The History of Psychiatry

Let me preface this post with two remarks.
1) this is in response to a post on the JK about Tom Cruise's controversial interview on the Today Show with Matt Lauer.

2) Tom, I'm a fan of your movies. I like them a lot. I like Katie Holmes, and I hope that despite what everyone else says or seems to think) that the two of you are in love and will live happily ever after. I'm quite serious about this.

But the comments you have made on the Today Show to Matt Lauer, berating and belittling him, some might even say trying to bully, because he "doesn't know the history of psychiatry, and [you] do," are, quite simply, absurd. First of all, I doubt that this is true since you didn't attend college. I suppose that you could have studied it on your own, but outside of an academic environment, at the risk of coming off as an elitist intellectual snob, your studies are liable to be biased and incomplete. You seem to misunderstand what history is, and the limitations of this kind of knowledge--the JK details this nicely.

My point is this--even if we set all of this aside and accept that you have become schooled in the history of psychiatry, it doesn't matter. You could be a complete expert in Freud, his practices and his publications. You could have studied the history of the asylum, how "lunaticks" were treated back in the day, metods for dealing with hysterics, etc. None of that is at all relevant to current psychiatric practices, treatments, or diagnoses. If you don't have a medical degree, and you don't, then you have no authority in this arena.

Furthermore, someone should point out to Mr. Cruise that all drugs are not created equal. Ther is a huge qualitative difference between prescription medication and illegal street-drugs. Mr. Cruise seems to assume that "Say No to Drugs" means, say no to all drugs. In other words, he equates heroin with ritalin, methamphetamines with anti-depressants. Yes, anti-depressants and ritalin are over-prescribed in the US, but there are certain instances when they have provided much needed relief.

Another obscure quizilla

This time:
Which Pixies song are you?



You are Debaser!

Okay, since all of my attempts to add the image that explains what that means have failed, I'll have to try something else:

"You're one cool cookie. You love movies, especially obscure ones, and you talk about them all the time (ed note: I don't think this part is true, so please substitute bands or books for movies above). Even if people don't understand what you are talking about, they stick around anyway because you're so much fun to be around. You don't always stand out in a crowd, but you can often be identified by your cluster of groupies and fans. You're usually the one throwing all the good parties, too.

Speaking of parties, it's been a long time since I've thrown one. I wish I could throw another one sooner instead of later, but my forthcoming trip prohibits the added expense. Anyway . . .

If you build it they will come . . .

A new Coffee Bean opened just up the street from me about two weeks ago. I’m there now. It’s in a prime Sunset Strip location, next door to Tower Records. This is my first visit to this coffee bean, only my 3rd coffee bean experience overall (I’m a Starbucks girl). In the hour or so that I’ve been sitting here, banging away at my dissertation (well, the conference paper that is being distilled from part of my dissertation), there has been a steady stream of people, despite the abysmally small parking lot (though it is more accessible than some LA parking lots) and the fact that there is a C.B. just up the street about 5 blocks away. Of course, now that I think about it, that one probably doesn’t have a parking lot. Update: from my position as fly on the counter, it seems that the other location has closed, or rather migrated. That makes a bit more sense.

But it’s a nice C.B.—the inside doesn’t offer a whole lot in the way of seating options, but unless you’re me on a laptop that it impossible to read in sunlight, why on earth would you want to sit inside in Southern California when you can sit Strip-side and watch the world go by? The beauty of the patio is not just the fire pit and cute white lights strung overhead, but also the proximity to Sunset Blvd without feeling like you are actually sitting in the middle of traffic.

But so far, except for the ants, which occasionally crawl across the countertop and try to hide under my computer (I sense a B rating coming on!), I like it here. It’s walking distance; it’s not my apt.; good music (so far today, Badly Drawn Boy, the Jayhawks and the Shins among others); it’s good people watching (earlier today, I saw the actor that played Richard on Melrose Place—of course, this probably means nothing to anyone but me—one of the curses of having a mind like a steel trap when it comes to remembering faces is that other people don’t share these recollections most of the time. This can lead to awkward conversations where I’m introduced to someone I’ve met (and they don’t remember)—I’m never sure whether to play along and pretend like I don’t remember, or whether to point out that we met a while ago at XYorZ. Another familiar scenario (at least in LA) is when I recognize some obscure actor and then have to try to explain who they are, what they’ve been in . . . For some reason I never seem to see the A-Listers anymore. I mean, once inn a while, it would be nice to see Matt Damon or Nicole Kidman . . . I mean, even my Katie Holmes sighting happened 6 years ago when she was still “that girl from Dawson’s Creek—no, not the blonde, Joey—the other girl from Dawson’s Creek—the brunette . . . oh, forget it.”

But on another, unrelated, note: Was blessed to see Irish band Bell X1 two nights in a row in LA. Sometimes, I really do love living here! (FYI: they’re the ones whose song is playing during the infamous and immortal lesbian kiss on the OC!) Despite the fact that I had to suffer the Viper Room scene alone (and I do mean suffer and scene), it was a terrific show—the lads rocked the house, quite literally. Then the next night, I got to go to the acoustic set and the much cooler Hotel Café for free (Thanks KCRW!) Though the band sounded great both nights, I preferred the second set because the venue and the crowd were just way more my scene. There were a bunch of us at both shows—I recognized probably 6 or 7 faces from the previous evening, but the setting made a huge difference. Cheaper, better drinks (no full bar at HC, but Boddingtons on draught—$5! Can’t beat that unless it’s happy hour somewhere!) Anyway, thanks to Bell X1 for two great shows, and many happy returns!

