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Where I've Been

[If there are typos in here, it's because I'm too tired to find and fix 'em.]

As usual when I disappear, I've gotten contacted in every possible way about where I've gone.

As usual, there's too much to respond to bit by bit.

As usual, I'll do it here. And I'll keep it short.

About a week and a half ago, something went horribly wrong with my meds. Blood pressure, heart rate, body temp, and other vitals all over the place. Did a lot of puking. Puking around the toilet, on the toilet, on myself, and, when I was lucky, in the toilet.

Crashed into the worst depression I've had in almost the past year. Obsessive thoughts, cycling for hours and hours and hours, day after day... "I want to die," and "I don't belong" were the most prominent.

Wanted to quit everything. Wanted to shut down Neopoleon. Guess I wanted to shut down me.

Spent a few hours with various doctor types. I was sedated for the obsessive thoughts. It worked, and I'm thankful for it. I was really losing my mind. Turning down the brain a few notches quieted the thoughts.

Because of the sedatives, my memory went on the fritz. I seem to be missing much of Sunday and Monday. That's hard for me, as my memory is usually demmed, demmed good.

I was in a cafe on... Tuesday? (See - I still don't know when things happened.) I was waiting for a friend of mine to show up because we'd made plans. I started to get rather irritated because she had stood me up. I called her and asked her where she was and when she was planning to show up. She was confused because we didn't have plans for that day - our plans were for the previous day. I'd forgotten. Even better, we'd hung out two days in a row.

I have foggy memories of texts and phone calls... but I was also nodding off each day and having these strange, vivid dreams. I don't know which calls actually happened and which were dreamt. Like, I think I'm supposed to be getting my haircut with a friend this weekend, but now I know that I have no idea.

The only things I can be sure of are the texts, voicemails, emails, and anything else that leaves a record.

One area the nodding has been really interesting is how it affected watching movies and reading. I'd be watching something, nod off, but not really fall asleep, and the show would continue in my head for some time, seamlessly. It wasn't until something uber weird happened that I'd realize I'd nodded off again.

That, as with the other things, happened over and over and over...

My sleep meds have also been changed, and I've been having amazing dreams. I hadn't dreamt much in ten months, and it's like my brain is getting all caught up right now. Fascinating. Not at all unwelcome.

Nauseated every day. It's been hard to eat. Taking anti-nausea meds hasn't helped with the mental fog, as those meds are also sedating.

Today is the first day I've gotten up and felt pretty all right. I'm eating right now. Sipping a latte. Typing. I'm aware of my surroundings. I'm not totally nauseated. I'm not having obsessive thoughts. I don't want to kill myself.

I feel overwhelmed about figuring out just what in the hell has happened these past few days and whether there's anything I need to attend to. I'm a little nervous about what might set off another depressive episode. I'm not taking the sedatives because I want to be awake and have my memory and experience things.

It looks like I wrote a couple posts while I was out crazy. I'll check 'em out and see if they're worth putting up (provided they even make sense).

If I come out of this depression soon, then it'll all be worth it. In the past, I'd be severely depressed for up to a year at a time. Since being diagnosed as bipolar, it seems like my docs can cut that down to a couple weeks. It's intense and horrible and painful (physically/mentally), but, if you've ever wanted to blow your head off, you know there aren't many things in life than suddenly losing that desire.

So... thanks for being here. Thanks for your messages. I haven't been reading any of them or listening to my voicemail. I've just seen email subject lines indicating concern. Hopefully I'll get around to checking the messages out. It's just, as I said, I'm overwhelmed. I feel like I woke up from a coma.

There's so much more to talk about, but I said I'd keep it short, and, for me, this is short.

It'll all come out along the way.

I kiss you all over your face.

Published Friday, May 23, 2008 5:11 PM by Rory

Filed Under: ,

Comments

 

Don Snabulus said:

Just a lurker here, but I enjoy your writing and respect your technical and philosophical insights and honesty.  

Good luck traversing the rugged, dangerous terrain.   It smooths out a little farther on.  Hang in there.
May 23, 2008 8:23 PM
 

Celes said:

Rory-person!

