M.M. > Recent Status Updates

" The further east one goes in Europe. The more base weak and cowardly does the bourgeoisie appear and the more gigantic are the cultural and political tasks that fall to the lot of the proletariat"

My interest in this is hanging by a thread

"But that's not entirely true. If you speak in an empty room, nothing is there to hear you. But if you speak in a silent room..."
"Then you're the only thing left to notice"

"She lingers on a story: the devil teaches black magic to seven pupils in Salamanca, Spain. The last student to leave each night forfeits their soul. But one clever man argues that, when he leaves at sunrise, it week be his shadow that is last to leave the room.
The devil agrees and takes his shadows as payment. The man survives but lives out his days marked and miserable." -I was definitely wondering about the title

Oooooh, that very last sentence of Chapter 23 is so mundane without context, and very very worrying WITH the context of the story. "She makes her way downstairs, gripping the railing, grateful that the builders put one in. The stairs would be murder otherwise."

Rapidly losing interest. Please let something ANYTHING happen

I really like a bunch of these characters so far and I'm a little bummed about the bad shit that's going to happen to them very soon

OHHHHH, I see 🔥_🔥

Ohnoohnoohnohno

Hell yeah here we go!!!
🔥_🔥

Hardly spooky so far but I am getting very invested in whatever is going on especially in with Rick Barbosa and Billie. There's a lot of tension in the Vanessa Montez chapters too because it's not apparent how she's going to fit in in the others' narratives. I think it's going to really pop off here shortly. Slow but good build up

"It was just men and boys and dudes in general. They saw this girl whom they might normally find mildly attractive but who dressed and behaved like she couldn't give a shit what they thought of her. And her indifference to their dicks made them want to fuck her or hurt her or both. In whichever order they could swing it. "

This book is SPEAKING TO ME in a dead language straight from the Salem Chamber

"It also ignores a historically consistent and continually growing body of political and social analysis that points to a failure of modern societies to to fulfill an individual's basic human needs for Community identity"

"... natural (and man-made) disasters liberated surviving victims from an oppressive normalcy: ' the traditional contrast between "normal" and "disaster" almost always ignores or minimizes the recurrent stresses of everyday life and their personal and social effects."

I'm going to finish this today bc the library needs it back but the last few chapters describing how hunter gatherers live/d, how children are treated, how unlike them we are because for us "happiness ceases to be a normal condition of being alive, and becomes a goal" has really got me thinking. I wish I had the time to takes more notes.

"commonplace appraisal of modernity that is framed by a surprisingly uninformed depiction of precivilized human life and an apparent disregard for the costs of civilizational progress."

I get it, becoming a bit repetitive.

"Each time history repeats itself, the price goes up"
Ronald Wright, Canadian historian.

And there is it.... The BLOOD. I'm feeling this so much so far. I like the writing, I like the vibe, I like that something is happening now more than just ominousness

"Diego is an imaginary panther footed man we dream will whisk us off our very large feet." lmao

I KNEW there was too much book left! YIKES

OK.... I'm getting spooked. Also, very small child in mortal danger made me cry. The scene with the ice and afterward was brutal for me.

The power of placebos and rituals doesn't reside in Supernatural forces. Their benefits lie instead and their capacity to activate chatter Fighting Tools that we carry inside us.

"start believing in rituals"

subtly aiding people we are very close to who find themselves submerged in chatter: Affectionate Touch activates the brain's reward circuitry/ triggers stress relieving hormones. Affectionate Touch is so potent one set of studies found one second of contact on the shoulder led people with low self esteem to be less anxious about death and feel more connected with others.

"Invisible Support" : formula for helping others without making them feel bad or undermining "self efficacy"

Any surreptitious practical support like: taking care of house work without being asked, or creating more quiet space for the person to work."

Damn, this is my kink.

Absolutely dying at how the trick to avoiding co-rumination (talking about negative events or feeling as a feedback loop for more negative feelings)

Acknowledge feelings but put situation on perspective: Talk to self or others like the NYPD Hostage Negotiations Team! Active Listening->Empathy->Rapport->Influence->Behavioral Change

Distraction vs Distancing

Distance Self Talk techniques:
Use your own name to view the situation distantly to free up executive function and think logically, less emotionally.

The "Universal You" can be comforting. Things that are accepted as normal occurrences or part of life even if they are painful are easier to cope with.

"Genes + Environment = Who We Are"
"Just because you have a certain gene doesn't mean it actually affects you. Imagine that DNA is a piano buried deep in your cells. The keys are all your genes which will be played in a variety of ways. Some will never be pressed others will be struck frequently and in steady combinations. Part of what distinguishes me from you is how these keys are pressed. That's gene expression"