In the spirit of Mother’s Day, I decided to use one of my oldest son Ben’s quotes as the title of this blog post. As a resident of British Columbia Canada and also an immigrant-in-transition, it is not possible for me to travel to the United States for any reason without risking refusal back into Canada, so until I am fully immigrated I must remain here. Most of the time this is not a problem as I love it up here and it is more “home” to me than any place I have ever been, but it also means that I cannot leave to go see family on a whim; they have to come to me.
My son Ben currently lives in Washington, and tries to come up whenever his military unit gives him a weekend off, but due to several recent issues it has not been possible for quite some time. I also had not had the opportunity to meet his new wife Megan as she didn’t currently have a passport, so imagine my surprise to see them standing at the door on Friday, announcing they were here to spend Mother’s Day weekend with me! I later learned that this plan had been in the works for over a month and that everyone else knew but me, as it was supposed to be a surprise..and a surprise it definitely was! Aside from having them show up on our doorstep, I was also extremely impressed that Mike was able to keep the secret for as long as he did, as deception is not one of his strengths. I also learned that my daughter Tanya had been avoiding calling me for the last few weeks because she was afraid she might spill the beans. At any rate, we had a fantastic weekend up here with them. We took them out to dinner on Friday, watched several movies together, talked and generally socialized a bunch, I made them pizzas on Sunday afternoon, and then we all went out for Mother’s Day dinner at Encore. Ben gave me a most awesome 8 x 10 photo of his recent graduation from the latest military school he attended, and Megan gave me a gorgeous collage of ultrasound photos of their unborn child! Both will be displayed on the wall as soon as possible.
All in all, I had the best Mother’s Day that I can remember in a long time. It was great having them here and regrettable to see them go, but they did promise to come up one more time before leaving for Kansas, so we will look forward to that. I must say that I absolutely agree with Ben’s sentiments and I am stealing his quote: My family is way awesome!!
Monday 9 May 2011
Friday 6 May 2011
Delusions of Grandeur
In the spirit of the creation and maintenance of this blog, I thought it was perhaps time I defined a few things, primarily the title, and also the purpose for why I am here annoying the world with my various ramblings. As a person muddling through life with initially undiagnosed Attention Deficit Disorder until the age of 25, I had always thought of myself as abnormal, different, and a little bit psychologically challenged. This is not to say that I am mentally ill; it has more to do with the fact that when one has concentration problems, one generally either does not remember doing things they have in fact done, or else one clearly remembers doing things that have not been accomplished. Either of these less than ideal options, if it happens often enough, will affirm to the individual a questioning of one’s sense of mental stability on a minor scale.
I think it is quite interesting and also slightly ironic that, after my diagnosis and full treatment of Attention Deficit Disorder, I actually went back and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology. I have thought a lot about this since finishing my degree, and I have come to the conclusion that perhaps the very thing that attracted me to the field of Psychology is the fact that I have been in a position of questioning my sanity from time to time. I wonder if I hadn’t done so..if I hadn’t been in a position to wonder about the existance and purpose of the human brain and why mine seemed to function differently than others’..whether it ever would have occurred to me to enter the field of Psychology in the first place. What I am suggesting here is, perhaps we must experience certain things in order to narrow down a direction to our lives.
With all of that said, the title of my blog “Delusionarium” refers to the idea of the delusion, which is actually defined as a belief that is either mistaken or not substantiated, yet held with intensity of conviction. Although my meaning of delusion has nothing to do with Psychopathology per se, it occurred to me that by using the term, it would also reveal a little more about myself without having to look very far into the blog. It also seems to me that words ending in “arium” suggest containment of various sorts; a solarium is a room that uses the warmth from the sun and confines it into a certain area, and a sanitarium (now an out-dated term) refers to the housing of those recuperating from illness, usually assumed to be mentally based. Considering all of these definitions, a “delusionarium” could be defined as my own unsubstantiated thoughts and opinions which I feel very strongly about, that are confined in my brain. Although initially a jumbled mess, these ramblings (or musings) are sorted and organized in the brain before re-emerging in the virtual world. The phrase “musings from the Virtual Couch” is simply another way to describe my “Delusionarium” in a definition format: They are my own unsubstantiated and sometimes mistaken impressions of life as I see it, with a psychologically-based flair. As for the purpose of this blog..well, that is a simple matter. I write to keep my sanity..