I'm glad to hear you're back in the land of the living. You had us all worried there I think, but at the same time I think we all know that you're a strong person who will eventually surface right and whole again every time. (Or at least that's what I think)

Welcome back. Don't fret too much about the email. I'd rather wait the wait for an enjoyable Rory-sized email to read after you've spent the time you would spend on email taking care of yourself. That being said, if writing and reading emails is part of the process of getting back on the up swing- then I want fifty pages before lunch- chop-chop. Now. I mean it. Else, I'll poke you with a stick with a marshmallow on it. Or worse. Put a hot dog on it.

Gross.

Life on! (not like the clapper)
May 23, 2008 8:36 PM
 

Yuvi said:

Pull through.
May 23, 2008 11:08 PM
 

Erwin Blonk said:

I'd like to say take it easy but it seems the way you are now, there isn't that much margin to do that. Maybe now with the meds.
Don't worry about us, we'll stick around.
May 23, 2008 11:48 PM
 

DaveVB said:

Yeah, we all have a fall-out one way or another ("They don't sell my favorite brand of scotch anymore?!") and have to lay low for a while.

Hang in there, Rory.
May 24, 2008 2:38 AM
 

Groucho said:

I had no idea it was that bad. :/

Sometimes having a project helps people through difficult times like this. You take up birdhouse building. You could start a new techie latex fetish. You could eat your way through the worlds largest burrito.


If you're slowing receding into insanity, you might as well do it with style.


Take care butthead.
May 24, 2008 3:39 AM
 

aristo said:

All great people reach diferent edges. The worst you can end up with is to go through the life as a "grey man"...

I like it... :-)

Mariusz
May 24, 2008 9:47 PM
 

. said:

Can you please write down 4 sentences as your next blog post:

1) What is causing your depression?
2) What do you think would end them?
3) What can people around you do to make this happen?
4) Assuming for a second everything is great and there is no depression, what do you want to end up doing with your life?

One sentence each... I know it might be quite complicated in detail but can there be one sentence to answer each?
May 25, 2008 11:00 PM
 

paul said:

Quit the fucking Meds and the multi-Doctors.

Go for long walks where there are trees and streams.

After a long enough walk you will eat better and sleep well.
May 26, 2008 4:31 PM
 

Petar said:

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.
May 26, 2008 4:59 PM
 

Rory said:

. -

"Can you please write down 4 sentences as your next blog post:"

My next post is about something else entirely, so I'll just do it here.

"1) What is causing your depression?"

A physiological process too complex for me to understand, but that has been plaguing me for over half my life, plunging me into severe depression without warning or any apparent reason.

"2) What do you think would end them?"

The proper meds in the right combinations and a lifestyle that would keep my depressive triggers at bay.

"3) What can people around you do to make this happen?"

Be patient and supportive as I work with doctors to try to find a way to stabilize me, as just happened over about a two-week period.

"4) Assuming for a second everything is great and there is no depression, what do you want to end up doing with your life?"

This question is so hard to answer, as I've never experienced a period of non-depression long enough to know what I might/could do were I to apply myself in a depression-free way, though I suspect I'd put *all* my energy into writing, writing for the podcast, writing songs, and love, with emphasis on the love.

"One sentence each... I know it might be quite complicated in detail but can there be one sentence to answer each?"

It was hard. Each of these things is so complex. There's a desire for them to be simple, but it's just not the case. When you've lived through it for *years*, you come to see so many sides of the illness and how it interferes with life. For example, I don't know if I'm going to be able to continue with the Marketing 2.0 thing I just started. You may have noticed that, with the exception of love (by which I mean girlfriend/wife/whatever), I would be the one to whom I would answer for the success of my pursuits. Their would have to be publishers, blah blah blah, but hopefully you understand what I mean.

What I want most, though, so, so, so much more than anything else, is love. It's been absent for a long time. Sex hasn't been gone as long, and I've gone much longer without - but love itself... it changes me. Suddenly I have someone to work for. I want to please her - bring her things - keep her happy. But I've experienced nothing but frustration with the ladies lately, and I, sadly, attribute it to my no longer being on drugs and being an asshole. Women truly do love the bad guys, and I'm a good guy at the core.

I'll stop there. It was a good exercise, though. You really made me think.

I don't know who you are, but thank you.
May 26, 2008 5:47 PM
 

Rory said:

Paul -

"Quit the fucking Meds and the multi-Doctors."

I can't. At least not if I want to live a semi-comfortable life.

