Bookish Thoughts: The Past is Past and the Future is the Future Except When it is The Past

Writing about the future is a tricky thing, as has become abundantly clear in the past few years. The technological developments have come quicker than anyone could predict. At the same time, some of the predictions that were made have been shown to be beyond us still.

I've been thinking a lot about this in the past month, as I have been binging on the In Death series by J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts). The first book was published in 1995. In 1995 mobile phones were not as ubiquitous as they are today, I got my first one in 1998 and I was one of the first in my class (that said I AM only on my fourth mobile). Naked in Death (the first in the In Death Series) is set in 2058, which I am sure seemed very far in the future in 1995, but, this side of the turn of the century feels very close by. In the books there are several technological devices mentioned, "link" = mobile phones; "PPC" = Pocket PC; "disks" = storage devices for computer files; "laser fax". 18 years ago all these things probably seemed to be on the technological forefront. Today, with little kids with smartphones (you should see my niece, 2 and a half, with her mothers iPhone (this post was written in 2012, niece is now 3 and a half but still a wizard with the iPhone) these things seem positively antiquated. I mean , when was the last time you used a disk, even a CD to save documents on? I barely use a USB drive to save information on now, much more convenient to use the cloud, especially when I can have the same document appear instantly on all my different computers (I am definitely partially responsible for the average number of electronic devices being above one :D).

At the same time, these books have technology that we have yet to invent or perfect. Some of it would be nice (I would LOVE my own autochef). Other things would freak me out (cars that can fly! I have enough problems keeping track of what's in front, behind and to either side of me, I would NOT want to add above and below).

This balance between what is fantasy and what is reality and what may become reality is a very delicate one. How do you signal that this is the future without it being over the top? How do you deal with things becoming obsolete during the course of a series (Roberts is still publishing in this series)?

To my mind the best way is to create what you could call an alternate universe. Make it clear that it isn't an alien place (I don't mind aliens but others do). Roberts does this by creating a world where yes some events do mirror our world but others don't. For example September 11th is referenced in one of the books I recently listened to. However, Roberts has added "The Urban Wars". A war that is referenced as taking place in both the US and Europe but never quite explained. Although it isn't hard to see an uprising in our cities today, calling them The Urban wars and placing them before the adulthood of the main character in the series adds to the feel of an alternative or perhaps parallel universe. This helps me, as a reader, to "cover" the obvious technical differences, the differences where we are more advanced than what this future society is.

Copyright ©2014 Zee from Notes from the North.This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Extended Break

*cough cough*

Lots of dust in this place...well that is what happens when you don't use your blog for over a year and a half.

Sometime in early 2012 I got quite burnt out by blogging. I thought about picking it back up in early 2013 but then work EXPLODED. Seriously, the first six months of 2013 were emotionally very very difficult at work. This meant that my reading tended towards comfort reads, well actually comfort re-reads, the few new books I read were mostly by authors I already knew and liked, the next book in series primarily.

However when we came back to school after a much needed summer break I was moved to a different team and my fall as been much much better. My new team is smaller, younger and more fun. All things I needed. This fall has been the best at work in a really long time, and I am slowly coming back to reading as well. Most of my reading in the past year as been audio books and I find it difficult to try new books in the audio format. Since things seem better for me now I thought I would get back into blogging, because I have actually missed it. I have some new features I want to try out and books I want to share with all of you.

Copyright ©2014 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: Hjärnkoll på värk och smärta

Hjärnkoll på värk och smärta (Understanding Pains and Aches) by Martin Ingvar och Gunilla Eldh

Publisher: Natur och Kultur

Year: 2012

Category: Non-fiction: Medicine

I often read books and think “I really should recommend this to so and so, they will love it!”. Rarely do I read books and think “Everyone MUST read this book NOW"!” And even more seldom do I feel this way about a non-fiction book, because lets face it, a lot of people look at you like you are nuts when you recommend a non-fiction book to them (I am putting biographies to one side here). This book I put out facebook and tweets about saying that EVERYONE MUST READ THIS BOOK! Why do I feel this way about a rather slim non-fiction book? Well first I should tell you something about me:

Right now I start every single day in pain. I am lucky, I don’t start every day in pain, 365 days per year. In fact I had been moderately pain free since December. But about a week ago it was as if I had walked into a wall, been hit by a bus and run over by a train all at once. There wasn’t a single joint, bone or muscle in my body that did not ache. I should have know the signs were there, the stress (5 weeks left of term, grades are due and national tests are looming), the dizzy spells and the headaches, yet I was surprised when the pain hit all at once. What does this have to do with the book I just read? Well it is a book about pain management. It is written for both pain sufferers, their loved ones and those who come into contact with them, both privately and professionally. And boy do I wish more people had read it.

It is based on research, but written in a very accessible way. It goes through both the causes of chronic pain and some of the therapies that exist to deal with it. It recommends how you should prepare for a doctors visit. It also takes Swedish medical care to task. The authors talk about a situation that has become much to common in Sweden in the past few years, many doctors surgeries are staffed by locum doctor and they are different every single time you go. The doctors have very few minutes for every patient and what is important for chronic pain sufferers is conversation, that someone takes them serious. The book points out the importance of not having to tell your story every time you go to the doctor. This takes energy. Being met by a doctor who dismisses you as someone who is whiny takes energy. And when you only have a minimum of energy this is stressful.

The book points out the connection between anxiety, depression and pain. This is something I have been treated for with KBT and for me that worked to a certain degree. At least it stops me from wallowing to much. It also taught me to plan. For example this weekend. I really needed to do a deep clean of my apartment, with the fibro hitting last weekend and work being crazy and the weather bad (I needed to take the recycling to the end of the road) I had let things go. Luckily this was a four day weekend so I planned it so that I have a day to recuperate. I’m not sure I need it, but planning for it is a better idea than not. 

In many ways this book confirmed the things I already knew about my own pain and how to best manage it. I haven’t missed a day of work this year because of pain, because I can manage it and because I have understanding students, colleagues and boss. My students are fantastic in that if I tell them that I am having a “dumb” day they respect that it might take me longer to reply to them. They can be my arms and hands and write on the white board when the pain is to bad. My colleagues check in on my class if I need to lay down for a bit. My boss encouraged me to make use of the company health care. I’m lucky.

The last chapter in the book was interesting to me from a different perspective. It talks about pain management in the elderly, especially those with dementia. My mother is a geriatric nurse and I used to work at a nursing home. Here I also got some of my previous knowledge confirmed, I also learned some new things. My mum encouraged me to touch my residents. She has always pointed out the importance of human contact in caring for others. This book also emphasizes this. This is something I’ve taken with me to my teaching career. I know that there has been a lot written about how you have to be careful when touching a student, but I firmly believe that patting someone on the shoulder, or hugging a girl who is devastated because her boyfriend has broken up with her, is something that we SHOULD do. So there. Anyway back to the pain management of the elderly. The book points out that many of those who suffer from dementia might also be in pain and that this pain manifests itself as increased “dementia behavior”. The patient appears restless and disturbing, but it might actually be pain, or lack of stimulation. To me this is fascinating because I have listened to my mom preach this for years. She is a strong believer in less medication is better and that stimulation is necessary.

This book has only been published in Swedish and in some instances it is geared towards Swedish conditions, however many of the conclusions drawn are applicable in other countries too.

Copyright ©2012 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

I’m baaaack!

Sorry for the long break. Apparently my old laptop did NOT like tea. Silly laptop. I’ve now got a new one and am hoping to get several posts written Monday and Tuesday while I am off (YAY national holidays!!)

I’ve been reading some really interesting books so please come back.

The Sunday Salon: Help Wanted

As many of you know I teach English at a Swedish High School. I am slowly starting to plan out the next academic year and I would love some help from all of you. I need tips on the following types of books:

• Short stories (classic or modern, if the classics are available in the public domain my principal will love you all)
• YA books suitable for girls but also for classroom discussion. These books do need to work for boys too, but the class is mainly filled with girls. Many of these girls are reluctant readers, or have problems with English (remember they are ESL students).

I have some ideas of the books I want to teach but I would LOVE some more ideas.

Image Credit Carl Larsson, thank you Alexandra for the fabulous Pintrest board

In other reading news January was a great reading month, February sucked. I had real problems settling down with ONE book. I kept picking books up and then putting them down. Not because they were bad but because I just couldn’t focus. I am hoping March will be better.

Image by Ilon Wikland

I’ve spent the last few days with my smart, caring, beautiful niece “Madicken”. She is 19 months old now and to my joy ADORES reading. Right now her favourites include the books about Pettson and Findus (Indus as she says) and the Max books. She also loves Pippi, even if she just knows the music right now (She loves to dance).

Copyright ©2012 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Thursday Tea: Gaudy Night

The Book: I recently finished Busman’s Honeymoon by Dorothy Sayers and felt that I couldn’t quite leave Harriet Vane and Lord Peter Wimsey behind. I wanted to spend some more time in the company of these two people so I decided to re-read Gaudy Night. A good cozy set at Oxford seemed to just the thing to ward off the cold that seems to have Europe in a firm grip, as well as allowing me to spend some more time with Harriet and Peter.

The Tea: Apple, Cinnamon and Raisin tea.

Do They Go Together: They do go really well together both have a warm feel with a bit of a spicy twist at the end.

Copyright ©2012 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Happy Birthday Dickens

Love today’s Google Doodle.

My favourite Dickens is probably A Christmas Carol. Although I actually find that Dickens, for me, is better in movie/mini-series form than in book form (don’t all die). I really enjoyed the BBC miniseries of Bleak House but I found the book tedious. Anyway, Happy Birthday Mr. Dickens!

Copyright ©2012 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.