I survived the surgery. I have just this minute walked in the door, and I have to tell my readers. Hubby cannot understand the urge I need to post. but you all do, right? I've been cut off from all civilisation. Hubby says something about 2 media choppers crashing over Los Angeles and how the police want to charge the small time criminal with manslaughter. This is what happens when TV media take a police chase to extremes. Anything to get good rating I seriously doubt this charge will stick.
http://www.knbc.com/news/13774066/detail.html
Police identified the suspect as Christopher J. Jones, 23, and said he was booked into jail late Friday night on two counts of vehicle theft, four counts of aggravated assault on a police officer and one count of resisting arrest with other charges expected to be filed later.
Earlier on Friday, Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris suggested the suspect could "be held responsible for any of the deaths from this tragedy."
The media will do ANYTHING to remove your attention away from IRAQ.
I am very glad to be home
And as I was putting my 5 year old son to bed tonight, he pointed to the Staples on my head and asked me what did they do?
They opened me up and took out the bad thing.
The things that makes you forget?
Yes, thats right (hopefully my memory will improve)
Did they take out the memory chip, Mommy? he was totally serious
No son, it was not a memory chip. We do not have memory chips in our bodies.
Are you sure, he looked at me seriously and asked again.
Yes, I am very sure.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Saturday, July 28, 2007
The Operation Was A Success!!
Hello to all,
This is cesca_nz's hubby, reporting in on her sugery. The Doctors say everything went very well. She spent 2 days in I.C.U. and is now in a regular hospital room. A nurse and I got her up on her feet so she could take a walk. It was a short walk, but a very good walk. The little walk made her tired, but that's to be expected. The Nurses were impressed that she was able to walk after leaving I.C.U. a few hours earlier. Hopefully she will be released from the hospital on Monday July 30 or Tuesday July 31, 2007. Well that's all from me for now.
Thanks for listening and sending your prayers.
Regards
zazou64 (cesca_nz's Hubby)
This is cesca_nz's hubby, reporting in on her sugery. The Doctors say everything went very well. She spent 2 days in I.C.U. and is now in a regular hospital room. A nurse and I got her up on her feet so she could take a walk. It was a short walk, but a very good walk. The little walk made her tired, but that's to be expected. The Nurses were impressed that she was able to walk after leaving I.C.U. a few hours earlier. Hopefully she will be released from the hospital on Monday July 30 or Tuesday July 31, 2007. Well that's all from me for now.
Thanks for listening and sending your prayers.
Regards
zazou64 (cesca_nz's Hubby)
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
VERY VERY last post
Its now 11 pm, and I have to be up again in 6 hours, so its time I went to bed.
This time my blog is definitely going silent.
Until I recover enough to start reading and blogging again.
Ciao for now (again)
And thank you for your all best wishes.
This time my blog is definitely going silent.
Until I recover enough to start reading and blogging again.
Ciao for now (again)
And thank you for your all best wishes.
Ana's Story and the Freedom Writers - Comparison
Some weeks ago I reviewed a book written by teenagers called The Freedom Writers Diaries.
As any experienced writer would tell you - and newby writers have been told this over and over again - Write about what you know. Thats how the story is sold. By the emotion of experiencing something you personally know about.
The simple fact is that the Freedom Writers Diaries touched me much more deeply than Ana's Story did, because of the emotional langugage, and the obvious emotional connection. Those teenagers in Los Angeles lived with AIDS, abuse, gang fights, drugs, poverty and so on. It came across in their journals. Nothing like that came across in Ana's Story because the writer Jenna Bush, has not lived it.
She has not truely experienced what it is like to live under those conditions, and so thats why I had no choice but to give her first book a not-so-good review.
As any experienced writer would tell you - and newby writers have been told this over and over again - Write about what you know. Thats how the story is sold. By the emotion of experiencing something you personally know about.
The simple fact is that the Freedom Writers Diaries touched me much more deeply than Ana's Story did, because of the emotional langugage, and the obvious emotional connection. Those teenagers in Los Angeles lived with AIDS, abuse, gang fights, drugs, poverty and so on. It came across in their journals. Nothing like that came across in Ana's Story because the writer Jenna Bush, has not lived it.
