Pressing Puzzles

I wanted to start this post by inferring that the title does not mean men alone. Since I have daughters as well, I will be addressing both sides of the human gender. [The title comes from a ZZ Tops song.] One of the main things that Jaimee and I are trying to instill in one of our twin daughters is having a sense of cleanliness. I always hear that a woman loves a 'bad boy', but I seriously thought they would love a 'stinky, smelly boy'. There is a really good reason why the saying 'Cleanliness is next to Godliness' is rather important, if there is any guy or gal out there who is still looking for that special someone then you might serious think about what I'm trying to say. Being 'Sharp Dressed' can really impress someone special and say a lot about you as a potential mate. One thing I've actually had to learn recently is to be well dressed for an interview. Having to go a job interview isn't something I've had to do for a long time...

One of the most fascinating things I have notice about the word binging has changed substantially through the years. We used to always think that binging just meant eating a lot of food or drinking a lot alcohol but now with the arrival of Netflix, VUDU and Hulu; the term binging has a whole new meaning. Of course being a person with Asperger's syndrome having been diagnosed with OCD you would think that this is something that I would have a really hard time with. The truth is I actually have a really hard time being able to sit down and do this binging that most people do when it comes to television shows. I guess at this point I need to stop for moment and define my terms in the word binging now means to literally sit through an entire series of TV shows for either a season or for whole series and watch every single episode one after the other without stopping. Now I can say that my daughters Sarah and Christen both are very good at this binging and even some my other chil...

One of my favorite Simon Pegg movie is "The World's End". In the movie, the small town that Simon's character (Gary King) grew up in has been very different since he left. The people in the town have been being replaced with robotic people which Gary's group of lads called...Blanks. The group decided the name for two reasons: 1. To make sure to identify who was human and who wasn't and 2. The fake people in the town had no personality or life in them, just hollow. Right now I feel a little like that. Not only do I feel like I have no life in me but, my mind is completely blank as well. This is a dangerous position to be in. I'm reach out to you, the reading audience, because I have a feeling you have either been thought this phase or are still in this funk. As I write these blog entries, there have been several occasions when I have a really great idea for an entry, but getting it organized and typed on the screen can be one of the most difficult task...

As I'm writing this entry, my Kansas City Royals (baseball team) have won the 2015 World Series for the first time in 30 years! I realize as you read this it may not matter to you because when I look to see who have been reading my posts, many of you are not only from other parts of the U.S., but a lot of you are from all over the world! I can't tell you how humbling that makes me feel. The reason why I wanted to bring this topic to your attention isn't the fact that I was actually at game 7 of the World Series in 1985, or that afterwards we were the jokes of late night shows because we were awful after that, but what the win has done in general for the whole city.   Since I'm seeing this through Asperger eyes, I've noticed a lot of 'small' things that might not mean much, but I believe have a larger impact as I write this. The parade for the team will being on Tuesday November 3, 2015 and schools are actually cancelling classes for the parade. Back in ...

I have, in some form or fashion, addressed this topic on intelligence, but I thought I'd hit this head on. One of the big things that people with Asperger's gets tied with is having a high intelligence. I have to admit that I've had a hard time finding solid evidence on all people with Asperger's having a high intelligence. I guess this a bit of a piggy back to my earlier posting #78 No Talent Required. The difference between these two is I'm going to address the intelligence in general versus the talents from Asperger's (or Savants).  When it comes to the topic of intelligence, I get a similar feeling like in high school when the class decides on 'the most successful' label. I say this because I've always questioned what is successful? In turn I would also ask in the same breath what is intelligent? Testing the intelligence of someone used to seem like either a brainiac, just an average person or an idiot...depending on the score which is reall...

On HBO, there is a special program that comes on most Sundays called "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver". In one of his segments he addressed the very thing I'm going to talk about, but with a slight variation...mental health. John noted that it seems like the topic only comes up where ever there has been a mass shooting because the media has this sense that the shooter had a history of mental illness. Basically, John laid the cards out on the table and challenged law makers to do something to help the mentally challenged and give them the help they really need, not buses, retirement homes or prison! John's not kidding; a report put out by the Treatment Advocacy Center (TAC) found that there are ten times more mentally ill people behind bars than in State hospitals. Being put in prison isn't going to help anybody! The main topic I'm going to address is how the media and politicians throw around the term Asperger's like they want to use it as a label to j...

Way back in my posting #26 Raining Cats and Dogs, I spoke about all the animals we had in the house and how the animals were therapy for the twins. Since they have Asperger's, psychologists feel that people with our condition would be helped if we had an animal for therapeutic reasons. I'm not the biggest fan of animals because I'm usually the one who has to clean up after their messes. I'm not sure how therapeutic that would be for me cleaning after pee or poop 'accidents'. However, this event is one that really deserved a special posting all by itself. If you were able to read the 26th posting, you would know who Sheba was. I'm very sad to report that on September 25th, 2015, Jaimee and I had to make the grueling decision to put Sheba down. Sheba was 16 years old. As an owner, you know these moments are going to come yet you never seemed to be prepared for that time when you have to put the animal to sleep. Jaimee and I have had to put down other anim...