Bill Brenner

Now This Takes Me back

by Bill Brenner March 30, 2010 Coping tools

By now, the reader knows I have a passion for heavy metal music, including Motley Crue and Ozzy. Today I stumbled upon an interview that I simply must share. Nikki Sixx, bassist for Motley Crue and author of The Heroin Diaries, has a new radio show called SixxSense, and one of his first interviews is with none other than Ozzy himself. They talk about their struggles with addiction and have some laughs about the 1984…  [Read More]

The Flood

by Bill Brenner March 30, 2010 Depression

The author on how the deluge Massachusetts is experiencing is as brutal on the mind as it is on basements. Mood music for this post: “Rain When I Die” by Alice in Chains: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMm0bpbOOkU&hl=en_US&fs=1&] This isn’t a new topic for me, since I’ve mentioned it many times. But New England is currently getting pounded by another deluge, so it’s worth repeating. This weather is brutal for people who suffer from depression. The dark-gray sky leaves…  [Read More]

Peace at the Scene of the Crime

by Bill Brenner March 29, 2010 Family

About the time I visited my old hiding spot behind a boat yard in the old neighborhood and found something I had lost. Mood music: During my sometimes-turbulent youth growing up in the Point of Pines, Revere, there was a place I used to go where I could be alone, smoke, drink and escape the world. It was behind the Fowler Marine boat yard, just past a field of 10-foot-high weeds. From the walkway of Gibson…  [Read More]

Pissing on God

by Bill Brenner March 27, 2010 Faith

The author gets a description of sin he’ll never forget. Before some of you get all over me about the headline, I should point out that I got it from a priest. He didn’t use the word piss, mind you, but he gave a talk on sin and redemption that involved copious amounts of urine. I’ll leave the priest’s name out, though I’ll tell you it wasn’t one of the priests from my home church,…  [Read More]

Saturday Morning Rituals

by Bill Brenner March 27, 2010 Family

Me and the kids have a tradition Sean calls Saturday Morning Ritual. Sean and Duncan yank me from my nice warm bed at 6 a.m. or earlier and we go downstairs to the living room for computer games, TV or Legos — sometimes all at once. I basically just sit in my chair by the window, drinking my coffee and watching whatever the kids are up to. I also repeatedly bark at them to keep…  [Read More]

The Bright Side of Exhaustion

by Bill Brenner March 26, 2010 Coping tools

Mood music for this post: “So Tired,” by The Beatles: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZf9ncOQ2xM&hl=en_US&fs=1&] I don’t particularly enjoy lying around. To be idle is to not be living. Even back when I was holing myself up in a dark room or dragging my mentally exhausted ass to the couch for hours at a time, I didn’t really like it. But back then I was pinned to the wall by depression and his partners in crime: fear and anxiety….  [Read More]

The Migraine

by Bill Brenner March 25, 2010 Fitness

Every time the author gets a migraine, he’s reminded of how every day used to be. Mood music: [spotify:track:2O2ii9OPZYh1NBXo9FtE0Y] Yesterday I came home from work with a slight headache. It was a hectic day, so I chalked it up to coming down from the whirlwind. As I made the kids’ lunches for the next school day and cooked supper, it got worse. By the time I settled in to play a game of Battleship with…  [Read More]

Health Care Reform Won’t Bring You Sanity

by Bill Brenner March 24, 2010 Political discourse

The author sifts through the noise from left and right wingers over Health Care Reform and comes away with something both sides SHOULD agree on. But they probably won’t. Mood music for this post: “Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise” by The Avett Brothers. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E22HprMQN8M&hl=en_US&fs=1&] When President Obama signed Health Care Reform into law yesterday, some of my liberal friends  on Facebook hailed it as the Second Coming. My conservative friends cried treason. One…  [Read More]

5 Songs for Sunday

by Bill Brenner March 21, 2010 Music therapy

Stuff I’m listening to on this fine Sunday afternoon. The Avett Brothers: “The Ballad of Love and Hate” [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7xUZkKd58c&hl=en_US&fs=1&] The Decemberists: “Sons and Daughters” [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5H8DwJI0uA&hl=en_US&fs=1&] Cheap Trick: “Surrender” [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th370QmFtk8&hl=en_US&fs=1&] Kiss: “Detroit Rock City” [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgsoJrzplUI&hl=en_US&fs=1&] Guns N Roses: “Patience” [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErvgV4P6Fzc&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

Cool Things Afoot

by Bill Brenner March 21, 2010 Uncategorized

Mood music for this post: “Shine” by the Henry Rollins Band: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAXL4R_keTY&hl=en_US&fs=1&] Back when I lived a life of fear and anxiety, the only thing worth doing was lying on the couch, eyes vacant and clicker in hand. What a waste. This morning I have a lot of cool things in motion that definitely would not be happening if I was still in hiding, alone with a brain spinning out of control about bad things…  [Read More]

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