I have a thing about remembering people’s birthdays. I don’t know how I do it, honestly. I have a lot of my friends’ birthdates floating around in my head. I know people’s birthdays who don’t even know who I am anymore. Anyway! On most mornings, I think about what the date is, and riffle through …
Dr. Q
Almost eight years ago, I went 80 or so hours without sleep and had a psychotic break. I was diagnosed as bipolar and started going to an outpatient hospital (that’s the extremely truncated version—this post isn’t about that). I was assigned a psychiatrist. The guy was an asshole. I was technically an adult, but I …
Conquering the lies
Since last fall, my suicidal thoughts have progressively gotten worse. I started seeing a therapist last November, and I’m sifting through trauma and shame that’s never been addressed. I am fairly certain this is the reason for the increase in frequency and severity of my suicidal thoughts. For some reason, the thoughts were bad the …
My favorite drug
I’ve written about Toastmaster’s in a few posts recently, but in case some people don’t know what Toastmasters is, I’ll give a brief overview. Toastmaster’s is an international organization, and their mission is to help people become better public speakers and better leaders. There are thousands of clubs throughout the United States. I joined my …
A pointless post
Yesterday, I woke up at 1:00 AM after six hours of sleep (yes, I went to bed at 7:00—thanks Geodon). Waking up that early can go one of two ways. I can be energetic and witty and happy all day (very rare). I am energetic and witty, but easily annoyed and incredibly irritable, pretty much …
The most beautiful word
I know a lot of words. I’ve always been a voracious reader, which has indubitably proliferated my vocabulary…. Anyway! I don’t actually write like that. Point is, my vocabulary is ginormous. But there is one word that is more beautiful than all the rest combined. One monosyllabic word. A word with only two letters. No. …
Loving and being loved
I’ve been completely MIA for the past week or so. Everything is okay. I honestly haven’t felt like writing, mostly because I’ve been reading some books that a friend recommended. One is called Safe People and the other is called Boundaries. Both books were incredibly enlightening, and I’m sure I will write a post about …
My authentic self
Earlier this week, I posted a piece called Taking off the mask. It's about using humor to avoid vulnerability and to keep people at a safe distance emotionally. After some reflection, I’m afraid I inadvertently downgraded the benefits of humor. The cliché saying that laughter is the best medicine is not far from the truth. …
Taking off the mask
I saw the live-action Aladdin last week with two boys I babysit. One of the boys is ten years old and the other one is seven. We had the following conversation on the way home: D (10): Who do you think was the funnier Genie? The cartoon or this one? Me: Well, Robin Williams played …
Just a book idea: Part 2
Here is the second installment of my book The Ultimate Guide to Not Sucking at Human Interactions: One person’s painful account of being awkward Here's Part 1, in case you missed it. Part 2: You probably didn’t actually move to Alaska, so we can pretend like you never saw chapters 4 through 7—Also, tips on …
Between Two Poles 