The last two weeks on Resistance is Futile

Coming next week at Resistance is Futile

Anybody who's been reading my blog for a while will know that I have an upcoming event to raise awareness and personal education about suicide and mental illness. The stigma for these two issues is very high in our culture, and that means that many people who are feeling suicidal have no one to talk to about their problems. Many people who kill themselves could have been saved if only our culture didn't frown upon expressing so-called weaknesses. Many people who could have been treated for mental illness before cascading to rock bottom are left floundering with no one to talk to. Educate yourself and others about mental illness and suicide in order to fight this dangerous stigma!

My upcoming event is one small way to educate yourself. You can read a book or watch a film / show that educates you on mental illness. Mention it on your blog / goodreads / other place, and provide the link to the review in my comments section. I'll collect them all and make a tab of this year's selections, so that you can see what everyone else has been reading. :)

Destined for Doon, by Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon will be released on September 2nd, and I'll be hosting a giveaway of this sweet little teen romance. My review and author spotlight goes up on September 2nd. 

The last two weeks on Resistance is Futile

Watched this movie with my nephew and my friend for her birthday.
This movie was surprisingly fantastic. I hadn't expected them to be able to keep so close to the story of the book and yet have it adapt to screen so well. I am SO happy that I went to it. Even my 10-year-old nephew loved it, though it seems to be aimed at a slightly older audience. 

I volunteered 28 hours at the crisis hotline

Had an orientation for my new job :)

I read the August 8 issue of New Scientist. I was most struck by the article about the "big beasts" - bears, lynx, and wolves - returning to Europe. It included a sweet story about one collared wolf that walked from the Balkans in Eastern Europe, over alps 6 meters deep in snow, to Italy. The story actually brought a little tear to my eye, so I must have been in an emotional state of mind. The article also discussed the social / environmental implications of the large animals returning to Europe. 

As mentioned in my post yesterday about fears and vulnerability, I was at the hospital for a good chunk of the last week. But hopefully I'm doing better now!

While I was in the hospital, my wonderful BFF gave me two books. One of them was this adorable and hilarious Japanimation  comic. It gave me (and a few of the other patients) some needed laughs. :) 

While locked up I also enjoyed a game of cribbage with a couple fellow detainees (er...patients). 

They also taught me how to play Rummy.

And we watched the Vikings berserk the Chiefs for a 30 to 12 score. 

Upon sweet release, I celebrated by taking my nephew to see Guardians of the Galaxy - yes, I wanted to see baby Groot dance on the big screen again. :) I can do that over and over! We are Groot! My nephew, sadly, claimed that he liked Ninja Turtles better. :(

I also celebrated by having my FIRST pumpkin spice latte of the season! Yum!

And yesterday, I got flowers for the first time in over a decade.
That makes the hospital stay worth it, right? ;)

I FINALLY got to play the game Pandemic for the fist time, thanks to someone I met in the hospital. So perhaps that made the hospital stay worthwhile as well. :)

Newly Acquired

Bought this at Goodwill. It will go well with my mental illness theme the next couple of months, though I don't know if I'll have time to read it, since I have so much else going on. *sigh*

This book was also given to me by my BFF while I was in the hospital.

Daily Deal sale at Audible

Daily Deal sale at Audible

Daily Deal sale at Audible
 

Daily Deal sale at Audible

Daily Deal sale at Audible

Audiobook from the library. Thought it would fit in really nicely with my mental illness theme. Since I had to return A Beautiful Mind, by Sylvia Nasar before finishing it, I'll read this for now. 

The Week at Resistance is Futile

Well, the Suicide and Mental Illness Awareness Theme Read hosted here at Resistance is Futile is coming upon me really quickly, and I still haven't written a post with suggestions. So I decided I would throw in some links for you to check out. :)

Popular Mental Illness books (Goodreads list) - Several of the books on this list I have already read or are on my TBR mountain.

11 of the most Realistic Portrayals of Mental Illness in Novels - This is a pretty interesting article with some good suggestions. And don't miss the embedded list of 20 Greatest Memoirs of Mental Illness. 

Mental Illness in Fiction (Wikipedia) - This interesting list includes some much older books as well as some unexpected inclusions (LOTR? - Ok, yeah, I guess Golem was mentally ill, but...it DOES make kind of a fun list, though. And you can feel free to be )

Contemporary YA books featuring mental illness - What is a list of books without YA these days? ;)

NAMI Blog: The Top 10 Movies about Mental Illness - This is a really good list (should be, coming from NAMI). I've seen 6 of them. :)

10 Gripping Films about Mental Illness - This list seems pretty good, as well. 

10 Best Portrayals of Mental Illness in Modern Movies - This list, I suspect, is more about the acting than about psychology. From I totally agree with the assessment of great acting on this list!


