amiable_geek

It really happened!!

Mon, 10 Oct 2005 17:49:59 GMT

I was planning on posting something here today, about how I forgot my ritalin this morning, and how much of a difference I noticed at work without it. But when I got home, I got some really big news, so let's forget about the ritalin.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0809556286/102-8134904-1444903?v=glance&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance

Woo-hoo! It's really out. Amazon and Barnes & Noble are selling my book online. I don't know if it's in bookstores yet, but I'm hoping it will be soon.

So, this is the end of any chance of me doing anything productive today. I'm going to just sit around and grin.

Where we're at now

Thu, 29 Sep 2005 02:05:02 GMT

Okay, it's been what, a week? I got a prescription for 20mg generic. Started off with half a tablet twice a day. I didn't notice anything. However, those around me did notice a change. I was my same old self, except I was doing everything faster. I left the house last Friday to go into Philly three times, because I had to come back twice for the things I'd forgotten. But I came back quickly, at least. And I managed to make it to the train on time.

So after the first few days, where it seemed the stimulant effect was interfering more than it was helping, I went up to 20mg. I don't think I'm any more stimulated, but I do think that I'm focusing better. We'll see.

Oh, and on an unrelated note, Kaylie still has a slight limp from her fall down the stairs a couple of weeks ago. It's slow healing. Poor puppy.

Is this thing on?

Sat, 24 Sep 2005 01:04:39 GMT

Okay, I suppose it's a little early, yet, but I'm not really sure what impact the Ritalin has had on me. For example, today, I had to come back to the house *twice* because I'd forgotten things. Fortunately, I still made it to the station in time to catch the train.

Oh, well. I guess I'll just keep on for a bit and see what comes of it.

The time has come

Tue, 20 Sep 2005 13:09:27 GMT

Well, I'm leaving for the doctor in a few minutes. Finally going to get a prescription for Ritalin or something. Then, I will have a really huge decision to make.

No, not to take the pills or not. I'm going to do that. But before I do, I'm going to drive out to the local nuclear power plant (it's really very close, so that's not a problem), and get them irradiated. That way, when I take the pills they will hit me with some fabulous and as-yet unknown side effects. (Yes, I'm hoping for this whole Peter Parker thing, more or less.)

The huge decision, though, is which way do I go when the Ritalin-induced superpowers hit me? Do I want to be a hero, and fight for Truth, Justice, and People for the American Way? Or a villain, and use my radiation-induced hyper-focus to lead me on a monomaniacal quest for world domination? Okay, I realize I've already got some competition there -- the POTUS is already doing that. But how can a good ol' boy from Texas, even if he has the backing of the US government, possibly compare with the phenomenal abilities granted by NUCULAR POWER!!!!

I don't know. I'm just not sure which would be the real me. I'm kinda inclined towards going for a flawed super-villain that gets redeemed at the end. But maybe that's because of the whole Sylvia Plath thing I'm toying with in the writer portion of my life.

Uh-oh. Outta time for musing. Gotta go. More on this later.

A big step

Fri, 02 Sep 2005 03:09:43 GMT

Okay, I think I've found something I might want to document on here. I finally took the step of getting an evaluation for ADD, and it confirmed that I do have it. So, I've been giving it some thought.

First and foremost, I've been finding out a lot about ADD. The title of it focuses on one aspect of it. Attention is only a sliver of a bigger problem that is more accurately Executive Function Disorder. Namely, a problem with my frontal lobe.

I got a book, "ADD Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life" for my birthday. Reading through it, I'm amazed at just how much of an impact it's had on my life. It seems that *everything* is affected by this. Okay, it's not true, but it seems that way.

So, what am I recording here? A journal of discovery? My journey into enlightenment? Nah. I'm thinking about getting some drugs -- Ritalin or Strattera or something -- and thought it might be interesting to start posting here before I started taking them. I don't know if there will be any noticeable changes, but we'll see.

So, here I am, at the baseline. I haven't even called my doctor about the prescription, yet. I'm not sure when that will be. But this is a start.

Is it me or the meds?

Fri, 03 Jun 2005 01:58:07 GMT

Well, today I have a cold. Apparently, though, it hasn't affected my ability to write somewhat coherently. Or so I'm told. I commented on Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, and seemed to get my point across. I was saying that some of the dialog in episode IV: A New Hope needs to be reworked, as a result of what is in Ep. III. Here's what I was thinking:

...

INTERIOR: DEATH STAR -- HALLWAY LEADING TO MAIN FORWARD BAY.

Ben hurries along one of the tunnels leading to the hangar
where the pirateship waits. Just before he reaches the hangar,
Darth Vader steps into view at the end of the tunnel, not ten
feet away, his light saber in hishand. Ben ignites his own
lightsaber in response.

VADER: I've been waiting for you, Obi-Wan. We meet again, at last.
The circle is now complete. When I left you, you were the master,
and I was FUCKING ON FIRE!

BEN: Well, yeah. About that....

VADER: I mean, jeez, couldn't you have done anything?

BEN: You were already lost to the dark side. There was nothing I could do.

VADER: Nothing? *Nothing?* I had flames coming out my nose! Anything
would have been better than walking away and letting me burn. Hell,
I'd have been happy if you'd whipped it out and pissed on me.
Anything. Because I WAS ON FIRE!

BEN: Ummmmm.....

VADER: I have to wear this stupid bondage leather suit all the time
because when you left me I WAS ON FIRE!

BEN: All right, Darth. It's been twenty years. Get over it.

VADER: Get over it? It was bad enough you cut my legs off. But my dick
burned off, too. I haven't been laid in twenty years. And people
wonder why I go around torturing prisoners and blowing up planets?
Hell, I can't even pee standing up any more.

BEN: Water under the bridge, Darth.

VADER: Fine. If that's the way you want to be about it. But I'm not
paying back that twenty I borrowed for Padme's birthday present.

BEN: Clearly the dark side has a greater hold on you than even I realized.

...

I finally caved

Thu, 19 May 2005 00:15:44 GMT

Okay, I finally made my life journal account. We'll see how often I use it.

I certainly spend enough time online, so it's not like I'll be put out by that. But if I'm going to write, I should probably concentrate more on my novel, I guess. I'm supposed to do 1.5 pages a day minimum -- that's about 375 words. I can usually hit that on average, but I'm not writing every day. I'm up to 24,000 words, with a target of 75,000-80,000 words. So I'm about one third of the way there. Not bad. It's in three sections, I've written half of the first section, all of the last section, and none of the middle section.

Oh, well, what the hell. Let's do this and see what comes of it.