Measles - It's Not Just a Rash, Dumbass

So, guess what?  The measles vaccine was developed around 1954, and by 1963 - almost ten years of testing - declared safe and effective enough  licensed in the United States.  This wasn't "rushed to market to make money."  This was tested, refined and prepared in order to stop kids from dying.

(child suffering from measles)

(Source: BBC)

Here is a chart showing outbreaks of the disease.

Here is a chart showing DEATHS from the disease.  Notice that Outbreaks plummets after the vaccine is introduced, and that deaths drops to nearly zero.

For the slow thinkers in the room, that means - because of vaccinations - kids stopped dying.

Now, we come back around to "Hey, I'm afraid of vaccines!" and suddenly, a disease that had been thought eliminated, explodes into the population again.

Because, you know, "Vaccines are dangerous!"

And where are kids getting sick?  Hm...

Funny how this works.  Cut back on vaccinations against measles, and get measles outbreaks.  Gosh, it's almost as if the vaccines do actually protect people from infectious diseases.  You know, like they actually work?  Imagine that.

"Vaccines are dangerous."  Yeah, unlike, say, measles....

  

So, no, I have zero tolerance for anti-vaxxers, who are willing to cripple and kill their own children and my children, too.  Fuck you, endangering my child.

End of Days - Gender Identity Gets People So Excited

I'm mocking this meme. The entire function of this meme is to play on the Western freakout about non-binary gender identity and non-binary gender expression.

You know, some civilized parts of the world don't have weird degenerate hangups about little gadgets that give women the convenience of peeing while standing.

But, really, what the original meme is saying, is that in Thailand, they had been pretty tolerant of alternate genders until about the 1990s, when the fucked up, intolerant values of Western society, got involved and non-binary genders became a public image (i.e. tourism) problem.

I mean, it's not as if we haven't had the "she-male" fetish here in the west for ages - we've merely pretended it didn't exist.

Hell, I bet a huge number of Westerners visit Thailand specifically to find themselves a Thai ladyboy for a few hours companionship...

You Love Trump - Jesus is Weeping

FUCK YOU, AMERICA!

45% of the electorate is embracing racism, bigotry, ignorance, tax-evasion, draft-dodging, hatred, arrogance, religious dogma over science, destruction of the planet we all live on, pride in rape and sexual assault, homophobia, philandering, lying, meaning marriages, cheating, scamming, inciting violence, calling for murder of opponents, bankrupting small businesses, nakedly declaring to let the poor starve and die - 

ALL OF THESE THINGS ARE WHAT DONALD TRUMP HAS DONE AND CALLED UPON YOU TO DO - AND 45% OF YOU EMBRACE THIS!

45% OF YOU ARE IMMORAL TURDS
WHO HAVE DECLARED YOUR LOVE FOR THE DEVIL!

JESUS IS WEEPING.

(image source - 2016-1103 - 9:30 AM PST)

Here’s how you can use the ‘Facebook effect’ to stop Donald Trump

Here’s how you can use the ‘Facebook effect’ to stop Donald Trump

From the article:

Although one can still choose to not participate in the discussion, a recent scientific study shows that if one wants the political candidate they support to win, they need to join in. We have all heard the rallying cry “Your vote counts.” Now that can be extended to “Your Facebook comments count.”

I'm so depressed now.  Basically, by posting the shit out of something, we can influence what others think about it - positive, or negative - in a real and tangible way.

That means, when I rant against Trump, or for Clinton, or against rape, or for D&D, then I'm influencing how other people think about these same things.

I always knew my writings were mind worms, but that was really just me being meta and all that shit.  The truth is that it's not meta, it's real.  And the more the mindless idiots of the world cheer on Trump, even if they're spreading total bullshit, the more mindless idiots fall in love with someone who is a total farce.

That kind of shit is just freaky.

Equally freaky is how easily I was able to share this. The website managers provided a really handy little button form me to click.  Now, I've spread the word about their word, and the word is the bird, and the bird is flying up your nose.

Real Feel Sex Dolls - Observations by this Woman

The level of thought put into the massive text bleed on that front page is impressive. Some makes sense, some makes me laugh, some... doesn't.

