Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Things Getting in the Way of Reading


Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme and blog hop hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

This prompt was from May 16 but it fits perfectly with what I wanted to write about. The topic is Things Getting in the Way of Reading.

I have had bad years when I didn't read very much but this year is by far the worst. Fortunately, we are only halfway through the year so all is not lost. Maybe making this list will help me figure out why I'm struggling so much. Here are ten reasons (excuses?) for why I'm not reading as much as I want to.

1. I can't focus. Is it undiagnosed ADHD? Being 48 yrs old and going through perimenopause? Both?



2. I work 3rd shift. This means I have a crazy sleep schedule. When I do try to read I tend to fall asleep.



3. Young adult fantasy has always been my favorite genre but I feel like I'm too old for many of these books. I'm struggling to find another favorite genre.



4. I keep playing The Sims 4 instead of reading.



5. Maybe this is a hot take but I don't think books are as well written as they used to be. I start books but don't feel compelled to keep reading. I DNF so many books.



6. I tried audiobooks but I got in trouble at work because they slow me down. I work as a grocery stocker and am supposed to stock 55 cases per hour. I can't do that and concentrate on listening to an audiobook at the same time.



7. I got banned from checking out physical copies of books from the library because of damage to some books. I swear it wasn't my fault!



8. My own books were also damaged and I had to throw away almost every book that I own. 



9. I've replaced some of them but that can get expensive.



10. I watch too much Youtube. I find myself going down rabbit holes and watching videos on science, history, serial killers, aliens, analyzing how historically accurate the clothing is in Shrek...



Did this list help me figure out my issues with not reading as much as I'd like to?

Monday, November 14, 2022

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Series I’d Like to Start or Continue

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme and blog hop hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

This prompt was from November 8 but after updating my Series I Have Read page I realized I'd really like to continue some series that I stopped reading. There's also some new movies and TV shows based on series so I'd like to start those.


Series I Want to Start



Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches is an upcoming series on AMC+




The School for Good and Evil is a film on Netflix.




Someday I will see the Broadway musical Wicked.







This was made into a TV minseries back in 2001.


Five Series I Want to Continue



This has been made into the series A Discovery of Witches.




This had been made in the series Outlander. I've only read the first book.




The second book in the series releases Jan 10, 2023.




I need to read the third book in the series,.



I need to read the third book in the series.

If White Pride Knew About Alchemy it Would Blow Their Minds

I was on Twitter yesterday in a thread responding to someone who posted that they are proud to be white. I'm sure it's not shocking when I tell you this person was a MAGA. While she claimed her white pride wasn't about racism but her ancestry, it was a dog whistle for dozens of racist, white pride replies. Some of which were targeted towards "white haters." One particular tweet shared this meme:
I particularly want to address the concept on the meme "We don't need you." The person who made this meme and all who share it are profoundly misinformed.  What they don't realize is that the building blocks of technology such as language, writing, math, and science weren't discovered or created by white people at all. However, it's not actually because they are racist. It's because our society is. It's no secret that white men are given credit for almost everything. The sad truth is the real history of our world simply isn't taught. It's embarrassing to admit but I wouldn't have known the truth about history either if it were a year ago.

The reason this meme caught my attention is because I've been learning about alchemy this past year. I've learned that if you want to know the true history of anything you must look at the occult. Perhaps that's why it's "hidden" in the first place. There's so much that textbooks refuse to acknowledge. The role alchemy played in the development of modern science is one of those hidden things. I don't know if that's because it's considered the occult, too fanciful, or because it's not about white people. It's probably a combination of all these things.

Who invented language?
While language was part of primitive man, the oldest known system of language and writing was invented by the Sumerians between 3100-3500 BCE. The Sumerians lived in Mesopotamia which is now modern Iraq. The oldest proof of written Sumerian was found in Iraq on an artifact known as the Kish Tablet. 

Who invented math?
Again we have the Sumerians to thank. The earliest evidence of written mathematics dates back to the ancient Sumerians. They developed a complex system of metrology around 3000 BC. The Sumerians were the first civilization to have developed a counting system. It is a common belief that some of the oldest and most basic mathematical functions, such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division originated with the Sumerians.

Who invented science?
A simple Google search will tell you Aristotle was the "father of science." However, anyone who has studied the occult and alchemy know science existed long before Aristotle. 

Alchemy was born in ancient Egypt, where the word Khem was used in reference to the fertility of the flood plains around the Nile. By 332 BC, Alexander the Great had conquered Egypt. With this Greek philosophers became interested in the Egyptian ways and merged many of their concepts including the idea of the four elements. The result was Khemia, the Greek word for Egypt. 

However alchemy was something meant to be because it was also developed by the Taoist monks in China as well as India. These alchemists in India even invented steel. While these countries were skilled at alchemy, it was in the 7th century when the Arabs arrived in Egypt and took it to the next level. The Egyptian alchemists had developed advanced practical knowledge in the fields of pharmacology and metal, stone, and glass working. (This means the claim on the meme that white people are responsible for modern medicine is actually false. Not to mention the development of herbal knowledge but that's beyond the scope of this article.) Without these alchemists, chemistry and pharmacology would not have existed.

The Western world was introduced to alchemy by Arabs in the 8th century when they brought it to Spain. Jabir ibn Hayyan is famously known as the "father of chemistry." Muhammad ibn Zakariya Al-Razi work became the basis for the European students of medicine and this led to pharmacology. 

The practice of alchemy spread throughout Europe and it was after this that it was developed into what we think of as science. Aristotle may have been given the title the "father of science" but it was the Egyptians, Chinese, Indians, and Arabs that crawled so he could walk and eventually all of the inventors in this meme could run. 

Other technological advances included blacksmithing which was invented in Egypt. Egypt was also the first shipbuilders. Nails were also invented by the Egyptians around 3400 BCE and have retained their basic design. Archeologists discovered the oldest known hammer, which dates to the prehistoric age, in Kenya in 2015. 

White people clearly did need people of other races, cultures, and nationalities to invent all of the things in the meme. Without the knowledge and work of the Egyptian, Chinese, Indian, and Arab alchemists our modern industry and technology wouldn't even exist. Basic tools and blacksmithing were invented in Egypt and Africa millennia before these white inventors even existed. To give these white inventors credit for all of technology and science is ridiculous. To claim we don't need other races and cultures is downright absurd. We are one race, the human race, and all have contributed to modern science and technology.

Tuesday, July 6, 2021

Top Ten Tuesday: Top 10 Reasons I Love Reading

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme and blog hop hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl


The topic this week is Top 10 Reasons I Love Reading



1. I learn new things.



2. It's something I can do alone.



3. But when I'm done reading alone I can join the fandoms and talk about what we read.



4. The way they smell. 



5. The way they feel.



6. Libraries are the best because you can borrow books for free.



7. It's the only romance in my life.



8. The books are always canon. 



9. You can never run out of books to read.



10. It's like TV in your head!

Sunday, May 30, 2021

Ten Books to Read for Mental Health Awareness Month

                                      

It's pretty embarrassing that I'm posting this at the end of May, which is Mental Health Awareness Month but better late than never, right?


(semi-autobiographical, classic, depression)



(memoir, nonfiction, depression)



(memoir, nonfiction, borderline personality disorder)



(memoir, bipolar disorder)



(fiction, schizophrenia)



(fiction, early-onset Alzheimer's disease)


(young adult, bipolar disorder)



8. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
(young adult, fiction)



(memoir, anorexia)




(memoir, alcoholism)