Bill Brenner

Romney’s Lesson: When You Try To Be Someone Else, People Notice

by Bill Brenner March 22, 2012 Communication Skills

This post is about what happens to politicians when they try too hard to be someone else. Mitt Romney is in the thick of it. John McCain was four years ago, as was Al Gore eight years before that. Mood music: It’s not just a problem with politicians. Musicians have fallen in the trap. So have writers. I’ve been there myself. In the desperate search for success and fame — and getting elected — it’s…  [Read More]

Rock School Would Have Helped Me

by Bill Brenner March 21, 2012 Addiction

Watching my kids in the Scouts makes me wonder what I’d be like today had I not been so against trying everything my parents suggested. Mood music: My parents were always trying to get me to join different organizations: The Jewish Community Center off of Shirley Ave. in Revere, Camp Menorah, etc. I rebelled against all of it. My parents were right to push these things on me. I was in the fourth grade and they…  [Read More]

What Else Is There?

by Bill Brenner March 20, 2012 Addiction

When I’m wallowing in self-pity, I like to ask that question. It always goes back to those moments when I’m not particularly enjoying the clean and sober life. Mood music: For the most part, it’s gotten easier. When you don’t spend all your time thinking about how to pull off a binge, you get to experience a much fuller life. You enjoy the company of people more. You pack a lot more living into your…  [Read More]

Can You Justify Dropping The N-Bomb In Anger?

by Bill Brenner March 19, 2012 Communication Skills

The question in today’s headline should sound absurd to you because it is. There’s never an acceptable reason to use a word that’s so hurtful and hateful. And yet people justify it all the time. Mood music: Last week I pointed out an example: an anti-Obama bumper sticker that said “Don’t Re-nig.” I lamented that racism was alive and well, and the response was interesting. One friend was (and probably still is) angry with me….  [Read More]

About Father Canole And Keeping The Faith

by Bill Brenner March 18, 2012 Communication Skills

Life as a Catholic in the city of Haverhill, Massachusetts can be a bitch, sometimes. Here we are waking up to news that another priest, Rev. Robert Canole, has resigned from his pastoral duties in disgrace. We look up to our priests and count on them for inspiration. We go in a confessional with them and spill our deepest, darkest faults. Then some of those priests let us down hard. http://youtu.be/IaymN2mkaC0 According to my local…  [Read More]

Racism Is Alive And Well

by Bill Brenner March 16, 2012 Communication Skills

I’d like to think those who dislike Obama simply have differences with him over economic and social policy. I’d like to think that in 2012, people don’t hate based on skin color. Then I see something like this:

Things Kids Say, March 16, 2012

by Bill Brenner March 16, 2012 Uncategorized

The children continue to let their guard down and say the most interesting things, apparently unaware — despite this being one of several installments in a series — that I’m lurking nearby, writing it all down. Mood music: “All this time I thought you wrote that song,” Sean, after hearing John Lennon’s “Beautiful Boy” on the radio. I frequently call both kids beautiful boy, much to their chagrin. “John Lennon was shot to death by…  [Read More]

Breaking Up (The Day) Is So Very Hard To Do

by Bill Brenner March 15, 2012 Communication Skills

When you have the OCD blinders on, you can do the work of three highly-motivated people. You can go for hours and hours, your ass sinking into the seat like an anvil. The problem is that your muscles and mind are a tangled wreck when you stand up many hours later. Mood music: Any doctor or therapist will tell you to get up every 25 minutes or so and walk around for a bit. Maybe…  [Read More]

Such A Waste To Lose One’s Mind-Fulness

by Bill Brenner March 14, 2012 Communication Skills

A combination of OCD and ADD has given me a bitch of a handicap: Living in the moment and being present has become tough as nails. Health experts call this elusive thing I search for “mindfulness.” Mood music: Here’s what happens: When the OCD runs hot, I develop tunnel vision. I focus in on the task I’m either doing or thinking about. That’s good if you have a major work project to complete. It’s bad…  [Read More]

I’d Like To Blame My Parents, But…

by Bill Brenner March 13, 2012 Communication Skills

I’ve been frustrated lately over my inability to balance how I express emotions. Forget balance — I suck at emotion, period. Mood music: With my kids I get too emotional at times, showering them with kisses and telling them I love them a lot more than they probably care to hear. Duncan’s refrain is usually, “I know already, Dad!” With my wife I’m not emotional enough. When times get difficult — and even when they’re…  [Read More]

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