I think it is quite interesting and also slightly ironic that, after my diagnosis and full treatment of Attention Deficit Disorder, I actually went back and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology. I have thought a lot about this since finishing my degree, and I have come to the conclusion that perhaps the very thing that attracted me to the field of Psychology is the fact that I have been in a position of questioning my sanity from time to time. I wonder if I hadn’t done so..if I hadn’t been in a position to wonder about the existance and purpose of the human brain and why mine seemed to function differently than others’..whether it ever would have occurred to me to enter the field of Psychology in the first place. What I am suggesting here is, perhaps we must experience certain things in order to narrow down a direction to our lives.
With all of that said, the title of my blog “Delusionarium” refers to the idea of the delusion, which is actually defined as a belief that is either mistaken or not substantiated, yet held with intensity of conviction. Although my meaning of delusion has nothing to do with Psychopathology per se, it occurred to me that by using the term, it would also reveal a little more about myself without having to look very far into the blog. It also seems to me that words ending in “arium” suggest containment of various sorts; a solarium is a room that uses the warmth from the sun and confines it into a certain area, and a sanitarium (now an out-dated term) refers to the housing of those recuperating from illness, usually assumed to be mentally based. Considering all of these definitions, a “delusionarium” could be defined as my own unsubstantiated thoughts and opinions which I feel very strongly about, that are confined in my brain. Although initially a jumbled mess, these ramblings (or musings) are sorted and organized in the brain before re-emerging in the virtual world. The phrase “musings from the Virtual Couch” is simply another way to describe my “Delusionarium” in a definition format: They are my own unsubstantiated and sometimes mistaken impressions of life as I see it, with a psychologically-based flair. As for the purpose of this blog..well, that is a simple matter. I write to keep my sanity..
Monday 2 May 2011
A Dreary Monday Funny
When I was growing up in Stevens Point Wisconsin, my father had a multitude of jokes that he used to tell and, as we were mostly Polish in nationality, most of the jokes reflected that. I would just like to point out before I begin that, this in no way should be taken as offensive against the Polish–in fact, I love my Polish heritage and have always seen these jokes merely as affectionate examples of a love for a culture. With that said, out of all of the jokes my father has told me over the years, this is the one that stands out in my brain, as it was also by far my favorite of the bunch. I hope it is received well here also..
The Man and the Paint Can (joke told in the 1980s before the invention of certain technologies)
A man got a job working for the city as the person who paints the lines on the roads to separate two-lane traffic, and he had been employed for three days. The first day he painted 5 miles’ worth of lines, the second day he painted 3 1/2 miles, and the third day he painted 1/2 mile. The boss called him into the office and inquired, “What is going on with you?? The first day you did GREAT, you painted 5 miles worth of lines. The second day was still pretty good at 3 1/2 miles. But the third day, you only painted 1/2 mile. What gives?” The man gave his boss an incredulous look and simply stated, “Do you have any idea how far away I was from that paint can???”
HAPPY MONDAY!!!
The Man and the Paint Can (joke told in the 1980s before the invention of certain technologies)
A man got a job working for the city as the person who paints the lines on the roads to separate two-lane traffic, and he had been employed for three days. The first day he painted 5 miles’ worth of lines, the second day he painted 3 1/2 miles, and the third day he painted 1/2 mile. The boss called him into the office and inquired, “What is going on with you?? The first day you did GREAT, you painted 5 miles worth of lines. The second day was still pretty good at 3 1/2 miles. But the third day, you only painted 1/2 mile. What gives?” The man gave his boss an incredulous look and simply stated, “Do you have any idea how far away I was from that paint can???”
HAPPY MONDAY!!!
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