SOME MORE BRAIN DROPPINGS---BUT A BLAST FROM THE PAST

Sometimes one reads a piece of writing in a magazine that just jumps out at you. August 8, 2010 is one such day and the  NY Times had a piece by one of their contributing writers that really did that bit of “jumping”   Probably not in the way she intended.  I could be wrong.

Starting on a very personal note---a while back I had some surgery (subdural brain hematoma)  which I was never worried about as regarding surgery because I was hoping, in a way, that if it were not successful I would just not wake up.  This had a lot to do with my own psychological situation, seeing non-functioning people in the Neuro-ICU,  and,  truly, without regard to the worry and upset it would cause my grown off-spring.   They would get over it and my estate was still intact and, who knows, what does the future hold anyway?. 

That aside, we can segue into Therapists, Therapy, and how this all connects.

It is better if the reader has acquainted his or herself with the article but, suffice it to say that I have been involved with the situations the writer speaks of.  For many many years. 

It may well be that the writer and one of her references (Woody Allen) seem to find this a very affordable adventure into, frankly, pure pandering by people who are interested in money, self, aggrandizement, or a myriad of nonsensical motives that even the eminent Dr. Freud would, by now, have realized what pure BS this all was.  Proper meds today do help, and , frankly, insights that a Therapist might have are from his/her subjective history and amount to nothing but pure partial ----dare I say it---Bullshit.  I still do not know how the excrement of Bulls came to mean that. But I do know that most of the advice from the alleged experts is just that.

So, now let me surmise a few things.  The Therapist cares, The Therapist is competent (and we agree that they can be that—a reach for me).  Yet, the “bottom line” enters into this relationship with a patient so that, frankly, one has to say that patient’s best interests are not that “bottom line”.  The hourly fee is.  The hourly fee is earned by the papers on that wall that say this is a competent practitioner of the “art” (I won’t use “science”) of Therapy.

Perhaps we might all agree that there are truly ill ---call them deranged—people that are in need of medication.   Thankfully these things are available today.  What is also available is the total waste of time and money in talking and dealing with self aggrandizing  people with many documents on a wall that tell you how many Universities they have attended.  Those wall hangings do not tell you that the main interest is “the bottom line” .  Now, I admit, there are idealists.  But do let me single out some sub-specialties  that I would be very wary of---Psychologists and the Psychologist wanna-bes---MSWs.  There is a breed you had best stay away from  Any dealings with them only reinforce their own pretensions.   If you check it out you will find that many have earlier careers that led nowhere---from interior decorating to alleged teaching to house painting.  Now they feel qualified to teach life lessons. I seems a lot cheaper and, perhaps, more helpful to talk with your painter, mechanic, or decorator---and mostly a good friend.  

SOME MORE ILL AFFORDED BRAIN DROPPINGS

It has been some time since the last ill afforded excrement that has dropped from this old brain.  Time to alleviate that situation and either vex you or bore you once again.

First, let me mention the radio programs---TRADITIONS & SUNDAY SIMCHA.  I am always amazed by the amount of e mail and response I get for SIMCHA vs TRADITIONS.   I know where my priorities are and I am beginning to realize where the listener's priorities  are placed.   So be it and let us all be happy and what we do and what we listen to on radio----AND---thankfully there are folks like myself who still find radio the most personal medium. 

Since these are misc. brain droppings it will stay misc. (hate to spell that whole word out---but w/ spell check why worry).    I am always surprised by writers who prefer their good old Underwood over the computer.   I still have and IBM selectric and I hope the dust on it is not causing me allergy attacks.  OK, it was my wife's for her business---in the days of Word Perfect on the computer and the ability erase typing on a Selectric.    So, why love that old Underwood?   I just corrected this sentence and you did not even know that and I never used and eraser, white out, or "x"(on the selectric ).  Now is the time to show some pity for the inventors of "white out", special erasers (for typing), and all those folks who owned the nice little stationary stores that I loved with their wonderful paper aromas who now are gone and replace by the likes of the Office Depots, Office Max, etc; and have joined the great family of extinct Dodos.

Now to get personal about these misc. droppings from this feeble old brain.   One has to appreciate one's ability to stay alert, creative, and functioning as the years roll by.   One also has to realize physical limitations that are not apparent and are noticeable in much younger people and be thankful not to be afflicted by them.  An aside.   One gentleman I know is 90 yrs. of age and he is, many times my tennis partner.  He saves the day.  Bless him and his great health and stamina.   All that said one has to also realize that, sometimes, it is time to move on to a new chapter in life.   When I reach that moment I will post another bit of excrement from my old brain.  Until then, suffice it to say, we do our best.

One other thing worthy of note has to do with technology.   We meet so many people in our lives and, while Facebook is certainly not a place for true relationships, it does add a sense of community if you "friend" right folks.  I hope I have.

Perhaps some music is called for to keep with the mood---