Diary of a Smart Chick ~ Various writings from a curious mind

About Me or This Blog, Mental Health

Dr(Owning) and S(Wallowing) in Depression

May 23, 2019

I originally wrote this post for Rebelle Society years ago. It remains relevant to my depression story today, so I wanted to share it again. It expresses how despite living with chronic relapses of depression over the past 25 years, I don’t always know in the beginning of each one what is going on. I think it’s something else, usually something that’s my fault, until I finally realize it’s depression again. Depression came back. It walked right in through the front door while I was busy guarding all of the windows and cracks. It ignored the sign warning that “danger, there’s a dog here to protect me”. It sidled up…

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Hello world! (Again)
September 2, 2018
Book Review

Wisdom From Every Year of Life

March 16, 2019

100 Years: Wisdom From Famous Writers on Every Year of Your Life is a book that has short quotations about every year of life from birth through age 100. I flipped through it a few times before reading it in full. I checked out the selections for my current age. Furthermore, I checked certain ages that seemed to be important milestones in my life. I even glanced at friends’ ages. However, this morning I finally sat down and read it from cover to cover. When I did, I discovered that doing so offers more than the sum of its parts. There Is Wisdom in Every Age Joshua Prager carefully curated the…

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5 Books About Walking to Inspire as You Move through the World
January 7, 2019

Book Review: Always Too Much and Never Enough
September 4, 2018

Book Report: The Battle of Junk Mountain
January 4, 2019
Interviews

Musician Interview with Heather Schmid About Transformations

March 7, 2019

I’m continuing to dig through the archives of the old, sadly deleted, version of this blog. In doing so, I came across this musician interview with Heather Schmid. She’s a globally-minded opera singer. Back in 2016, she released an album called Transformations. I had the opportunity at the time to interview her about this album. Although this musician interview is old now, I don’t want to lose it. Therefore, I’ve decided to republish it again. I hope it’ll encourage people to take a listen to the album. Musician Interview: Heather Schmid Heather Schmid is the subject of this musician interview. If you aren’t familiar with it, then take a moment…

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Interview with Mixed Media Artist Whitney Turetzky
September 7, 2018

Interview With Crochet Artists Alyssa and Liz of Threadwinners
September 4, 2018

Interview with Photomontage Artist Eva Lake
September 4, 2018
Quotes

Memoir Quotes: Borderlines by Caroline Kraus

January 11, 2019

Memoir quotes are often my favorite quotes. I really love reading memoirs. There is something so special about individual stories. In a memoir, the deeply personal becomes universal. We find what resonates for us. We read the words as though they are in our own voices. Somehow, one person’s story becomes the story of each of us. I’ve been digging through the archives of this blog to find items that were lost in a blog transition. I came across the following memoir quotes. They’re from a post I did in 2014 when reading the book Borderlines. Borderlines: A Memoir I recently read Borderlines: A Memoir by Caroline Kraus. This moving book tells the…

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Book Review

Therapist Memoir: Annie Rogers’ Shining Affliction and Unsayable

January 10, 2019

This post is about two therapist memoir books. I originally published this as two separate posts, which I’ve combined and updated here. The therapist memoir The Unsayable: The Hidden Language of Trauma by Annie Rogers, PhD is one of my favorite books that I was assigned in grad school. I first read the book in one day. Then I read a big chunk of it for a second time shortly after. Then after that, I went back and checked out Rogers’ first book. It’s called A Shining Affliction: A Story of Harm and Healing in Psychotherapy. It’s another therapist memoir from earlier in her career. About Annie Rogers, Therapist Memoir Author Annie Rogers…

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Book Report: The Battle of Junk Mountain
January 4, 2019

Book Review: Always Too Much and Never Enough
September 4, 2018

5 Books About Walking to Inspire as You Move through the World
January 7, 2019
Book Review

Dementia Memoir: Remembering the Music, Forgetting the Words

January 9, 2019

This is a book review of a dementia memoir. I originally published this review here on the blog in 2014. As I update what was lost in my blog transition, I found that I wanted to share this again. The full title of this book is Remembering the Music, Forgetting the Words: Travels with Mom in the Land of Dementia. That does a good job of summing up what this dementia memoir is about. The book, by Kate Whouley, is her experience with her aging mother as her mom declines into Alzheimer’s. Although that sounds sad, she manages to put a positive spin on the experience. Therefore, I found it…

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Therapist Memoir: Annie Rogers’ Shining Affliction and Unsayable
January 10, 2019

Book Review: Art of Asking
January 5, 2019

Book Report: The Battle of Junk Mountain
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Book Review

Just Girls: YA LGBTQ Book Review

January 8, 2019

Just Girls is a young adult LGBTQ novel that stands out to me as innovative and aware. Simultaneously, it touches on the topics that affect many teenagers as they enter the college scene for the first time. In other words, it isn’t just for the LGBTQQIA community. However, it doesn’t shy away from its role as part of the advocacy for that community. The Story of Just Girls Just Girls is the story about Ella Ramsey, a MTF transgender woman who is starting as a new student in college. She hasn’t come out to people there even though she has gone through the coming out process in her hometown. Therefore, she faces…

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Dementia Memoir: Remembering the Music, Forgetting the Words
January 9, 2019

5 Books About Walking to Inspire as You Move through the World
January 7, 2019

Wisdom From Every Year of Life
March 16, 2019
Book Review

5 Books About Walking to Inspire as You Move through the World

January 7, 2019

Did you know that there are some great books about walking? Walking is so powerful, yet people often overlook its value. Personally, I walk every day. I went car-free when I moved to San Francisco thirteen years ago. I do take shared transportation a lot these days, but I still walk when I can. Plus I adopted my pup three years ago and she encourages me to get out for walks every day. When I get lazy about walking, there are books about walking to inspire me to get out there again. Here are five books about walking that I’ve read and recommend: 1. Walking in this World by Julia Cameron…

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Just Girls: YA LGBTQ Book Review
January 8, 2019

Dementia Memoir: Remembering the Music, Forgetting the Words
January 9, 2019

Book Review: Art of Asking
January 5, 2019
Book Review

Book Review: Art of Asking

January 5, 2019

This book review of the Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer is from the archives. I originally published in April 2015. I lost my posts for this site in an update problem and am slowly restoring the posts I think are important. Since I really loved The Art of Asking, I wanted to be sure to share this again. I read a lot. And I like most of the books that I read. But rarely am I so moved and touched by a book that I have to tell everyone about it over and over. I recently read The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer, and I find that I…

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Dementia Memoir: Remembering the Music, Forgetting the Words
January 9, 2019

Wisdom From Every Year of Life
March 16, 2019

Therapist Memoir: Annie Rogers’ Shining Affliction and Unsayable
January 10, 2019
Book Review

Book Report: The Battle of Junk Mountain

January 4, 2019

On January 1st, I read The Battle of Junk Mountain. I read 82 books last year, but I realized that very few of them were fiction. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with that. I love non-fiction, particularly memoir. However, I’ve been reading primarily non-fiction for years, and I want to start re-incorporating some fiction into my life. Recently, I accidentally got several young adult novels from the library. The Battle of Junk Mountain was one of them. So I decided to kick off the new year right by reading it. It’s intended for young readers, so it’s a really fast read. I probably finished it in an hour. And it…

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Therapist Memoir: Annie Rogers’ Shining Affliction and Unsayable
January 10, 2019

5 Books About Walking to Inspire as You Move through the World
January 7, 2019

Dementia Memoir: Remembering the Music, Forgetting the Words
January 9, 2019

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