I've tried quitting the meds and the docs. My friends have been there. One in particular was there to see the worst of it, but I don't think she reads my site anymore, as her husband probably forbids it (long story there).

There was a time of many months when I could barely go outside. Nor could I go inside. I was afraid of sleeping, of being awake, of sitting, of lying down, of eating, of drinking... so many things.

One day, I saw a doctor - Kay Gage - and she gave me a little Ativan. It completely changed my life. I was still a bit shaken up, but I was able to start going outside again, and so on.

Things went up and down after that, but it's not the doctors' fault. They tried to help me. I went to good people. Not just good docs - good *people*.

Along the way, I was diagnosed as bipolar three times, but I ignored it. Several years later, I couldn't ignore it anymore. Went to the mental hospital where I was diagnosed twice more as bipolar. Finally put on the right meds. Finally started to lead a semi-normal life. And it worked for a while. And it still kind of works. But it's a process to find the right balance and the right meds.

Even with the downs, I've felt better these past ten months than I have in the previous ten years. I have many good days. As you've all seen here, I also have bad weeks. But, I already feel stable - not good, but stable. Considering that I used to spend up to a *year* in severe depression, two-weeks isn't that bad. It hurts like hell while you're going through it, but you *do* come out the other end all right. At least I do.

This won't be the last time it'll happen, but I'll never get rid of the meds and docs. I was far, far, far worse off without...

"Go for long walks where there are trees and streams."

I like long walks. I like trees and streams. I do these things. They're nice. But they don't even remotely touch my condition.

"After a long enough walk you will eat better and sleep well."

I haven't fallen asleep from exhaustion in years. It takes a lot to put me down.

I don't have an appetite for food - I just know I have to eat, so I do. It's the same with sleep. So, when I turn in, it's not because I'm sleepy, but because I know I must sleep. I also a bit about what goes on up in the head when we sleep, and it's very important. I need dopamine. I need serotonin. I need the various neurotransmitters and hormones that are replaced as we sleep. I need to let my body repair itself.

I just don't get tired.

And that's that.

For a case of mild depression, the things you're saying could totally help. There are *many* activities that have been proved to be just as - if not more - efficacious as SSRIs in treating mild depression.

My condition is *COMPLETELY* different.
May 26, 2008 6:00 PM
 

Adam Kinney said:

Dear Mr. Blyth,  I hope you feel better soon.

- Adam

May 26, 2008 7:04 PM
 

Ian said:

Hey bud, just wanted to let you know I'm still here pondering about you. Glad to hear you're doing better. Keep doing that, k?
May 27, 2008 1:55 AM
 

Name (required) said:

Sounds great:

1) URL to Wikipedia page explaining why certain meds are to be taken
2) Love
3) Help Rory find a nice girl
4) Happily writing away, getting things done, taking some breaks for the girl and the rest of life

Might sound a bit naive but what about making up a few topics to write about - Next time you get depressed you take the first one on the list and write about it?
May 27, 2008 2:08 AM
 

Name (required) said:

Rory, you wasted at least half a sentence "This question is so hard to answer, as I've never experienced a period of non-depression long enough to know what I might/could do were I to apply myself in a..." :-)

Know this one:
A guy dies and goes to heaven.
God says: "Tell me what you want paradise to look like. You got one sentence only".
Guy responds: "Wow, what an amazing thing to think about, I never really had a chance to think about this in my life...".
God interrupts him: "that comma was cheating. Since you didn't say anything you get the default, which is the life you have right now".
May 27, 2008 2:17 AM
 

punky said:

"Women truly do love the bad guys"

Hm. Let me pull out of my cunning linguist's hat the ol' familiar distinction between "love", "love" and "love". (You can see that natural language has its limitations here.) For simplicity, let's omit "love" qua "love-making". It's good, clean family fun, but not important for our purposes. More interesting is the remaining pair, "love" qua "being in love" and "love" qua "feeling of unbreakable bond with your soul-mate". As we all know, the former can be quite intoxicating, and my preconceptions of you indicate that you might be particularly susceptible to its charms (I'm not sure if your eardrums ever resonnated with Robert Palmer's hit chart plague "Addicted to Love"? Or Roxy Music's "Love is the Drug"?). The latter is a different beast, and perhaps closer in nature to your relationship with your late grandmother.

