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Mental Illness

Coming Unpeeled

. I wrote a six page Christmas letter from hell and sent it to all of my friends and family for whom I actually had... Read more »

20 Tips To Help You Successfully Parent A Child With ADD and/or OCD

If you don't know much about ADD or OCD but would like to learn, I have linked to different sources of information where the... Read more »

Finding Kung Fu In The Contrast

Anyone who knows me at all knows that I am made up of a lot of contradictory qualities; I am opinionated but open minded,... Read more »

We are the life of the party, every single time.

Back when I didn't have the plague was pretty nice.  I was going to start going down this really bitter one car highway but... Read more »

Shooting Arrows Into The Darkness

I have been watching "Lost in Austen" over and over for a week.  But not the whole thing (because that would be crazy!) just... Read more »

Happy Isn't Just A Mood

Twice, as a parting shot from people exiting my life, I have heard "I'm sorry you're such an unhappy person..."  and: "I hope you find... Read more »

Helium Freaks Me Out, But Not More Than Balloons

On Tuesday, in the middle of the afternoon, my stomach started to feel uneasy.  I have clocked in many hours with my body warped... Read more »

Joint Locking: The New Zen Meditation

I believe I am the first person to ever utter the following words:"I just don't believe in edible genital iconography."*Which is a truly inappropriate way... Read more »

Drawing Imaginary Lines

I have been invisible.  Hidden in the folds of other people's dirty laundry, undetected, unremarkable, fading into denim, left without a ladder on a... Read more »

Side Effects Like Death

Today is the first day on my new psyche med cocktail: 40mg Paxil (this is what I've been taking the last year and a... Read more »

Hotter Than Hades

The garden is kicking out fistfuls of beans, a sprinkling of tomatoes, and pickling cucumbers.  Incidentally- some kind soul sent me a copy of... Read more »

I Might Be Short A Few Watts

My very dear friend Chelsea said it's getting weird around here at Dustpan Alley.  I objected to the adjective and asked her if she was... Read more »

Six Months In Review

It is six months from the beginning of this year.  I was feeling the march of change; I was hearing the kick-ass jump rope... Read more »

We Keep On Living Until We Die

Tonight it's going to be one big word soup.  I need to avoid exhaustion so I'm going to go to bed before 11pm for... Read more »

Hope Is Wanting, Hope Is Desire

This is treasure more wonderful than gold.  I almost wrote "more wonderful than God" and erased it, but then told you about it anyway because... Read more »

See? I'm Still Right Here.

Before I say anything else, I would like to direct your attention to the following statement I made in my last post:"If anyone wants me,... Read more »

The Neccessity For Diabolical Lying

I am weighing a lot of things tonight.  I have, in a stunning little Face Book note I was basically writing to no one... Read more »

Waking Up The Bones

Sometimes it takes losing your footing completely in order to find your way forward.  Sometimes you have to lose a lot of things to... Read more »

If Ever There Was Light, It Was You

I started off wanting to write a kind of love letter to all of you who have been so candidly and wonderfully sharing yourselves... Read more »

ADD is hysterical parents and the health industry in resonance.

"ADD is hysterical parents and the health industry in resonance. Damage your kid for a fee."(Actual quote from a friend's parent on Facebook responding... Read more »

My Son, My Legacy

When I was ten years old, diving into my very first private locked diary- finding out what I might reveal if I knew no... Read more »

An ADD Diagnostic Test

This week Max will go for his second appointment with the psychologist who is going to treat him.  To be better prepared to set... Read more »

Child Psychologist Assessment

So I had this really long and well thought out post that I was almost finished with which discussed at great length the visit we... Read more »

Undiagnosed Childhood

We have returned from the first step in finding out what makes Max's world so difficult to navigate.  I brought the same list I... Read more »

Handing Over The Debit

A big part of managing mental illness is knowing what your limits are and drawing deep lines in the sand for other people to... Read more »

The Fight Is Coming

You know that moment in the movie when the real fight begins-THE FIGHT- the moment when the underdog suddenly kicks ass into gear to... Read more »

The Darkest Light

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Nothing Left To Say But Thanks

(for not killing me off yet)There are only a couple more days before this year comes to a close. The year is heavy in my... Read more »

Stress Relief Manual

In order to reach a goal that has eluded me for three years I think an important step is to list out as many stress... Read more »

The Last Apology

We always knew this was gonna be like clawing our way out of tombs. Nails breaking on the weather scrubbed stone. Skin scraping into the... Read more »

I'm Sorry For Every Punch You Threw

I am always apologizing. To friends, to family, to the helpless for not being able to help them, to the abusive for not being good... Read more »

You Can't Get Off This Train Without A Rope

Before true hideosity set in.A girl in her element.Chickens moult, people do too.Time for a 100% overhaul.For those of you who read the post I... Read more »

Anxious Bloom

A continuing discussion about anxietyI sometimes think that no matter how often or how carefully I try to explain what anxiety is for the clinically... Read more »

Panicked Mother Flees From Carolers!

