Coping tools

My Therapist Fired Me

April 29, 2013 Coping tools

For the first time in many years, I have no therapist. No shrink to call my own. The guy who worked me through five years of challenges officially fired me Friday. Mood music:  Metal Health (Bang Your Head)Quiet RiotMetal Health Maybe it was all the times I walked into his office with a huge cup [...]

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Julian Assange: Autistic Hacker Or Just An A-hole?

April 9, 2013 Communication skills for the crazy

Last year I wrote a post about a report suggesting autism is an affliction of the brilliant. One man mentioned as an example was WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has described himself as having the “hacker’s disease.” Yesterday, a reader’s comment inspired me to revisit the issue. Mood music:  Leslie Anne LevineThe DecemberistsCastaways and Cutouts The reader [...]

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Human Tourniquets And Freaks Who Love Them

March 29, 2013 Communication skills for the crazy

I originally wrote this three years ago. Looking at it again, it’s an important post describing a time when not even best friends were safe from my insanity. I’ve updated it for the present.  Mood music:  TourniquetMarilyn MansonAntichrist Superstar You know the type. They hang  out with people who act more like abusive spouses than [...]

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How To Avoid Becoming #RSAC Roadkill

February 19, 2013 Coping tools

Last year was a first: I had a stay-at-home vacation a week before flying out to a big conference. We took the kids to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and did a lot of relaxing. It worked so well I’m doing it again. Mood music: The kids are on their February school vacation, [...]

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The Snow Day Has Been Cancelled

January 22, 2013 Coping tools

Weather forecasters said we’d get a lot of snow, but only a dusting fell around here. School is on after all, and the kids will surely be disappointed. It goes to show that sometimes life doesn’t work out as planned. Mood music:  School – 1992/Live at ReadingNirvanaLive at Reading As a man with OCD, I’ve [...]

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Five Traveling Tips for OCD Heads

July 16, 2012 Coping tools

Staying healthy while traveling has never been easy for an OCD case like me. When I traveled to New York in June, I pushed myself to the point where I was lying on the floor of the airport as I typed away, waiting for the flight home. My LA trip the month before ended pretty [...]

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When Life Jerks You Around, Go To Au Bon Pain

July 13, 2012 Coping tools

Yesterday was one of those days that didn’t go according to plan. I took Duncan to Boston Children’s Hospital at Waltham to have his cast removed and wound up in Boston because of a scheduling glitch. Such things used to throw me into anxiety-fueled rages. Here’s what happened instead. Mood music:  On With The ShowMötley [...]

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Will E-Cigs Get Me Over Smoking?

June 14, 2012 Addiction

Update: July 26, 2012: I’ve been leaning on my crutch like a motherfucker during a trip to Las Vegas. But I haven’t touched the real thing or drank, which is progress. I’ve been using electronic cigarettes lately. Why, you ask? Let me try to explain. When I’m in the mood to feel sorry for myself [...]

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Cut Toxic People Loose

June 13, 2012 Coping tools

We all have dysfunctional friends and family. In some respects, they add color and fun to our lives. But sometimes you find yourself up against that special someone who constantly complains about others and puts you down. We want to accept the latter as much as we accept the former. But there’s a problem. Mood [...]

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Fatherhood Saved Ozzy, Eddie & Me

May 4, 2012 Addiction

Yesterday I watched the “God Bless Ozzy Osbourne” documentary, which focused heavily on how his addictions maimed him and his family over four decades. Though my addictive behavior pales by comparison, it still struck a chord. Mood music:  DreamerOzzy OsbourneThe Essential Ozzy Osbourne What hit me deepest is how Ozzy finally decided to get real [...]

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