(image from Dolloza)

Some of the ideas are really interesting, and I would never have thought about the actual healthy therapeutic or playful experimental uses of a "real feel" sex doll.

For example, some men (or women) who don't have a lot of opportunity to practice gentle contact with a women would practice on a substitute. Examples from this site are breast play, cunnilingus, or even just plain cuddling (humans need cuddling and physical contact, because we are pack animals, while sex is a biological instinct, but different need).

Those ideas are actually pretty cool. I could see also how a man might beneficially experiment with things like DP, different positions, etc., to become more comfortable and thus be able to enhance the experience with a live partner.

The whole "three-way without emotional attachments" is a bit weird, but I can see how that might work, too. In a certain context, that's actually healthy, also. I could see how it might let curious partners experiment while avoiding serious social complications (like finding that special Other Woman).

So, I can see how a "real feel" sex doll can have some benefits for a healthy (and kinky) mind (male or female).

Vanity Fair has a great article on the history of the Real Dolls

Image from a Vanity Fair article

https://plus.google.com/+IcarusAnneRiley/posts/dSvsnhXDPxK

https://www.anniesdollhouse.com

This is just creepy - I mean, the "anime" thing is just a kink, but some of these are under 4 ft tall, which make it essentially pedophilia

Let's recap what it says about men:
1) Men require sex;

2) Men want women to be fuck toys, instead of companions;

3) Men want child-sized fuck toys - children.

Note, this isn't all men, but we are talking $5000 instruments of ejeaculation here, and not just some Internet porn site.

No, really, the first site had a size limit of 5'4", and I thought that was weird.

But, like ALL the sites I looked at (because people fascinate me, and I had to make sure it wasn't just one set of pervs), have a size limit of 5'4". Many of them offer fuck dolls as small as 4 ft.  That's just weird, until you realize you can get a 4 ft fuck doll with a child-like face.  That's not merely creepy; it's sick.

Then imagine guys putting make-up and school girl outfits and trying to seduce their fuck dolls.

That starts to feel like Silence of the Lambs, or that film where JLo played a mind-reading therapist, because Vincent Donofrio was putting makeup on women before he murdered them.

And you can put them in bondage. One of the sites suggests this. Um, if your putting a ball gag and armbinder on a 4'6" anime-eyed fuckdoll, before you talk dirty to it, and spank it, then you need some kind of clinical help.

(1) To avoid a bad and distracting pun, I said "however," instead of "but."

(2) Similarly, I did not use the word "coming."

Always Be Batman, unless...

I love the meme: "Always be yourself. Unless you can be Batman. Then always be Batman."

Except that Batman is damaged goods.  I mean, here is the guy who obsesses on how to destroy every superhuman on the planet, especially the ones who are his "friends" who save the planet on a regular basis.  Not merely obsesses, but then builds really elaborate plans, and sets aside vast stores of equipment to pull it off. Just in case he ever has to shutdown his friends.

And he won't ever kill. He won't ever kill guys who have murdered dozens or hundreds of people. Hey, Bats, you do realize you're kind of becoming an accessory to murder right? I mean, talk about "enabling."  If you're the only guy who can ever shutdown the Joker, then your repeated failure to keep him shutdown kinda means you're enabling him to murder again and again. Look, I totally respect drawing a moral line in the sand, but sometimes the Punisher really is the better option. How screwed up are you when the Punisher or Wolverine have the moral high ground?

"Bruce Wayne" isn't the secret identity. Batman is the real persona, and "Bruce Wayne" is just another character disguise Batman slips into when he needs to move among the norms and get things done via subterfuge and the gears of human machinery.  Sometimes, the Bigger Hammer of Batman isn't subtle enough, and pretending to be a charming and silly billionaire playboy has its uses.

(Model Mia Khalifa)

Ultimately, we want to be Batman, because he is human. We identify with his lack of superpowers. Batman is awesome, because he defeats everyone by out-thinking them. Batman plans ahead, trains himself, and then "cheats" like crazy to save the day, save the world, and be a hero. We all want to be that resourceful. We all want to believe that when the chips are down, a mere mortal could think of just the right thing to do, and save those we love.  Of course, we also all want to be billionaire masters of kung fu, smarter and more charming than everyone else, but the out-thinking bit is still why the meme says "Always be Batman," and not "Always be Iron Man."