(later found drooling under her own bed)About this time last year I confessed to my deep aversion of Christmas Carolers. What's great about this aversion... Read more »

How Much Is That Girl In The Window?

If I told you what just flew into my mind it would be "What if we could buy back who we used to be?". What... Read more »

Life Owes Us Nothing

I almost forgot about my notes to a suicidal friend who asked "But what meaning is there to life?" all the time. An urgent question... Read more »

The River Deep

A wonderful weekend has passed with friends and family. Light like liquid gold floods my blood. Bounty is everywhere if only I can contain it... Read more »

Games

a very special hellThe sentence I most dread at any social gathering is "Hey! Let's play a little game..."The minute I hear that sentence I... Read more »

Anxiety

What if you spent your entire life training for the last breath you take? What if every shadow had a face, a possible name, a... Read more »

Suicide For Beginners

It can easily be argued that an appropriate response to losing someone to suicide is to feel anger. Not only does the bible consider suicide... Read more »

Passing For Normal

In a routine that is as unbreakable as the rushing force of a rising speeding tsunami I cannot sleep until I have watched some old... Read more »

Spirit of Glass

Life is a circle and my spirit is glass as thin as breath."I am at one of the tables sitting with my wrists facing up,... Read more »

Cycling

A girl and her bike with some beer.I can tell that my mental life is in an unstable place by the number of times I... Read more »

Disordered

Disordered- adj. 2. suffering from or afflicted with a physical or mental disorder(This is my birthday post. I'm 38 years old today) What if you... Read more »

She's So Mental

I have, for years, wished to find (or create) a public place where mentally ill people like myself can go and feel comfortable in their... Read more »

Speech Impairment

Ten ways to prevent oneself from speaking:Duct tape mouth shut.Remove tongue.Take a lifelong vow of silence.Always have so much food in mouth that speech is... Read more »

Driving In My Sleep

I am just including this picture as a kind of distraction from the crazy talk that follows.I've been driving in my dreams again.* I actually... Read more »

PDX Zoo In Two Views

(no caged animal shots)#1: The Family View:Today is Father's Day and in all the hubbub of the Store closing and my brain malfunctioning I didn't... Read more »

Panic Rising

So we're having a "huge" cocktail party at the store on Friday. I put "huge" in quotations because, honestly, I have no idea who will... Read more »

The Blooming Dark

It is 8:34 pm on a Wednesday night and I feel like an ocean is closing over my ears. The laundry that has been piling... Read more »

A Post Dedicated To Herb And Danette

(who didn't know each other)May Your Crazy Vibrant Asses Rest In Peace"Happiness isn't something you're born with. It isn't something lucky people bump into. It's... Read more »

It's a wet wet world

Well, as you can see, Max's pillow is not yet complete. I stayed up until two am watching Gilmore Girls and embroidering like a busy... Read more »

Hey! Who turned out the lights?

(Listen up Tom Cruise, you creepy cucumber)Things have been getting a little dark around here. I know it's hard to believe, but I have not... Read more »

The Purpose Of Life

If you've ever been a maladjusted teen, or gone through any serious bout of depression, you may have asked yourself "What is the purpose of... Read more »

Six ways to get to Sunday

Me and my mouth. My greatest asset and the thing that continues to make one big huge ass out me. I've spent a lot of... Read more »

My Head Is 3/4 Combusted

Everything is wonky. Complicated. Annoying. Technology is failing me. My kid is so full of energy he is a ball of shrieking fire running from... Read more »

Messy Day-Messy Purse-Messy Brain

I woke up feeling messy. My brain was foggy and my house disordered. I put my keys in the trunk of my Vespa to... Read more »

Local Woman Suffocated By Her Own Mail

I'm pretty sure it multiplies in the night. I know it walks around the room. I have proof. But I'm not at liberty to tell... Read more »

And Now, With More Grace

My girls, Dot, Flower-bud, Henna, Pinny, and Pearl.Max and Philip in the snow near Klammoth Falls.Max at the county fair, two days ago.Every one of... Read more »

Madness (The Other Side of Normal)

We are feral beastsclawing at the dismal darkto get at your lamplightto feed from your torch of normal. We are the devil's drumbeata legacy... Read more »

The Most Annoying Question: "What Is Normal?"

(With Regards To Humans And Their Behaviors) I hate this question. It makes my stomach curl up and slap my lungs. I believe there... Read more »


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