A good therapist is your partner, not your boss or your manipulator. The stuff you already know about psychology is going to be a help to them in communication.

Yep.

Me? Make a Joke To Cut The Tension Girl? With the diagnosis?

This. (It's amazing how much the jokes about bipolar can make people squirm.)

But some psychologists/therapists are very good. Examples: my mother is a genius at treating anxiety disorders, and her patients buy her thank-you presents. I saw a cognitive behavioural therapist a couple of years ago who had a big hand in making my life bearable again (it had stopped being so), and she had no problem with the fact that I possibly knew more CBT than she did - we worked together and it was great.

Having seen a fair few, though, I am also familiar with the less good ones.

I'm just being misunderstood so many times a day.

Ah, being part of the world of People Whose Brains Work Differently. Most of the time it's fantastic, but it can be exhausting as hell, too.

being part of the world of People Whose Brains Work Differently

I never got diagnosed or anything, but I know I'm hardly the poster girl for "normal", whatever that might be.

One day, when I'll trust another human to hack my mind, I'll do it just for the gigs. Right now, it's more on a survival-of-my-essence-please-walk-away-slowly thing than "hey, there's my mind and here's me exposed. What do you see there?".

Not sure what the commotion was about, but lots of half-laughing euw sounds, then one of them says, "OK, I don't want to go to Hell anymore."

Clarification would probably be disturbing.

Maybe they thought it might be fun in that Run With A Wild Crowd way... but then someone showed them the Pat Robertson clip.

I feel pretty hostile towards my therapist, and I'm there by choice. More or less. Just out of sheer my problems are mine, how dare anyone try to take them away, I think.

Then again, I definitely do not know how psychology is supposed to work, so.

I just made an absolutely rockin' tri-color pasta salad for my writers group meeting tonight. Used a garlic parmesan vinaigrette, grilled chicken, diced tomato, red onion, & sugar snap peas.

I am meeting SA for dinner tonight. Monday looking much better!

Trying to work on my dissertation. Kind of at a point where I can't write anything more until my advisor answers some questions. Advisor, once again, seems to have disappeared from the face of the earth.

I am meeting SA for dinner tonight. Monday looking much better!

Remember to pass along my hugs!

Your advisor kinda sucks, Hil.

No, wait: your advisor TOTALLY sucks.

Barb, it's so cool to see you excited about your move!

Pix and Drew: congrats again! I looked at Tom's Flickerstream and it looks like everyone had a great time at your reception.

ION, library wedding is out. We went over budget stuff this weekend, and I think our wedding budget is like $12. Not really, but...I am thinking more and more that we will be having a simple backyard wedding. Which kinda is freaking me out, cause our backyard is trashed, and neither one of us is especially gifted in the yardening department. (Yes, I just coined that term, ASAIK. I'm kinda pleased."

However, I did make a delicious roast last night, with fingerling potatoes (on sale, yay! And PURPLE!!) The meat was very, very tender; it was a $5 arm roast that I baked with a bunch of french onion soup mix for two hours. It turned out well.

Also, I have decided on a Mechantes Contessa corset -- I am undecided on the fabric, but like both of the paisleys in the pink brocade offerings. And I am going to get a circle skirt in silk or chiffon made by one of the bellydancing costume sites; they are generally about $80, and I am just going to have the side slits sewn, and have the length shortened to a 1/2 inch below the knee. The color will depend on what fabric I go with on the corset.

I think I will be able to get my wedding outfit at about $375. And completely able to wear the componenets after the wedding!!