My Neighbor Alice Essays - Kingdom Hearts Characters, Alice

My Neighbor Alice I remember when I was young, about seven or eight years old, how I use to go outside in the summer and play with my stuffed animals and imaginary friends from early morning to the break of dusk. I was quite a rambuncious kid with a huge imagination. My next-door neighbor Alice, would watch and observe as I played in my backyard, then she'd laugh and go back to tending her lovely vegetable garden. Alice and my mom both had vegetable gardens and would exchange different kinds of veggies through out the season. Sometimes they laid out together trying to get a decent tan. As the years slowly past, I recall sitting on Alice's big front porch with her just chatting away for hours on end about anything we wanted to, really. She'd tell me how she used to think I was such a funny kid when I used to play in the backyard and talk to myself with my toys and animals. While I sat on the ledge of the porch and listened, intrigued by her stories, Alice would rock back and forth in her rocker happily smoking an occasional Marlboro menthol light cigarette. We'd cut up and make jokes about the papergirl she despised because the papergirl always threw her paper in the bushes, and we'd gossip about some of the other neighbors on our block. Then she'd tell me stories about her kids when they were my age and what kind of mischief they'd get into as they grew up. Everyday as soon as I saw her out on her porch, I'd fling open our front door and run over to her house. However, I never cut through her lawn! No way! I always took the long way by using the sidewalk. Her and her husband Charles spent a lot of time doing yard work, keeping their lawn looking nice and having a flowerbed by the side of the house, so I never set foot on their grass simply out of respect. No one ever told me not to walk on their grass, it was just I knew better! Sometimes in the evening after I was done hunting fireflies, I'd retreat back to Alice's porch and we'd count them out together and watch them glow. Then we'd let them go and make wishes although the wishes I made never came true, it was still fun to pretend. Charles would sometimes join us on the porch and enjoy the fresh air the early summer evening had to offer us, as he'd gather his white calico cat into his lap and gently stroke her soft furry coat until she began a sturdy relaxed purr. Now, I don't remember what exactly the cat's real name was. Alice didn't care much for her; she called the cat ?Sourpuss? while Charlie would call her in every night saying ?Come on in now ole girlfriend.? Alice would sometimes swear up and down that Charles loved that cat more then her sometimes. Alice and Charles made such a nice couple, nice looking people for their age and all around nice people. I could see that Alice had been a very nice looking woman when she was younger as she still appeared to be for her age. Light brownish blonde hair, with twinkling hazel eyes with nice glasses that framed her face well. I felt so close to Alice, I felt she was another grandmother to me. As for my real grandmother, who visits my house regularly because she lives close by, would often visit Alice as well and they'd have a nice talk. Then, I started growing up. I would still visit Alice every now and then but the visits slowly came to a stop. When I had reached my freshman year in high school, I'd walk home in the afternoon and sometimes catch her leaving to go to work. She was a LPN at Reid at the time, and had been for a long time. After my freshman year, I moved in with my Dad in Virginia for two years. Whenever I came into town to visit my mom though, I'd stop by Alice's and see how she was doing. She was always so excited