Now, I'm not actually sure which one of these you want more than anything else. If you are looking for a shot of love, then yes, I do believe you're right. Certain women, the kind that are looking for a shot of their own, will tend to fall in love with the bad guys. It's no wonder; bad guys offer more in the danger, recklessness and unpredictability department than the daisy-and-chocolate-touting goody-two-shoes bringing home the pay check every Friday.

For the sake of argument, though, let's assume that you're really looking for the third kind of love. Whatever knowledge I have of humanity, men and women indicates that the distribution of personal characteristics is fairly equal between the sexes. You'll find approximately the same number of female assholes as you will male. The upside of this is that the population of females also contains specimen that are as good as you. I speak from experience here: I'm a good guy with an equally good girl. Looking more fine-grained at things, we should note that every romantic relationship is an economic transaction: you trade your own qualities for hers. Hence my wife and I are compatibly beautiful, compatibly kind and compatably lazy, and I make up for her superior social skills with a brain excelling at academic exercises. (I think I made a bargin, but she seems happy enough.)

And so you -- that is, me -- just have to wonder: perhaps it's not women who pick the wrong guys, but you who pick the wrong women? That is, could it be that you systematically trade your own goods for the wrong stuff in return? (And just to be clear and preemptive here; I'm not talking about downscaling any standards you might have with regards to looks or shape or whatever. The juxtaposition of bad and beautiful, good and plain, is an urban myth. But you'll have to pay for everything you get.)
May 27, 2008 2:46 AM
 

punky said:

Since I'm in a talkative mood today, let's follow a tangent from the previous comment. Why is it, as Blackadder says, that "bad guys have all the fun"? Certainly it seems irrational that any significant subset of women would actually prefer guys that are bad. (Conversely for men, but for some reason we speak less of men that prefer bad girls. Perhaps because that phrase has such a precise sexual interpretation -- ALL men prefer "bad girls".) How can bad be better than good?

If you're interested in this question, pick up "Erotism: Death and Sensuality" by Georges Bataille. Bataille was a particularly fucked-up and well-read Frenchman with a hang-up on the Marquis de Sade. I was kind of rocking back and forth between smiling in disbelief and twitching in disgust as I read it ten years ago, but ever since I've found that I keep referring back to it.

One idea that Bataille planted in my head is that social norms affect us in ways similar to the edge of a cliff. We don't really want to jump, but we find ourselves attracted to the edge nevertheless. This is the lure of death, which simultaneously means ending life and expanding beyond its limits. When we actually break a social norm, we experience a thrill, a buzz, of being outside of order, of being uncontrollable, invincible, larger than life. The stronger the norm, the greater the buzz. A vital point is that we want the norm to hold, even as we break it. (In the book, Bataille explains ritual breaches of various taboos such as cannibalism and all kinds of sexual deviance in this light.)

This explains not only why some women are attracted to bad guys, but also why they eventually leave them. For new bad guys.
May 27, 2008 5:43 AM
 

Ian said:

" "bad guys have all the fun"? "

Punky, I think it's actually Santa Clause that has all the fun.. because he knows where all the bad girls live.
May 27, 2008 9:48 AM
 

Andrew said:

Paul, Rory's problem is not that he feels a little blue from time to time. He has a neurochemical condition that drastically reduces his quality of life when untreated.

It's the difference between "My leg hurts because I worked out yesterday" and "My leg hurts because there's an osteosarcoma invading my tissues." You can't say, "Take an aspirin" and expect the cancer to go away.

Treating severe clinical depression (or, in Rory's case, bipolar disorder) as simple emotional ups and downs totally misses the point. They are qualitatively different problems and require different curative strategies. I don't blame you for not grasping the distinction; medical science took a decades-long detour through the weeds of Freudian/Jungian bullshit, so our understanding of mental disorders is considerably less than it should be. But it's pretty ballsy of you to second-guess Rory's doctors and tell him to move away from efficacious treatments because you've misunderstood the nature of his illness.
May 27, 2008 9:56 AM
 

paul said:

Doctors are one of the leading causes of deaths in this prosperous country.

I think all of us are a bit bipoler, hypoglycemic, disoriented and scared.

For a better perspective on life maybe Rory could go to China and talk to a Mother who has lost her only child in the earthquake and explain to her  all about his depression.
May 27, 2008 10:26 AM
 

punky said:

Ian, I agree completely. Santa's the ultimate back door man.
May 27, 2008 11:38 AM
 

Mike G said:

Hi.  I'm less crazy than you, but, I'm still crazy.

