Mental health

When The Music’s Over…

by Bill Brenner February 11, 2011 Communication Skills

Twenty years ago, as a student at North Shore Community College, I was obsessed with The Doors. My ambition was to be Jim Morrison. I’m glad I got over it. Mood music: Back then, I fancied myself a poet. I joined the Poet’s Society. I grew my hair long and started wearing a pair of leather pants I had borrowed from Sean Marley (back then, I could actually fit into them). I wore a suit…  [Read More]

Some Days, I Don’t Have My Shit Together

by Bill Brenner February 10, 2011 Children's issues

A lot of people read this blog because I always try to put a silver lining on tough stuff. But some days I fail to live up to the image. Yesterday was one of those days, when I let a 7-year-old get the better of me. Mood music: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mX8n5IiSB-8&fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0] You see, Duncan is like me in that too much winter messes with his mental balance. He’ll get goofy, sad and every emotion in between at…  [Read More]

The New Slavery

by Bill Brenner February 8, 2011 Addiction

I reigned in my addictions to food and alcohol. I brought the compulsive spending down to a dull roar. But the Android. The Laptop. Technology is a new addiction and I’m a slave. In some respects, it’s strange that this is now my lot in life. For most of my adulthood, I was never an early adopter of the latest gadgetry. I didn’t own an iPod until late 2008, and it’s one of the older…  [Read More]

So You Don’t Like Your Job…

by Bill Brenner February 4, 2011 Job discrimination

Wherein the author suggests people stop complaining about their jobs and be the change. Tons of Facebook people complain about their jobs. It makes me feel a little guilty because I love my job. OK, it doesn’t, really. But I’ve been in that place before and learned the problem was more me than the job. Mood music: [spotify:track:7E8QnPXVk1Sw9Gi06ENZ0i] There are days where I find it a bit unreal that I have the job I’m in…  [Read More]

Oddly Enough, This Day Will Not Suck

by Bill Brenner February 2, 2011 Mental health

I’m snowed in again and both kids are home. By 6:20 a.m. they were already fighting over the family laptop. I’m dead tired. But despite it all, I’m thinking this day will NOT suck. Here’s why. –The first reason is that I started the day by listening to one of my favorite Boston bands, The Neighborhoods, covering one of my favorite Cheap Trick songs: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3QHFAPcYTM&fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0] –The second reason is that I got a particularly damn…  [Read More]

Hackers Are People Too

by Bill Brenner January 29, 2011 Communication Skills

Written after ShmooCon 2011… I have a bit of an anti-social streak in me tonight. Since I’m at a hacker conference in D.C., some might say I fit right in. But then those people have a narrow, bullshit view of the hacker community. For those not educated in the ways of the hacker crowd, you have the good guys, who break stuff so it can be fixed and made more ironclad so the bad-guy hackers…  [Read More]

Depressed But OK With It

by Bill Brenner January 28, 2011 Coping tools

Actually, I’m not going through a wave of depression right now. But it does come and go and I’ve had to learn how to be OK with it. A new friend who found this blog told me she’s struggling with the concept. This post is directed toward her. It’s my attempt to answer some questions she asked me about it. Mood music: [spotify:track:3p7XSsT6AFs9lCkv6FtLbj] You mentioned that you have frequent bouts of depression medication and therapy…  [Read More]

Mental Illness and Cybersecurity

by Bill Brenner January 28, 2011 Communication Skills

I want to flag you all to a post I just wrote in my security blog, Salted Hash, on CSOonline.com. It’s based on the opening talk at the ShmooCon security conference in Washington D.C. The speaker, Marsh Ray, uses the fragile mental condition as the basis of a talk called “A paranoid schizophrenia-based model of data security.” The post I wrote could easily work as a post in this blog. But the most appropriate audience…  [Read More]

A Long-Silenced Voice Speaks

by Bill Brenner January 24, 2011 Gratitude

My dear friend Joy, who readers know by now as the widow of my late friend Sean Marley, sent me a note today — a message from the distant past. Mood music: [spotify:track:2GMC1BnQle6WRstUGUs3mc] She was looking through some of Sean’s diaries and wanted to share something he wrote about me 20 years ago: “Bill is turning 20. He is such a fantastic human being. He feels so much and cares about the world and its…  [Read More]

Do TV Shows About OCD Make Me Angry?

by Bill Brenner January 22, 2011 Communication Skills

A friend asked what I think of how OCD is portrayed on TV. The answer isn’t as cut and dry as you might expect. This is actually a good time to tackle the subject, because yesterday I got the following message from someone who read my “Red Bull Blues” post: My name is Rebecca and I’m a casting producer for the TLC show “Freaky Eaters.” We’re currently looking for ADULTS ADDICTED TO ENERGY DRINKS for…  [Read More]

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