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The Splintered Chat #10

It's that time of the week again...





Hopefully, your weekend is going to be chock full of what you need, whether that be rest and relaxation, or time to catch up on projects. For me, I just want more time. I need it because I waste it finding delightful gems like these:



Yep, this one is very useful in everyday English situations. In fact, I just used this expression the other day when I had AT&T explain my first phone bill.

If your weird doesn't lay in that direction, then you may like this. The New York Times recently did a feature on Al Jaffee's fold-ins for Mad magazine, something he has done since the 1960s. If you aren't familiar with the term, "fold-ins" are those nifty sight gags on the inside back cover of Mad magazines where you have to fold the art up to reveal the secret picture. Sometimes obvious, but most times insidiously clever. This is an excellent usage of Flash technology. I hope you enjoy it.

Have a good weekend. Good luck with your personal goals and remember to keep your spirits up. A positive attitude will help you see options a negative attitude won't notice.

This begins my open forum for the weekend. Comments will close when I remember to do it, possibly Monday, but I'm not guaranteeing anything.

ADHD: If My Head Wasn't Attached, I Probably Would Never Find It Again

If you find your ADDled mind misplaces important items or forgets where they are completely, then these tips are for you.

Terry Matlen, over on the ADDConsults.com, recently wrote about her tendency to misplace items. Considering that in the past I used to lose my keys, wallet, and eye glasses all the time, I know exactly what she is going through. ADHD seems to cause us to place things down in silly, absentminded locations which elude our memory later because we weren't really thinking about our actions. Lately, I seem to misplace my USB thumbdrive all the time, and I wonder if I spend more time looking for my pennywhistle than playing it.

Terry recommends using what she calls "the ADD Mantra" to help impress upon your memory where you place things so that you can remember their location later. Here's a sample of her article. You can find the rest of it here:

"I'm walking into the kitchen (following a shopping excursion). The bag is in my hand. The bag is in my hand. If I put it THERE, I will forget where I put it. So I will instead put it on the stairs so that I can carry it up to my office after dinner. The bag is on the stairs. The bag is on the stairs. The bag is on the stairs."

I also place items where I won't miss them, and although I don't chant, I do talk to myself. I find if I speak out loud and tell myself "OK, you've put the referral in your bag," I'm more likely to recall the details later.

What I find most useful in preventing the misplacing of important items is to have designated areas. For instance, my wallet will only reside on my bureau or the top left shelf of the hallway bookshelf. When I was tempted to toss my wallet next to my computer today, years of placing it in a designated area helped me catch myself. My eye glasses reside only on my bureau, the top shelf in the hallway bookshelf, or right next to my LCD monitor in my studio. Always. I don't dare break from the routine. My car keys have designated places as well. They can only be found on the top left shelf of the hallway bookshelf, my right jacket pocket, or in the side flap of my satchel.

Training myself to do this was not easy. I had a lot of failures and it took many months of practice, but eventually I managed to train myself to be more conscientious - just as Terry's mantra trains her. If I were to apply these techniques to my USB thumbdrive or pennywhistle, I might find I stress out about their location a lot less.

If you don't have any techniques of your own to keep your important items from wandering off, try Terry's or mine and let me know how well they worked out for you.

Weird Weekend Wonders

Has it been one of those weeks for you? It has for me. Lots of stress. Lots of activity. Not much to show for it. I'm busily reclaiming my life over here from the pandemonium and looking forward to getting into my next freelance assignment. I'm redesigning duihope.org's website. As you can see, it could use a bit of spit and polish. I'll let you know how it goes. So far I've spent the week studying other anti-drunk driving advocacy sites and clicking around the labyrinthine duihope.org site determining which is the most vital content and how to present it. I'm doodling with a highway motif featuring sign shapes at present, but I've got other ideas knocking around the noodle as well.

I finished Terry Pratchett's "The Color of Magic". What a wonderfully silly book. It really picked up my spirits. I was also impressed with his clever writing and word play. Imagine Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but in a fantasy setting. I've begun his The Light Fantastic which continues the story from the first book. So far it has not disappointed. I recommend both for light-hearted (not light) reading.

As you have probably noticed, I have been experimenting with my blog a bit. I'm not trying to add value to it as much as help it keep my attention. After three years, this old AD/HD mind of mine is wanting to wander off. I'm going to try something new today and we'll see how it goes. Heaven knows most of you won't bother letting me know one way or the other what you think. You'd think you folks were busy with your own lives or something.

At any rate, every Saturday I get together with my friends and invariably I will share with them some of the weirdest stuff I come across when I'm being browsey. One of these friends suggested I share some of my wildest findings in a blog. Since I already have a blog I thought maybe this would be a perfect Friday post. Welcome to Weird Weekend Wonders. There is a world of web wackiness out there. Somehow, I gravitate towards it like some sick, twisted satellite. Much weirder than Rick Rolling or even Vista Rolling, plus funny to boot.

Ladies & Gentlemen. I give you Japanese English Lessons:



Leave comments below. Have a great weekend.


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