Justyn Rampa > Recent Status Updates

Trying to alternate between the two books as I learn how to best help my son and how to best help myself. The "doing well and doing terribly" paradox feels VERY REAL for me.

Now it really gets complicated - so many other traits

Part One Chapter One Continued:
If there are so many HSCs, why haven't I heard of this before?
Is your child highly sensitive?
So why is my child sensitive by other's aren't?
How the human species will benefit from your HSC
Your child is still utterly unique - like Rhoda's three
Why do even HSCs vary so much?
Then there is Emilio
Another source of variation - two competing systems

Part 1: An overview of the sensitive child
Chapter 1: Sensitivity
Topics Covered:
The operating manual for your child
"Discovering" high sensitivity
What is high sensitivity?
How HSCs sort oranges
Is it all or none?
Inside the highly sensitive child
The problem of becoming easily overstimulated

I have just read through the Author's Notes, Introduction, and Questionnaire. Just given the number of times my eyes welled with tears at the acknowledgement within these pages, I think this is the right book for me to read to understand how to help my older son navigate this world. There is of course a lot that rings true for me as all and I plan on reading "The Highly Sensitive Parent" after this.

I don't know that I have ever related more to Bridge Four in my life.

Prelude to Stormlight Archive: Objectively, it is an engaging beginning. However, it sets the stage with lots of dudes. Both in the title (what if it were called "Way of Queens"?) and then with the super serious important they look at us as gods speech that occurs between two dudes. No indication of skin color. This book was blurbed by Patrick Rothfuss and Orson Scott Card, which did give me some pause.

Wyrd Sisters was a delightful romp of a retelling of Macbeth!!!

Mort was an utter delight (and still made me cry over Terry Pratchett's death)

Currently listening to this on audiobook and finding it incredibly fascinating. Additionally, this will be the first audio book I complete as an adult when I actually finish it.

This book is exactly everything I hoped it would be and more.

This book is not as entertaining as I hoped it would be as a bedtime book with Ozzy. That said, it is not disappointing enough that we are going to stop.

Giving this another go and seeing if I can complete it. As is the case with basically every His Dark Materials book that isn't Golden Compass, I spend most of my time lamenting that we are not spending time with Lyra.

Candy Girl: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt - This was great reading how Emily Nussbaum struggled with the polarity of darkness and light presented in this Tina Fey penned Netflix show.

Hello, Gorgeous: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel - This was a very interesting take on a show my wife loves very much. Again, I am fascinated by how Emily Nussbaum posits TV shows within cultural context.

The Little Tramp: Inside Amy Schumer - This made me laugh out loud and also really appreciate the efforts and growth from Amy Schumer as a comedian.

Shark Week: House of Cards and Scandal - This reaffirmed my initial suspicions that I have no interest in House of Cards, but maybe one day (but probably not) watching Scandal.

Big Gulp: Vanderpump Rules - I do love how Emily Nussbaum can extrapolate meaning from what so many dismiss as the fast food of television. I also am sad she did not run with the thread of the whole Real Housewives phenomenon as planned distraction from the financial crisis and the white men responsible.

Hannah Barbaric: Girls and Enlightened - This was a pretty slight piece on Girls that I feel like barely scratches the surface of unpacking what Lena Dunham was trying to achieve AND the disproportionate hate she received as result.

Last Girl In Larchmont: The Legacy of Joan Rivers - This was a fascinating and conflicting read about a woman who mostly I knew from her cameo in Muppets Take Manhattan. The author said that there is enough material from Joan Rivers' life to write several biographies and I have to agree.

Cool Story, Bro: The Shallow Deep Talk of True Detective - I will happily read people tear apart toxic masculinity bullshit all goddamn day! Two thumbs up:-)

Difficult Women: How Sex and the City Lost Its Good Name - Again, having never watched Sex and the City, I wondered how engaged I would be in this essay but damn, it was a fascinating exploration of Carrie Bradshaw as the first female antihero! Additionally, I was enthralled with the examination of the sexism on display in comparing the journeys and reactions to Sopranos and Sex and the City.

The Great Divide: Norman Lear, Archie Bunker, and the Rise of the Bad Fan - This will be the essay to beat in this collection. What a fascinating and insightful look at the impact of Archie Bunker and the relationship fans can have with a character. I've long struggled to understand how after all this time, human beings can support Trump but this essay really helped me understand how this is possible.

The Long Con: The Sopranos - I did not connect with this essay as much because it was primarily tied to The Sopranos which I have never seen. There was passing references to the emergence of the male antihero which I would have been more interested in unpacking, but still...I could probably read Emily Nussbaum's grocery list and find it compelling:-)

The Big Picture: How Buffy the Vampire Slayer Turned Me into a TV Critic - The first essay in this book was an excellent introduction to the mind of Emily Nussbaum. It was also a test to see if I would be able to get anything out of the text even if I hadn't watched these shows. The answer is a resounding YES! Emily Nussbaum is uncovering the sociological implications of pop culture and I. AM. HERE. FOR. IT!

And so it begins...

Enjoyed it so far, but may be taking a week break.

The Green-Eyed Boy - I love Peter S. Beagle's short stories and reading one featuring a young Schmendrick felt like coming home again. Hoping to really enjoy this collection as I take a break from Terry Pratchett.

Terry Pratchett has me completely enthralled again (and also sometimes crying still because he is dead...or the way he died...I don't know, but the connection I feel with this man whom I never even read until after he died is strong. I'm not quite sure what to make of it.)