When I'm sane, the holistic approach keeps me sane.  There's some acronym: NEW START: nutrition, exercise, water, sunshine, temperence, air, rest, theology.  As long as I work it, it works.

(It is such a pain in the ass trying to eat well, get outdoors, and get exercise every day.)

But when I'm depressed, I'm incapable of working NEW START.  Even the first and easiest bullet, nutrition, is way beyond me when I'm down.  Unless there is food in arm's reach, I won't eat.  To climb up back to normal is beyond me without meds.

It's like balancing on a beam.  If you try your best, you can stay up a long time, but, you will eventually fall off no matter what you do.

Sorry that I'm hijacking your blog with my story, but, I guess I'm just posting to tell you what you already know: mental illness is real.  Sometimes medicine is necessary.
May 27, 2008 3:16 PM
 

Rory said:

paul -

"Doctors are one of the leading causes of deaths in this prosperous country."

Dying is *the* leading cause of death in the world. Maybe we should go after it.

Regardless, you couldn't possibly come up with any meaningful stats regarding your claim.

While I don't have stats of my own, I can't help but wonder... when people get sick, they often go to the doctor, right? Or, when they're dying? In this country, I bet a lot of people go to the doctor when they're about to Check Out.

So, these people die under the care of doctors.

Does that make it the fault of the doctors? If you think so... well, that's ludicrous.

Also, check out life-expectancy and infant-mortality rates from over the years. Not to far off in our past, I'd have probably been dead at my age, and that's assuming I was even born at all.

I don't usually say things so blatantly, but you're wrong. Just wrong.

"I think all of us are a bit bipoler, hypoglycemic, disoriented and scared."

You don't know what "bipolar" means. I don't know what hypoglycemia has to do with anything. Our kind of life needs fuel. Sometimes we don't get enough fuel. Hypoglycemia ensues. Nothing new to our doctors-are-the-cause-of-death age.

As for disorientation and fear - sure. But that's nothing new either.

What matters is how we handle these things. I might not be the best at mental/emotional stability, but I do my research, and that can reduce the fear and disorientation.

"For a better perspective on life maybe Rory could go to China and talk to a Mother who has lost her only child in the earthquake and explain to her  all about his depression."

You're right, and I think we need to spread the news.

Shrinks should be taking their bipolar patients to China to talk to mothers whose children have died in earthquakes to talk to them about depression.

What you're suggesting is just indicative of how totally ignorant you are. You might as well take a cancer patient to meet a corpse to give the cancer patient a better perspective on mortality. Maybe they'll shake the cancer right off.

I tried to respond to you respectfully the first time, but your disregard of what I've been going through, your lack of interest in learning about it, *yet* still wanting to comment on it forces me to introduce the word "douche" into this exchange.

As in: you're a douche.
May 27, 2008 10:15 PM
 

Dana said:

Rory, I've been an occasional lurker for some time. I've enjoyed the gift of your earlier writings and podcasts. I'm sorry that the depression, uncertainty, etc... is still going on in your life.

I like to put forth that the Tradition and Truth of God and his *infinite* love for you is here now as it always has been. He knows everything about you. We're given this incredible gift of life for the sole purpose of seeking the Truth. Let us not stop. You’re in my prayers.
May 27, 2008 10:57 PM
 

Ian said:

I always thought santa was a chimney man..
Punky - you made me lol in the comments to a post about Rory being depressed, you rock dude.

Hopefully you made him laugh too!

Rory - well said. Total douche.
May 27, 2008 10:58 PM
 

punky said:

Ian, glad to give a laugh back for once - your comments always tend to crack me up. If we could put a smile on Rory's face too, all the much better.

That being said, I accuse you for permanently mixing up my metaphors and giving me some unintended visuals on my retina. Who would have guessed this thread would leave me with images of bad girls, well, taking it up the chimney, if you pardon my French.
May 28, 2008 12:16 AM
 

Name (required) said:

Another day wasted.

All those great things that could have been written, all those girls that could have been loved and could have loved back, all those sunsets, all those Steve Ballmer & Bill Gates videos we could have watched... but no, we needed to feel depression, be sorry for others being depressed, try to blame the doctors.