She has not truely experienced what it is like to live under those conditions, and so thats why I had no choice but to give her first book a not-so-good review.
Ana's Story by Jenna Bush - Book Review
Ana's story - A story of Hope
by Jenna Bush
Harper Collins ARC
Due to be Published October 2007
This is the story of a young Spanish girl, Ana, from Latin America who was born with HIV and how she deals with it as she grows up. Ana's mother who had HIV, and who died of AIDS when Ana was young. After Ana's father died (also of AIDS) Ana and her sister Isabel are sent to live with their grandmother (abuela).
Ana has to take medicine twice a day every day in order to keep her immune system healthy. Ana grew up with having to keep her HIV a secret. Otherwise she might find herself the subject of abuse and discrimintaion, being ostracised and maybe even expelled from school.
Abuela has a boyfriend who rapes Ana and her sister. Ana confesses to a priest and the priest sends the police to the house. So much for the church promising to keep confessionals confidential. so Abuela kicks the girls out and they go to live with a great aunt, Sonia. Within a year Sonia is abusing Ana because Ana is not being respectful (submissive) enough. Once again Ana is forced to leave.
So Ana spends the next few years being moved from home to home and eventually she ends up in reform school. A year after arriving at reform school, Ana is sent to a hogar, a home for teens and adults with HIV. There she and Berto fall in love and Ana becomes pregnant. "It was only one time without protection" - but as we all know, once is all it takes.
Once again Ana must move, but this time she moves to another Aunts house. At age 16 Ana becomes a mother. She names her daughter Beatriz. The narration ends somewhat abruptly at this point. There is a small epilogue, which could easily have been made part of the main narrative to finish the story more neatly.
I first mentioned this book 3 weeks ago.
If Jenna Bush intends for this book to be an AIDs education book for high school students, well it should help get the message across about why safe sex (or abstinence) is so important in order to stay healthy.
Back then late 80s & early 90s, people were very scared of AIDS, since it is a fatal disease. Noone survives it. Noone knew then, what we know now. That HIV can be managed with drugs and when managed properly, one can live with HIV for quite a considerable life span, instead of dying of AIDS at a young age.
This story was supposed to be "based on real stories" - which it may well have been - but I never felt that this story was real while I was reading.
What it lacks is emotion. There is no connection, no real emotion.
There is no profanity, no real descriptions of despair or of real life in the barrios. The worst phrase used was "poorest part of the city". Not even the word rape was written. The act itself was not described. The drugs that Ana has to take in order to survive are not identified. There are no mentions of neighbours being killed, no gang interactions or drug busts, no doctors names, no hospital names, no barrios names. No real interaction with other people in Ana's life. The city and country are not even named, so we cant make an emotional connection.
This narrative is sanitized. Not just with the changed names, but the language and what stories have been told. There is no real emotion in the words I read. Its just a story. The appendices at the back were very preachy. The word abstinance was mentioned a number of times.
I would not reccomend this book to an adult friend. A female teenager would probably like it, but not the guys. This is a girls story from start to finish.
The cover is sanitized just like the narrative. It does not show a real teenager from the barrios. The girl on the cover looks like a model.
I can remember living in New Zealand when Eve Van Grafhorst from Australia came to live there. She had AIDS, but had received it through a contaminated blood transfusion. When Eve was 3 years old she was diagnosed with HIV and thats when the rejection began. Her family was ostracised, shunned and abused. Even Eve's pre-school demanded that she be removed because they didnt want the other children to be infected. The family moved to NZ where they were welcomed and allowed to live somewhat normal lives. Eve became a tireless advocate for AIDS education in NZ, and her family were willing to open their lives to the country. When Eve died at age 11, her funeral was attended by thousands of New Zealanders. The entire country mourned when Eve died. The Australians did nothing except send a token payment that she was entitled to, because she received contaminated blood.
Popwatch
The book ends with a lengthy appendix that includes several tips on how teens can protect themselves against AIDS and other STDs, and it includes sentences like this one: Whether or not you choose to wait until your married or older to become sexually active, give yourself as much time as you need to make a well-thought-out and mature decision. (Since the book is still in galley form, the final text may read differently.) It's hard enough to imagine President Bush signing off on his daughter's decision to take an unpaid position with the dreaded United Nations, but to have her return and repudiate the administration's position that the only kind of sex education kids should be taught is abstinence-only — why, next thing you know, she'll be marching against the war and the repeal of the inheritance tax.