The Normal Heart

The Normal Heart Larry Kramer wrote The Normal Heart, a semi-autobiographical award-winning play based on his experiences as a gay man during the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in New York. The protagonist, Ned Weeks, is Kramer’s alter ego - an outspoken and acerbic personality who was the voice of reason so many people both inside and outside the gay community refused to listen to or follow. Kramer himself originated the Gay Men’s Health Crisis which was one of the first groups founded to help victims of AIDS and spread awareness of the disease. Kramer was later forced out of the group he helped to found due to the board of directors feeling he was over confrontational and hostile. Sexual Revolution In the beginning of the 1980s, the gay population in America was experiencing a sexual revolution. Especially in New York City, gay men and women finally felt free enough to come â€Å"out of the closet† and express pride in who they were and the lives they wished to lead. This sexual revolution coincided with the outbreak of HIV/AIDS and the only prevention advocated by medical personnel at that time was abstinence. This solution was unacceptable to a population of oppressed people who had finally found freedom through sexual expression. Kramer and his alter ego Ned Weeks, did his best to talk to his friends, send out information, and get government assistance to convince the gay community of the real and present danger of the as yet unnamed plague that was being transmitted sexually. Kramer was met with resistance and anger from every side and it would take over four years before any of his efforts found success. Plot Synopsis The Normal Heart spans a period of three years from 1981-1984 and chronicles the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in New York City from the perspective of the protagonist, Ned Weeks. Ned is not an easy man to love or befriend. He challenges everyone’s viewpoints and is willing to speak and speak loudly, about unpopular issues. The play opens at a doctor’s office where four gay men wait to be seen by Dr. Emma Brookner. She is one of the few doctors willing to see and attempt to treat patients who come to her with the varied and bizarre symptoms with which AIDS first presents. By the end of the first scene, two of the four men are diagnosed positive for the disease. The other two men are worried about possibly being carriers of the disease. (This bears repeating: It is important to note that the disease is so new it doesn’t have a name yet.) Ned and a few others found a group to help spread awareness of this new and deadly disease. Ned butts heads with the board of directors frequently because the board wishes to focus on helping those already infected and in trouble while Ned wants to push ideas that may prevent the spread of the disease - namely, abstinence. Ned’s ideas are distinctly unpopular and his personality renders him incapable of winning anyone to his side. Even his partner, Felix, a writer for the New York Times is reluctant to write anything having to do with this supposed homosexual disease that only seems to affect gays and junkies. Ned and his group attempt to meet with the governor of New York several times with no success. In the meantime, the number of people diagnosed and deceased from the disease begins to rise exponentially. Ned wonders if any help is ever going to come from the government and strikes out on his own to go on radio and TV to spread awareness. His actions eventually lead the group he created to force him out. The board of directors does not support his insistence on having the word â€Å"Gay† on the letterhead or return address on mailings. They do not want him doing any interviews (since he wasn’t voted president) and they do not want Ned as the main voice speaking out for the gay community. He is forced out and goes home to help his partner, Felix, now in the final stages of the disease. Production Details Setting: New York City The stage is meant to be â€Å"whitewashed† with statistics about the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic written in plain black lettering for the audience to read. Notes about what statistics were used in the original production can be found in the script published by the New American Library. Time: 1981-1984 Cast Size: This play can accommodate 14 actors. Male Characters: 13 Female Characters: 1 Roles Ned Weeks is difficult to get along with and love. His ideas are ahead of his time. Dr. Emma Brookner is one of the first doctors to treat the new and nameless disease infecting the gay community. She is under-appreciated in her field and her advice and prevention ideas are unpopular. The character of Dr. Emma Brookner is confined to a wheelchair due to a childhood bout of polio. This wheelchair, along with her illness, is a subject of discussion in the  dialogue of the play and the actress playing her must remain seated in the wheelchair the entire production. The character of Dr. Emma Brookner is based on the real-life doctor Dr. Linda Laubenstein who was one of the first doctors to treat patients with HIV/AIDS. Bruce Niles is the handsome president of the support group Ned helped found. He is unwilling to come out of the closet at work and refuses to do any interview that might out him as a gay man. He is terrified he may be a carrier of the disease as so many of his partners have been infected and died. Felix Turner is Ned’s partner. He is a writer for the fashion and food sections of the New York Times  but is still reluctant to write anything to publicize the disease even after he is infected. Ben Weeks is Ned’s brother. Ben swears he supports Ned’s lifestyle, but his actions often betray an underlying uneasiness with his brother’s homosexuality. Smaller Roles David Tommy Boatwright Craig Donner Mickey Marcus Hiram Keebler Grady Examining Doctor Orderly Orderly Content Issues: Language, sex, death, graphic details about the end stages of AIDS Resources Samuel French holds the production rights for The Normal Heart. In 2014, HBO released a movie of the same name.

Cerebravascular Disorder of Stroke Research Paper

Cerebravascular Disorder of Stroke - Research Paper Example As the report stresses  Stroke is defined as per the World Health Organization to be a clinical syndrome consisting of â€Å"rapidly developing clinical signs of focal (at times global) disturbance of cerebral function, lasting for more than 24 hours leading to death with no apparent cause other than that of vascular origin†. There are two primary forms of stroke which are ischemic and hemorrhagic.  In an ischemic stroke the blood vessel gets blocked generally by a blood clot that results in a region of the brain to be deprived in oxygen and cause it to stop functioning. Ischemic strokes have resulted for 80% of all the known cases of strokes. A hemorrhagic stroke takes place if a blood vessel which carries oxygen and other nutrients to the brain bursts causing blood to spill into the brain. A transient ischaemic attack (TIA) is a form of stroke attack which symptoms and signs get resolve within 24 hours.This discussion highlights that  Stroke attack leads to mainly limi tations in the functionalities of its victim. These can be in the form of motor skills, cognitive deformities, sensory skills as well as emotional issues. Motor skill can include the inability of the stroke victim to move from one place to another.  The memory and sensory levels of the victim are also impaired. These victims need continuous support and care from the people. The stroke victims face problems with their physical and cognitive and sensory skills.