A Splintered Mind

WARNING: This column contains sarcasm, humor, and a bit of wit. Just a bit. Being launched into the temporary spotlight of Blogger's Blogs of Note has been a fun ride and a great way to end the first year of this column. I have had my words read by thousands of people and I have met others who, like me, laugh a bit at our ADD selves as we bumble about through life. I'm not alone after all, and that is a wonderful feeling. I've also been introduced to various viewpoints which have given me reason to look at old problems in a new light. Unfortunately, a very vociferous minority disagrees with me. I don't take issue with their opposite viewpoint. I just don't think much of their debating tactics. Mostly they've "cleverly" quoted my words back at me, or misquoted them back at me as is usually the case. Sometimes, though, they tell me what I "really" mean. In fact, this minority doesn't really read my words as much as try to read m...

I would like to thank Blogger for selecting my column as a Blog of Note . I am thrilled to find so many like minded individuals making the comments section an intellectual treat. Curse you! I haven't been able to get anything done for a whole week. One of the comments from last week's column was a terse reprimand by a woman (I assume) who urged me to not think so much and do instead. Ignoring the fact that her short comment judged my life by only the words of a humorous column I write each week, she also showed a lack of understanding of the AD/HD mind. Not think so much? If there is any one defining aspect of AD/HD it is the lack of contemplative thought before action is taken. We are masters of the instantaneous impulse. Take today's subject matter for an example. There you are, grieving family members around you, the organ plays in the background, and you've got this really funny joke to tell. Happen to you? No, me neither, but I do know a guy who appa...

I've been wondering how to tackle today's column since I'm experiencing what I call the "slow tick". Whereas most people think of flailing arms and jerking necks when the word "tic" comes to mind, slow ticks are like being played in slow motion. There is an odd disconnect in my mind as I am aware of what to say in realtime but my mouth has a hard time keeping up. Walking becomes fun as well. Brain: Shift to the right. Let's avoid that wall. Me: Wha? Brain: Shift! Shift! Me: The wall? Boof! It's not quite unlike wading through jello. I can see where I need to go but the world is all woogily and I'm unable to get through it with any manner of celerity. But get there I do. I refuse help whenever possible. I'll be darned and knitted if I'm going to let this stupid disability get in my way. Don't be fooled by my bravado. The disability gets in the way all the time. Like this morning as my sweet four year old tried to help me ...

The number three symptom in Hallowell and Ratey's Diagnostic Criteria for Attention Deficit Disorder in Adults is procrastination. 3. Chronic procrastination or trouble getting started. Adults with ADD associate so much anxiety with beginning a task, due to their fears that they won't do it right, that they put it off, and off, which, of course, only adds to the anxiety around the task. As I reread that snippet I found myself laughing. Surely *I* wasn't afraid of any projects. Wasn't it often another ADHD trait, fear of boredom, that steered me away from the things I was supposed to be doing? Wasn't easy distractibility usually the main culprit? Or perhaps fixation was at fault? ADHD people tend to get fixated. So instead of rushing to repair the roof before it rains we're more likely to spend the afternoon indexing our 20 gigabyte MP3 collection with ID3 tags, researching model decal application techniques, or participating in intellectually st...

I didn't like this book. A lot. So because I'm behind in my reviews for 2005 I'm going to be brief. This was Dorothy L. Sayers first book and I am amazed it sold enough to give her editor faith in her second novel. Why you should read this book: If you'd like to know where the most boring parts of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire found their inspiration, you'll find them in this story's conclusion. Why you shouldn't read this book: The most boring parts of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire found their inspiration in this book.

What happens when you mix a Harvard symbologist named Robert Langdon in with the Knights Templar, a pre-Christian fertility cult, other ancient and modern secret religious organizations, Renaissance art, and more controversial religious theories than you can shake a book at? You get Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code . Brown's writing style is not heavy or overly descriptive, making for light reading that has proven popular with commuters and busy readers world wide. The characters therefore tend to be flat and they change only as events change. Since the story occurs over a short period of time, that doesn't allow much time for character growth. However, Brown is able to weave in complicated religious theories and cryptograms in a way that doesn't impede the stories progress as the characters piece together the mystery along with the reader at a brisk clip. This story is clearly meant to be entertainment, engrossing and enjoyable enough to cause me to read it in one...