KSena's Journal

I've read up a lot about depression these last months, and I've found a lot of interesting stuff. Things I've found and then got sent to me in case I hadn't read it... So it's been a lot. I've always tried to be there for my friends. It's what I do. And any friend should do. And being the librarian I am, after an... incident, shall we say on Twitter, I decided to read up like fuck as much as I could.

The blogger ChipInHead wrote a very interesting post, pointing out that no matter how much I try I am no Doc. No professional. So when push comes to show... I can only beg my friends to seek help.

Depression is a disease and most of us aren't doctors...

This Tumblr post made by a Rob Delaney, who've also suffered from depression, is also making a valid point. And I quote the end of the post: Get help. Don’t think. Get help. (From the end of the post.) So yeah, I won't shut up about it. And I won't give up on you. So there. Anyway, it's a very good post all in all, and deserves a read.

On Depression & Getting Help

I'm a visual person. I've always been. It's why I am such a HUGE comic/graphic novel fan, I suppose. And this? When I stumbled upon this months ago, it really helped me understand my friends better. Don't mean I'll shut up, but it did help me tons. So... I'll share it.

Hyperbole and a Half on: Depression

Talking of comix and me being a visuel person, I did find an online comic that tries to show what depression is like. I am in no position to say if it is accurate, but... I think it's good and helps me at least to understand better.

Depression Comix .Com

I also try to see behind what my friends say, even if I probably fail sometimes...

A Come out of the dark post: Someday we'll be able to REALLY say what's on our minds...


I've probably lost a ton of links where I've read interesting and well worded articles, but these are the ones I still kept. I hope they can help anyone else, either to understand their friends or for those suffering from depression to see that they are not alone.


This entry is crossposted between LJ and DW. Comment where you are comfortable.

I got this meme from whichclothes. :-) I am a bit late answering it, but I think it was a bit fun still, so here goes. Anyone can join in, of course!

Comment to this post saying "FIVE!" and I will pick five things I would like you to talk about. They might make sense or be totally random.

Then post that list, with your commentary, to your journal. Other people can get lists from you, and the meme merrily perpetuates itself, hopefully for the rest of eternity!

These are the five things whichclothes picked for me. :-)

Favorite summer activity

My favorite thing to do at summer... Hmm.... I love, LOVE going to various coffee-shops/coffeehouses to have a fika* out in the sun... Or just sit on a blanket in the shadow and read a book... I am not hugely fond of sunbathing and such. I don't like that. But to just enjoy the sun, with a cup of tea or just a cold drink and a nice cinnamon bun... Yeah. That is lovely... Or sit listening to the sound of people and the sound of the trees in the park, while reading a book... Love that to.

I also love going for swims in lakes and such. :-) Love that. I might not be a sexy model in my bikini, but fuck that! I wanna swim! Or just play around in the water. :-) One NEVER gets to old for that!

(*Read more about the swedish tradition with fika HERE!)

Children's books your kid must have

That is sorta easy to answer. :-)

Of course, as many Astrid Lindgren books as possible! :-D I love her work and it is so perfect! Of course, those are for when Nerd Junior gets a lil older, but... say when she/he is just starting to read or just before... 6-7 years old? That's when Astrid Lindgren is perfect. Before that? Lots and lots of Disney. Me and peting73 has a huge collection of Disney picture-books each, and we've both decided to give them all to Nerd Jr. So that is a good start. There'll probably be A LOT of the swedish comicbook character Bamse as well, he is such a perfect character for small kids. I read the Bamse comic and the Kalle Anka & Co (Donald Duck & Co) comic when I was a kid. I have a sneaky suspicion I'll transfer that to Nerd Jr. More then that though, I'll most likely bring Nerd Jr to the library with regularity and just let her/him lose among the books. Let kid pick whatever. And we'll read that. :-) Picture books, and whatever she/he wants. I don't think one should control kids to much when it comes to books. Just show what there is to pick from. :-)

Vampires

Ah yes... Vampires... What is there to say? *lol* I love vampires. :-) One of my favorite movies, and one of the first with vampires I saw, is the old Interview with the vampire. I saw it plenty of times in the movie-theaters and feel head over heels in love with the whole thing and the universe it showed. Read the book to. The whole thing with the society of vampires living hidden... where humans can't see... It intrigued me. :-) Very much. There is just something sexy about it. Not to mention the way a vampire feeds is very very sexy to, I'd say.

