A Splintered Mind

More bloggy goodness over at  ADDitude Magazine . This one from last June. I'm sure you've never been in such a hurry that you misread important information and bolted out the door in the wrong direction. But have you done it with a room full of witnesses? You can read all about A Day Early and a Holler Short  and how punctually challenged I am at the Family Guy .

There is one kind of reminder that I always fall back on when sticky notes, calendar apps, todo lists, and alarms fail. It is the visual reminder, and it can be as powerful as it is simple. One of the most notorious downsides of having adult ADHD is being forgetful. I can remind myself to do something every hour of every day of the week and forget to do it moments away from the deadline because something caught my eye. If I want to remember to bring something with me, sometimes there is nothing more helpful—short of stapling it to my forehead—than sticking it in front of the door. Is it time to return the library books? Stick them in a bag and lean the bag against the front door. I'll have to practically step on them in order to get out of my apartment. Do you need to deliver some important papers? Get a magnet and fix the papers at eye level right above the door handle. They'll smack you in the face when you open the door, When I forget to do this, I can leave important paper...

Parent/Teacher conferences and IEP meetings are the bane of my existence apparently. This blog from last May over at  ADDitude Magazine is all about those ADHD moments when your mouth starts running and your brain can't catch up. I'm sure you can't relate. Well, you probably can't. I mean who talks about their daughters' bra sizes at a table filled with female educators? Oh, I do. Read Oversharing Time for Daddy  at the Family Guy .

Almost exactly a year ago this little fiasco was posted to  ADDitude Magazine . Who needs sleep when you can stay up all night filling out the paperwork you promised to finish and turn in? That reminds me, the Leprechaun is eagerly awaiting a packet of papers I was supposed to have finished and submitted the other day. Good thing she can't fire me. You can read all about Who Needs Sleep Anyway?  over at the Family Guy .

I am sick today and alone with my thoughts. It's probably a nice day outside, but my shades are drawn, and I am in the dark. I'm quite happy, however, so you needn't worry about me. I'm as happy as one can be with a stomach bug. I wish I could say that the most notable thing about today was my success in a new freelance job. However, I can't shake from my mind this morning's vivid dreams. I overslept for hours, obviously because I was ill, and I dreamed . I haven't done that in a very long time. It was at first a very bland dream. I was at a baseball game and we were trying to convince some people to leave our seats. I had tickets to prove that the seats belonged to us, but one of my ticket numbers was damaged and the person refused to leave that seat. The entire dream comprised of me running around trying to find somebody to help me. It was very detailed and there was an awful lot of stair climbing and running around shouting at people in yellow ja...

In Pittsburgh there was a mass-stabbing at a high school today . At least twenty victims, but no deaths. In a small way this is comforting. At least parents in Pittsburgh will not be grieving for the loss of their children tonight. Since anti-gun people jump on mass-shootings immediately, though, I’m wondering if it’s too soon to demand all kitchen knives be regulated. Perhaps Eric Holder’s gun bracelet idea can be modified so that only authorized, federally registered owners can use knives. Also, we need to do something about weaponized No. 2 pencils. Those things are sharp, ya know. I’m kidding, obviously, but I wonder these things when I read about tragic news like this. It is too soon in the news cycle for us to know what meds the stabber was on or not, but mental illness seems to always be part of the story. Should we lock up all the crazy people just to be safe? Should I volunteer? We Volunteer To Give Up Our Liberties Already I was in court the other day. As I approa...

I learned the other day that my blog, A Splintered Mind is one of the top 60 disability blogs according to Alexa and curated by Dr. Joe Reddington . He removed blogs from the list that were featured on heavy hitting sites like CNN.com (where Alexa doesn’t break down individual stats for the blogs versus their parent sites) to come up with a balanced, more grassroots list of disability bloggers. Now, these sort of things go up and down. I was #27 out of sixty when he compiled the list, but I could drop off the list entirely next month. Who knows? I’m just excited to be there. Assuming you aren’t as excited as I am about my placement, however, what I thought was more interesting for you to see was the rest of the list. There are fifty-nine other bloggers on Joe’s list who write about disability. I recognized Brian Hutchinson’s ADDerworld , Tara McGillicuddy’s simply named “My ADD / ADHD Blog” , and my Twitter friend, Katy Rollins’ 18 Channels , but there were so many other blogs ...

I've been moody lately, like a cold night thick with moisture but no rain. I can almost feel the sky within me building pressure and pushing against my restraints, threatening to bring on a depressive episode to flood over all that have come before. Certainly, I have been under a great deal of pressure from outside influences. Freelance work has been non-existant, bills have doubled, and complications from the car accident last year continue to affect my quality of living. I recently had my left elbow operated on because it developed a lump exactly where my elbow was injured in the collision. Turns out it was a benign fatty tumor. That was a cheery discovery. Now I understand why my incision was so large when it was supposed to be a tiny li'l thing. I have no complaints, but relief that a tumor was caught before it could become malignant. However, recovery has been difficult as anybody who has had to function with one less arm can attest to. Since Anthropogenic Global Warming h...

Yes, my first blog over at ADDitude Magazine from a year ago was amazingly titled  “Lost Wallet” .   I think my editor did a snazzy job coming up with a catchier title. I can't believe it's been a year. Not much has changed. Well, I'm more handsome and I can do 150 sit-ups now, but as for ADHD I'm still a bit of a mess. When I had my roadside breakdown over my lost wallet, I never imagined that  the Family Guy  would be around longer than three months. Anyway, just remember, with adults with ADHD things aren't always put away where you think they should be. Speaking of which, I just found my earbuds—missing for two weeks—in my suit jacket. I had tucked them in the tiny vest pocket. I swear I checked that jacket a bazillion times… Fun stuff.