Bitterness a mental disorder?!?!?!

Link to Psych Today article.


Holy fucking hell you have GOT to be kidding me. When the new DSM comes out I will have to do an in depth comparison study of how ridiculous the American Psychiatric Association has gotten.

Bitterness is "so common and so deeply destructive," writes Shari Roan at the Los Angeles Times, "that some psychiatrists are urging it be identified as a mental illness under the name post-traumatic embitterment disorder." "The disorder is modeled after post-traumatic stress disorder," she continues, "because it too is a response to a trauma that endures. People with PTSD are left fearful and anxious. Embittered people are left seething for revenge."

Seriously? I mean seriously?! Man I can understand PTSD (to some extent, but we all know how people get over/mis diagnosed so often)... but people staying bitter at the world?! Fucking move on! Why are they modeling this 'embitterment disorder' after PTSD? How are they willing to compare an angry bitter person who is discontent with life to someone who has endured a serious trauma in their life (rape, torture, witnessing murders) that will haunt them for most if not the rest of their lives?

Hey let's give people an excuse to be angry, bitter, assholes! Whaaaaa leave me alone I have post traumatic embitterment disorder.... Oh geez what next?! What the hell is this world coming to?! For as much as I love the field of psychology I am SO glad I didn't finish my schooling to pursue a career in psychology.

10 Habits of Happy Couples

Spending time together and having that time be positive and meaningful can help make a relationship a happy one. Keep the chemistry and stop trying to find the bad in your partner, look for their good qualities and rejoice in them. Learn to communicate effectively and be an active listener during arguments. No one is 100% right 100% of the time. Be willing to look at your own short comings and not just view your partner's.

Clicky Link to article.

Tonight's activities you ask?

Well for starters we will be enjoying yummyful Chicken Fettuccine. Joseph offered to make the foodening tonight. But I am in the mood for real home made Alfredo sauce. So I stopped by the store and collected my ingredients for awesome hardening of the artery dinner time fun. Lily will be bringing the garlic bread so I am making extra sauce so we can dip our bread in fatty heart attack sauce.

We will also be challenging Joey and Joseph to a duel! Girls vs. Boys; Super Mario Bros. 3 status. Not to mention Lily is bringing the Wii with Super Smash Brothers. Oh yes! Prepare to die boys.

Joseph was also kind enough to gather the refreshing beverages with Joey this morning. We will be enjoying rum with either Cherry Dr. Pepper or Cherry Pepsi. And hopefully, me and Lily can sneak in some knitting time while the boys play with each other... no, not like that. Everyone enjoy your Friday the 13th and have a great weekend!

***For anyone interested in the Fatty Hearth Attack sauce.***

1/2 cup butter
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese
1 cup half and half (or milk)
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese (I used freshly grated)
1 tablespoon garlic powder (or you can mash up some real garlic)
pepper, to taste

In a non-stick saucepan melt the butter, then the cream cheese, then when those two are mixed well add the half & half slowly… that way your butter and cream cheese don’t try to harden up and clump up your creamy sauce. Mix in the Parmesan, garlic and as much pepper as your little heart desires. (At this point you can add some parsley or add that to the dish as a finishing touch.) After it’s all saucy and yummyful looking, set it aside and it will thicken up. If it’s too thick you can always add more half & half to it.

In the last week I have:

• Finished up 2 hats I have been knitting. I am going to give these away as gifts, to who I dunno. I am not too keen on being perceptive about what people like in terms of style and color. So I am not sure who to give the knitted hats to. The other hat is basically the same thing as below but in opposing colors (blue hat and pink heart).

• I started on two scarves one of them is a drop stitch scarf and the other is a simple garter stitch scarf. The drop stitch one I was going to make for myself but the colors are all wrong for me but it's so pretty and soooo soft! So now I have to figure out who, that would appreciate it , I should gift it to. :/ Decisions, decisions...... The other scarf is a simple garter stitch and I want to make a pocket on one end to hold like either a phone a small wallet or ID/credit card. Plus I want to add knitted hearts to it. I have my mind on the person I want to gift it to but maybe the colors won't work for her? I don't know. I guess I can make it and if she doesn't like it I can regift it to someone who does or just wait till February and someone could use it as a Valentine gift? Here is what the drop stitch one looks like so far:

• I recently found out that the manga site I used to use to read Naruto no longer has Naruto there for me to read :( Sad days! Oh well, I did get Volume 11 of Shippuden to appease my thirst for Naruto. Now I just have to wait for Volume 12.

