Mitch11's Celebration Blog

Today after breakfast I took a walk in my Berlin neighborhood. I saw many homes, some businesses, and some public gathering places. I saw two glass collection locations, and I wondered if they would appear on a map. My first search result was Glas entsorgen – Entsorgen.org . The first commenter was a person with a disability seeking a pickup service for his glass recycling. This story so far portrays the tangential tendencies of my ADHD brain. Others have told this story before! Here's a fun version: Hal replacing a lightbulb (YouTube autoplay, 42 seconds) . Fortunately, before I went to bed last night, I chose my goal for today: to categorize and prioritize the whole world of unsolved accessibility problems, with a focus on technology. Does that sound unrealistic? Well, I believe I can harness my creativity to tame this complexity. In fact, I can use this morning's tangential topic for my ambitious goal today. The commenter's need for a recycling pickup service is ...

It's time. In recognition of World Mental Health Day and ADHD Awareness Month , I've decided to start telling everybody about my ADHD brain. For people who know me, the revelation that I go off on mental tangents might be the least surprising news of the day. Yet I struggled with the decision to say "I have ADHD" out loud in a public forum, and I won't claim that disclosure is for everybody. According to a 2015 survey of ADHD disclosure , respondents were evenly split on whether outcomes in the workplace were positive or negative. "The severity of negative outcomes varied. Some were fired, passed over for promotion, ridiculed, or the ADHD disclosure was ignored by the employer and no attempts were made to implement or offer accommodations." On the other hand, it's easier and safer for me to talk about my ADHD than it is for a lot of other people. As a white male in the United States, I started at a spot near the front of the line which I never...

Some astounding things happening right now. Yesterday 5pm I took my first dose of homeopathic sulphur remedy. I stayed up till 2am again, veeery tired in the early evening but pushed through so I could see Silke and Hannah on the webcam (they're still in Germany). Then I just was on autopilot finishing some mobile-browser testing. This morning I woke up as usual without the alarm, but a little disoriented from the shorter night. I felt various forces of urgency -- "a full day" ahead -- had to start accomplishing minor tasks right away. Then I thought, this isn't working so great -- how about some meditation (Russell Simmons style)? Seemed like a *really bad* idea, which means it was a really good idea. :) After just maybe 5 minutes I "woke up," mentally this time. Almost immediately I noticed that the eczema on my face had softened. I had to look in the mirror -- it almost felt like it had vanished overnight, though the appearance was the same. Now as I'...