But, to return to my point - Batman is damaged goods. Batman is the real person, and Bruce Wayne is the fiction he slips into when the hood comes off. The mind of Batman is obsessed and always whirling. It is obsessed with Justice, to be sure, but it ends up being a dark and distorted justice, invariably willing to grant "second chances" when useful and convenient, but ultimately unforgiving.

In contrast, Tony Stark is a guy who puts on a suit and tries to make a difference. Stark has gone public with his identity, and evokes at least as much change in the world out of the suit as inside the suit.

So, it's actually healthier to adopt a view of "Always be yourself. Unless you can be Tony Stark. Then be Tony Stark."

But, you know, I'm a girl, so I'm going with "Be yourself. Unless you can be Pepper Potts. Then be Pepper Potts."

Depression, You Old Fraud, Fuck You

Depression, my old friend. You have come back to see me. You have come back to spend time. You snuck up on me over the summer.  I didn't recognize that was you, until this week. This week, when I decided to change everything, and my energy burst didn't last. But, then you had been exposed. Sitting on my brain, my soul, like the great ugly bear that you are.

But you see, old fiend, the energy burst was just long enough: I have a plan. I have a goal. I have an agenda. I made these before you unveiled and pounced, old vile fool.

You forced the plans. We played your game. You dragged me down, and others noticed, even if I didn't. Change is inevitable, growth optional. I choose to grow, and having made that choice, you cannot stop me.

So, I say, Depression Old Friend, fuck you. You can sap my energy, but you cannot stop my plan. You cannot undo the growth I have set in motion, because of you.

The month goes to you, but the battle is mine.

Fuck you, Old Fraud. Fuck you, with a jackhammer.  

Every Sperm is Sacred - Masturbation is Murder

Science has determined that every sperm represents half the genetic make-up of a human being. That means that each and every sperm is a potential human being.

Therefore, the destruction of sperm is the destruction of human life.

God, in His Infinite Wisdom, has designed the male body to expel thousands of sperm with every ejaculation. Since we lack a method to save all these lost potential souls, we can only do as God has ordained, and limit the loss of life.

Therefore, in order to honor and protect life, henceforth the following actions are illegal for any man to do:

• Masturbate (alone or with a partner);

• Anal sex;

• Oral sex;

• Premature Ejaculation;

• "Nocturnal Emission" (whether at night, while sleeping, or not).

The evidence on presence of sperm in "pre-cum" for stimulated males is pending.

Only the following methods of sperm release shall be permitted to men:

• Vaginal orgasm with a consenting, adult, female, to whom you are lawfully wed.

Only the following method of "birth control" is acceptable, since all others require the murder of human life, either the slaughter of sperm, or the death of a fetus:

• "The Pill";

(Note that use of "the pill" might be morally objectionable under the "promotes being a slut" provisions, even when used by a lawfully married woman, prepared to provide documentation she is having sex only with her husband, and prepared to sign a pledge saying she will not become a slut, harlot, or loose woman.)

(Note also that we have given this a lot of thought. If you fancy you can think of a method of "birth control" that we haven't, then you're wrong and should seek medical attention - from a licensed doctor, or aggressive religious leader, whichever - for your deviancy.)

• First time sperm murdering men will be sent to self-control education classes;

• Second time sperm murdering men will be put on medications to control their unnatural, psychotic, murdering urges;

• Third time offenders will be shot by a robot-controlled gun, on a random timer, because every life is sacred, and guns don't kill people, people kill people, and the random timer means that God ordains the moment of death for the sick, murderous sinner.

Abstinace-Only - failure by design

Doubling-down on "abstinence-only" is like the athlete who says "Hey, smashing my foot with a hammer every morning, isn't making me run any faster. I clearly need a bigger hammer!"

That's what the bad shepherd does - double-down on policies that are killing the flock.

