2BR02B by Kurt Vonnegut

Originally Published on Bookish Ardour 09.04.2011

A Short Summary

It’s a bit hard to find a proper synopsis of 2BR02B to share with you so instead I’m going to post something about it myself followed by my review. All that you need to know really is that 2BR02B is a science fiction/dystopian short story. Yeah, I’ve never been good at summaries unless it’s extremely detailed.

My Review

I think it might be possible that I may become a Kurt Vonnegut fan. I want his book Bagombo Snuff Box (which has 2BR02B), but I haven’t actually read any of his work until now with 2BR02B (pronounced 2 b r naught 2 b).

Sometimes I love a good short story and sometimes I get a little frustrated. I am a little frustrated with 2BR02B, but that’s mainly because I want to read more about the world. I love the concept of a dystopian society with population control. Granted that there is an argument in there based on pro-population control and saying that the year 2,000 wasn’t liveable because of it, giving over to population control in the first place, but if I can see past that it doesn’t bother me overly much.

Grounding Techniques for Dissociation

Dissociation, derealisation, depersonalisation, are all funny things. The 3D's are a coping mechanism which can be great and horrible. When our bodies and minds are going through crises our brain sends us off into lala land to cope. Unfortunately, later on, it can become chronic. Your brain and body still think you're in danger and once again will send you off to lala land. Sometimes daily, sometimes weekly, sometimes completely out of the blue.

When I say lala land I don't mean being out of touch with reality due to ignorance or a blissful state. If only. No, I mean you struggle to connect with physical reality. There's different degrees of dissociation. In my experience I've had where I don't feel real, I don't feel like a real person, I can't feel my emotions, and I've felt like I am having an out-of-body experience where I am watching myself function. It's pretty horrible and scary if you don't know what's going on. 

Here's more info for dissociative disorders.

So how do you overcome it? I think a big part of it is to recognise it is actually happening and what is triggering your episodes. For this I recommend therapy. Get the help to learn how to identify what's going on.

Other than that, grounding techniques. Grounding techniques are great. You can use them for more than dissociating. I use them for depression, anxiety, panic attacks, and PTSD rage.

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

Originally Published on Bookish Ardour  03.08.2013

The monster showed up just after midnight. As they do. 

But it isn’t the monster Conor’s been expecting. He’s been expecting the one from his nightmare, the one he’s had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming…

The monster in his back garden, though, this monster is something different. Something ancient, something wild. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor.
It wants the truth.

Costa Award winner Patrick Ness spins a tale from the final idea of much-loved Carnegie Medal winner Siobhan Dowd, whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself. Darkly mischievous and painfully funny, A Monster Calls is an extraordinarily moving novel of coming to terms with loss from two of our finest writers for young adults.

My Review