October- Breast Cancer Awareness

This is a topic near to my heart, my maternal grandmother died when I was 11 months old from metastatic breast cancer. A fate that could have been avoided had she had an advocate or more support. You see the doctors never stopped to check and see if she was on board with the treatment plan or understood what was happening. She was partially deaf as was my grandfather, so a lot of her options were lost in translation.

My mom-mom is one of the many reasons I advocate for making sure patient’s understand what doctors are doing and what their options are when it comes to any treatment plan. She is also the reason why I will always support breast cancer research.

My one hang up with breast cancer awareness in America is our rhetoric. A lot of it is about save the boobies, save the tata’s, save the fill in the blank word for breasts. When I really feel like it should advocate for yearly exams, monthly self exams, and support of the woman not just her body parts.

September Reading Wrap-up

Unfortunately, I did not read as much as I had hoped. I had a lot of competing priorities, work, continuing education units, meetings, doctors appointments, wedding things, and my Bridal shower. I was out of the house and barely came home to sleep most days. So while I am frustrated I did not read everything I am happy I did get some reading done.

Island of Aeolia– The Lost Scrolls: Earth by Michael Teitelbaum

Toph is my favorite spunky character. I am glad the writers did not hem her in by her disability but allowed her to have a strong personality while using her gifts to often see more than those who are not blind. She is a wonderful foil for Katara and learning more about the earth kingdom is wonderful! 

I look forward to following up with the Rise of Kyoshi. As I feel this manga will give the best look at the earth kingdom when she is not ruled by a tyrant 

Circe prompt 1 and the re-read prompt -Read The Lost Scrolls: Water by Michael Teitelbaum

Katara is fierce, brave, and determined. This book is about her home traditions, which unfortunately we do not see a lot of after the first few episodes in season 1. 

Thrinakia– Goosebumps The werewolf of Fever Swamp by R.L. Stein 

This book was not what I thought it would be, and the twist ending is lovely. I don’t want to spoil anything but if you love Goosebumps please pick up this book and enjoy! 

Phaecia– The Lost Scrolls: Fire by Tom Mason, Dan Danko

Prince Zuko is one of my favorite royals from the last airbender. Don’t judge me ya’all I have a thing for the angst ridden bad boys. (Which probably explains my love for the characters Dean Winchester, Severus Snape, and Sirius Black) Zuko and Iro are the most balanced of the fire nation characters shown in the series. Ozai and Azula are power hungry and insane. Zuko has trauma, and spends as much time finding himself on and off screen as Ang does in this series. 

Ithaca– The Lost Scrolls: Air- by Tom Mason, Dan Danko

I felt this book gave a different window into Ang’s character and all of his lost culture. It was informative but also sad for all that Ang lost because of war. 

Book Swaps 

Troy– FukuFuku: Kitten Tales 1 by Kanata Konami

This is a manga I found for free on my Kindle unlimited subscription. It is an adorable book about the adventures of FukuFuku the kitten. FukuFuku the stray kitten was adopted by an elderly woman in Japan. Her adventures are adorable and remind me of Simon the cat! 
Sirens– Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Lost Adventures by Bryan Konietzko and  Michael Dante DiMartino
The short stories really add to the depth of the Avatar world. Avatar the last Airbender is already very rich in themes and plot but the books really help to understand the character development and their motivations. I look forward to the next ATLA book I pick up!

Familiars in Magical lit and TV

Beings as it is October I felt a little magic and spookiness was in order!

Farmiliar are animals, often cats, that act as magical guides, guardians, and fur friends for the magical person(Witch, Wizard, Warlock, NB magical folx).

The most well known example to me is Salem the cat from Sabrina the Teenaged witch, Sabrina the Animated Series, and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. In the sitcom and animated series Salem is a convicted warlock forced into a cats body for penance. He acts as comic relief, guide, and trouble maker throughout the series. In the Netflix remake, Salem does not speak but he shows up as a guide at important points and tries to warn Sabrina about danger.

In Charmed the sisters have a cat named Kit that is a witch shifted into a cat who tries to protect and warn the sisters away from danger. Then for some reason she becomes a crazy cat lady.

In role playing games you can have a familiar. When I played Vampires, I had a fox familiar ghouled into my service.

I think what the role is missing in all of these is a more active role. In my head the familiar goes to lessons with their person, helps guide them, grows with them as a practitioner, while also protecting them from harm. The familiar is an indispensable friend to the practitioner as magic can be solitary.

Rosario Vampire and DID

One of the few somewhat accurate representations of DID or the relationship of a protector alternate personality is found in the Anime Rosario Vampire. Moka- represented with pink hair and Inner Moka represented with silver/ white hair is one of the best parallels I can find to explain a personality split causing a protector.

Inner Moka is formed when a ceremony is performed to suppress some of the powers Moka as a whole has access to. This is a parallel to ritual abuse sometimes sited as a precursor to DID forming in young children. After the ritual was performed the Outer Moka, a sweet loving bubbly woman is the fronting alter. When the magical suppression is removed Inner Moka is able to take over. Inner Mocha is protective of Outer Moka who can seem naive. Inner Moka can be cold, calculating, and rigid. Inner Moka keeps Outer Moka safe while keeping threats at bay and people at a distance.