The good shepherd says "This isn't working, we need to try something else."

But, the sick truth, is the assholes who invented "abstinence-only" as the modern alternative to science, are very happy with the results, because these are exactly the results they had planned all along.

It's Class Warfare, Bitches

Where has the CO2 gone - debunking bullshit persuasive argument

You don't need to know why I occasionally see these articles by this Norm Rogers guy, but let's just say I find him amusing.

In one of his earlier pieces on American Thinker (a misnomer, if ever there was one), he outright came out and said - quite literally - that he hates "global warming people" because way back a million years ago, when he was fresh out of college, and shiny-eyed and optimistic, he went to work or volunteer for the Sierra Club. Whatever office he was in, there was an issue about some erroneous information in the "please give us money" letters they were sending out. Someone in management said "send it anyway, as it will get us bigger donations."

Well, poor little starry-eyed Norm was apparently devastated, and has forever decided that all environmentalists are really just materialist bastards, out to make money from trumping up bullshit atmospheric arguments.  

Science be damned.

Which is funny, because apparently he's an engineer by training, and incredibly well-versed in both science and persuasive arguments.

Which brings me around to my being amused by his incredible ability to construct persuasive arguments.

Persuasive arguments are just that - essentially opinion pieces with the intention to convince the reader or listener that a particular point of view is valid, or to believe certain things, or to take certain actions - the goal is to convince the audience of something.  

Television commercials are persuasive arguments - they want you to buy their product.

The assholes on Fox News give you persuasive arguments all the time - they care less about informing the audience than convincing the audience to believe certain things (often times these "certain things" are total bullshit, misdirection, or even outright lies), but I digress.

So, Norm Rogers has pet peeves against climatologists. Therefore, he writes gems like this one about how the oceans can absorb CO2 indefinitely, so there isn't really a problem with CO2 levels, and anyone who says there is a CO2 "global warming" problem is really just seeking fame and fortune, and doesn't really care about the environment, at all.

And I thought I was cynical ;-)

Okay, so there's his piece about how the oceans can absorb CO2 and life is fine, quit-being-greedy-bastards-you-climate-whiners.

Well, except that rising CO2 levels in the ocean are destroying the ocean, including human food sources, and - ironically - the oceans' ability to absorb CO2.

Because, you know: Science.

See, all these complicated systems are interconnected. You don't get to pretend they're not.  This isn't metaphysics, it's reality. It's the same concept of interconnection that the gravitation force of the Earth drags on the Sun, and the collected bodies of the solar system pull on nearby star systems.

You pull enough small strings - or one  big string - and you start affecting the outlying systems: One country increases CO2 emissions, one small string. Everyone does it, and all those small strings build into big strings.  Drag those strings through the oceans and the plankton die. The plankton die and the fish die. The fish die and humans don't have fish to eat anymore, let alone shark fins for expensive delicacies.

Persuasive argument is fine. Just don't claim a high horse when you don't have one.  Glass houses and all that crap.

Because, you know: Science.

4K Television - is that color or cost?

I can honestly say I don't give a crap about the new 4K Ultra HD TVs, now in shiny pastel color frames, with the eighty-button Uber-All-in-One remote control, and big as a fucking house.

Does that make me a bad Millennial?

You know, actually this image reminds me of the "video walls" from Fahrenheit 451. Kind of freaky to think we're wrapping around so fast into that world, too.

Caitlyn Jenner - observations on why people care right now

Caitlyn Jenner is mega-news news mostly because transgender issues have been bubbling up to higher profile in the last few years.

But, the tipping point is that here was this totally minor and almost irrelevant character on the Kardashians - a show quintessentially about the pointless antics of hot women - and suddenly this pointless character is not merely - and here is the third element - the Once Upon A Time Man's Man of Men, but is now HERself a hot chick. (Which just fucks with the whole foundation of the concept of Man's Man, and Men are generally insecure to start with, so woe be their foundation growing tits on them.)

It's an intersection of real issues with splashy sensationalism at its finest.

And let's be honest - part of the "Caitlyn Jenner" show is men being squeamish and icky, and women laughing at them.

