What's in a Day? Pumpernick's and Talk by Robert Whittaker

Here's Robert Whittaker's website, Mad in America. Very informative. But there's only so much info I can cram into my smaller-than-average bipolar brain - yes, I read about dat! -and it's like a CD getting stuck in a particular part.

Will the real Robert Whittaker please stand up. One of them is a boxer, thother is a journalist.


 
Rich, Ada and I had dinner at Pumpernick's



and then drove over to Montgomery County Community College, Science Center, to watch the program.

We couldn't get over the beautiful campus with the greenest of grass. And of course it was all farmland before the college was built.



Bob was an excellent speaker and moderator. He stood up from 7 pm until after 9.

They should've had printed programs so we knew who was onstage. A man introduced him. Probably a psychologist. They had plenty of food outside on tables but I wanted a program.

Bob talked about new paradigms in the field of psychiatry. Spoke about the history of mental patients in America. Treating them like animals and chaining em up in a cell on a bed of straw. This in the 1800s. Lobotomies.Walter J Freeman and others developed them.

Let's learn why Rosemary Kennedy - eldest daughter of Joseph and Rose -  had one.

What is mental illness anyway? It is not a chemical balance in the brain. This was an easy way to describe it at one time. Well, people with schizophrenia have too much dopamine, or people with depression need more serotonin.

Bob mentioned the term 'struggling' with mental illness. Unless you have personally struggled - and I certainly did - you have no idea what it really means.  He compared it to having 'a bad day.'

Many of us felt that Bob overemphasized being free from medication. A young man we know went up to him afterward and told him meds saved his life. Nothing worked until he found Clozaril. Now he's able to work!

The program was sponsored by The Hearing Voices Network.

The lecture was very well attended. A married couple and their daughter - orig in our group - sat several rows in front of us. I remember when young "Delia" would attend. She's a very passionate young lady and one day burst out that she heard voices. And wept.

She was so ashamed and terrified. Her mind is still not working right. In my opinion, she should get very busy, exercise, and get a volunteer job even if it's working for her dad's company.

Here's a piece I wrote about hearing voices called Pray for Me Bernadette. 

And, Delia, there are indeed psychiatrists who will work with you! On the home page of our website we have thoughts about not using meds by a Harvard-trained psychiatrist plus what they do in Finland about psychosis.

Great surprise to see Tracey, a peer specialist, there! She looked wonderful in purple. Her son is now 14 weeks old.

  We encourage people to have children if they wish. Certain psychiatrists and psychologists specialize in helping women with mental illness issues.

Also Teresa was there. How did you ever get here, I asked, as she is geographically challenged.

Montco is close to home, she said. Her son was also there. He looked great with his little mustache.



Whittaker talked about a first psychosis. Theories are constantly changing. One is: Use medication to get initially stabilized and then go off. You may never have another episode again.

If you have schizophrenia and are taking meds, you're actually growing a little dopamine factory in your brain that makes you feel really terrible.

In Scandanavia they have a different philosophy of mental illness.They emphasize relationships with family and other loving individuals.

The Q and A section was fascinating! People really shared openly and honestly and were so glad to have a chance to be heard.

They should come to New Directions! We hear all different voices and never judge.

Our philosophy, however, is Take your meds as prescribed and partner with your psychiatrist.

One woman who spoke has an important job in behavioral health in Philly and is no longer on meds for bipolar disorder. My heart soared! She's young and she's not tarnishing her brain with meds. And did she ever struggle!

As we know meds can wreck or weaken other parts of your body. Thanks, daughter Sarah, for your kidney!

Helping other people on their journey of recovery is one of the best ways to help yourself! Alcoholics Anonymous was the first to speak about this, but who knows? Maybe Hippocrates did too!

Rich did a great job of driving home in the dark, zigging and zagging through the dark streets, finally ending up on Cowbell Road.