What about writing some stuff, meeting some girls, watch some sunsets (with or without the girl) ... is there any problem?
May 28, 2008 12:21 AM
 

punky said:

I for one subscribe to the perspective-as-cure theory. For instance, instead of giving antibiotics to people who catch pneumonia, we should tell them to think of people who caught pneumonia before the discovery of antibiotics! Personally, I plan on using positive thinking of victims of the Boston Strangler to overcome my allergy towards nuts.
May 28, 2008 12:22 AM
 

Rory said:

Name -

"What about writing some stuff, meeting some girls, watch some sunsets (with or without the girl) ... is there any problem?"

I *do* these things. The problem is that, between you and the experience, is the condition. I *wish* it weren't that way. But it is.

I just spent thirty minutes sitting on the floor of my bathroom telling myself that I wasn't going to throw-up again. I can't do it anymore. I hate it. I sat and sweated and told myself, out loud, that it wasn't going to happen again.

That's one half-hour of one day, and that one went *well*. All I am is tired, drenched in sweat, and nauseated. But at least I didn't puke.

I'm getting better if that makes you happy. I *did* walk around with a girl today. We had a nice time. She's a Buddhist, and we talked about all the various Rory problems in terms of Buddhism. Combined with western medicine, I see a promising thing. I would have preferred that the conversation had been about something other than what's been going on, and we discussed ways of getting past thinking about all the medical crap, but I couldn't help talking about what's been going on because it's what's been going on.

Maybe I haven't written about it in a sufficiently detailed way, but if you're saying today was wasted, then maybe I've failed in getting across how fucked up things are. For how things have been going, today was a great success, and that includes the quality time on the floor of my bathroom.
May 28, 2008 4:23 AM
 

paul said:

Doctors Are The 3rd Leading Cause of Death in the US, Causing 225,000 Deaths Every Year

http://www.healingdaily.com/Doctors-Are-The-Third-Leading-Cause-of-Death-in-the-US.htm

Angels of Death: The Doctors

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/weird/doctors/index_1.html
May 28, 2008 5:08 AM
 

xtine said:

Ohmygod Rory, are you cheating on me with another Buddhist???
May 28, 2008 10:29 AM
 

Chris said:

God that really sucks Rory. Maybe you just need some sunshine. I bet you wouldn't be depressed if you were in So Cal. It's so beautiful here.

I am going to long beach in a few minutes. I think Seattle is a little like Canada where the weather kind of sucks.

That can have a lot to do with your mood. Some people that live in higher latitudes have to medically be under a bunch of strong lights for 8 hours per day to keep from being depressed.

At any rate, perhaps you should ask about the light thing, people like plants need a certain amount of sunlight.

Off the office then the beach I go.
May 28, 2008 1:44 PM
 

jsr $C600 said:

Dana: well said.

Phillipians 4:6
May 28, 2008 6:50 PM
 

Rory said:

paul -

"Doctors Are The 3rd Leading Cause of Death in the US, Causing 225,000 Deaths Every Year"

Dude...

You're pulling data from a site that advertises "colon-cleansing" and juice-diets, both of which have been shown to be TERRIBLE for you (if I get off the couch, I'll find some proper references rather than the crap you're pushing).

"Studies" aside, think about this: without modern medicine (that includes doctors), we'd all be dying right around our mid-life crises. And look at infant-mortality rates. Not just between now and centuries past, but between here and undeveloped nations where people don't have access to proper healthcare.

If you want the info on infant-mortality rates, you can find it through the CIA World Factbook site: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/

Just select a country and get going.

I can't believe how many people think modern medicine's a crock, but that "cleaning" your intestines by drinking orange juice and eating rocks and swallowing bark-dust for thirty days at a time will cure you of everything from blindness to post-nasal drip.

Idiots.
May 28, 2008 8:14 PM
 

Chris said:

Rory,

People just say that because they're uninsured. I only know a hand full of people in So Cal, and I don't think anybody has insurance besides me. It was the first thing I got when I came here.

http://www.sitespaces.net/userpics/gallerypics/gallerypicdata/picid19950.JPG

I knew what would happen if I didn't

So people that can't afford or don't want to pay for health insurance will say all sorts of crap to justify themselves. Notice that Canadians and Europeans never really downplay modern medicine. That's because the govt forces them all to pay for health insurance at insane rates whether they like it or not.