• Last night I finished the animated series Gungrave. It was a sad ending for me and I am really going to miss the silly end credits and the, what we have coined, 'Gungrave Run'.

• Tomorrow I plan on starting the Gurren Lagann series, it's fairly short so I need to shop around for another series I want to get into that is available on Netflix.

• I have game night coming up and I haven't decided if it will be a night of team playing Super Mario 3 or if it will end up being Apples to Apples.... I meant to get my game last night but I was so tired after working the VTC store I just had a shower, got in my jammies and vegged out to knitting and anime. I know right, how exciting! (Grandma status these days!)

• So my plans for the rest of the week include: trying to finish the scarves I started, working at VTC, having sibling time, game night, Gurren Lagann marathon, get some much needed rest, find new musics, get some laundry done, maybe take the doggies to the dog park if not maybe the school again, finding some new hat and scarf patters so I can make more goodies for friends.

Bored in Santa Maria?

Of course you are! And even if you have a hobby and are not bored, wanna do something different? Yes you say? Alright!!!! Tomorrow (Thursday the 12th) night is the best night to watch the Perseid meteor shower. You should watch it.

Clicky here to fill yourself with the knowledge you need to watch the meteor shower.

I will have to say since we live in Santa Maria and cloud coverage/fog/city lights can be a problem trying to watch a shower, I suggest a nice drive it doesn't have to be too far of a drive but it can be if you want it to be. Go out off the 166 somewhere or out by the Guadalupe dunes. Even out towards Sisquoc would work since it's further inland and darker.

Reasons why you should totally do this:

1. The Moon is just a couple of days past new at the shower's peak, so there will be no moonlight to interfere with the faint meteors.


2. Get out and get some fresh night air instead of sit cooped up at home during the week night (too late for you you say? pish posh take an early nap and go out for some stars later).


3. School hasn't started for a lot of kids, so it would be a nice thing to take the kids out to do.


4. Watching meteor showers feels like magic and is a fun experience.


5. You can cuddle up with a loved one while watching the meteors. (Some hot chocolate and blankies will help).


6. It's totally free! Well aside from taking a drive if you need to and supplies like candy or hot drinks.


7. If you are a photo fiend, you can try your hand at night time photography or expand your night time collection (show me pictures!).

Half empty or half full?

In my daily musings I decided that I like Tumblr over Facebook. Pretty much due to the never ending stream of negative status updates. It's rare anyone posts anything of relevance to me or of any bit of importance. Plus I have noticed I have been posting things to maybe 10 people out of the 200+ 'friends' that I am linked to. Plus I hate it how one picture/status update/comment from a friend can cause lurkers to go into an assumption tizzy. It never ceases to amaze me how many people assume they know what's going on in someone's life based off of a social networking site. Or how upset someone can get over a generalized statement. Or how one picture can disrupt masses of people. AMAZING! Not in a good way either, but it is amazing none the less.

Glowing balloons that react to air quality?!

I want one!

After reading the how-to, that makes for an expensive balloon. I wouldn't mind going out on a Friday or Saturday night for a leisurely stroll with my balloon checking out how the air out there is. I hope when I do get around to this I don't get run over by a drunk driver.... but the possibilities are endless and I may appear hypnotically appealing to hit with a car.

Oh sweet baby zombie in a box! Someone shoot it!

KTLA News

If the baby was pronounced dead on Monday and this article came out today... it was dead for how many days now? I say shoot it in the head or remove the head we are about to have a zombie epidemic if that doesn't happen. Or wait.... if newborns don't have teeth??? Oh never mind! Either way ZOMBIE BABY!!!!!

Nasty Notes

Don't you hate it when you come home after a long day of work just to find someone parked in YOUR parking spot? When I get off of work any guest parking has already been taken up by the 16 people that live in the 2 bedroom apartment down the way from mine. I PAY for my parking spot. So in an attempt to keep from having to call the tow truck I leave a note. IF I call a tow truck I am sure to find a nice gouge in my paint job or a broken window a few days after I have someone towed. It's just how it works. So in an effort to avoid the above described situation, I leave notes:

My notes are not rude, they are factual and polite. The person responsible for parking in my spot moved their vehicle and littered my note in my spot. I gladly threw it away and resumed my normal parking spot to avoid parking on the street where my car HAS had it's window busted out of.

Is it a bad neighborhood? Not really. Does crime happen from time to time? Yeah it does. Even in the nice ritzy neighborhoods bad things happen. (Menendez Brothers anyone???) So I like to keep my car parked where I pay for it to belong, in the car port spot. No one has parked in my spot since Friday when I originally left this note.