Courage

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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RIP, Renee Pelletier Costa

March 12, 2013 Courage

This morning I received the sad news that Renee Pelletier Costa passed away after a long and courageous battle against cancer. Mood music:  Release – Arena di Verona – Verona, Italy 9/16/2006Pearl JamPearl Jam Twenty Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Updates:  Renee’s memorial service will be held Saturday, March 23, 1:30 at Faith Lutheran Church, 360 South Main [...]

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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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Addiction — And Security Journalism — Showed Me That Anonymity Matters

April 27, 2012 Addiction

Journalists like me have never been particularly comfortable using anonymous sources. When you don’t name names, someone inevitably questions if your source is real or imagined. But after dealing with some addictions in recent years, I feel differently about it. Mood music: There are some important distinctions to be made from the outset: I’ve written [...]

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When The Going Gets Tough, I Disconnect

April 17, 2012 Addiction

I’m leaving my weekly therapy sessions with a headache these days, because I’m working through another deeply embedded flaw in my soul. Mood music: It’s not nearly as bad as the therapy I had in 2004-2006, when I had to endlessly churn the sewage of my childhood memories in search of clues on what was [...]

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Small Victories

April 15, 2012 Coping tools

Duncan and I took my father on a little walk around Deer Island yesterday. Dad still struggles from the stroke he had last year, but days like yesterday I admire his fighting spirit. Mood music: I’ve been reluctant to take him on long walks, mainly because I don’t want him taking a nasty spill on [...]

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Godspeed, Barney Gallagher

April 12, 2012 Adventures in writing

Update: Barney Gallagher passed away this morning. He was a wonderful man who lived his life in a way we should all learn from. Godspeed, Barney. Like everyone else who has worked at The Eagle-Tribune, my life has been touched by Barney Gallagher, an old-time journalist who reminded us young ones what the profession was about. [...]

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Beyond Boing Boing: Xeni Jardin Inspires Me

March 5, 2012 Courage

I’m a long-time reader of the Boing Boing site and have always been particularly fond of the work of editor Xeni Jardin. Her openness in talking about her breast cancer makes me appreciate her all the more. Jardin’s greatest strength as a writer has always been her ability to focus on the human side of technology, [...]

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The Most Important Book Ever Written About Sharon Tate And The Manson Murders

February 25, 2012 Addiction

I’m reading a book called “Restless Souls: The Sharon Tate Family’s Account of Stardom, the Manson Murders, and a Crusade for Justice,” written by Tate family friend Alisa Statman and Brie Tate, niece of Sharon Tate. It may well be the most important book written on the Manson case. Mood music: The simple reason is that it captures [...]

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Sorry, But You’re Wrong

February 9, 2012 Adventures in writing

I got a lot of response to yesterday’s post about possibly killing this blog (Thanks for all the support!). Everyone asked that I continue, but supported my idea of expanding the topics. I still have decisions to make, but y’all gave me some great ideas on how to take this forward. I did get one [...]

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