A Splintered Mind

One of the greatest blessings of Life2.0 is joint custody of my children. Every two weeks I get my girls for two weeks. Every two weeks my life is tossed upside down by their joyful demands on my schedule. They are so cute; I love every minute of it. Well, there are some dramatic minutes that I'd rather live without. Aside from that it is all joy. Then they switch over to their mother's and my life is filled with a vast emptiness. With two entire weeks to myself you'd think I'd live it up during all that free time. Time to write. Time to draw. Time to do freelance work. Time to be busy. Time to socialize… Instead, I spend the first few days out of sync with life. After seven months of this I've discovered that I experience Empty Nest Syndrome each time my daughters leave. Then I adjust. Then I get productive. Then I get the girls again and start all over. By Wensday of this week I began my adjustment. Landed a job interview. Updated my résumé. Finally sch...

If you have an iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, or smart phone, you have a very effective reminding tool at hand. Here's a quick tip for iOS users. My favorite place to put reminders is on the Lock Screen. I use an app called Sticky Notes by TapFactory Apps. It's analogous to affixing a sticky note on your computer monitor, but this one won't peel away in the wind when somebody walks by. I fire up the app, pick a nice background, then type up my note. In this example I'm reminding myself to go to bed instead of being a night owl. (My insomnia has been killer lately.) Then I save it to the camera roll, find the picture in the Photos app, tap on the share icon at the bottom left, and then tap on "Use as Wallpaper". Position it as you wish, tap "Set", then "Set Lock Screen". Voilá! Every time you turn on your iDevice you will be greeted with that reminder. Over time, you will become desensitized to the note and will need to create a new ...

Here is a quick iPad sketch before my daughters' show began. I ran out of time before I could add the pond in the background. What I like most about this sketch is simply that I did it. I sat on a hillside surrounded by noisy people and drew without fear. I even continued when several folks stood in front of me as I tried to draw, something that I couldn't have done years ago. Compared to my skill of the past, this is such a pitiful sketch, but that doesn't bother me. I am confident I can reawaken my old skill with practice. Much like the hacky sack , I can't let my low tolerance for frustration deny me the joy of developing a skill. ~Dˢ

I mentioned to somebody yesterday that I was writing an eBook and they said, "What's that?" Their friend explained to them that it was an electronic book, but they were still a bit confused. I don't blame them. I'm confused almost every day. Take today. My girls are back with me for another two weeks of fun and splendor. We start off the morning with me in my bathrobe. And we finish the morning with me in my bathrobe. I'm still in it, actually. Somewhere in my morning I was supposed to get ready, but between trying to wake up the Leprechaun and answering the Goblin's incessant calls for attention with her Mii creations , I was lucky I managed to eat. "Daddy! Look at this! Hahahahaha! I made you fat!" "Daddy! Look! You look like a girl!" "Daddy? What do your eyebrows look like? Can you come here so I can see? Thanks!" Oh, I did manage to follow the Apple Keynote. Good thing that was on my ToDo list. I would hate to...

I read a reader's manic tirade on Facebook last night. She was frustrated especially with Depression and ADHD and how it affects her quality of life. I offered words of comfort, but sometimes these things need to be worked out by the individual. I don't know her life so I really can't offer good advice. In the absence of good advice and the support of friends & family, you have only yourself and the God that made you in the end. It can feel very lonely. That's where I've been at lately. I've said a lot of prayers, searched myself, and applied every tool I can think of to stay above Depression. I've never felt so fragile. And, like my reader experienced, it's really starting to tick me off. Since I'm busy writing my ADHD book today, I wanted to quickly touch base with you folks and share two things I did to recently overcome a recent bout of Depression. My goal was to lift my spirits and move my life forward. If you follow my blog, you kno...

Driving with the windows down and breeze in your hair sounds like a perfect, summery thing to do unless the inside of your minivan is a toasty 101°F. Then the open window is as vital as breath. My minivan was so hot today that I felt as if I was riding a fireball along I-15 with a trail of vapor and smoke behind me. So why didn't I put on the air conditioner? I'm still in between jobs and trying to stretch the miles I get per gallon. The furnace on wheels was a necessary evil, though it fried my brain. Today's errand was whisking my Leprechaun across the valley to have her braces tightened. I found a couch by a window down the hall and around the corner. It's normally a busy corner to camp out in because it is right by the elevator, but most people had the good sense to stay indoors today, so the hallway was silent and untravelled. I used my TrueHDR app to take a picture of the indoors and the outdoors and sent a tweet out into the world , then got busy thin...

I decided to learn to play with the footbag this summer. I never learned hacky sack (as we called it) as a kid, nor did I play soccer, so my foot to eye coordination needs a lot of work. However, in November of 2010 I injured my pelvis, so I'm not very limber. On top of that, I spent the past twenty years with a chronic motor tic disorder. It's abated finally, which has allowed me to be more physical, but my coordination was damaged by it. In short, I'm terrible at footbagging!! However, I am determined. Getting fit is one of my goals for Life2.0. I'm biking and running, and maybe footbagging can play a part. I loaded up Youtube, found a great footbag tutorial , and started working on the front kick. Today I kicked and caught the footbag five times in a row in each hand. Such a feeble goal and it took two days of practice !! Laughably pathetic, but I'm thrilled still the same. As soon as I have the basics down, I'll start practicing in the sun. I need more e...