PUMPERNICK'S

The deli was far away

on the road to the

community college

As we took our seats

Ada, Rich and I

passed the

pickle bar

swimming with

big green tomatoes

sauerkraut

and other forms

of transformed

cukes

I ordered the chopped

liver platter with cole

slaw and potato salad

decorated with giant

cucumbers and salad greens

Forgive me if I brag. When

I lived in Austin, I brought

a little bit of Ashkenazi

culture down with me.

Into the blender where I made

Sarah's baby food, I swirled

cooked chicken livers, hard

boiled eggs, onions raw as

if they came from the field

vino, paprika, salt and pepper

and no one would eat it.

No one but me. Sitting by the

window, staring at the pickups

with their gun racks, the

couples walking by, I

sat in utter contentment

on the upstairs porch

eating the best chopped

liver in the Lone Star State.

So now what do I do?

NHK has fab graphics and music. 

Breakfast at Daddypops - Hello again Ibrahim from Copies to Go

   I got there a day late. Wanted to celebrate their 30th anniversary. They charged the same prices as they did when they opened in 1987.

Food was excellent as always. I had tomato juice, a cheese omelet, hashbrowns with onions, and Ellis coffee.

Patrons often have their "own" cup! If I were a regular I'd choose the one that says



Do not buy me this for a present. I am throwing cups out as I have too many. Same with drinking glasses.

They also "retire" cups when a former customer dies. I immediately thought of Charlie, my neighbor from across the street. We used to sit on his front porch and chat.

People talk to one another at Daddypops.

How was your trip, the waitress asked the guy who sat next to me with the Cadillac key ring.

He'd gone to Myrtle Beach with his accountant.

He had a unique way of cutting up his omelet, knife and fork, slashing it into bits. Remind me to try that tomro morning.



Danielle transferred my second cup of coffee into a styrofoam cup, so I'm sipping on it now. Is Styrofoam biodegradable. It takes centuries!

Went to Daddypop's directly from American Heritage where I deposited the loot from last nite's meeting. I told the teller Linda about Daddypops and she said she loves it!



Here's Ibrahim from Copies to Go. This is an old photo of him on my blog.

He made a trip downtown to deliver an order!

Couldn't find it the first time but then Postman Andy walked into the shop and directed me there.  He's a Willow Grove postman and had actually delivered mail to me house.

I made 50 copies of Michael's great poster advertising The Karl Rickels program in June. I emailed it to Ibrahim.

Ibrahim will also make copies of our New Directions' brochures and will put the correct email address on it. It'll take awhile but  he's very precise and have it ready soon....no rush I said.

The Presbyterian church across the street from him closed down. Not enuf biz. The bldg is for sale. The parishioners went to other Presby churches, perhaps ours.

Any ideas of what the church might be used for?

Another urgent care?
Church of Scientology?
Crack house?

I told Ibrahim what foolish thing I did last night upon entering Abington Prez.

    We enter from the side door. This is the front door. There's a carpet before you enter and it was totally covered with fluffs and poofs that fall from neighboring trees and shrubs.

I lifted up the carpet - OMG was it heavy - and attempted to shake the poofs onto the grass.

Instead they flooded into my face, my nose and my mouth!

Cough cough cough! And I'm still not recovered today.

Ibrahim said, You were doing a good deed in the House of the Lord so good things will happen to you!

Then we discussed spiders.



His children ask him, Daddy, why don't you just kill spiders instead of taking them outside.

At work, a spider was on his shirt, I believe, so he went outside and flicked him off.

Instead, the spider came right back into the office. He did not wanna leave! I don't blame him. Ibrahim has a very nice vibe.

This morning I ordered three pair of leggings online

Leggings by Layla. 

Why did I use Layla? Easy to navigate website. Other websites wanted me to use PayPal. I simply use my credit card.

Dyou think they'll fit?

Today's FB poem is below.

THE BIRDS ARE EXPECTING ME

After I'd signed various
petitions to save the
whales, the bipolar bears,
and pre-existing conditions
I took to the streets.