Men, as a species, are terrified of emasculation - homosexuality and castration are two of the biggest inbred fears.

I mean, seriously guys, you have a thousand jokes about beer goggles and fucking the ugly chick, so you've already set the bar low for if the tunnel is wet, and she tells you what a stud you are, why should you care if that tunnel was built from an inverted penis or a piece of intestine (in which case, it's kind of like anal sex and vaginal sex all-in-one).

So, you want to talk "feminization"?  Here's the descriptive text - Vaginoplasty (penile inversion), and here's the video. 

Suck it up boys - the truth is that trans women have more guts - if less balls - than you do!

Frankly, it's pretty fucking amazing that techniques like this exist at all.  The steps involved are incredible, and the results are equally amazing.

Women Are Disenfranchised

Frankly, yet-another-reason trans women have more balls than straight men, is that one of the many dangers of making the choice is the inherent sexism of humanity.  To say, "as a man, I am a member of a privileged class, but in order to live my life properly, I must surrender that privilege, in addition to everything else" is HUGE (and, in a lot of ways, I'd call it insane, so that more than anything convinces me how miserable trans women must be living in a male body).

Caitlyn Jenner is interesting and entertainment (I'm not yet convinced about entertaining). Transgender issues are news. Itks a natural nexus, and there you go.  Frankly, I think she looks better now than she has for years. Coming out has really done wonders for her.

The only ZomPoc film that ever made me cry

I hate zombies. I hate them in fiction, I hate them in D&D, and I really hate ZomPoc movies and stories. I hate the creatures, I detest the premise.

There have been a few movies that I liked that happened to contain zombies, and I would have enjoyed them more without the zombies.

Those DC ZomPoc and Marvel ZomPoc stories? Bleah. Well-written, but zombies.

So, I say all that, because there is one ZomPoc movie I actually like. I can't quite say "love," but I have wacthed it seveal times over the last two years, and I keep coming back to it.

"Cargo" was a little indie short about a dad who saves his baby from the ZomPoc.

If this doesn't make you cry, then you have no heart

Cargo

A comment on Bitcoin and the fiction of money

One of the other things often overlooked is that all modern currencies are based solely in fiction, without material backing.

For example, if I buy Apple stock today, and tomorrow the value of the stock increases by 10%, then I sell it. My bank account is magically 10% bigger than yesterday for no reason other than the magical perception of what people value at that moment. Oh, sure, people like to gyrate through hoops to come up with justifications for some physical basis for the magic 10%, but in the end, there isn't one. It's all smoke and mirrors. So, too, magic money like bitcoin is all about what people are willing to value something at. 

Borderless Coin Service...operating in YOUR local community & beyond!

Old Posts Need Love #1

I was going through my old posts, and I'm proud of everything I have written (and very proud of some of it).

Here are some oldies, but goodies, that haven't gotten as much love as I think they deserve.

Lord, grant me the strength to enlighten those who will listen, and ignore the rest, because I have better things to do

One of my many "stupidity annoys me" rants, with some good scientific flavoring.

Can't Vote? Blame a Republican

This is an ongoing issue.  For well over a decade, the GOP have been flogging the bogeyman of fraudulent voting, and then strained like crazy to find any examples of it.  As I recall, the one or two examples they did find, were a small handful of votes, and - whoa, no way! - black people.

Not to be confused with the dozens of cases of white people  doing "voter registration drives" and then tossing all the ones marked Democrat (which is not illegal, but is extremely unethical and immoral, because it's called lying), or making fraudulent registrations (which is illegal).

When really, the entire function of "voter ID" laws is really to stop "the wrong kind of people" from voting (like  tens or hundreds of thousands of lawfully eligible voters blocked from their Constitutional right to vote).

Abortion (Y/N?) is not a valid question, you asshole

A basic root cause argument. Like "making feeding homeless people stops people being from being homeless, right?"  or "make drugs illegal, and people magically stop wanting drugs, right?"

Anti-Troll: Avoid Pointless Fights With Friends

This is true in daily life, as well as in social media.  It becomes so easy to knee-jerk argue about everything, when often, there is no point, nor value, in arguing, and doing so just creates conflict where it serves no purpose and benefits no one.

