man who mistook reflection

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat Reflection

When I began reading “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat”, I did not realize that it was a series of different short stories because I declined to read the introduction for some reason. Therefore, at first I was confused as to why the chapters were not following each other with the same storyline. Once I realized what was going on, I was much more pleased with the book because I noticed that I would not have to remember the same plot from the same story once I reached the final pages. It made it a much more enjoyable read because once you are done with one story, you do not have to revisit it again and it seems like your just reading a lot of short stories, which is essentially what you are doing. I almost felt like comparing this book to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales because it is a collection of different stories about people who came to visit Mr. Oliver Stacks. I really enjoyed the fact that Stacks did not talk about these stories in a scientific, dry way. He really brought the reader in by sympathizing with his patients. Being a neurologist, Stacks seems to encounter a wide range of mental disorders that promise to keep his job and his stories interesting.

The story I enjoyed most was the short story “The Lost Mariner”. Although all these stories are sad, I tried to find something good from each one of them. I enjoyed this story because it kept reminding me of the Adam Sandler movie “50 First Dates”. This story is about a World War II veteran who suffered from a syndrome in which he could not form new memories. Much like in “50 First Dates”, where the Drew Barrymore cannot remember anything that happened the previous day, this man cannot remember anything that happened in the past few minutes. It was really a sad story because it made me notice that he could not make any new friendships, and probably had no real friends left besides his family. I cannot imagine waking up thinking it is thirty years earlier than the actual date and seeing all the new technology for the first time every few minutes.

Overall, I enjoyed this collection of short stories. However, I would not read this book again. I feel like one time was enough and reading it again would make it quite boring.

Oxygen

I am oxygen, and am rarely seen alone. Most the time I am with my brother and we form a diatomic pair. We have been all over the continent together, floating from place to place. Oxygen has not set path. Since we make up twenty per cent of the earth’s atmosphere, we don’t really have a single home. We drift staying nowhere very long.

Oxygen is very reactive with other elements like we interact with many other people. It can be said that we have a particular interest in hydrogen when we make water. I have been on the water my whole life. I enjoy being in water, catching fish that live in the water, and drinking water. As oxygen, water plays a vital role in my life. It is not just hydrogen however. Oxygen forms bonds with many other elements. I enjoy making new friends and acquaintances, because everybody has something different to offer, and every bond is a different bond. I can bond to form an oxide with nearly any element or any person. Hydrogen is my favorite; I form one of the strongest bonds known to hydrogen. Its called a hydrogen bond. I share this kind of bond with few people. Only my closest friends and relatives can share a bond such as this with me.

If I were to ever get mixed up with the wrong crowd, such as carbon, my true friends, plants, could take me in and help me shed the awful carbon. They do this so I can once again be myself, a regular oxygen molecule, instead of being bogged down by carbon, making me CO2 where I am of no help to humanity or the animals that live on this planet.

I am the fuel to my own fire. In order for there to be a fire, oxygen must be present. Without oxygen, the fire would go out because fire feeds off of oxygen. By fueling my own fire, I can motivate myself easily, and get done what needs to be done. I also feel that I can motivate other people. I can be the fuel to someone else’s fire. Without my push, the fire might go out.

Oxygen is a common element, but every oxygen is destined for something different.

Outside event 2

In early march, I attended a reading at Burke's bookstore. I have been to the place twice before and nothing out of the ordinary ever happened so I wasn't worried to go in there like I am to go in to the Otherlands now. The author's name was Richard Bausch. It seemed to be a pretty popular event because there were lots of people crammed into that small bookstore. Bausch one of his short stories "Immigrants" or something like that. It was about a two older married people that lived in Memphis. They were trying to get residency since they were from out of the country. They went to the place to get their residency and the woman who worked there asked some questions when the wife began to cry. The story ended kind of boring and without a point to me. He was a cool guy to listen to and it wasn't too difficult to stand and listen to. Better than the Otherlands at least haha.

Outside event 1 (Sorry thought these were due tomorrow not today)

Anyways, one brisk saturday morning I attended the walk through the woods in Overton Park. I'd be lying if I said I was wasn't wishing that I was still laying in bed. Either way, it turned out to be a nice little morning walk. I learned lots of interesting things about the forrest that I had no idea about even though I have been living in memphis for over ten years. I brought a pen and paper to take notes. Apparently the park was opened in the early 1900s and was named for a Judge Overton who was there near the founding of the city of Memphis. The forrest was an amazing sight, and one that I could really appreciate because I am a big fan of nature. Some of the trees in the forrest were massive and had to be hundreds of years old. Apparently there are over 70 tree species that can be found in the Old Forrest. That number baffled me because I cant really tell much difference between most trees. I feel that I need to come back and take another tour in the summertime but maybe without the guide.