I missed the major dogwalkers
Maggie was reclining on the
lawn as her mistress jabbered
with a neighbor

A friend o mine, Linda J
would take her cat Lukie
for a morning walk

Was that a prized gold finch
winging across the street?
The high hill, thinks I, is
not so bad, optimism, that's
what we like about you Ruthie

A corner family is moving
I search their trash cans
as I fly by. High poles
sticking out.

I fashion them into a
mobile to hang on my
ceiling, but only
in the ceiling of
my mind.

So long Amy and Natalie - Planting outside on the first day of May - Poem: Window Half Open

Final hours with Amy and Natalie before they fly back to Oregon. Good to get to know my niece Natalie, 25. Her husband Dion, who works in a produce store, will probly pick them up at the airport.

Excellent dinner. I brought a large everything salad. Nattie rarely eats salads but loved mine and wanted the recipe. Mom and Ellen made fab meatless chili.

Mom's mind was very stimulated and I think that with Amy in town she was inspired to use more brain pockets than usual.

I went off to the living room to try and catch some Zzzzzs. Maybe I did, but I wanted to be part of the conversation. Everyone came into the living and I learned about

Instagram
Snapchat
My Space

Jade sent out a photo of "baby girl" with a beard.

       The poppies I ordered online came in several plastic-wrapped packages ready to be planted.

Scott planted em all - perhaps 4 - and I tried to water em today but couldn't find where they were planted. Then I put in some nearly dead pink tulips which should grow for next spring.

I'm so tired now I'm practically falling over. But there are two things to discuss, which I did with my family.

Isn't that a beautiful phrase:  with my family.

I wanna write a book thru Amazon. Tentative title is Women Who Love Too Much and Other Stories.

Second, I wanna write the marketing director of Giant Supermarkets - all things go thru him - and ask if Giant customers can have a meet and greet at a table in the big classroom on the second floor. I see the same customers day after day. Why not find out who they are?

For instance, after shopping, I push my small cart back to the corral and see an older gent get out of his car. Immediately I take him for a Big Cart Guy. Still, I ask:  Would you like a small cart?

Yes, he says, is it a good one?

Yes, I say, the wheels are all properly aligned and go straight.

Now if I were Ann Beatty, this would be a good pickup line and lead the two of them straight into bed - oh! am I allowed to say that on The View?

Was up submitting until 5 am. Then went to bed and got up for good at 8 when sister Donna phoned. Darn! You're sposed to take the phone off the hook, Ruthie Ann, who is a character in my newest short  story Max the Window Man.

We hope it's accepted.

Topics we discussed at Mom's - Natalie's beautiful face, there might've been a movie star on their American Airlines plane that came to Philly, anudder fight breaks out on an airplane, this time, the pilot smacks some women who are fighting before they board.

I essayed that b/c loose-lipped Trump is president and talks tough, w/o censoring himself, the fabric of honorable society is crumbling.

If you're a human being, you must monitor your behavior. He, of course, does not, and people are impressed. Gee, I wish I could do dat, they say. And many of them lose their inhibitions possibly for the first time.

Hey, this feels great, pushing people around like I did when I was three.

More topics: Bad backs, bad backs helped by hot yoga, Bikram Yoga.

Cellcept.  Allergic to Prednisone - read poem. Hair extensions. Female pattern baldness. Really bad feet. I think all in our family suffer from that.

  This is when I broke a couple of foot bones and wore the hip-crippling boot.

Had trouble thinking of today's FB poem and came up with

WINDOW HALF OPEN

It was a two-blanket
night, the furry tiger
one Dad used when
he was dying and that
nice maroon patchwork
pattern that sets
your soul on fire.

A breeze floated into
the room. Impossible!
Everything was locked
down, like a submarine
heading for Korea.

Then I remembered.
I'd forgotten to close
the tiny window above me,
wishing for fresh air.
Bob Walmsey, who calls
ever woman, "Hon,"and his
colorful window guys
had given me new windows
the year of my kidney transplant.

Both windows and kidneys
are doing their thang.
As is the chickodee,
building his nest
for his best girl
in the bird house
I view from my
window.

Is the overhead
Hawk watching him, too?

***

ADIOS!!!