#junot monday

[miffy-junot]

miniature of Napoleon Andoche Junot, 1812, by Fernando Quaglia

[apurpledust]

skl;dksljkcls;kdlsjaskaldndvnls,das

😍😍😍😍

forever bitter napoleon didn't allow this portrait to be finished </3

BTW TOMORROW (OR TODAY DEPENDING ON TIMZEZONE) IS JUNOT MONDAY💥

[gonzalo-obes]

IMAGENES Y DATOS INTERESANTES DEL DIA 27 DE NOVIEMBRE DE 2023

Día del Maestro en España, Cyber Monday, Año Internacional del Mijo y Año Internacional del Diálogo como Garantía de Paz.

San Valeriano, San Máximo, Nuestra Señora de la Medalla Milagrosa y Santa Bitilda.

Tal día como hoy en el año 1983

En las proximidades del Aeropuerto de Barajas (Madrid, España) tiene lugar el accidente aéreo de un avión Boeing 747 de la aerolínea Avianca, que cubre el trayecto París - Madrid - Bogotá. 181 personas pierden la vida. (Hace 40 años)

1971

El primer objeto humano que alcanza la superficie del planeta Marte, la nave soviética Mars 2, lo hace de forma accidentada al estrellarse contra su superficie al fallar la secuencia del módulo de descenso que impidió que los paracaídas se desplegaran. Se había lanzado el 19 de mayo desde el Cosmódromo de Baikonur. (Hace 52 años)

1957

En Nueva Delhi (India) Jawaharlal Nehru, primer ministro, pronuncia un apasionado discurso en favor del desarme nuclear en el que apela a EE.UU. y a la URSS a iniciar el desarme, acabando con los arsenales de armas atómicas para "salvar a la humanidad del último desastre". Nehru, discípulo de Gandhi, será como él un practicante de la resistencia pasiva y la desobediencia civil, y por tanto defenderá la no alineación de su país durante los años de la Guerra Fría. Morirá en 1964. (Hace 66 años)

1895

Alfred Nobel, que inventó la dinamita en 1867 y posee una enorme fortuna por éste y otros descubrimientos, pero a la vez un cierto complejo de culpabilidad por el mal y la destrucción que sus inventos pueden haber causado a la Humanidad en los campos de batalla, firma en el Club Sueco-Noruego de París (Francia), su testamento, estableciendo que con su fortuna se cree un fondo destinado a premiar anualmente a aquellas personas que más hayan hecho en beneficio de la Humanidad en distintos ámbitos como son la Física, la Química, la Medicina, la Literatura y la Paz. El primer Premio se entregará en 1901 al físico Wilhelm Röntgen, descubridor de los rayos X aplicados en muchos campos de la medicina. (Hace 128 años)

1868

En Japón, al finalizar el shogunato Tokugawa se inicia la Restauración y el Emperador Meiji decide trasladar su residencia y toda la corte de la ciudad de Kioto a Edo, que en adelante se llamará Tokio, que significa "Capital del Este", y será la capital del país. Durante la Era Meiji, hasta 1912, Japón iniciará su modernización y emergerá como potencia mundial. (Hace 155 años)

1807

Tras haber atravesado España, entra en Lisboa, el general francés Junot al mando de 28.000 hombres. La corte portuguesa huye al exilio en Brasil. (Hace 216 años)

1493

Cristobal Colón llega al Fuerte de la Natividad, en la actual Haití, que había fundado el 25 de diciembre de 1492, y verifica tristemente que todos sus compañeros han sido masacrados por los indios. (Hace 530 años)

1095

Durante el Concilio de Clermont, Francia, los cristianos son convocados por el Papa Urbano II para ocupar la ciudad santa de Jerusalén, iniciando así la Primera Cruzada. Finalmente se logrará tomar la ciudad en julio de 1099. (Hace 928 años)

[thelivebookproject]

It’s Monday! WAYR? (#20)

Hi all!

Yesterday I finished The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Díaz, which fulfilled the “Other genres” prompt for the Bookoween reading challenge. It wasn’t very good (the narrator was a sexist, insufferable man), but it’s done now. And at least I learnt about the Trujillato.

I’m not currently reading anything, but later today I’ll start the third Mirror-Visitor book, The Memory of Babel, by Christelle Dabos. I’m really looking forward to it!

What are you reading?

