Briefly

Merry, your comment was in my spam folder for some reason--I went in to remove it...and accidentally deleted it.

>.<

I meant to hit "Not Spam", but my trackpad shifted when I clicked and...doh.

If you care to comment again, go ahead--and it won't happen again. If it's too much work, don't worry about it--I just didn't mean to do that and really didn't get to read it.

((This JUST happened, and I felt like I needed to post a direct thing again for it, because it shouldn't have happened.))

This isn't a rant account and I'm not going to spend all of my posts whining about things...sorry that I have been.

Thanks for all your comments and I'll keep up with each of you as much as I can.

But in the meantime, here are a few pictures I took the first day I got my DSLR:

Let me know what you think?

"I've always felt that ADHD was a silly diagnosis with no basis in medical fact, myself..."

I hate to single you out, Merry, but you now sound like my mother.

It has her belief that ADD/ADHD wasn't an actual "thing". That it was just kids whose parents didn't care enough to make sure they were controlled or disciplined properly. She pretty much thought that the fix for it was a good smack in the face.

And that's how she dealt with me as a kid. In first through fourth grade, I was the only kid on a behavioral system. I had paperclips--if I was bad/had an outburst/spoke...etc, I would lose a paperclip from a ring of like 5. 

At the end of the day, I had to count my total--and that number went to my Mom.

You can guess that if anything happened during the school day, and that number was less than, say, 5, I would get in trouble--whatever that ended up being. I was under 5 fairly often.

It isn't a great thing to grow up constantly being yelled at/hit/punished...whatever...for something you really can't control.

Fourth grade, I switched into a private school where I was the "loser"--to a group of kids who had known each other since BIRTH, basically--and had no room for someone like me (someone who read Dilbert, Foxtrot, Lord of the Rings, who did well in Math...etc). So I couldn't really socialize in class--so I was saved from getting into trouble with that--but I used to blatantly read other books in classes. That is to say, during Social Studies or English, I'd have an extra book on my desk and I'd be reading that instead.

I'd do well on the assignments and tests because I didn't have a life outside of video games and part-time sports (I lived a town a good 15-30 minutes from my school and therefore the kids in it. I also lived in a kidless neighborhood (always have, in fact--even when we moved--no kids around me). My social life has sucked for a good majority of my life), but I didn't pay attention to the teachers and I surprisingly rarely (if at all) got in trouble for any of this.

In High School---a social environment, I suffered. Constant detentions for talking in class...etc. It got pretty bad. Freshman year was really terrible for me.

Sophomore year was when I joined Track--and that's where things got better for me.

I found an outlet for all my energy--a couple miles at first--around eight-ten come Junior/Senior year. Spending two hours a day after running really wasted all my extra energy and gave me an incredible focus. I did exceptionally well grade-wise following this.

Then I get to college. A college built into the side of what's essentially a mountain--nothing but hills--incredibly hard to run on.

I pick a Chemistry Major. I'm also Pre-Med. I have no time. There is only schoolwork.

This leads to problems.

I can't run. I can't waste my energy. I've got so much of it...

It finally got to the point where people were noticing how bad I was at trying to concentrate on things. I should've noticed it sooner--but it really did take someone saying, "Dude--are you okay? You're tweaking out. Do you have ADD or something?" for me to be concerned about it.

After that, a friend of mine /blackmailed/ me (with her class notes) to talk to someone on campus. From there I was referred off-campus. And here I am.

My last semester was the toughest--but I managed to do better than I had previously (it wasn't my BEST semester, but it was my second-best. That's GOOD, considering the course-load I was taking and the stress that came with it)...so it means that what I'm doing now is definitely helping.

So to say that "there's no medical basis"...I'd disagree with this. There's something to it. There definitely is.

As someone who wants to be a doctor, I doubt the "no medical basis" thing.  As someone who has encountered kids and adults, treated and not treated, with with the same quirks and behaviors I have--there is basis enough for me. I've seen it in my family (my Uncle--even my Mom), destructive and untreated.

I've got a long road ahead of me and this was the first step in helping me make sure I stay on it.

Getting the doses and medications right--well--that's the forest I've got to get out of first. That's where I'm at now. Somewhere in Mirkwood, trying to get towards the Loney Mountain.

Anxious and dry-throat.

These are not side-effects I expected from an ADHD medication.

So let me restate this: Concerta either works or it makes you anxious and not hungry (with an apple-in-throat kind of feeling to boot). Great choices.

>.<

Beginning of the End

Classes have started for the second semester of my senior year.

1 Chemistry class to complete my Chemistry major.
2 fun/joke classes.
1 ambiguously ranked class.
And research.

That will be my life for the next 4 months. ...then it's over. Then I have to apply to medical school. That's a whole DIFFERENT road. And I've got to touch the real world for the entire of my journey down it. Scary. No more "Student-in-school" bubble to protect me from it. It's a "Student-wannabe" bubble...but that's hardly any bubble at all. Gah.

Still on Concerta, but my Doctor has basically told me to man-up and make myself sleepless by doubling up at different points during the day. That's sure to work out alright. #right? #probablynot.

But it helps half the time, and half the time is better than none of the time, I guess. All of the time would be better, but I'm working towards that still. Never expected it to be easy, I suppose.

So some comment questions: Leave answers and I'll reply on yours or whatever.
1) Are you a student?
     a)What are you/are you intending to study?
     b)Where do you want it to lead you?
2) What do you think of "the real world"--or the idea of it?

Huhn

Boy did I fall off the wagon on this one.

Sorry folks, if there's anyone out there--and if there is, hey! Thanks for reading. Leave some comments to let me know you're still here and I'll be loyal back.

Sorry I disappeared for a while. This last semester ended up being the busiest of my college career and that can, obviously, only lead to me not doing this. Which--is better because I'm spending more of my time doing what I'm supposed to. ...which is what this blog is all about, in the end. Wow. Weird logic, but in not updating, I'm fulfilling the purpose of me doing this blog. #mindwarpingrealities

Now that I've got...no classes...and am bored as all hell...here I am.

Off meds right now, which doesn't bother me as I don't really need them yet. I'm going to be speaking to my doc on Wednesday to see if I can get some changes, though--I don't find that the XR (extended release) pills work that well with my schedule...I'd rather be able to control when I take my medication and when it works...because throwing 8-10 hours at it (9-5, it feels like it's effective--less than the 12 hours it's supposed to) and covering my classes but NOT when I do the bulk of my work? It's very counter productive, honestly.

And half the time it doesn't even feel like it's working. I only know I've taken the medication because I don't feel hungry. And the not being hungry part doesn't bother me. I eat enough...it's just that if I'm going to be feeling stuff like this--I'd like to at least see some results out of it, you know?

It's 3:33AM and I feel it's a good time to wrap this up (3:34. Damn my need for proper diction), so I'll sign off for the night. Hoping I don't get trounced with snow tomorrow---but we'll see how THAT one goes.

See You Space Cowboy ...