So I think that's what it boils down to.

Sort of like "well, I didn't want it anyway" type of thing.
May 28, 2008 10:45 PM
 

Name (required) said:

If you feel like puking... do puke :). Nothing wrong with that, heros in movies do it all the time. If you don't feel like it you will stop... remember, you could write about something else or call that girl and tell her about puking (if you want to) or writing (if that sounds more fun)... but then again if puking is necessary don't stop yourself from doing it, will only make you feel depressed for no good reason.
May 28, 2008 11:36 PM
 

paul said:

Your Doctors are giving you pharmaceuticals that are creating unforeseen problems.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pharmaceutical_companies

Your going to wind up like Elvis
May 29, 2008 7:34 AM
 

Ian said:

"That's because the govt forces them all to pay for health insurance at insane rates whether they like it or not. "

You may want to take the UK out of that list [1].  Unless its changed significantly since I lived there the social healthcare paid for by 'national insurance' contributions is 1% of salary and private healthcare is paid by companies with the individual paying tax on the benifit. Again as I recall I paid a lot less tax in GBP for my healthcare than I now do in USD.
But lets not make this about how the pharmacutical and insurance companies are giving the American public a colon exam once a month.

[1] some would argue we should just take the UK out of Europe entirely..

May 29, 2008 8:55 AM
 

Ian said:

"Your going to wind up like Elvis"

Living on the moon?
May 29, 2008 8:56 AM
 

Chris said:

fin.gc.ca/facts/fshc7_e.html

16 percent Federal, and another 20-25 percent provincial.
That is why Canadians pay insane taxes. Europeans have it even worse I read.

"You may want to take the UK out of that list"

OK, the UK is out of that list. But they have the same type of health care system. Pretty much everything in Canada from the house of commoners, to the Queen to the health care system comes from the UK anyway. Yes, I know about Tom Douglas. It doesn't matter.
When you go to Trafalgar square half the buildings have Canadian flags hanging from them.

So with that said, I would much rather pay lower taxes, IE, no $7 a gallon for Canadian gas because of a 53 percent combined tax on it, than pay in a socialist system.

The fact that you aren't forced to have health insurance in the US means that people become disenfranchised from it and don't realize it's importance. Sort of like those people who spend years without visiting a dentist because they figure their teeth still work so why would they.

Those are the people most likely to buy into cheaper alternatives to staying healthy and will profess them. All of this derives from ignorance, low income, and people desperate to find some type of answer.

I think everybody should have health insurance in the US so they stay healthy, but I don't wanna pay for it. That's why I left Canada.
The Iraqis are rich, they have tons of oil. We helped them, they should pay for our health insurance forever.

my 2 cents.
May 29, 2008 9:30 AM
 

peter harris said:

hopes you get some level change
on bbc QI recently a mention was made that only certain people have attached lobes
as you did a podcast on the appreciation of jolene
it may or maybe not interest

May 29, 2008 10:53 AM
 

miss sarah said:

Holy crap, people.

Rory, I think the word you might be looking for now is "dumbass" - at least, it's managed to serve me very well today. :)
May 29, 2008 3:23 PM
 

Chris said:

I know this is your blog Rory, but today I interviewed with the online entertainment industry in LA. The interview went really well. I was asked if I was against working in such an industry and I searched my soul and I honestly said no. No I don't mind working on software that promotes pornography. The interview went well and I left.
I'm slightly drunk right now and all I can say is boy do I hope I get that job.

You're a great person Rory. You're a little odd, but you're a great person none the less. You shouldn't worry yourself sick like that.

Paul, he's an idiot. I offered him a free plane ticket to Montreal to come see our business back when it opened a few years ago and he said he had to cancel because he was too content eating free shrimp dinners that Microsoft provided for him at promotional events.
You know.

Jesus good Luck Rory.
May 29, 2008 10:00 PM
 

Chris said:

That should have read the "online adult entertainment industry". You know those guys that make mad cash showing off girls for money. What can I say. It's LA, and I certainly don't think makin money is morally wrong if people wanna pay to see it.
May 29, 2008 10:01 PM
 

Rory said:

Hey, all -

Been truant again. Good days and bad. Mentally, mostly good. The depression has lifted a lot.