[princessgracekelly1956]

The Philadelphia Inquirer - October 26, 1978

Dinner dance honors balloonists

By RUTH SELTZER

Princess Grace, the only Philadelphian ever to marry a reigning monarch, shared the spotlight in New York the night before last with the Double Eagle II trio - the only persons ever to have crossed the Atlantic Ocean in a balloon.

They starred at the dinner-dance that was held in the Hotel Pierre to honor the memory of the "Lone Eagle" - Charles A. Lindbergh.

The dinner-dance was for the benefit of the Charles A. Lindbergh Fund, which was established in 1976 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Lindbergh's history-making solo flight from New York to Paris.

Albert Fried Jr., the president of the Lindbergh Fund, gave "triple eagles" to the Double Eagle trio from Albuquerque Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson and Larry Newman.

In making the presentation, Mr. Fried said: "Charles Lindbergh, called 'the Lone Eagle by many, in whose memory Double Eagle II was named, believed that the human future depended on our ability to combine the knowledge of science with the wisdom of wildness. These three men dramatically epitomized that ability."

Each year, Lindbergh Grants will be given for research on scientific-ecological problems - problems arising from ever-expanding technological demands and the depletion of the earth's natural resources.

Princess Grace arrived in New York on Monday. To the party she wore a very handsome embroidered beige gown that was made for her in Tunisia.

Two friends from Philadelphia - George J. Hauptfuhrer Jr. and his wife, Barbara were Princess Grace's guests at the dinner-dance. The princess and the Hauptfuhrers were seated with Mr. Fried, fashion designer Vera Maxwell, Francis W. Cresci, Monaco's consul-general in New York, and Reeve Lindbergh Brown, daughter of Anne and Charles Lindbergh.

Reeve, a teacher, runs a nursery school in Vermont.

During the party, a retrospective show of Maxwell apparel - from 1930 to 1978 -  was staged.

Princess Grace was an overnight guest in New York of Vera Maxwell, who owns a house in Monaco near the palace. Yesterday, Barbara Hauptfuhrer lunched with Grace and Vera in Vera's Manhattan apartment.

Among those at Tuesday's dinner-dance were Jack Dempsey, Estee Lauder, Prince Egon von Fursten-berg and Lowell Thomas.

Today, Princess Grace will fly from New York to Boston. Her son, Prince Albert, who is a student at Amherst College, will meet her there.

This visit to the United States is a brief one for Princess Grace, who flies back and forth often. She will be flying back to Europe from Boston.

Princess Grace plans to be in Philadelphia in December for her mother's birthday. Mrs. John B. Kelly will be 80 on Dec. 13.

We hear that the newlyweds Princess Caroline and Philippe Junot, will be moving into their new apartment in Paris soon. The apartment is almost ready.

[compo67]

bart has never been to hong kong

watching the simpsons on my lunch break. homer, are you laughing at me? XD

so it’s been a rough week. to say the least.

my dad lost his job. -_- 

of course, as a millennial, i live with him. even if he retires, or gets unemployment, there’s no way we can afford our house. i don’t make enough money to be able to pay for the mortgage, property taxes, and all the utilities. 

especially since i’ve had to take intermittent leave, so i’m not making a full paycheck right now. sigh.

plus, i need to have a biopsy on friday.

march has just been this craphole of a month. break up, illness, etc.

hopefully the biopsy will give us a clear understanding of what the hell is going on with my liver

best case scenario it’s a combo of medications + NAFLD. meh scenario is autoimmune hepatitis. worst case is cancer or some other rare disease.

i spent all of monday helping my dad apply for unemployment, creating a resume and cover letter, then applying for jobs. 

i’ve also been spending time researching social security benefits for him

it would be best if he could hold out until he turns 64 this year

but ughhhhhhhh

i started doubting whether or not it’s a good idea to go to grad school

but the only way i’ll get ahead in my career and make house-buying money is to get a MSW

i did get my list of internship referrals today though

grad school is what’s keeping me afloat lately

i need to create a cover letter and send out emails for that

i’m hoping i’ll be able to go to c2e2 despite having my biopsy this week

last biopsy i was super sore and in pain for two weeks after

i’m also hoping that i don’t need that much time off from work

i did manage to ask my rheumatologist to fill out the FMLA paperwork that i can’t get the hepatologist to fill out

it’s so difficult to get a hold of the research team

on monday, i have a ticket to go see Junot Diaz :)

i’m trying as much as i can to look forward to things

and be optimistic 

so far, i’ve been able to hold onto that

i’m confident in my ability to adapt. i’m a resilient and strong person

but i also know that it’s okay to sit with negative feelings

take it one day at a time, right?

thank you all for being here. <3

[roeytomacquarie-blog]

[Day 79] Easter Weekend - 1/Apr/2018 

Apologies for the minor absence! I have thoroughly enjoyed doing not much these past few days though. 

