Love

Erin’s Avett Brothers Birthday Present, Part 2

by Bill Brenner June 30, 2011 Family

This post is for Erin on her birthday. Mood music: http://youtu.be/3uy4tK5q0KE I know I gave you your birthday present early: an Avett Brothers concert almost a month ago. But I’ve been thinking about this band lately and realize that one reason I like them so much is that a lot of their songs make me think of you. A lot of their songs are about love that gets tested only to grow stronger than before,…  [Read More]

I’m Getting Too Old For This, But It’s Worth it

by Bill Brenner June 3, 2011 Love

Erin and I drove 90 minutes north yesterday to see The Avett Brothers perform in Portland, Maine. By the end of the night, we realized we just don’t have the concert-going energy we had in our early 20s. Mood music: The band didn’t begin until 9, and we were surrounded by people in their 20s and early 30s. The smell of pot hung in the air, giving us headaches. It used to be the smell…  [Read More]

The Killer — And Opportunity — In Every Marriage

by Bill Brenner June 1, 2011 Faith

Several divorces in our circle of family and friends has made Erin and I a little uneasy in recent months. Mood music: There are the usual reasons for this: Complications develop when you’re close to both people in the marriage that’s breaking up. But something else happens: You start to worry if your marriage is next. We’ve been together for nearly 18 years and probably love each other more today than we did the day we…  [Read More]

Why This Day Will Not Suck: May 25

by Bill Brenner May 25, 2011 Lighthearted

Every few months, I try to step out of the craziness of daily life and take stock in my life. The struggles will always be there, but I have so much to be grateful for. With the sun finally shining bright after a long stretch of bad weather, I’m feeling like nothing can keep this from being a good day. Mood music: –Whatever this day hurls at me, I have a lot of people in…  [Read More]

Back Story Of THE OCD DIARIES

by Bill Brenner May 14, 2011 Addiction

Since I’ve been adding new readers along the way, I always get questions about why I started this thing. I recently expanded the “about” section, and that’s a good starting point. But more of a back story is in order. Mood music: Before I started THE OCD DIARIES in December 2009 with a post about depression hitting me during the holidays, I had always toyed with the idea of doing this. The reason for wanting…  [Read More]

Mothers

by Bill Brenner May 8, 2011 Family

Here’s a celebration of the moms in my life — the ones I can’t live without and the ones I don’t talk to anymore. Mood music: <object width=”640″ height=”510″><param name=”movie” value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/eKLAt3XO03s?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0″></param><param name=”allowFullScreen” value=”true”></param><param name=”allowscriptaccess” value=”always”></param>[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKLAt3XO03s&fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0]</object> There’s my mother. We don’t talk these days ( I covered the reasons in a post last year) but I want to thank her for doing her best with the tools she had at the time. Having kids like us wasn’t…  [Read More]

Had He Lived

by Bill Brenner May 3, 2011 Gratitude

Today would have been my brother’s 45th birthday. I sometimes wonder what he’d be doing and saying in the crazy world we inhabit today. Mood music: <object width=”640″ height=”510″><param name=”movie” value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/ZADcJdFY-0w?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0″></param><param name=”allowFullScreen” value=”true”></param><param name=”allowscriptaccess” value=”always”></param>[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZADcJdFY-0w&fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0]</object> Let’s go back to 1984, the year he left us. He probably would have been amused to find me hanging out with Sean Marley and listening to Motley Crue and Def Leppard. He would have noticed my widening girth…  [Read More]

To Sean on His 10th Birthday

by Bill Brenner April 21, 2011 Children's issues

Sean turns 10 today, and this is my birthday message to him. Let’s start with the appropriate mood music, a song you are very fond of: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpOxjOj0zhk&fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0] You entered the world on Earth Day, 10 years ago. Wow. A full decade. As I wrote to you last year, you were graced with a beautiful Mom and a Dad with just a few kinks in him. I would always try to hide my OCD, depression and addictive behavior from you, but…  [Read More]

Stuff My Kids (and Their Friends) Say, Part 5

by Bill Brenner April 18, 2011 Children's issues

Welcome to another installment of Stuff My Kids Say. Life is full of daily struggle and it can be hard to stop for a moment and appreciate one’s blessings. Fortunately for me, my kids are good at pulling me back down to Earth. And, I realized this past weekend, so are their friends. Mood music: Primus, “John the Fisherman” Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 of this series were based on random moments around the…  [Read More]

The Pink FEAR-ies Strike Again

by Bill Brenner April 15, 2011 Children's issues

Since Duncan’s favorite color is pink, I get pretty pissed when I see stories about the high-and-mighty going nuts because they mistake a color for a gender or sexual orientation. Mood music: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwQ0fVShIZk&fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0] The latest example is this J. Crew ad, where a mom is painting her son’s toe-nails hot pink: People have been going absolutely crazy over this, suggesting that the boy will be scarred for life and need thousands of dollars of…  [Read More]

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