Anyway, after watching more vampire movies (Bram Stoker's Dracula among others), I moved here... for study. And found other people also intrigued with vampires... that actually played vampires at a very very active vampire-LARP! The setting for said LARP was just what I had been intrigued with... vampires ruling the world, hidden from human eyes using their various vampiric powers for their own gain.... To say I was hooked from the start would be an understatement! I've been involved in said LARP since 2001, and I don't plan to stop any time soon!

Vampires as a whole, as mythological creatures have so so much to give. It is just a sad sad thing to see what Twilight and the books following in it's wake have done with the vampire-myth. Now they are not the monster anymore using their sex appeal to draw their victims to them to do whatever dark and twisted thing they want with said victim. Oh no. Now they are all romantic types who are burdened with a dark past. *sigh* It annoys me. It really does.

What you'd do with fifty thousand euros

I'll be honest and boring here. I'd pay of all my student loans... and if there were anything left, I'd put it into savings. Maybe put some away for Nerd Jr to. Fun, eh? :-P

Shoes

I have a love/hate-relationship with shoes. Honestly. I have big feet. No really. Not very ladylike. I have a size 42 Europesize (UK: 7½, US: 10). AKA, I have BIG feet... So buying shoes for women, is a pain in the ass. There are none. I have to go to specialty stores or order from the net... There is a reason why I love unisex shoes, like Doc Martens or Converse (for summer). You can get ALL sizes in those. :-)

This on the other hand mean... I have a lot of shoes. Because on the very rare occasion where I actually find shoes that are not Docs or Converse? I buy them. I always do. Since I never know when next I'll find shoes that fit. Meaning I have a lot of shoes. That I barely use. Crazy. :-P

Feeling somewhat shitty today. :-/ Ugh. :-P I don't know what my body is on... But my belly hurts a bit and my legs... o.O Weird. And I am tired as fuck. I'll most likely go to bed ridiculously early (for me).

Work today went quite well, actually. Gladly I worked my first hours in the storage with the kids books there, but after that I had to sit in the information desk for four hours. Guh... Not fun when you don't feel to great. Good thing they have comfortable chairs there and it wasn't that many visitors to the library today. One of the guys working there and me talked World of Warcraft while being in the information desk, since there were no visitors that wanted help anyway for a while. Now I think I'll stalk him on WoW.... ;-) He is a family man and a little older then me, but really fun and nice. He thinks it is cool that I am such a nerd.

We also talked about comics and graphic novels and how to incorporate them in the library better. And how to deal with them. An ever on going struggle. Ever since the 1970's / 1980's when there was a HUGE debate about video violence and gaming violence (in Sweden), comics have been looked upon as something bad that should be avoided by the older generation librarians. I'd love to change that, somehow. There are some REALLY good comics being released with regularity today. OK, so not as much in Sweden as in the USA and Japan, but still! Quite a lot! Good quality comics and graphic novels should just as obviously be a part of a library as books and DVD's (as is the case today). It was an interesting talk I had with him, and he thought it was awesome that I wanted to work with teen and young adult books, since not many librarians like to work with that genre. Well, well. :-D

And since we were talking nerdiness, I mentioned the book I'd found that takes a scientific look at fanfiction and all it can mean to writers and readers of the same. It also gives tips and ideas how you can work with fanfiction in schools and in libraries. He was really interested in this! And had never heard about fanfiction, but thought it was really cool and could probably be something to work with in the future.

Guys. After that 15-30 min discussion I was in seventh heaven. Here is one of the librarians that many listen to in the big city library, and he thought my thoughts and ideas were cool and not at all silly. My gosh... o.O He might end up a lower boss to, so... Good thing, good thing... Not to mention he is just a really cool and fun guy. :-D

So despite feeling kinda shitty body-wise, my day ended up pretty nice.

I even went to the city indoor swimming pool / public pool (what is the word to use, anyway?) and swam quite a few laps. peting73 inspired me the other day, but after feeling the way I did today, maybe it wasn't the smartest thing I could have done. :-P I was soooo knocked out, my legs were shaking when I left the place to go home. No, not smart at all. Probably one of the reasons I need to go to bed crazy early tonight. Not gonna do that again tomorrow, let me tell you. :-P

I am behind as fuck on my f-list, and I want to apologize for that. I am working on getting caught up on you all... I'm just crazy busy these days. :-P Might slow down in the future. We'll see.