Physically, things are... weird. I've been getting nauseated every night. It makes no difference what I've eaten or done during the day. I just suddenly get overcome by the chills/sweats/nausea. My shrink thinks it's to do with the recent med changes and that it'll resolve itself. I trust him. He's been pretty helpful so far.

But it's wearing. I write posts in my head all the time - videos, too - it's getting the ideas out and into their media that isn't working so well. Although the depression is mostly gone, morale's way down. It felt like it was never going to end, and that got me in a no-can-do mindset.

I've been here before. Maybe not with all the same elements, but very similar. Things will probably get back on track when I write my first "normal" post again. Writing here does a lot for me - feelings of accomplishment, well-being, and I also get to communicate with fascinating, weird, kind, awful, crazy, sane, wet, dry, furry, bald, wonderful people from many other time zones.

I expect to be writing again within a day or two. Too much stuff has collected in my head. I don't know how you people do things, but if I don't get these things out, I feel clouded. It's like a crowded runway. If you've ever taxied forever, or if you've been in a holding patter for hours on end, then you'll kind of understand. The planes that are taxiing are the thoughts that have been building up but that can't, for whatever reason, take off. The planes in the holding patterns are the new ideas, getting in line to take up some of the space on the ground.

Wow. Did that make sense? I've been taking some uber-nausea meds, and they make me uber-groggy. All I can do is lie down and watch Stargate. Sitting up is kind of against the rules - even with the meds, sitting up too long will have me heaving. The key seems to be lying down. As long as I'm horizontal, things are all right.

I feel like I'm 90.

And, Chris - I have absolutely nothing against working in the adult entertainment industry. I tried to get a couple people to start a company (long, complicated story) in the industry, but they wouldn't have it. They said they'd feel ashamed.

My attitude is the same as yours - if people are willing to take the money of other people for providing a harmless service, then... okee-dokee.

Tah, all.

Be back soon.
May 30, 2008 11:17 PM
 

Celes said:

I did something silly- wrote a long comment in a text editor at lunch at work, and it sits there as I write this. :/

"I don't know how you people do things, but if I don't get these things out, I feel clouded."

I am the same way, so I try not to do that. If I were in your position, I'd likely be horizontal with a notebook drawing or writing barely legible crap.

"As long as I'm horizontal, things are all right. "

How out of context can we take this? :)
May 31, 2008 2:54 PM
 

Erwin Blonk said:

Hi Rory,
from the above discussion, I'm inclined to think you actually are the smartest man in the world. With all the mess your head is, you still pull through and be clear-headed enough to respond to conspiracy nutters and statistic twisters. If you weren't the way you are, you would have thrown in the towel already.
You realise your problems have a mainly physiogical cause and go about it on that basis.
Like a buddhist I know would say, sometimes it's meditation, sometimes it's medication, often it is both.
If anyone can survive being you, that would be you. All things considered, you've done an incredible job so far.
June 1, 2008 1:56 AM
 

Ian said:

""As long as I'm horizontal, things are all right. "

How out of context can we take this? :)"

well he did try to start a company in the online ent. industry..

June 1, 2008 4:22 PM
 

JoeG said:


"Angels of Death: The Doctors"

Yes..I see now: a few twisted killers in history have been doctors, therefore all doctors are bad.

I understand now! The scales have fallen from my eyes!!

Thank you, paul for this iron clad logic.

Rory,

I have a friend and a few family members who have suffered from clinical depression. Only one's illness was as severe as yours, but I have seen a few "before and after" situations; the most dramatic from very, very close range. The *right* meds and an extremely supportive environment can make a huge difference.

Granted, there are some pretty crappy doctors out there (duh!), but there are also some superb, brilliant ones. I wish you luck in finding the latter.

I will pray for you to the Trees and Streams I worship when I take my long walks.

:P
June 2, 2008 10:21 AM
 

punky said:

@JoeG:

Indeed. A doctor friend of mine says that of the population of doctors, there are 10% that he would see if he were ill, and 10% that you must avoid like the plague. Personally, I've had the interesting experience of seeing both groups represented in the same family: the father saved my eyesight when I was ten, but his son is completely inadequate - I don't trust him to handle the annual spring prescription of mild antihistamines I've had since I was a wee kid.
June 3, 2008 3:23 AM
 

i ve been here way too long and i wanna go said:

July 10, 2008 11:50 AM
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