The photo above is from Thursday. Because spontaneous lunch trips are fun! We went to the Shire Bistro in Sutherland. Totally a cute little restaurant. I ate Dory fish o_o but tasted pretty good! I would love to go back. Me, Sean, and his mum Judy who has been an awesome mum to me too while I’m so far from home! 

I finally finished reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz. It was okay, but meh, I did get bored of it a couple times. The next book I am reading is The Swan Book by Alexis Wright for Australian Fiction in the Digital Age class. 

This week two of my classes are cancelled due to the bank holiday Monday and my other two classes are online due to the lecturers being out of the country. I am excited just to have a week at home. I need the rest! 

This Sunday was a family BBQ. Lots of little kiddies running around and lots of food! It was really fun. Tommorrow I am going to the Maritime Museum with Jack. 

[lazaroschamberger20]

The Poisonwood Bible Audiobook Download

[Audio Books] The Poisonwood Bible Audiobook Download by Barbara Kingsolver

The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them all they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it-from garden seeds to Scripture-is calamitously transformed on African soil.

This tale of one family''s tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction, over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa, is set against history''s most dramatic political parables.

The Poisonwood Bible dances between the darkly comic human failings and inspiring poetic justices of our times. In a compelling exploration of religion, conscience, imperialist arrogance, and the many paths to redemption, Barbara Kingsolver has brought forth her most ambitious work ever.

Download The Poisonwood Bible Audiobook Download by (Barbara Kingsolver)

Duration: 15 hours, 33 minutes

Writer: Barbara Kingsolver

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Narrators: Dean Robertson

Genres: Dean Robertson

Rating: 4.29

Narrator Rating: 4.43

Publication: Monday, 01 May 2017

The Poisonwood Bible Audiobook Download Reviews

Anonymous

It was difficult to follow. I wasn’t sure I wanted to stick with it. The switching to different characters with no change in voice to speak of by the narrator caused me to repeat sections over and over. I thought I would never finish. Overall a good book as far as story goes though. Probably better to read the book than listen.

Rating: 3

Anonymous

An absolutely amazing story. Loved it. Well .

Rating: 5

Anonymous

So far it’s a interesting story, at first I wasn’t to sure about it the beginning of it , but it’s really a good story

Rating: 5

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[antistudyblr]

to-dos (9.22 to 9.29)

This week is going to suck, I can already tell, so here’s me attempting to get everything done and hold myself accountable after the cut.

intro to american politics

chapter 3 (1/3 through) and supplemental readings (Thursday at latest)

copy chapter 2 notes into real notebook (preferably before Monday)

lithum

Met Trip (Sunday)

Odyssey 2-16 (Tuesday) currently ch 8

Odyssey 17-24 (Thursday)

adv. spanish

Junot Díaz presentation and comprehension questions for Oscar Wao through 25 (done for Tuesday, probably won’t present til Thursday) started; finish later

Isabel Holgado reading (Tuesday)

Oscar Wao pag. 1-54 (Tuesday)

start Yoani Sánchez essay (Oct. 3)

frosci

buy calculator (Wednesday)

Piazza post (Wednesday)

Smart Sparrow (Wednesday)

scientific paper homework (Wednesday)

written homework (Friday)

extracurriculars

football game v. Georgetown (Saturday)

get out $$$ for game (this Friday)

Scripts (Sunday)

band rehearsals (Tuesday and Thursday)

Bwog (Sunday)

check TKD schedule (any point tbh)

bwog article (Tuesday)

other/misc.

meet Liz @ 3 (Sunday)

finish post about orientation (when I have time)

financial aid form (Monday)

apply for job (soon)

pick up package (this Friday)

[tachyonpub]

Get World Fantasy Award Winner Jacob Weisman’s INVADERS: 22 TALES FROM THE OUTER LIMITS OF LITERATURE for only $1.99!

