Sitawa Ignited

Girl around town - Lancaster, October 2024

Good evening friends,

Hope you had a lovely day.

Today I want to share about blogs I like, and try out a new thing here - a day in my life type post.

Favorite Blogs

A blog by a 94-year-old guy here in Lancaster who who shares weekly movie reviews. He just hit the 600 review mark! I discovered him through local dailies, and his story is inspiring—he started sharing reviews via email before moving to a blog.

2. Extraordinary Stories from an Ordinary Guy

This blog reminds me of my dad aka warehouse of information. In my eyes, this guy knows everything about everything in Lancaster - and always starts his posts with the words ‘it was an ordinary day’ before diving into fascinating local facts.

Loooove this tweed piece, wore it almost every day in the winter/spring - Lancaster, April 2024

3. The third guy is in Europe and writes about navigating every day life with a mental health diagnosis - as an older person. I found him after I thrifted a tweed jacket and wanted to know more about the brand…and stayed to follow his mental health journey.

Reflection on the Blogs

I see a pattern here, guess I have a type.

Now to find a dating app that has old men who blog (that sounds very wrong…feels like a nasty fetish I should not say out loud). On the real though, beside the fact that they blog about things I like and talk about on this blog - TV/Movies, Lancaster and Mental Health. I also love how they care less about the algorithm and everything else that sucks the life out of simply having a corner in the wide world web where you can be yourself (your people will find you).

It is also something I love about Google’s Blogger platform (which is where they are all based)…I think it is the only platform (or maybe one remaining few) that has stayed true to what blogging was when it started…how it was back in the day before we were all told that we should not just write for writing sake, but should shorten our pieces (aka summarize our thoughts because no one has time to take the stroll you want to take them on), and fill them with buzz words, oooh and make sure there are SEO friendly...ooh and have a goal that in line with moving from hobby to an entity, a brand that not only generates income through brands and collabs, but also being the center of attention by having viral content (that was exhausting to type out).

As I read through the latest entries on my fav blogs, I started thinking about how much I miss the good old days when we did a day in my life posts that did not start with us waking up, doing our make up, positioning cameras, then jumping back to bed ‘to start our day’. We just shared things that truly made us happy, and not curate what we thought would make us look like we were happy.

So in honor of those good old days, and good old men I follow here on Blogger, I decided to do a day in my life of sorts, the good old way.

My Day Today

Morning:

Started the day with YouVersion’s verse of the Day - this reminded me of the good old days when getting saved was the center of our faith, a badge we wore with pride…nowadays we just want to be 😎

I am doing my second academic poster in two weeks, so my plan for the day was to ship a client’s order and read through some academic papers...but first a Latte from Prince St Cafe

Then went to the Post Office but it was closed - didn’t know today was a holiday of sorts

Passed by the Library and it was closed too - took the time to do a quick search on Indigenous People's Day because at the post office, the first post that came up when I googled October 14 holidays was Columbus Day.

We actually have a stature of Christopher Columbus behind the Lancaster Courthouse (which the internet says has been subject to a couple of protests)

I am not the best person to give this history lesson but will try to give my best summary. So, October 14th was initially Columbus Day aka the guy who apparently ‘discovered America’. The day was recently changed to honor the people who owned the land aka Native Americans before Columbus and his crew got here.

Here in Lancaster there were a couple of Native American tribes. I know the Susquehanna River, which is one of the big rivers in this region is named after one of the tribes. I have also heard or read that the last members of one of the other tribes were massacred by a group of white vigilantes called the Paxton Boys. The tribe has taken refuge in the basement of the Old Jail (Old Jail later became Fulton Theatre - which I blog about a lot). The vigilantes came in and killed all of the tribespeople (there are a lot of materials talking about this including a couple of videos talking about how the theatre can be spooky **).

Back to Prince St Cafe where I started my errands, and which happens to be directly opposite the theatre.

Had to take a pic of these shoes. The owner was in-front of me at the cafe (asked for permission) - they mentioned the brand name these were trying to live up to. Checked them out and the original version of these split toe kicks = $1,000+ depending on style…moving on swiftly

Took this on the way to the post office...clearly Lancaster is not a Historical town for nothing…this is on North Prince Street. They tore down the building but preserved the front …there are a lot of buildings with this vibe, and cannot wait to see what they build here.

Afternoon

Since the Post Office and Library were closed, I went back home, and did some student stuff (reading and writing), then some work stuff.

