Bill Brenner

The Brenners Invade The White House

by Bill Brenner May 17, 2010 Addiction

The author on returning from a journey that would have been impossible a few years ago. It’s 5:30 a.m. and I’m running on less than four hours of sleep, so excuse any typos that follow… I’m back in my “sunrise chair” the morning after returning from one hell of a road trip that included a private tour of the White House West Wing, a stay at buddy Alex Howard’s place and a stay with our…  [Read More]

How a Binge Eater in Recovery Packs for a Trip

by Bill Brenner May 12, 2010 Addiction

The author’s program of recovery from addiction makes travel more interesting. Here’s how. Mood music for this post: “White Trash Circus” by Motley Crue: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1w5eegIa97s&hl=en_US&fs=1&] Traveling was easier when I had my face in the junk food. I would just buy whatever poison I wanted to binge on and that was that. Of course, in doing so I had practically no drive to get out there and live. A couple years into my 12-Step Recovery…  [Read More]

Road Kill (a Family Adventure)

by Bill Brenner May 12, 2010 Addiction

The author on why he’s taking the family on a 10-hour car ride. Mood music for this post: “Heading Out to the Highway” by Judas Priest: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoDbAd4fYBA&hl=en_US&fs=1&] A few years ago, this would have been impossible. I never would have put the whole family in the car and driven 10 hours south to Washington D.C. Too scary. Too much planning. Someone might break into the house while we’re gone. Well, the house part is a…  [Read More]

The Fear of Current Events

by Bill Brenner May 11, 2010 Children's issues

Digging through storage boxes the other day, I found old, 20-plus-year-old copies of Time Magazine, Newsweek, Mother Jones and a host of others. There had to be four years of them, well over 200 volumes. And so I was reminded — again — of all the fear I used to carry around. As I’ve written before, fear and anxiety were byproducts of my particular brand of OCD, just like my addictions were a byproduct. The…  [Read More]

Just Like a Car Crash

by Bill Brenner May 11, 2010 Fear and anxiety

The author is in a pretty good mood for a guy who cracked up his car last night. Mood music for this post: “Stigmata” by Ministry: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbMbTx6HyvE&hl=en_US&fs=1&] Last night, on the way home from an OA meeting, I cracked up the car. Badly. The good news is that nobody was hurt, though my car is another story. The front end is smashed in. Oddly enough, the headlights, while popped out of place, are intact and…  [Read More]

Peace With the Past

by Bill Brenner May 10, 2010 Gratitude

As bad as the past was, the author is no longer afraid to face it. Mood music for this post: “Yesterdays” by Guns N Roses: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57Fic0XjrSs&hl=en_US&fs=1&] The Guns N Roses song above is about letting the past go. “Yesterdays got nothing for me,” Axl Rose sings. I used to feel that way. But lately I’m finding it’s OK to go back into the past. I thought it would be better to leave past relationships in…  [Read More]

Granny

by Bill Brenner May 9, 2010 Family

The author introduces his Granny, a funny gal with an edge. Mood music: http://youtu.be/9mcloY9BlOU During my storage dive yesterday, I found a bunch of photos of me and my late great-grandmother, Jesse Wiener. She was Granny to me. My first memories of Granny are from the basement in the old house in Revere. I’ve written about that basement as my hiding place, but a decade before I took the space over Granny lived there. We…  [Read More]

Digging Through Trash, Finding Treasure

by Bill Brenner May 8, 2010 Depression

I’ve slowly been digging through a bunch of old boxes I put in storage in my father’s Saugus warehouse, and while I have yet to find my old journals, I did strike some gold in today’s rummage fest. The biggest find of all: my late brother’s high school yearbook, which he never lived to see. Near the end of the book they put a page in tribute to him. Also in the pile: A very…  [Read More]

OCD Humor

by Bill Brenner May 8, 2010 Lighthearted

It’s Saturday morning and my brain is fried (but sober and abstinent, so it’s all good). I’m waking up to some videos that do a delicious job of poking fun at my condition. Since I love videos that poke fun at my condition, I must share: Ringu the OCD cat: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyHaSYvwrY4&hl=en_US&fs=1&] OCD granny: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEleD6klvhc&hl=en_US&fs=1&] As Good As It Gets: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44DCWslbsNM&hl=en_US&fs=1&] Howard Hughes OCD (not meant to be funny, but with my sense of humor, well…)…  [Read More]

Shakin’ the (Empty) Money Maker

by Bill Brenner May 7, 2010 Addiction

The author on keeping sane when you gotta make do with less. Mood music for this post:”What’s It Gonna Take” by Motley Crue: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wredTXeMS64&hl=en_US&fs=1&] It’s easy to come undone when the money supply tightens up. Just about everyone I know is feeling the financial hurt these days. In our case, we chose to take on the world of financial hurt. Erin has a cool editing business that deserves a chance to flourish and we had…  [Read More]

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