Jacob Weisman’s acclaimed anthology INVADERS: 22 TALES FROM THE OUTER LIMITS OF LITERATURE is a Kindle Daily Deal for Monday, August 26.

For today only, the ebook is available for just $1.99!

“Invaders is a playful and imaginative exploration of what it means to write in the field of science fiction” —AV Club

The invasion of the future has begun.

Literary legends including Steven Millhauser, Junot Diáz, Amiri Baraka, and Katharine Dunn have attacked the borders of the every day. Like time traveling mad-scientists, they have concocted outrageous creations from the future. They have seized upon tales of technology gone wrong and mandated that pulp fiction must finally grow up.

In these wildly-speculative stories you will discover the company that controls the world from an alley in Greenwich Village. You’ll find nanotechnology that returns memories to the residents of a nursing home. You’ll rally an avian-like alien to become a mascot for a Major League Baseball team.

The Invaders are here. But did science fiction colonize them first?

A Kirkus Science Fiction and Fantasy Book You’ll Want to Read in July

A 2016 Publishers Weekly Best Summer Read

A Foreword 4 Great Indie Sci-Fi Titles for Summer 2016

[STAR] “In this very fine reprint anthology, Weisman has brought together 22 SF stories by authors who, although not generally associated with the genre, are clearly fellow travelers (not the ominous invaders suggested by the title). Among the major names are Pulitzer Prize–winner Junot Díaz, George Saunders, Katherine Dunn, Jonathan Lethem, Amiri Baraka, W.P. Kinsella, Steven Millhauser, Robert Olen Butler, and Molly Gloss. Among the best of the consistently strong stories are Díaz’s “Monstro,” the horrifying tale of a disease outbreak in Haiti; Gloss’s near-perfect first-contact story, “Lambing Season”; Kinsella’s totally bizarre “Reports Concerning the Death of the Seattle Albatross Are Somewhat Exaggerated”; Ben Loory’s fable-like “The Squid Who Fell in Love with the Sun”; and Saunders’s “Escape from Spiderhead,” a deeply sexy tale of wild experimental science. In general, the stories tend toward satire and emphasize fine writing more than hitting genre beats—technology is usually a means to an end rather than the center of the story—but most of them could easily have found homes in SF magazines. This volume is a treasure trove of stories that draw equally from SF and literary fiction, and they are superlative in either context.” —Publishers Weekly

“Further proof, if any more were necessary, that the line between genre and literary fiction is simply speculative.” —Library Journal

“Well, damn. From the first page to the last, Invaders surprised and intoxicated me, offering one stirring, visionary, warm-hearted, funny, probing story after another. Reading them in quick succession made me feel as if the world was flickering before my eyes, ricocheting from one possible reality to another, beneath a dozen different suns. It would be hard to devise a better survey of those contemporary short fiction writers, both celebrated and undersung, who have worked to smuggle the methods of science fiction into the mainstream.” —Kevin Brockmeier, author of A Few Seconds of Radiant Filmstrip

“For almost forty years I’ve believed and practiced and preached that there’s no necessary distance between ‘high literature’ and ‘science fiction.’ Invaders is convincing proof. Funny, absurd, frightening, streetwise, probing, heartbreaking — the fiction collected here touches all registers.” —Carter Scholz, author of The Amount to Carry: Stories  and Radiance

TABLE OF CONTENTS

“Portal” by J. Robert Lennon

“Beautiful Monsters” by Eric Puchner

“The Squid Who Fell in Love with the Sun” by Ben Loory.

“Five Fucks” by Jonathan Lethem

“LIMBs” by Julia Elliott

“We Are The Olfanauts” by Deji Bryce Olukotun

“The Region of Unlikeness” by Rivka Galchen

“A Precursor of the Cinema” by Steven Millhauser

“In the Bushes” by Jami Attenberg

“Fugue State” by Brian Evenson

“Reports Concerning the Death of the Seattle Albatross Are Somewhat Exaggerated” by W. P. Kinsella

“Lambing Season” by Molly Gloss

“Conrad Loomis & The Clothes Ray” by Amiri Baraka.

“Topics in Advanced Rocketry” by Chris Tarry

“The Inner City” by Karen Heuler

“Escape from Spiderhead” by George Saunders

“Amorometer” by Kelly Luce

“The Yogurt of Vasirin Kefirovsky” by Max Apple

“Monstros” by Junot Díaz

“Minotaur” by Jim Shepard

“Help Me Find My Spaceman Lover” by Robert Olen Butler

“Near-Flesh” by Katherine Dunn

For more info on INVADERS: 22 TALES FROM THE OUTER LIMITS OF LITERATURE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Goro Fujita

Design by Elizabeth Story

[miffy-junot]

Junot at the battle of Nazareth

source

[apurpledust]

Junot Monday was like two days ago and I'm waiting for next Monday already for more Junot news... I need it now 😭😭🥺

[romanl294-blog]

INTEGRATION!

From April - July we are on site integration - which many volunteers call site restriction. You aren’t allowed to go to other volunteers’ sites, you are expected to sleep every night at your site, and your main focus is to integrate to the community and begin thinking of ideas for future projects. Let’s just start off with I have A LOT of free time, so those of you in America who would like to learn more about Ghana or what I am currently up to, please feel free to get in contact with me through Whatsapp or Facebook Messenger - we are only 4-8 hours time difference (depending where in the states you are) and trust me, I’m completely relaxing right now. 

Since arriving to site, I haven’t been in the Journal writing mood. So I guess I will just accept that I have a journal entry for every day during training, but not throughout my entire service. On the plus side, I am completely in love with my community and feel like I am extremely lucky. Here are some things I’ve been up to/experiencing:

~~ I’ve read 7 books, finished the entire 6 seasons to Game of Thrones, season 2 of Animal Planet as well as North America version, some cool random movies, and still somehow have been completely visible by my community. Seriously…. That’s just how much free time I’ve had. Here are the books I’ve read, let me know if you’ve enjoyed or read any of them:

1. Water for Elephants by Sata Gruen

2. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

3. The Cure for Death by Lightning by Gail Anderson-Dargatz

4. Hyperbole and a Half by Alie Brosh

5. The Vanishing Year by Kate Moretti

6. In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

7. The Door to December by Dean Koontz

~~ I walk around my village close to 3-7 hours a day. With a population close to 6,000 I am always encountering new paths, new houses, new faces and new environments. I’ve been struggling with correcting my name, not sure I will ever be called correctly but currently these are the names I go by; Sister Marie, Sister/Madame Aku, Sister/Madame Lisa, and Sister Lisamarie. Many of you know that II do not like going by Marie. I’ve tried to explain to them my name is ONE word… for some reason it isn’t working. Aku on the other hand is because I was born on a Wednesday. Based on the day of the week you were born, you get different names. Unfortunately they are based on sex, female vs male. Here’s what you would be called based on the day you were born in Ewe:

Monday aka Dzoda

     -Female: Adzo

     -Male: Kodzo

Tuesday aka Blada

     -Female: Abla

     -Male: Kobla

Wednesday aka Kuda

     -Female: Aku

     -Male: KoKu

Thursday aka Yawoda

     -Female: Yawa

     -Male: Yao

Friday aka Fida

     -Female: Afi

     -Male: Kofi

Saturday aka Memleda

     -Female: Ama

     -Male: Kwami

Sunday aka Kosida

     -Female: Esi

     -Male: Kusi

~~ I’ve made friends with the Chief of my village, assemblyman, and opinion leaders. They all are always happy to see me and I attempt to speak to them in our language as I do with everyone in my village and they love it.

~~ I have joined women in peeling casava and also have had small boys help me with weeding my yard. Both hard labor, both causing blisters to these soft New Yorker hands I have.

~~ I made a permagarden at my house! Again with a lot of help from the children and my friends. All out hands were badly blistered. I couldn’t have done it without them. I have many seeds for tomatoes, thyme, cilantro and more! I cannot wait to start planting and share with my community.

~~ People know me not only in my village, but the neighboring villages as well because I like to go on long walks and just introduce myself to everyone. I seem to know more people than even some of the nurses at my clinic know. They’re always impressed when we walk around town or go to the market and people call my name to say hi.

~~ I’ve been getting a better hold on cooking for myself. You have no clue how much harder it is - cooking everything from scratch, being aware of the nutrients you may be lacking, and the market having very limited foods are just a few of the struggles you face. It’s not that easy.

~~ I’ve attended multiple funerals. In Ghana funerals are Friday-Satuday. Here’s their breakdown:

     -Friday: The music and gathering begins around 4PM. The body arrives around 6 and someone has to clean and dress the body. Everyone at the gathering is expected to stay there dancing, interacting, eating and etc. until day break!

