No Kings rally

Lots of people and dogs showed up eager to protest all that's going wrong in America today. This is me holding a sign. So many people driving by honked horns, waved, and shouted encouragement! I really hope that the other rallies went as well.

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No Kings rally

Today was the day of the long awaited No Kings rallies. It was estimated that across America and the worl over nine million people would show up. Bailey and I went to the one in Bangor. This is a selfie of us.

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Why Brains Need Friends (adult nonfiction)

     The summer of '22 I was doing my first (of 3) graduate school internship. It was with the UMaine Upward Bound summer residential program for rising high school students. That summer was the first time the program was in person since the pandemic. When, teaching the students how to conduct research, we got a personality test result we didn't expect. The extrovert/introvert percentage had totally flipped with introverts vastly outnumbering extroverts. 

     Ben Rein, PhD, author of Why Brains Need Friends: The Neuroscience of Social Connection, wouldn't have been surprised. Rein, a neuroscientist who doesn't like using big words when little ones will suffice, has been tracking how converging trends like lingering pandemic effects, rising popularity of distance work, and people communicating on line rather than in person are effecting people's well-being. He's seeing more red flags than you'd find at an ice fishing derby.

     Rein contends that people are wired for togetherness. Way back in the day our ancestors faced considerable perils without the resources we have now. It would take a village to deal with let's say an apex predator red in tooth and claw. Being excluded from the tribe would have been a death sentence. 

     Of course things are a lot different today. We don't have to grab our spears to fight off a saber tooth tiger. But isolation and loneliness are still very dangerous. In fact, when quantified as factors leading to disease, disability, and early death, they outweigh even biggies like smoking. 

     Rein gives us the whys. He takes readers on a tour of the most fascinating organ in the human body, the beautiful brain, to show the science behind brains really needing friends. He uses accessible language, not a whole lot of jargon. He gives plenty of suggestions for ways to get more social connections. 

     If you have a feline friend or a canine companion you'll be glad to know that our fur babies count.

    Basically I'd recommend Why Brains Need Friends to everyone with a human brain. 

On a personal note, on the quiz Rein provides I get the highest possible score for extroversion. I have a huge social support system ranging from my wonderful family and friends to a large portion of the UMaine community. This was really working in my favor when I was hospitalized with a stroke in '23. Rein tells us that stroke survivors who receive the strongest social support show the greatest recovery. I'd say being back in grad school less than 4 months later, performing in a drag show 6 months later, and graduating 🎓 with my masters degree the next year is a damn great recovery. 

A great big shout out goes out to everyone in my beautiful, loving social support network. 

Jules Hathaway 

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Studio view 3

This is the 3rd view of my studio. Note the book rack converted into a Beanie Baby habitat and my little year round Christmas tree. It's to keep Christmas joy in my heart ❤️ 💙 💜 💖 💗 💘 all year round. 

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#2 the studio

This view of the studio focuses on 2 bureaus. Amber crafted the butterflies. Eugene gave me the little music box (lower left) on our second date in May 1987). I've been collecting the Dreamsicles for almost 30 years from yard sales and thrift shops. 

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Everything Else in The Universe (juvenile historical fiction)

     Tracy Holczer's Everywhere in The Universe is a slightly older (2018) book that definitely deserves shelf space in today's libraries and book stores. Although historical fiction (set in the Vietnam war era), it also holds a timely warning for the direction America is going in today.

     Lucy (12) is reserved, stoic, polite--definitely taking after her mother's English line ("They were Chin-Up women. They were Stiff-Upper-Lip women. They knew how to handle themselves.") than her father's boisterous Italian clan.

     Lucy's life has changed drastically since her surgeon father was drafted to the war in Vietnam. She's not only had to live with the very real possibility that he could be seriously injured or even die, but move at a very developmentally challenging time--seventh grade. She's lived through a very lonely school year, missing her friends and failing to bond with her new classmates. 

     Lucy's father loses an arm and returns damaged in unseen as well as noticeable ways and facing the daunting task of discovering a new vocation while mourning his losses. He rebuffs her attempts to help him with the activities of daily living. She can't understand why he seems so distant and rejecting. 

     Lucy makes a new friend, Milo, who is staying staying with his grandmother for the summer. They discover a buried soldier's helmet, purple heart, and family pictures. Trying to return it to its owner, they learn startling truths about people's perceptions of the war and those fighting it.

     Now for the timely warning part. Vietnam was a war of aggression, one we had no justification for embarking on. It took a terrible here and abroad. Our military committed atrocities on civilians. Military families suffered from fear for

 their loved ones, many just out of high school, seeing just how much peril they were in with the newish media of television bringing the war into suburban living rooms. Many combatants came back in body bags or seriously damaged physically and/or psychologically. And can you imagine what it was like for 18-year-olds drawing low draft numbers to realize that the only to avoid being plunged into a hell on Earth was to leave family, friends, and country, not knowing if they could ever return?

     Now President Trump is plunging us into a war of aggression in Iran without Congressional approval. A war in violation of international laws. We bombed a school for seven to Twelve-year-old girls which is morally indefensible. He is calling for troops on the ground and talking about reinstating the draft.

     Saturday, March 28, there will be No Kings rallies in thousands of locations across America. Hopefully if enough of us attend Congress will pay attention and do something to change the terrible path our nation is on. 

On a purrrsonal note, I've been protesting since the war was in Vietnam. I'll be out there Saturday. As long as I'm drawing breath I'll be taking it to the streets. Being old guard for social justice. 

A great big shout out goes out to the organizers of the rallies and all who will show up and speak up.

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Studio

This is the first picture of my spring cleaned studio. The ❄️ flake makes multicolored light patterns. The 🐈 😻 in the painting is precious Joey, my beloved companion of 16 years.

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