This week in Futile Resistance World...

My friend and I watched another two storyarcs of the William Hartnell years for Doctor Who. We've made it a good way through Hartnell's years, and we have decided to move ON to the second doctor. :) YAY!

This week I volunteered 20 hours at the text center

 

I watched Elysium - which turned out to be a rather philosophical movie with liberal leanings. The whole, everybody-deserves-to-have-medical-care lean. ;) I found the movie rather sad because the problems portrayed were SO easily translated to problems we're seeing in today's world. I know that's the point of dystopias. But it still made me sad that we should have to question whether a human being deserves to be denied medical treatment just because he was born in the wrong part of the world. :(

I watched this movie with my nephew. I didn't think it was fantastic, but my nephew LOVED it. :) Then again, I'm not a purist, so I'm not particularly concerned about the differences between the original movies and this movie...I just found the humor sort of stupid and the turtles were really ugly to look at. So. Meh.

Other posts on Resistance is Futile...

My blog has been really slow lately, but here's a little something if you're following my "epic poem" about Facing my demons.

Newly Acquired

Thought I would review the TV show Monk for my Suicide and Mental Illness Awareness theme. This seemed a nice accompaniment, especially since I love the Pop Culture and Philosophy series. Bought this one on my Nook.

This is the first book in a series. I was asked to do a blog tour for the second book in the series, so I'm reading this one first. Got it in hardcover from the library.

ARC provided by publisher
Blog tour and giveaway on 9/4

ARC provided by publisher
Blog tour and giveaway on 10/7

I hope to read this book during September and October's Suicide and Mental Illness Theme Read. Purchased it in paperback.

Bought this in paperback

Bought this in paperback

The Week at Resistance is Futile

Don't forget to sign up for my Suicide and Mental Illness Theme Read, coming up in September and October. :) I know I keep saying this, but soon I will post a some lists of books, shows, and movies for suggestions - but the rule is, if YOU think your review fits the theme, then it does. :) Even if your review is mostly to say "this is a novel completely misrepresents mental illness."
 
This week in Futile Resistance world...

Did anyone else watch Guardians of the Galaxy this week? It was HILARIOUS. I loved it!

And when I took the online quiz, it turns out I am Groot. Yeah. That's awesome.

I reviewed Rin Chupeco's spooky new YA book The Girl From the Well, (the giveaway is open through the end of the month, you can still sign up!) I also posted the trailer for the book, if you're interested.

I went to a Frozen-themed birthday party for my friend's three-year-old. That was a lot of fun. (Happy Birthday Lucy!)

A friend and I watched TWO storyarcs from the Doctor Who (The William Hartnell years). 

My friend and I are really struggling with keeping our interest in William Hartnell's doctor. So far, he's nosy, tactless, condescending, and self-absorbed. Plus, the overall theme fits the old British imperialism (white man's burden, and all that jazz). That is in stark contrast to the  deeper philosophical message of the modern doctors where his purpose is to protect others' cultures. And where even there is even depth in the Dalek's plan of universal extermination. I can't wait until we move on to the second doctor! Hopefully he'll be more tolerable.

Well, I accepted a new job coming up in September, which pays double what I was making at unnamed-bookstore-chain-which-I-am-not-allowed-to-blog-about-because-Big-Nanny (BN for short)-might-be-watching. It's not QUITE where I want to be, but it's definitely a step in the right direction and introduces some interesting opportunities for growth within the company. This week I got my background and drug test, both of which I passed. :)

This week I volunteered for 8 hours as a crisis counselor for a texting crisis line for teens. I encourage everybody who has a lot of empathy for people in crisis to volunteer at a crisis hotline. The suicide CPR training is superb. You won't regret the time spent!

I finally caught up on my Grimm! In fact, I think this is the first time in the history of me that I've been caught up on a TV show that is still running. I can't wait until Season 4 premieres in October!

Perused some interesting articles in this week's Economist. I was mainly interested in learning that the state of Britan's prisons is pretty similar to the state of those in the US. Which is sad. :(

I got this free e-comic book from Marvel after buying the giganto fountain drink at Subway. In it, the Guardians fight a war to protect Earth. Ironman joins the fight, but he's not as cool as the Guardians, based upon his ability to remain conscious. This comic was 20 pages of amusement. I guess that's really good for the price. :)

Other posts on Resistance is Futile this week

 I added two new stanzas to Facing my Demons

And I posted about My Favorite Childhood Memory

Newly Acquired...

This is my post for Stacking the Shelves (hosted by Tynga's Reviews), the Sunday Post (hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer), Sunday Salon, and Mailbox Monday.