With the anime discontinued, one is led to wonder what plot points were missed. A potential merge, other fragments, or even looking at what Moka could have been like without the ritual.

What are your thoughts readers?

I peaked in middle school

No joke, the easiest time I had learning and being creative was sixth, seventh, and with grade. I had teachers that encouraged me to go to the older grades to borrow books that would challenge me, these teachers also knew how to handle my personality disordered parents.

Then I went to high school, my freshman English teacher, my freshman algebra teacher, my freshman Spanish teacher, and my world history teacher were very supportive of me.

They gave me challenging work that other “gifted” students also took so I wasn’t isolated, they stood up for me when a student was harassing me, and they gave me a bunch of support when I was out with mono for over a month.

However, when I hit college I found out how “normal” and un-gifted I was. I did not know how to study, take good notes, memorize information for pop quizzes, or how to make good boundaries with new people. I had barely been allowed to go to the corner store to pick up a gallon of milk with my sister, let alone what to do with unwanted romantic attention.

I am better with people now, and I learned how to cope as an adult but it was a rough couple of years.

Favorite vegan Treats

Sometimes I eat vegan treats so I can avoid eggs. I am allergic to egg yolks and keeping my stomach happy and my hives at bay is important.

1. The Coconut Collaborative Chocolate Lava cake- This lava cake has all of the rich chocolate goodness of a normal lava cake but without the egg yolks needed to make the inner “custard” texture in non- vegan recipes
   
2. Peach bobo Bars- They are a delicious breakfast bar or quick snack. The sweetness of the fruit is great for curbing my sweet tooth and the oats are very filling.
   
3. Bear Fruit Rolls- corn free and another sweet option for me!

Bonus- Vegan Mayo- Hampton Creek’s Just Mayo is my favorite brand but there are often supply issues so I find myself with other brands more often than not.

Top Five tips for Landing your first Social Work Job

1. Polish your resume- have at least 3 people look at your resume. When you are just out of college 1 page should do but if you are in or have completed graduate school, own that second page
2. References- Ask them in advance so they know to expect contact. If you can let them know if it will be a form, call, or email. Bring a paper copy of your references with you. Make sure it is styled in the same fashion as your resume
3. Have backups- Most places say to use 3 references. I like to keep 5-6 handy. Most places require contact with three references to move on an offer or second interview. Having extra’s available makes the chances greater you will have someone make contact
4. Research the companies- Look up what the department is like, review the company website. Try to get a handle on what the job is so you look knowledgeable and interested at the interview.
5. Self- Care- If you take care of yourself and your confidence prior to the interview it will do more for you than any one thing I could recommend here.

Amazon buys I am looking forward to

1. Avatar the Last Airbender- Kyoshi Novels Box Set – I have pre ordered these graphic novels as part of my dive into the world of The Last Airbender. I look forward to reading about the avatar from the Earth Kingdom and all the great things Kyoshi accomplished.
   
2. Hanalei clear lip moisturizer- I received one in an Ipsy bag several years back and loved it. I was very sad when I ran out. With the wedding so close, and primping being important, I have decided this is just the thing I need! Plus self-care

New Facial Care routine

It was brought to my attention during my hair and makeup trial that I have been making my skin sensitivities worse by allowing my skin to be dehydrated and dry. This causes break outs, peeling, eczema, and I have suspicions of that being an underlying cause on why I have burned so easily this year.

After a ton of google searching, some trial and error, and an hour in ulta I have my trial plan.

Step 1. Urban Hydration Micellar Water- I picked this as my cleansing agent. I hope that it will not strip the good oils from my skin while also getting rid of any excess and dirt. I would hate to use moisturizer for it to trap in dirt.

Step 2. Fourth Ray Beauty Coconut Face Milk- There are tons of options as far as scents and key ingredients go in the Ray Beauty Face Milk Line. I picked coconut because it seemed to be the most mild and likely to allow hydration.

Step 3. Fourth Ray Beauty The Daily face Cream- the options for facial moisturizers are frankly overwhelming. After spending so much time researching and looking in the store I hate to say it but I picked this because it’s from the same company as the Coconut Face Milk product. It smells lovely, fruity with hints of citrus.

This is the early days of trying this routine, so I will keep you posted!

Blogtober

I have heard about Blogtober from Leila and other writers for the past few years. I really felt like the challenge and dedication needed to post daily would improve my work and dedication to my blog. I also hope to develop new content that appeals to a broader range of readership.

I hope to include some content that lets you know some more about me, the human part of the equation. I want to share my struggles with anxiety, depression, and PTSD because it has developed me as a clinician in ways that may not have been possible otherwise.

I hope to bring more content about dissociation especially given the new docuseries that was released on Netflix. I have my own personal bias but I will discuss that in a later post.

Lastly, I hope to follow up on some reviews of books I have read outside of prompts/ readathons