I was talking with a Special Ed teacher I've known for many years, explaining to her about my coworker, who I'm sure has Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. I talked to him about it two years ago and said he'd probably be in less trouble with our boss if he did something about it. He never has and he's still in constant trouble.
The teacher friend looked at me and said, "Have you considered that you might also have AD/HD?" She said it in her own gentle way, but she could have sucker-punched my kidney and it would have been less of a blow.
I again looked up AD/HD online and read about it. Two years ago I saw my coworker as the person with the disorder, now I see myself. Sometimes it takes a third party to make you see yourself as you really are. My symptoms are not as bad as my coworker's, so it hasn't taken over my life, but I see that I have definitely had Attention Deficit Disorder during the course of my life. It made a lot of things about me click into place and suddenly make sense.
Will I do anything about it? I'll talk to my doc about it when I see her for my yearly this fall and see what she says.
*******
In my last blog I showed an ad for a photography studio that poses your kids with Jesus. I found some other things online, all of them that a devoutly religious Christian would find upsetting at Archie McPhee. A Jesus nodder? The only thing missing from the bunch are Jesus and Mary salt-and-pepper shakers.
People in the Muslim world rioted over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, but while some Christian religious people would find these Jesus caricatures offensive, this is still America where we're all allowed to be offensive.
The teacher friend looked at me and said, "Have you considered that you might also have AD/HD?" She said it in her own gentle way, but she could have sucker-punched my kidney and it would have been less of a blow.
I again looked up AD/HD online and read about it. Two years ago I saw my coworker as the person with the disorder, now I see myself. Sometimes it takes a third party to make you see yourself as you really are. My symptoms are not as bad as my coworker's, so it hasn't taken over my life, but I see that I have definitely had Attention Deficit Disorder during the course of my life. It made a lot of things about me click into place and suddenly make sense.
Will I do anything about it? I'll talk to my doc about it when I see her for my yearly this fall and see what she says.
*******
In my last blog I showed an ad for a photography studio that poses your kids with Jesus. I found some other things online, all of them that a devoutly religious Christian would find upsetting at Archie McPhee. A Jesus nodder? The only thing missing from the bunch are Jesus and Mary salt-and-pepper shakers.
People in the Muslim world rioted over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, but while some Christian religious people would find these Jesus caricatures offensive, this is still America where we're all allowed to be offensive.
*******
I went to a family reunion for my wife's family yesterday. It was a luau, pool party, lots of food, talking to people I only see at functions like this--or at funerals. Three of my wife's cousins and I were standing poolside chatting when my wife's cousin, Cindy, came over to us, looked at four middle-aged guys with white beards and Hawaiian shirts and said, "You guys look like the Beach Boys."
It was a lot different when we met 40 years ago in high school, when we were all trying to look like The Beatles.
It was a lot different when we met 40 years ago in high school, when we were all trying to look like The Beatles.
*******
Finally, I'm not listening to The Beatles or Beach Boys this week, but to another old-timer, John Fogerty. After decades of lawsuits and countersuits over the rights to his songs, he has resolved that and is back with Fantasy Records. This record is a compilation of hits by Creedence Clearwater Revival and some of John's more recent work, mixing in live and classic tracks. It's wonderful to hear Fogerty in such strong voice, still rockin' out at age 61.
It's also interesting to hear great songs like "Who'll Stop The Rain?" and "Fortunate Son," both antiwar songs of their day, become relevant again, 35 years on. Timeless stuff like this will always be relevant.
For all that, the song on the album I find most affecting is "Centerfield." That song is poignant to me and it makes me smile; it is a very optimistic song, using baseball and a guy who is "ready to play, today," as a metaphor for starting over. Fogerty wrote it years ago, but I hope it means something different to him now.
No comments:
Post a Comment