Evening

Made dinner, watched a movie, now I am blogging before reading a chapter from Sam Irby’s wow, no thank you…and calling it a day (I read a chapter a night). If you are new here, she also runs a blog that I loooove (she is not on Blogger so I get her posts via email)...Spoke about her, her blog and her latest book, Quietly Hostile, on this post.

Thrift find from a couple of weeks ago - Lancaster, September 2024

Grateful for today.

Not sure if I will do another day in my life type post soon...will decide after re-reading this one of a lazy afternoon.

Until then…have a lovely evening...and remember going old school is also a vibe (with mental health benefits if I might add).

Sending love and light,

Sitawa

Dirty Doctor's Webinar by Lancaster Medical Heritage Museum - Lancaster, October 2024

Good afternoon beautiful people,

Hope you are enjoying your day.

It is October, which means everyone has a spookiness related event or activity. I attended a virtual event yesterday that I really enjoyed. It was a 'true crime' type event hosted by Lancaster Medical Heritage Museum (which is on my 'to visit' list). I learnt about the museum from Dr SG (my 'former' research professor) who volunteers there.

About the Museum

According to the website, the museum was founded in 1982, and aims 'to preserve and make accessible the rich heritage of the healing arts, with special attention given to Lancaster County'. They also do research on the 'history of medicine and medical institutions in Lancaster county and surrounding areas' - think this is what my Prof helps with (not sure).

The Event

I learnt about the event from their mailing list (which I joined after hearing about the place a couple of times from my Prof). The webinar title - Dirty Doctors: A Halloween True Crime Event - did it for me.

I am not a big Halloween person, guess it is because I never grew up around it but it looks like I am liking these sideline events...last year it was texts of terror series at church, this year a webinar on doctors.

Two reasons I signed up for this event 1) the psychology student in me is always looking for opportunities to do some differential diagnosis a la my Psychopathology class and 2) since watching Fulton Theatre's Key West Musical (and Peacock's Dr. Death series), I developed a curiosity for doctors who have done their patients, and the healing/medical space, dirty (wonder if there are examples in the psychology space - or does Freud take one for the team). As a FYI, the Key West guy did not endanger or kill the lady, but he did things to her corpse...and Freud just had really extreme theories about everything.

The event/webinar looked at three doctors and a nurse (all male, based in US,UK & Germany). The presentation was done by Kim Jovinelli (the museum's Executive Director), who began by sharing three things believed to motivate the harm done by doctors - Sadism (dominance/manipulation), Mercy Killing (playing God, end suffering) and Malignant Hero (purposeful endangerment, hero complex).

Featured Practitioners

1. Dr Henry Howard Holmes (US): Dubbed America's first serial killer, with most of his killings believed to have been done in Murder Castle (which currently a post office in Chicago) - added it to my bucket list). Watch out for shows about him on Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Apple TV.

2. Dr Harold Shipman (UK): This is the real Dr. Death in the UK (I talked about the US Dr. Death TV series on Peacock in my recap of the Key West Musical). This doctor targeted elderly women who he overdosed then add himself to their wills. Check out related shows on Amazon Prime.

I was so intrigued by the presentation, I did not write any notes after the presenter introduced the first doctor - Lancaster, October 2024

3. Dr William Palmer (UK): Prince of Poisoners who who used his 'poisoning credentials' (my words) to not only poison family to get insurance money to sustain his gambling lifestyle, he also befriended, poisoned and killed a guy called John Cook, who had won in one of the horse race bets he had lost. Look for shows about him on Amazon Prime and Apple TV.

4. Nurse Niels Hoegel (Germany): Nicknamed Resuscitation Rambo, because he would drug patients so that they could have cardiac issues, then he would play hero and save them. Well this Rambo failed, not once not twice but 85 times. If you know of any shows about him, please share.

Reflection

I may have said this in a previous post, but I have not here it is, in writing, I retired from the whole True Crime wave because I was one show away from getting addicted and living in perpetual anxiety. I, however, add true-crimish things to my read/watch list as reminders to look for watered down versions of the story...and if I cannot get, that was not a story I needed to know about.

You can watch the full webinar (40 minutes) on the museum's Youtube page (their settings wont let my embedding ways prosper). Everyone who attended the webinar asked for a Part 2. I hope we get one - you know I will do a blog post if they do- and I also hope to have visited the museum before then.

My mind is already working on a research paper on how training and professional bodies can or should do to prevent/reduce these cases, keep patients safe etc etc but that is a post for another day (and to quote the museum's ED, this is a very small percentage of health providers)...since it is spooky month, I will say, be safe on these treatment and recovery streets.