The above was written on July 2nd, 2007. Today is 3 weeks later. My review copy has the exact same paragraph. However the very next paragraph says this. "There is only one way to be 100 percent certain you won't get an STI - abstinence. There are a lot of ways to show you love or care about someone without having sex. If you decide abstinence is right for you, dont let anyone tell you otherwise." It goes to say that if you decide that you are ready for a sexual relationship, then protect yourself and "use a condom every time. No exceptions - ever."
That sounds like George talking to me.
by Jenna Bush
Harper Collins ARC
Due to be Published October 2007
This is the story of a young Spanish girl, Ana, from Latin America who was born with HIV and how she deals with it as she grows up. Ana's mother who had HIV, and who died of AIDS when Ana was young. After Ana's father died (also of AIDS) Ana and her sister Isabel are sent to live with their grandmother (abuela).
Ana has to take medicine twice a day every day in order to keep her immune system healthy. Ana grew up with having to keep her HIV a secret. Otherwise she might find herself the subject of abuse and discrimintaion, being ostracised and maybe even expelled from school.
Abuela has a boyfriend who rapes Ana and her sister. Ana confesses to a priest and the priest sends the police to the house. So much for the church promising to keep confessionals confidential. so Abuela kicks the girls out and they go to live with a great aunt, Sonia. Within a year Sonia is abusing Ana because Ana is not being respectful (submissive) enough. Once again Ana is forced to leave.
So Ana spends the next few years being moved from home to home and eventually she ends up in reform school. A year after arriving at reform school, Ana is sent to a hogar, a home for teens and adults with HIV. There she and Berto fall in love and Ana becomes pregnant. "It was only one time without protection" - but as we all know, once is all it takes.
Once again Ana must move, but this time she moves to another Aunts house. At age 16 Ana becomes a mother. She names her daughter Beatriz. The narration ends somewhat abruptly at this point. There is a small epilogue, which could easily have been made part of the main narrative to finish the story more neatly.
I first mentioned this book 3 weeks ago.
If Jenna Bush intends for this book to be an AIDs education book for high school students, well it should help get the message across about why safe sex (or abstinence) is so important in order to stay healthy.
Back then late 80s & early 90s, people were very scared of AIDS, since it is a fatal disease. Noone survives it. Noone knew then, what we know now. That HIV can be managed with drugs and when managed properly, one can live with HIV for quite a considerable life span, instead of dying of AIDS at a young age.
This story was supposed to be "based on real stories" - which it may well have been - but I never felt that this story was real while I was reading.
What it lacks is emotion. There is no connection, no real emotion.
There is no profanity, no real descriptions of despair or of real life in the barrios. The worst phrase used was "poorest part of the city". Not even the word rape was written. The act itself was not described. The drugs that Ana has to take in order to survive are not identified. There are no mentions of neighbours being killed, no gang interactions or drug busts, no doctors names, no hospital names, no barrios names. No real interaction with other people in Ana's life. The city and country are not even named, so we cant make an emotional connection.
This narrative is sanitized. Not just with the changed names, but the language and what stories have been told. There is no real emotion in the words I read. Its just a story. The appendices at the back were very preachy. The word abstinance was mentioned a number of times.
I would not reccomend this book to an adult friend. A female teenager would probably like it, but not the guys. This is a girls story from start to finish.
The cover is sanitized just like the narrative. It does not show a real teenager from the barrios. The girl on the cover looks like a model.
I can remember living in New Zealand when Eve Van Grafhorst from Australia came to live there. She had AIDS, but had received it through a contaminated blood transfusion. When Eve was 3 years old she was diagnosed with HIV and thats when the rejection began. Her family was ostracised, shunned and abused. Even Eve's pre-school demanded that she be removed because they didnt want the other children to be infected. The family moved to NZ where they were welcomed and allowed to live somewhat normal lives. Eve became a tireless advocate for AIDS education in NZ, and her family were willing to open their lives to the country. When Eve died at age 11, her funeral was attended by thousands of New Zealanders. The entire country mourned when Eve died. The Australians did nothing except send a token payment that she was entitled to, because she received contaminated blood.
