ninth-four pages it’s hard to imagine how they captured 100 years but they did it beautifully! There are hundreds if not more photos of items that summarize the Disney history and lots of facts even this Disney enthusiast didn’t know. I consider this a must have for any Disney junkies book shelf.
Introverted Little BookWorm 