     -Saturday: At day break you are expected to go home, bathe and return to the location. You will have a church service followed by more music, traditional dancing, eating and all around celebration. Then they bury the body.

     -I haven’t done the entire staying up all night (latest I’ve made it to is 1AM) and etc. but I’ve attended most of the gatherings and have their traditional dancing and some songs down. They always get excited when I come, and everyone loves that I dance and try singing with them.

~~ I’ve eaten and cooked with multiple different people, and have become close with some neighbors, women, and children in my village. Which has helped tremendously with learning the language as well as feeling more safe in my community. I’m a little sad because many of the friends I’ve made that are my age will be returning to college in August so I won’t see them again until December. I’ve realized that I’ve really grown to care for the people in my community. A Little girls mother sent her away for school and when we were saying bye I had to hold back my sadness and tears. This is after only 2 months of being at site, I can’t imagine how leaving back to the states will feel!

~~ LASTLY, but certainly not least, I have had my Welcome Ceremony! The community has officially accepted me into their village and have told me that I am now from our town, not America. Haha

 Dancing, talking, and amazing conversations about family dynamics, cultures in America, differences between our funerals/celebrations and just overall acceptance by my community has made me feel like the luckiest volunteer so far who was perfectly matched. Of course I still have my moments of missing home, wanting to be alone, being frustrated with being called a Yevu (White Person in Ewe), and small awkward/uncomfortable interactions but hey what’s an experience without it’s ups and downs. I make everything I do at site an accomplishment in my head, because let’s just face it, I’ve completed two month of service and have 22 lefts to go. Some people don’t even make it this far.

[mironivanov]

California Today: California Today: San Francisco’s Spiritual Bastion Gets Behind Its Beyoncé Mass

Monday: outrage in Ventura after a stabbing, the author Junot Díaz thrills L.A. and a look at the climate records of Gov. Jerry Brown’s would-be successors.

[nntodayblog]

Junot Díaz: ‘I Was Raped When I Was 8 Years Old’

RICARDO HERNANDEZ via Getty Images

Junot Díaz

600

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Junot Díaz wrote an emotional first-person essay for The New Yorker about being sexually assaulted when he was 8 years old.

In the article published on Monday, Díaz describes dodging a question from a fan he met at a book signing who he refers to as “X.” According to Díaz, X confronted the “This Is How You Lose Her” author about the abuse present in his novels and asked if he had experienced it himself.

Díaz wrote that at the time he was wearing a “mask of normalcy” and was “too scared” to answer X, who left the signing disappointed. Díaz said he was haunted by the interaction.

In the essay, Díaz apologizes to X and finally answers the question, despite it being “years too late.” He wrote:

“Yes, it happened to me. I was raped when I was eight years old. By a grownup that I truly trusted. After he raped me, he told me I had to return the next day or I would be ‘in trouble.’ And because I was terrified, and confused, I went back the next day and was raped again. I never told anyone what happened, but today I’m telling you. And anyone else who cares to listen.”

The Dominican-American author, who is also a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, also wrote candidly about how the rapes affected his youth, leading to depression and rage. Díaz said the abuse caused him to bite his tongue in his sleep due to nightmares, fall behind in school and attempt suicide.

Later in life, he experienced intimacy problems and had difficulty retaining romantic relationships. It also affected his writing. Díaz cites the rapes as part of the reason for an 11-year gap between his first book, “Drown,” and the novel he won his Pulitzer for, “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.”

“It fucked up my childhood. It fucked up my adolescence. It fucked up my whole life,” he wrote. “More than being Dominican, more than being an immigrant, more, even, than being of African descent, my rape defined me. I spent more energy running from it than I did living.”

Díaz credits hard work in therapy for finally beginning his healing process.

“After long struggle and many setbacks, my therapist slowly got me to put aside my mask,” he wrote. “Not forever, but long enough for me to breathe, to live.”

Download

Elyse Wanshel

Reporter, HuffPost

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MORE:

Sexual AssaultRapeBooks And PublishingJunot DiazChild Sexual Abuse

Reference source : Junot Díaz: ‘I Was Raped When I Was 8 Years Old’

[princessgracekelly1956]

The Philadelphia Inquirer - July 19, 1979

Monaco royalty ending N. J. visit 

By RUTH SELTZER

Princess Grace and Prince Rainier will be concluding their visit to the New Jersey seashore today. They arrived Sunday at the Ocean City beachfront home of Grace's mother, Mrs. John B. Kelly Sr. Monaco's sovereign and his Philadelphia-born wife have enjoyed a quiet stay there. They haven't wanted to do much - just relax with cousins and members of the immediate family. 

