Communication skills for the crazy

If You Saw It on Facebook, It’s Probably a Lie

by Bill Brenner February 14, 2013 Communication Skills

People on Facebook love to get all self-righteous. That’s fine by me, as long as the emotion is based on truth. The problem these days is that people are increasingly gullible, accepting memes as gospel when they are in fact bullshit. Mood music: [spotify:track:1lnRSUq00nBW9fpNeICZQN] One example is a picture of a letter reported to be written by a U.S. service man claiming, essentially, that Starbucks hates soldiers and won’t let them have their coffee. The…  [Read More]

My Current State of Mind

by Bill Brenner February 1, 2013 Communication Skills

Please indulge me as I share my current state of mind with you. Oh, yes, I have all kinds of things floating around in this brain of mine this morning. Mood music: [spotify:track:0dzqA1tqLjh0jpakWZb505] I’ve often been asked if the anti-depressants I take have any unpleasant side effects. Not really, but I’ve discovered the hard way that if you don’t chase the pills down with enough liquid and they get stuck in your throat, the result…  [Read More]

Stop Whining and Learn From Your Pain

by Bill Brenner January 8, 2013 Communication Skills

In my early 20s, I adored the Pretty Hate Machine and Broken albums from Nine Inch Nails. I still listen to them on occasion, but for the most part I grew tired of them because all Trent Reznor’s screaming about pain, loneliness, depression and rage got old. He never told us how to go from hopelessness to wisdom and personal growth. Mood music: [spotify:track:5ttpMaPCxRceWlR1kziBDZ] That’s how Kerry Cohen, an author I’ve come to admire, feels about Elizabeth…  [Read More]

One Good Thing About Westboro Baptist Church

by Bill Brenner December 20, 2012 Communication Skills

The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) hates homosexuals. In fact, its members hate pretty much everybody. When terrible tragedy strikes, they praise it as God’s retribution for all the things they’re against. Mood music: [spotify:track:695TkRS0pEiVKg48sBiINi] That alone is reason for me to hate them back. But these people take it to even lower levels by picketing the funerals of fallen soldiers. Now they’ve threatened to picket funerals for the tiny victims of Friday’s Sandy Hook Elementary…  [Read More]

The OCD Diaries in Book Form

by Bill Brenner December 12, 2012 Adventures in writing

Erin and I are making plans for 2013. One is to turn The OCD Diaries into book form. Mood music: [spotify:track:0PexPf8SzDe0xu0OS3p7ya] Almost since the beginning of this blog, readers have suggested that I do an OCD Diaries book. Flattering as that suggestion is, I sort of balked at the notion. This began as a memoir of sorts, and that might have been worth making a book out of. But the subject matter quickly evolved, and…  [Read More]

Five Takeaways From Election 2012

by Bill Brenner November 7, 2012 Political discourse

It’s no surprise to see my friends’ reactions on Facebook, Twitter and elsewhere. Obama supporters are elated; Romney supporters are bitter. One person lamented that “things will never be OK again!” Mood music: [spotify:track:5Qy0zLjQy3czoj0yZ7DFkk] I feel for those who wanted a different outcome. This election season was particularly heated among friends and family. I saw a lot of relationships tested and damaged. Some were accused of hate speech, bigotry and conspiracy-spinning. That certainly happened in…  [Read More]

Stop Thinking You Have the Whole Story

by Bill Brenner November 2, 2012 Communication Skills

I’m watching a lot of people go apeshit this morning over a restaurant receipt someone posted online. Apparently a single mom was too poor to tip her server on a meal that cost $138.35. Have a look: Mood music: [spotify:track:40xbKf7Zdf27jO00tcqTkG] It looks real enough, but I’ve grown skeptical of most online pics these days. It’s easy to fake images these days. But real or not, somebody posted it to get a reaction, so I’ll take…  [Read More]

Another ‘Crazy Mike’ Facebook Page? Jerks.

by Bill Brenner October 30, 2012 Political discourse

Last year, I found a disgusting Facebook page making fun of someone with a serious mental illness. The site was taken down, but now there’s a new page dedicated to the man locals call Crazy Mike. I want the creator and those who like the page to know something. By embracing such a page, you are making a much broader statement: either that you don’t understand the suffering a person experiences from mental illness or…  [Read More]

I Wish Hard Rock Stations Had More Class

by Bill Brenner October 22, 2012 Music therapy

It’s not easy being a rock ’n’ roll fanatic some days, especially when it comes to the choices I have on the radio dial. Oh, don’t get me wrong: The Boston area has plenty of great stations, especially RadioBDC and Rock 101 in Southern New Hampshire. But some radio stations, in the Boston market and beyond, that play my kind of music have to ruin it by appealing to the lowest common denominator. Mood music:…  [Read More]

Lance Armstrong Was Robbed

by Bill Brenner October 17, 2012 Communication Skills

I just saw a report that Lance Armstrong is stepping down as chairman of the Livestrong charity he built to inspire and empower cancer sufferers. It comes after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency reported “overwhelming evidence” that Armstrong engaged in doping while he was a professional cyclist. Armstrong was robbed. Mood music: [spotify:track:7Htb2GqRgWZjIkDmWpRrbD] Much has been made of doping in professional sports. Frankly, I couldn’t care less if athletes use steroids. So what? The media acts like…  [Read More]

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →