If Catherine Zeta-Jones can do it...

... Then so can I.

Not that I've ever tried to hide my mental health issues but I'm always glad to see a celebrity speaking frankly on the topic.  CZJ is on a recent cover of People Magazine talking about treating her bipolar disorder.

That takes balls, big brass ones.

Even in 2011, there's still a lot of stigma attached to mental illness.  Seems like many people continue to misunderstand what it is; some question whether it is even a "real" problem and some even believe people who live with mental illness are responsible for having their disorder.  Absurd, I know!

Let me make it clear - it IS an actual, medical issue.  No organ is infallible, so why assume the brain is?  To the non-believers, do you actually think psychologists, psychiatrists and pharmaceutical companies conspired to create an imaginary illness just so they could have something to do?  Then would they get all the imaginary patients all over the world to fake all the same symptoms for particular disorders?  Come on now, be realistic... they wouldn't.

(At this time, I will acknowledge that some people do fake illnesses.  I think it's called Münchausen syndrome.  I'm not talking about those certain individuals in this instance.  Their existence doesn't prove that mental illness is 'fake.'  If anything, it proves the opposite of that.  Everyone on the same page here?)

I have an anxiety disorder and to a rather severe degree.  My parents noticed symptoms when I was about 3 years old.  At age 19, I began treatment with therapy and medication.  Don't ask why it took so long... it doesn't matter at this point.  Today I continue to take meds and occasionally see a therapist.  There is no cure but treatment does improve my quality of life significantly.  The daily struggle never goes away but with help, it's tolerable and I'm able to be a mostly functional member of society.

If you think you or someone you know has a mental illness, there is no shame in getting help.  If you have a friend who acts uncontrollably moody, depressed, nervous, paranoid, etc...  don't blame them for it.  Be supportive, suggest they talk to a doctor.

If funds are limited, explain this to the doctor.  There are ways you can treat your disorder on a budget.  Some doctors will discount office visits for people who don't have insurance.  My doctor did when I didn't have coverage.  He would also give me samples of the medication to help me out when I couldn't afford to refill my prescription every month.  If you can't cover the price of one-on-one therapy, there might be support groups in your area that cost little to nothing.

You don't have to suffer and you shouldn't blame yourself.  You might never be totally symptom-free but you CAN feel better, so get on the internet and find a mental health professional in your area.  There are people who understand what you're going through.  Catherine Zeta-Jones does and so do I.

Why are your bad decisions my responsibility?

No secret I love some Junk TeeVee.  It's nice to have mindless drivel playing in the background when I'm going about my domestic business.  Sometimes I find it entertaining between folding clothes or vacuuming.  Other times, it's just white noise while I do some bookkeeping or during nights when I work from home.

Recently I caught part of a show where a girl with money for $5-mocha-chino-lattes, fake nails, dining out, tanning, designer purses and other things receives government assistance.  Since when is it acceptable to spend money on happy ha ha fun time things then require the taxpayer to pick up the tab for her essentials?

These assistance programs provide a vital service to people who truly need help.  People who are physically or mentally challenged and unable to work but don't have the luxury of having a wealthy parent to buy them a home are the ones meant to benefit from government aid.  Then there are the working poor - people who can and do work yet don't currently earn enough money to pay for medicine or food.  Government assistance is intended for these individuals, sometimes permanently or long-term and other times temporarily until they can get back on their feet.

Government assistance is NOT meant to be used in place of personal accountability.  (Fer shizz, I really want an iPhone 4 even though a regular mobile phone will work just fine.  Unfortunately, I only have enough money to buy things I actually need, like groceries and gas.  BUT if I get food stamps, I'll be able to buy an iPhone 4.  Yay me!  I'm so clever.  Thank you, hard-working people who pay taxes so I can have things I don't really need.)  Many people are doing precisely that and to such a degree that some of these programs are now in danger of being eliminated.  How an able-bodied, able-minded person can abuse the system and sleep at night blows my mind.  Apparently it isn't too hard because it happens every day.

Money for these programs doesn't come flying out of a unicorn's ass.  People who work and pay taxes fund the programs.  Therefore, people who abuse the programs are committing fraud and stealing from taxpayers.


Since when is entitlement en vogue?  What's so glamorous about being a mooch?

Why do taxpayers owe help to someone who doesn't truly need it?

Fifty Pounds of Douche in a Five Pound Bag

I wish I could figure out what is wrong with some people. Then I remember there is indeed much truth to the saying 'ignorance is bliss.' But if I don't complain at least a little bit, I'm going to burst. This week has been such a pisser... literally.

Yesterday afternoon, there was a group of asshole baseball fans in the grocery store parking lot, drinking beers and relieving themselves right out there in the open, in broad daylight. I know what I think to myself when I see an intoxicated loser pissing in public - wow, how amazingly rad. I yearn to be so cool someday.

You do the Kansas City Royals damn proud, you pathetic lot of drunk-driving fuck ups. I would wish that you had both smacked your little silver compact car and your fine redneck limousine (aka truck) into bridge abutments or each other on the way home. But knowing what an upstanding bunch you were, I bet you don't have a lick of insurance so you'd be sucking off the hind government tit to pay for your injuries and I give a massive chunk of my income for that tit so... yeah... unfortunately, I hope you got home safely and without harming non-drunk-driving people.

Just wanted you to know my desire for your well-being is purely motivated by selfishness. If there were no such thing as undeserving fucktards on various kinds of welfare, I would't give half a shit what happened to you guys.

You saw me flag down an employee in the parking lot and you were keen enough to get the hell out of there because I think you figured out I was trying to complicate your evening. Congratulations, you have at least one active brain cell. Too bad we were on private property or else I would have just called the police instead of waiting for the store manager.

I think next time I see something like that, I will call the police. Now that I think about it, you got into your vehicles with open containers. It doesn't matter that you were on private property at that point, does it? Filing that away in my Mental Rolodex for sure.

For what it cost you to drive to the game, park, buy beer and food, you could have all shared a cab and for a few dollars in tip, the cab driver would happily have waited for you while you WENT INSIDE the store or a gas station to use the facilities. Royals fans? Not so much. More like Royal douchebags.

Sadly I can't say that's the only example of the shitty side of humanity I witnessed this week...

Tonight I'm driving home from work. At a stop light, there's a nicely maintained Range Rover. It's been tastefully 'pimped,' not overdone. Next to it in the left-turn lane is a little import of some kind. A Hyundai or Kia, not sure. They all look the same.

This one was especially cherry. Banged up mismatched body panels, with peeling, bubbled tint on the filthy windows and one of those big coffee-can angry farting bee exhaust pipes sagging under the cockeyed bumper. The back tire was gone and in its place was the smallest spare I think I've ever seen in my life. It looked like a stroller wheel.

From the general condition of the car and the fact that the engine wouldn't idle without you repeatedly revving it, I'm guessing that teensy tiny cute little miniature tire has been there for much longer than its intended purpose. And yes, it's impressive that I could hear the engine over the stereo. How is it people can afford these crazy loud speakers but they can't afford a tire? Is damaging your hearing and disturbing the peace really more important than your safety and the safety of other motorists on the road with you?

That itty bitty spare is precious but when it comes flying off your car at 70 miles per hour (I feel safe in assuming you don't realize you're not supposed to drive faster than about 40 mph with a 'donut'... or drive on it for 6 months) it can cause significant damage if it hits another car. Might even kill someone if it goes through a windshield. Fuck other people though. They don't matter. You and your shitty stereo are more important than anything else on the road.

I bet you're the kind of person who spends money on those stupid animated ringtones they advertise during "Teen Mom 2." You know you are. You text your name to the 5-digit number to see what your "Jersey Shore" nickname should be. You can afford $50 a month in extra phone bill fees for Miss Cleo tarot updates on your iPhone but you can't buy a tire for the clapped-out tin can you're driving.

You know something? Your crap tunes and POS car are easy to overlook. It's what you did at the stoplight that made my jaw drop. You and your passenger have small penises or your parents didn't give you enough attention as children. How do I know? I saw you both giving the stink-eye to the Range Rover.

The dirty looks just didn't satisfy you and your passenger though. No. You needed to make a point to that Range Rover because something about it made you mad. Made you jealous? Filled you with rage because it forced you to confront your personal misgivings?

So your passenger, in a move of pure class, deliberately extended his arm as far out the window as he could and flicked his cigarette at the Range Rover. SUCCESS! His cigarette did indeed hit the Range Rover although I doubt its millisecond of contact was enough to mar the paint. Aww shucks. Your little expression of hate turned out to be impotent, just like you.

The Range Rover driver didn't seem to notice either. That must have stung. What were you hoping for from him? Did you think he'd see your point, whatever it was supposed to be, then get out and hand you the keys?

Do I sound like a snob? I shouldn't, because I'm not. I joke about it, but I sincerely am not totally stuck up. Hell, I used to have a hoopty.

I've had a few ugly, cheap cars in my day but they were dependable. That was all I could afford at the time because I do this thing called "living within my means." That's where people spend their money responsibly. It isn't too hard either. Basically, you just refrain from buying non-essentials if you can't afford them.

Smart phones, cigarettes, speaker amps, animated ring-tones, satellite TeeVee and bling bling are non-essentials. A car in good mechanical order and safe tires are essentials. Shocking, I know. It is so simple! Why doesn't everyone do it? That's what I'd like to figure out. So you tell me.

In the cases of these individuals, I think it's safe to consider things like birth control pills, condoms and surgical sterilization as essentials. Top priority essentials even.

I realize no one is perfect. Perfection is not expected. But come the fuck on! There is no excuse for this particular brand of bullshit. Is there? Can it be justified? Try to explain this to me, I am honestly interested. I refuse to believe it is easily dismissed as 'stupid people.' There's got to be something more to it, right?

I'm looking for a cure. Humanity deserves better than this and without a cure, we're doomed because the douchebags are reproducing at a feverish rate... Meanwhile truly responsible and upstanding gay would-be parents are denied the opportunity to adopt or foster on a daily basis.

And people wonder why I'm a misanthrope?! Ugh. This is the part where I build a bridge and get over it.