This morning, Grace and Rainier will be leaving Ocean City by automobile and will drive south, where they will be vacationing with friends. 

On Monday, Grace and Rainier went to the Atlantic City Race Course, where they were dinner guests of track president Robert P. Levy and his wife, Cissie. They watched the night racing. After the sixth race, Bob Levy escorted Princess Grace to the winner's circle where she presented a trophy. 

Grace's cousins, Elaine Beyer and Mary Daly, accompanied her to the track. 

On Tuesday, Prince Rainier played golf at the Atlantic City Country Club with Donald C. (Don) LeVine, who is a steward at the Atlantic City Race Course. Don's wife, Lizanne, is Princess Grace's sister. Their son and daughter, Christopher and Gracie, are working again this summer at the race track. Chris, who was graduated in May from the University of Pennsylvania, is a placing and patrol judge. Gracie is Bob Levy's secretary. 

Mike Douglas tapings 

Earlier this month, Mike Douglas taped television shows with Princess Grace and Prince Rainier in Monaco. Material for five programs (to be aired in September) was taped in the principality. 

Mike's wife, Genevieve, was with him. Said Mike: "The royal family could not have been warmer. We were able to do an interview - a first - with Prince Rainier at the palace. We also did interviews with Princess Grace and Prince Albert at the Monte Carlo Country Club. Princess Caroline participated in the awards ceremony at the tennis courts. And we show her in tennis action with her father, her husband, Philippe Junot; her brother, Prince Albert, and all the stars and tennis pros. 

Mike and Gen Douglas were there during the week of the Almaden-Monte Carlo pro-celebrity tennis tournament with Sean Connery, Franco Nero, Lynda Carter, Kenny Rogers, Wayne Rogers, James Franciscus and Cathy Lee Crosby. 

In the mixed doubles, Cathy Crosby and Don Budge defeated Princess Caroline and Vince Van Patten, the actor son of Dick Van Patten. 

Peter Ustinov, who had been a spectator at Wimbledon, flew to the Riviera to team up with Prince Albert in the pro-celebrity tournament. They played against Prince Rainier and James Franciscus. 

Prince Albert told Mike Douglas that he gets his competitive nature from the Kelly side of the family. Albert, who has been playing tennis since he was 7, will be playing varsity soccer at Amherst College in the fall. He is now on a singing tour (Europe and the Middle East) with the Amherst Glee Club. 

Prince Rainier told Mike that "things went informally" for his son in college. The heir to Monaco's throne is known as Al around the campus. 

During their interview, Prince Rainier confirmed that his job "isn't very easy even for a small country like this. It's very difficult. You know everybody and everybody knows you." Rainier likened his duties to those of the head of a corporation. To get away from it all, he plays tennis. 

Monaco memorable 

Mike and Genevieve Douglas are now "enjoying a vacation" in their newly decorated Beverly Hills house. Before jetting home, they went with the Douglas contingent (20 other former Philadelphians) from Monaco to England, where Mike taped five more shows. 

About the week on the Riviera, Mike said: "The combination of production, social and tennis activities in Monte Carlo made it one of the most memorable weeks in my life . . . Prince Rainier and Princess Grace hosted a reception for us at the palace. The following night, they attended the farewell dinner for us at the Hotel Hermitage. I sat next to Princess Grace; Gen was next to Prince Rainier, and it was a very cordial occasion." 

During their visit to Monaco, Mike and Genevieve Douglas had few idle moments. 

Said Mike: "There were two other social events of note - an opening-night party in the top floor Le Grille of the Hotel de Paris, where we stayed, and the traditional Friday night gala at the Sporting Club. There was a performance by Sylvie Vartan, the sensational French singer and dancer, and a fireworks display that helped us through that strange feeling - being out of the United States on the Fourth of July." 

The gala was hosted by Prince Louis de Polignac, who is a cousin of Prince Rainier. 

In the interview that will be shown to television audiences in the fall, Princess Grace says: "The principality is very small, and so Rainier and I are involved in just about everything that goes on."