Musical Monday - "Wrong Side of Heaven" - Five Finger Death Punch

Military veterans deserve so much more than they receive. This is a powerful vid.

---@@@---

In hindsight, there isn't a lot of theme here among these oldie-but-goodie posts.  Maybe for the "Old posts need love 2" I'll do a theme.

#IAmIcarus

Fictional Friday: Whom to Save in the ZomPoc

When the ZomPoc arrives, here is the order of priority of people to protect. Remember, the long-term goal is to save the human race, and the short-term goal is to keep the humans alive long enough to be saved. It’s a small, but vitally important distinction.

• Farmers (society needs a foundation, and the canned peaches won't last forever);

• Medical professionals (doctors, nurses, paramedics, pharmacists, etc., etc.);

• All other Doctors (this is the PhD group, and variants on the lettering, e.g. JD [lawyers], since this group is your reliable source of knowledge and solutions, e.g. history and the lessons that can be salvaged from it, and it's going to be the biochemists, not the medical doctors, that find the cure to the ZomPoc);

• Engineers, Artisans and Artists (you need engineers to design your fortifications and electrical power plants, artisans to actually build them, and artists to keep the people motivated and your oral history alive, since the paper is going to run out eventually, and unless your electrical engineers really have their shit together, you can totally forget about computers);

• Everyone else (warriors like to think they are important, but they are important only in the small picture of the daily grind, since warriors alone won't keep the soul of society alive, won't rebuild the infrastructure, and won't find the cure, thus won't be the salvation of humanity, even as they die every day to make sure humanity lasts long enough to be salvaged).

Here is a basic question to ask yourself: “If there was no gasoline, and no electricity, what would I do to contribute to society?” If you've got no answer, then when the ZomPoc comes, some warrior is going to recruit you as cannon fodder, or some farmer is going to recruit you to plow, so you might want to bone up on your chemistry or carpentry, so you can get a job away from the front lines ;-)

Contrary to popular belief, the function of warriors is not to kill things, it is to keep people alive. This is often best served by killing the enemy, but warriors that lose focus get themselves killed, and fail in their primary function of defending others. Many people misunderstand this. True warriors serve the greater good, not esteem themselves as the greater good itself.

And just for the record, this came from a friend of mine. He blessed my reposting of it (understanding someone my steal it), but strangely insisted I leave his name off.  People are funny ;-)

#Zombies

Climate Change Is Real: Can We Grow Up Now and FIX THE PROBLEM?

I'm going to throw out a dumb question: "Even if climate change is 'natural', do we really want it to happen, at all?"

I mean, we see the damn Greenland and polar ice caps melting. This means sea levels are rising and ocean temperatures are changing.

'Natural cycle' or not, this has a negative impact on humanity.

Do we really want to see a day when Florida - the highest elevation being a trivial 33 feet above sea level - which is why hurricanes just roll right over it - spending half of every day underwater when the tide comes in?

Hell, 'natural' or not, I think humanity is better off if we move on to accepting the hockey stick exists - simply as a fact, fuck wasting energy over "why" - and figure out how to stop the damn thing.

Here is another excellent discussion of the science behind the climate change discussion
https://plus.google.com/105510708763837902389/posts/DiJADwvVxqp







Vaccines and Abortion and "Small Fascist Government" - Oh, My!

+Leo Garcia wrote " America... where killing the unborn is an option; but protecting children from toxic chemicals is a crime."

To which I replied:

See, no, you've got that backwards. It should read "America - Where forcing a woman to experience permanent metabolic changes to incubate an organism she might not want is one of the few times that 'small government' should invade not just a woman's home, but the woman's body itself, but bloody well keep your fascist government off my right to disfigure or murder my children - and other people's children, too - with preventable disease organisms!"


(Note, this is not intended as a criticism of Leo Garcia. He merely made a statement, and I'm running off on my own snarky tangent.)

Science is cool

Science is cool. It's good to know, that despite the best efforts of the neo-feudalists, scientists press onward with discovering the true wonders that God has hidden deep in the folds of Creation.

Musical Monday: SAIL by AWOLnation - A.D.D. Sucks Rocks

When a fan-made video gets 146M views (at the time of this writing, in December, 2014), and no one even knows how to find your official video (a paltry 3M views), it's time to throw in the towel and license the fan video as your official video. In fact, I thought this fan-made video was the official video until I read the Wikipedia page for the song, and learned otherwise.

One of the funniest lines in the whole song is "blame it on my A.D.D., baby."

Except that Attention Deficit Disorder is actually not very funny. Oh, sure everyone jokes about it, whenever people seem flighty or flakey, or simply not paying attention, or because they're too busy listening to the noise in their own heads, but it's not funny. Hell, as I said, they even make a joke of it in this song, which is why I'm talking about it in this rant.

Adult Attention Deficit Disorder creates unnecessary conflict and misery. It can - quite literally - make it impossible to focus, or to remember things. It can - quite literally - make it impossible to remember a conversation from five minutes ago.  The person suffering the disorder of ADD can be fully engaged in said conversation, participate, contribute, and come to accord on important decisions - and then five minutes later the entire thing is gone from memory. I shit you not. A.D.D. SUCKS ROCKS BIG TIME.

For someone afflicted with ADD, her brain is her enemy. Recent studies using brain-scan technology have discovered the real problem isn't that the brain is over-stimulated, but that the damn thing keeps falling asleep, and so craves external stimulation to keep itself awake. That's why the eyes dart around, and the ears constantly pick up background sounds, and the thoughts race like hamsters in a wheel, and the body is always moving and touching things.  A person with ADD might desperately want to hold still, or to remember things, but the enemy in her skull won't do its damn job and ignores her wishes.

How do I know the ADD brain is the enemy and it's not just some personality deficiency or character flaw?

What's the old joke? "Give you three guesses, and the first two don't count."

Concerta (TM) is my second best friend in the world (after a human being with the patience of a saint, and piles of unconditional love).

Concerta is anti-ADD medication. Concerta makes it possible for me to focus. It makes it possible for me to remember things at all. Concerta enables me to exercise my considerable willpower over my poor impulse control. Concerta transforms my brain into my friend and ally , instead of my enemy.

I learned about Concerta less than a decade ago. The saint in my life parked my ass down and said "Watch this video." It was a clip from the Today show, where a doctor talked about ADD and new treatments available.

When it was over, I made him play it again.
Then I said "I really don't have to be like this, anymore?"
Then I cried.

Then I saw a doctor, and I got medication. Then my brain became my ally, instead of my enemy, and I could hold still, sit quietly, hold a train of thought or a memory in my head for longer than two minutes, and I discovered who I am (and I mean that literally, that's not even a metaphor).

Now, I panic if I forget to take my afternoon pill with me, and my "crash stash" has run out.   I will break your arm if you try to take my Concerta away. Kinda sad, I know, that the idea of a few hours with my old brain freaks me out so much. But that tells you how miserable I was being that way; I won't go back.

My brain still isn't perfect. As I have to remind my man every so often "tired trumps Concerta," so sometimes I have to focus hard to focus at all. But, now I've learned how I can act, and think and behave when my brain is working like a normal brain, and so I know how to modify my behavior for when the medication wears off.

"Blame it on my A.D.D., baby," is still part of my life, but at least it's not very often, and I can enjoy - and remember(!) - the other moments.

April, 2015, Edit:  It looks like the original video has been made private, and I can't find a new link to it.  I left the code embedded, below, just in case it gets unlocked.  I'm going to hazard a guess the AWOLNATION guys got it yanked, because it was kicking their ass all over the playground in page views (see my remarks above) (Also, in the comments section of this behind the scenes vid, someone remarks that Nanalew said on her FB page there was a problem with the record label.)

Okay, so here is the official video.  (I know, right?  Just that image screams "Ugh!")

I did find what looks like a copy of the Nanalew video, and the quality isn't quite as good.

And here is my original embedded link to Nanalew's tribute video.  I include it here, just in case it gets unlocked at some future point, and you can watch it again.

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