lighthearted

25 Things That Won’t Really Piss Off Friends With OCD

by Bill Brenner March 5, 2014 Lighthearted

The Dorm Stormer website has a photo spread of about 25 things it claims will piss off friends with OCD. As someone who does have OCD, let me offer my two cents. Mood music: Straightaway, the photo spread strikes me as dumb: I don’t feel irritated or insulted. It lacks cleverness and real humor. OCD humor done well is something I enjoy. If you can make me laugh about the condition I live with every…  [Read More]

Downworthy: The Answer to All Those Stupid Headlines

by Bill Brenner January 27, 2014 Lighthearted

I loathe the link-bait bullshit that’s taken over my Facebook newsfeed. Upworthy. Opposing Views. Even The Huffington Post. They’re all guilty to varying degrees. Call me a snob, if you will. I was a journalist for 20 years, and I like my headlines straightforward and to the point. All I see these days is shit that goes something like, “Michael asked his mom for a Pepsi. What came next will blow your mind.” Mood music:…  [Read More]

Depressed Web Servers and Other Amusing 404 Pages

by Bill Brenner December 16, 2013 Lighthearted

I write a lot about my own episodes of depression and that of others. But I’ve never written about a web server suffering from it. That is, until the student chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) gave me reason to do so. The students got creative with a 404 File Not Found page. Instead of the usual 404, you get a depressed web server going on and on…  [Read More]

Mental Disorders on Sesame Street

by Bill Brenner November 20, 2013 Lighthearted

The image below is a brilliant exercise in humor, an important coping tool for getting through all life’s difficulties. I’ve always believed the folks behind Sesame Street should be doing more to educate children on mental health, starting with some hard but necessary lessons in disorder. I share this meme for their benefit. Class is in session. Source: fodrizzle

Curse of the OCD Guitarist

by Bill Brenner May 8, 2013 Lighthearted

For all it’s power as a tool for staying in the moment, there’s one thing about my guitar playing that’s set off a big OCD trigger. Mood music: [spotify:track:4vhTm7eeqJAW4Iq3grUutI] Is it the need to play constantly, every day? Nope. Is it the nagging obsession to acquire a Gibson Les Paul? Nah. I have that obsession, but it’s not OCD. It’s the desire of many guitarists, except for those who already own one. Here’s my problem,…  [Read More]

May Day!

by Bill Brenner May 1, 2013 Lighthearted

Happy May 1st, everyone.

But I Made All These End-of-the-World Plans

by Bill Brenner December 21, 2012 Lighthearted

Here I sit at 6 a.m. on December 21. We’re all still here as I expected we would be, despite all the end-of-Mayan-calendar, end-of-the-world talk we’ve been listening to for what seems like an eternity. I’m actually a little disappointed, because there were a few things I was looking forward to, such as: Mood music: [spotify:track:3lP4QgKArqyUAMDFPv3zFk] Avoiding the age-old problem of two kids who refuse to get out of bed on time during the school…  [Read More]

People Who Talk About Themselves and Those They Torture

by Bill Brenner December 14, 2012 Lighthearted

I admit I haven’t always been the best listener. God knows I try, but sometimes my dysfunctional brain shuts down after more than 15 minutes of someone telling me about everything happening in their lives. I look like I’m listening, but I’m only quiet and staring at you because I’m numb. Mood video: I’ve invested a lot of time and energy into changing that. I took a class about ways to stay in the present…  [Read More]

The Dumbest OCD Gag Gifts Ever

by Bill Brenner November 27, 2012 Lighthearted

Those who know me understand that I’m not bothered by humor that pokes fun at OCD. As long as there’s plenty of education available for people to manage the more insidious parts of the disorder, I’m fine with having fun with the quirks. My only requirement is that the jokes be clever. Some time ago, I wrote about clever OCD gag gifts. These gifts, though, I never want to find in my Christmas stocking. Not…  [Read More]

WebMD’s Symptom Checker: Crack for OCD Heads

by Bill Brenner November 16, 2012 Lighthearted

WebMD has a fantastic thing called the Symptom Checker. Have a headache and numbness in the toes? Just punch it into the symptom checker and get a diagnosis. Mood music: [spotify:track:79DVDD46pdqwjYucn91fny] In the hands of an OCD patient, this thing can provide hours of obsessive-compulsive fun, as you pinpoint every ache and pain in your body and have the Symptom Checker tell you what’s the matter. The first thing you do is point to parts…  [Read More]

← Previous Entries