Sending love and light,

Sitawa

Loving the add-ons on the Lancaster Public Library exterior...borrowed Judith Grisel's Never Enough: The Neuroscience and Experience of Addiction - May 2024

Happy New Month Beautiful People,

Loving that Fall is here with us (you all know it is my besttime of the year)…and loving the back to back mental health related events and activities - we just stepped out of National Recovery Month and World Suicide Prevention month aka September, and are currently in World Mental Health Month - whose theme is prioritizing workplace mental health. I have written on this a couple of times, with the most recent posts highlighting journalists and theirmental health, and Kenya’s female boxer.

Before we get deep into world mental health month related events and activities, I wanted to share something recovery related.

Earlier in the Summer, when I was fresh off my semester of studying all things addiction and psychopathy, and doing an academic poster on US Laws and Pregnant women with substance use disorder, I got a book - Never Enough: The Neuroscience and Experience of Addiction by Judith Grisel, PhD - on addiction from the public library. I finished book, started drafting a blog post but never got round to finishing it because a girl decided to start building a business venture.

Long live public libraries - September 2024

I re-borrowed the book last week, got it on Monday and finally got round to finishing my blog post. The intro I did in May is in italics, followed by the summary I worked on this morning.

A couple of weeks ago, I was at the library for a Silent Book Club and was hoping to catch a screening that ended up being cancelled. After the book club, I decided to browse their psychology and neuroscience session and check the library's network catalogue for addiction related book. I saw Never Enough: The Neuroscience and Experience of Addiction by Judith Grisel, PhD on the list and placed a request for it.

Got notified two days later that it was ready for pick up.

My plan was to read a chapter a day for the 14 days I had it and do a summary paragraph/reflection of sorts (clearly practicing for when I am a professor and asking my students to read, summarize and come to class ready to discuss their take-aways). On the real though, this was my way of making my reading and literature review on addiction and women more intentional, and I saw it as a way of narrowing down topics/focus areas for my Clinical Psychology program thesis.

(side note: not sure I want my research to be on this topic anymore…but it is too early to say).

Loved this drawing...took pic on my way from the library - September, 2024

my take-aways

The book is written by Judith Grisel, PhD who is a professor, behavioral neuroscientist and has lived experience with addiction (she had her first drink at 13). She uses her journey to not only explain how addiction works in a practical sense, but also backs it all with science.

The title, Never Enough, summarizes her quest, and that of many others, to quench something in her, but the substances she used were NEVER ENOUGH, leading her to try a new substance, in different quantities, but it was NEVER ENOUGH!!! She talks about strained family relationships, the things she did and conditions she lived under just to maintain her lifestyle. The book is not all gloom as she also talks about her recovery journey which is still ongoing tens of years later, and the quest to find ‘a cure for addiction’ that led her back to school, all the way to a doctoral program, and her work as a behavioral scientist.

The first chapter is an introduction to her, and her work. The second chapter take a deep dive into how the brain works – punishment and reinforcement – and why that is important in understanding addiction. The next seven chapters are dedicated to the different classifications of substances – each classification has its own chapter. She weaves social, historical, empirical and personal narratives in each chapter as well as how the various substances affect the brain/body. The second last chapter is dedicated to the author’s introspection. She highlights the things that made her vulnerable to addiction – biological disposition, exposure to substances, catalyzing environment and early start. Finally, the last chapter explores how society can/should deal with addiction. The author points out that the solution goes beyond just looking at the brain.

Definitely recommend this book - Lancaster Public Library 'hold section', September 2024

She mentions that it is the drive to ‘escape from reality’ not the drugs/substance that makes one an addict (p 217), and that as a society, ‘we are suffering from depth deprivation, which is found most naturally in honest connections’ (p 220) – and that the best way forward is to reach for others. Additionally, she highlights that recovery is a process of expansion, not restriction (p 210).

my recommendation

When I become a professor, this book will be among the ‘understanding addiction’ books that I will recommend. It is not only engaging, but it does a very good job at outlining and illustrating the various types of substances, the occasions they are commonly used and their impact to the brain/body, and their alternative advantages ( if used well and in controlled settings). Most of all it gives a simple and practical prevention strategy – compassion.

Until the next post,

Sending love and light,
Sitawa

Pages

Sitawa Ignited

Search This Blog

Contact me

I Blog About

Previous Posts

Most Read in the Last Year

Hey Sunshine