As Cool As I Am

People might wonder about the name of my blog.

"And as long as she’s got noise, she’s fine
But I could teach her how I learned to dance when the music’s ended"

To most people, this is just a Dar Williams reference. To me, it’s the last ten years of my life.
I am ADD. Diagnosed in college.
In order to study or concentrate, I need to have distractions all around me. Studying in silence was the worst. Having the TV on or music blaring was the only way I could concentrate. I’m still like that. In the morning, getting ready for work, I have two radios going to two different stations; my clock-radio near my bed and my shower radio in the bathroom. Might sound normal, until I tell you that I live in a studio apartment and can hear both of them going at the same time.

Noise is not just for concentration. I just hate silence itself. My brain starts going in too many directions at once. It doesn’t always have to be music. The sound of a river flowing or crashing waves is fine, too.
I think of the second line as post-diagnoses. After I found out that I was (am) ADD, I began to learn how to deal with it. Sometimes fighting it, sometimes embracing it, and sometimes learning how to do things in a new way. Like many kids in college, I experimented with drugs. However mine were Ritalin, Imipramine and Wellbutrin. I also read books on the topic and saw counselors who coached me. They were teaching me how to dance without music.

And now the new challenge. No meds, no counseling, no nothing since last year. It’s the great experiment I like to call "No Health Care."

This blog won’t always be about ADD. As is the nature of the beast, I’ll be switching topics all the time – I'll try not to do it in mid-sentence. And hopefully I will remember that I started a blog!

"How many people with ADD does it take to screw in a lightbulb?"
"How many?"
"Hey, wanna go ride bikes?"