Popwatch
The book ends with a lengthy appendix that includes several tips on how teens can protect themselves against AIDS and other STDs, and it includes sentences like this one: Whether or not you choose to wait until your married or older to become sexually active, give yourself as much time as you need to make a well-thought-out and mature decision. (Since the book is still in galley form, the final text may read differently.) It's hard enough to imagine President Bush signing off on his daughter's decision to take an unpaid position with the dreaded United Nations, but to have her return and repudiate the administration's position that the only kind of sex education kids should be taught is abstinence-only — why, next thing you know, she'll be marching against the war and the repeal of the inheritance tax.
The above was written on July 2nd, 2007. Today is 3 weeks later. My review copy has the exact same paragraph. However the very next paragraph says this. "There is only one way to be 100 percent certain you won't get an STI - abstinence. There are a lot of ways to show you love or care about someone without having sex. If you decide abstinence is right for you, dont let anyone tell you otherwise." It goes to say that if you decide that you are ready for a sexual relationship, then protect yourself and "use a condom every time. No exceptions - ever."
That sounds like George talking to me.
Comments on the comments & signing off for a while.
Here I am wondering why noone has made any comments on my blog, this week, when I totally FORGOT that I had to moderate them to delete the occasional SPAM comment I was getting. So I log in just now and find 11 comments waiting to be posted. I am sorry to all of you who posted a comment and had to wait so long. Thank you.
(edited to add) Have decided to make the comments unmoderated for now, I can delete any spam comments later.
Another exciting parcel arrived today. My first ARC from HarperCollins First Look program. The review is due by August 30, so I'll have time to read & review it.
I'll make this my last post today. I have to be at the hospital at 6.15AM tomorrow to be prepped for surgery starting at 7.45AM. I'm staying in Hospital for 5 days and then who knows how long I will take to recover sufficiently to start blogging again.
For those who want to know, I was diagnosed with a Colloid Cyst of the third ventricle about 18 months ago. This is a benign cyst deep in the brain, located in the ventricles where the Cerebral Spinal Fluid forms. If this cyst grows big enough it can block the CSF, and cause sudden death. My sister had the exact same cyst and she died very suddenly. Although I have no worrying symptoms, I do have some short term memory problems. Which is why I forgot about changing my comments to be moderated. There may be some further short term memory problems after surgery, but that should improve as the brain heals.
So this blog is falling silent for a while.
Ciao for now.
(edited to add) Have decided to make the comments unmoderated for now, I can delete any spam comments later.
Another exciting parcel arrived today. My first ARC from HarperCollins First Look program. The review is due by August 30, so I'll have time to read & review it.
I'll make this my last post today. I have to be at the hospital at 6.15AM tomorrow to be prepped for surgery starting at 7.45AM. I'm staying in Hospital for 5 days and then who knows how long I will take to recover sufficiently to start blogging again.
For those who want to know, I was diagnosed with a Colloid Cyst of the third ventricle about 18 months ago. This is a benign cyst deep in the brain, located in the ventricles where the Cerebral Spinal Fluid forms. If this cyst grows big enough it can block the CSF, and cause sudden death. My sister had the exact same cyst and she died very suddenly. Although I have no worrying symptoms, I do have some short term memory problems. Which is why I forgot about changing my comments to be moderated. There may be some further short term memory problems after surgery, but that should improve as the brain heals.
So this blog is falling silent for a while.
Ciao for now.
New Books
I splurged on the weekend and brought one last box of books from Bookcloseouts before I go into hospital. I didnt expect them to be shipped so quickly, but they arrived today. Bookcloseouts is an EXCELLENT online remainder outlet. They do such a wonderful job. Quick, efficient and at great prices. Maybe it's Canada Post that's fast. Or maybe it's because St Catherines (warehouse location) is not that far from Toronto. Anyway, today I can relax, and hold my new books, skim them, and sigh that I dont have time to read them properly. And then I will have to put them back in the box to wait until I am able to pick up a book and remember what I read.
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