Friday, August 1, 2014

Weekend Update - Blogging in the Twin Cities



This week's Feature and Follow Friday asks its participants to tell our readers a little bit about our neighborhoods. I have lived in several states, mostly in the mid-west, and Minnesota is my favorite by far. It's a fantastic combination of urban hipster, historic city, and wilderness. Above is a picture of Downtown Minneapolis, prominently featuring the stadium-formerly-known-as-the-Metrodome (home of the "president," Richard Starkey, in The Postman). Below is a photo of our State Capitol building in Saint Paul. 





Minnesota can also be rather artsy, and one of the iconic Minnesotan sculptures is Spoonbridge & Cherry. That's the Minneapolis skyline in the background.




Rochester, Minnesota was the home of the Mayo brothers, who founded the Mayo Clinic. Its skyline is below:



But, of course, my favorite part of Minnesota, by far, is the North Shore on Lake Superior. Hundreds of miles of breathtaking shoreline with campsites and hiking galore. 



Life of a Blogger - Favorite Outings




I've just discovered a new meme Life of a Blogger, which seems a great way to get to know other book bloggers in a more personal way. This week's theme, favorite outings, fits in really well with my already-established MN theme. My fondest memory of going on a trip as a child is when dad took my sister and me on a canoe/backpacking trip to the Boundary Waters in MN. I remember how beautiful it was. And how adventuresome I felt! Having more experience with backpacking now than I did as a 10-year-old, I can only imagine how tired my poor dad was canoeing alone in the wilderness with two children. 




And now for an update on Rachel B and her blog!
(Yes, I just spoke about myself in the third person. Deal with it.)

This month (well, really, this past year) has been quite rough here in Rachel B. world. I've been on the long haul trying to battle depression without any medical aid. Finally, I broke down and tried out anti-depressants, and they made me feel GREAT! In fact, a little too great. And then I went "crazy." Turns out, I'm bipolar. And bipolar people flip manic when they take anti-depressants. I'd just never experienced that before, so I didn't know how to deal with it. But now that we know what it is, I think we're finally getting it under control. I'd like to take this moment to give a hearty thanks to all of my supporters out there (both in the real-world and in the cyber-world) who stuck by me through my hard times. And for those of you who abandoned me...well, you're not reading this, are you? YOUR LOSS. HA!

Ok, sorry, just had to stick my tongue out just a little. 

My main point is, mental illness is poorly understood and greatly stigmatized in American culture. (I assume in many other cultures, too, but I don't want to generalize too much.) We need this stigma to stop. It's the people who speak out about their illnesses that get the support that they need, and it's the people who are abandoned and stigmatized that often end up losing their sense of who they are...We need to end the stigma!




I've been doing my part to end the stigma by organizing a Suicide and Mental Illness Awareness Theme in September and October. You can sign up on the post, or just jump in at the last minute. It's all good. I'll have some giveaways and some guest bloggers (still looking for people, so if you have something you'd like to share on the subject, just let me know!). In the following week, I'll post a list of books / movies just to give you ideas. But this is very informal. If you think your book, essay, documentary, movie, etc. fits the theme, it counts! Write a review and send me the link. Reviews on Goodreads, blogs, or any sort of public post will work. I'll post a list of the reviews as I collect them, so everyone can see what other people are doing. 

Other than that, my blog has been sadly inactive, other than occasional poetry posts - Facing My Demons


Recent Acquisitions

This week, I have acquired only one new book, and it was the Free Friday book on the Nook:



Text copyright 2014, by Rachel B. Images of Minnesota are stock photos purchased from depositphotos


15 comments:

  1. Beautiful! I guess some places in America are pretty. Haha! New follower on Twitter & Bloglovin :)

    Here's my F&F!

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    1. Hi Tracy! I've followed you on Bloglovin' too! :) Thanks for stopping by!

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  2. OOoh lovely pics! That spoon one is pretty cool!


    Here's my Follow Friday

    Have a GREAT day!

    Old Follower :)

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    1. Hi Jessica! Thanks for being an "old follower." ;)

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  3. I love the twin cities. We're going to be up there at the end of this month.
    I'm an existing follower.
    Diane @ Diane's Book Blog

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    1. Hope you enjoy your trip to the Twin Cities Diane! Thanks for stopping by!

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  4. So sorry to hear about your battle with these aliments. These struggles can be so very daunting but please hang in there. I am happy to hear that you are overcoming them.

    I have never been to the Twin Cities but they look to be beautiful.

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    1. love the photos can't wait for your meme in sept I have ptsd and anxiety just to name a few of health issues thanks for sharing following on bloglovin have a great weekend

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    2. Thanks for your support Brian! It's surprising to me that the online community is so supportive of me, given that they don't have the daily contact that my real-life friends would have. Amazing what the internet can bring to our lives, isn't it?

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    3. Thanks for stopping by Robin!

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  5. As someone who has had depression for years and been on Prozac for those many years, I can empathize with you somewhat on that front.

    I for one am glad I haven't lost track of you, even if I haven't been very good at commenting here. Bryan G. looks forward to reading more from Rachel B on her blog. :)

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    1. Thanks Bryan! I'm glad you haven't lost track of me, too!

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  6. I am so glad you are testing out meds. Remember that they are trial and error and you will eventually find a medicine that works for you.

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    1. Thanks Angela! Yeah, I know there's a lot of trial and error with it. I try to remind myself of that rather than get frustrated at my doctor. :)

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  7. Thanks for showing us a peek at Minnesota and the twin cities! I just went to the midwest for the first time last Christmas (to meet my partner's family), and then again to Chicago for work in May. It's so different and yet simultaneously urban/hipster cool. I'm really enjoying getting to know it.

    *hugs* on the mental health struggles. I know how hard it is to struggle without a proper diagnosis, and when you finally get diagnosed it feels like a relief...because at least now you know what you're dealing with! Sending you good thoughts on finding good management and some stability. I can already tell you have a great support network, and am happy for that!

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What do you think? I love getting comments!