"Miles to go before I sleep . . ."

This most seems to wander a bit, but bear with me. I'm getting my typing fingers back after somme time away from the keyboard. Graduation weekend is over. My houseguests, dear brother and sister-in-law, have departed after quite an eventful few days, and I am "student-free" for the next week. What that means is all I have to worry about for the next 6 days is my dissertation and conference paper, AKA downtime (or as close to it as one in graduate school is likely to get). I kinda forget how to function without juggling 17 different tasks simultaneously.

But the downside is that summer has officially begun. I know for most people this isn't a downside at all, but of course, I'm not most people. I don't like summer. Since moving to Los Angeles, I never have. Here's why:

In the summertime, campus is a dead zone. There are no people around. Friends scatter to the four-corners of the earth, and a few don't return. Basically, it is a very isolating and lonely time, and I'm one who doesn't deal well with isolation or loneliness. During the year, I'm fine because I get my people fix in class or in office hours, or even at the computer lab. . . but these spaces are all empty now until October. And what is worse, is that now I've been here long enough that most of my long-time friends are getting jobs and moving away. I don't begrudge anyone their success, but it does kind of suck to have your friendships feature a built in expiration date.

Well, that's not entirely accurate, because it's not like we stop being friends, but of course, those friendships change when geographic proximity shifts and you speak only once every few months or in some cases once a year instead of every few days.

But also part of what is going on is that I'm tryng to face the fact that this time next year, it could be me who is packing up and leaving town for parts unknown. Maybe not, given the current job market, but it is possible and something I need to get 'round to accepting. But for now, in order to get there (and really, what is more important, to just get done), I need to focus, so I'm glad about this week which allows me to get my head back into my work (after another mental leave of absence). If there was one thing that was brought home to me this week sitting through graduation ceremonies, etc. it is that I have much to do between now and next June.

Two Weddings in as Many Days

So, as some of you know, I’m a musician. I play viola (keep your viola jokes to yourself—I guarantee I’ve heard them all and have the psychic scars to prove it). Anyway, because a friend and fellow-violist is about to give birth, I’m filling in for her over the summer with a string quartet. The quartet gets hired routinely to play weddings, engagement parties, birthday parties, and other assorted soirees (including a date for an episode of the bachelor a couple seasons ago—I didn’t get to play that one). So in the last 48 hours, I’ve been to two weddings of complete strangers—one Sunday evening and one Monday evening. I’ve not been to weddings on Sunday or Monday before (though I did go to a Friday night one once). It’s pretty interesting to attend weddings when you don’t know the people involved because you get an entirely different perspective on the choices that people make with regards not only to the music, but all the other little details that go into the occasion, from the dresses to the flowers, to the setting to even the time of day—both of these were 5:30 ceremonies.

Typically, what happens is that we’ll show up around 4:40 for a 5:00 booking, and we’ll set up and play while the guests arrive, then we’ll play for the processional and recessional, and finally, we’ll play for an hour or so while the guests are served cocktails and appetizers. Both of these weddings were outside—one in the cool sunshine of Pacific Palisades (near to the beach, but not oceanfront), the other at a beautiful, but sweltering garden near Pasadena (inland, so typically 10-20 degrees warmer than the beach).

I like playing weddings because it’s pretty easy to make people happy. The audiences tend to be very appreciative (though pre-ceremony jitters can be contagious), and the music is usually pretty easy—deceptively easy sometimes . . . but familiar songs that guests recognize and like: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Pachebel’s Canon, Handel’s Water Music, Brandenburg Concertos (I guarantee you would recognize these if you heard them unless you’ve been living under a rock with no audio for the last few centuries!).

Yesterday’s ceremony was especially nice for the quartet because the family tipped each of us—typically, we do get paid for the gig, somewhere in the neighborhood of $600 for a two hour booking (divided 4 ways), which in case you aren’t aware, is a pretty good deal, but this was the first time that I ever got a tip! Woo Hoo! And I’m being completely serious—it was great to be appreciated. Back in college, people wanted to hire a quartet for $100 (for four people!)—they would expect us to attend the rehearsal dinner and the ceremony and play at both, as well as before and after. Talk about rip-off! The generous families would throw in dinner at the reception. Don’t get me wrong—I’m certainly not above free food, but $25 for what amounted to 4 hours of work—that’s not even minimum wage! And unlike minimum wage jobs, even then, not just anyone can pick up a stringed instrument and play . . . (well, they could, I suppose, but it wouldn’t be pretty!)

The downside of weddings is that it gets me thinking about things I don’t want to be thinking about like whether or not I will ever get married. I always kinda thought that I would, but it doesn’t seem to be in the cards anytime soon, and I’m not getting any younger, so maybe not. . . But I don’t like to think about such things because I really have little control over it. God knows I couldn’t have married my last boyfriend, though I certainly thought it might happen at the time—in retrospect, that was a “leave me at the altar” scenario waiting to happen if ever there was one. Thankfully, I’ve come to my senses and gotten clear of that, and thankfully too, I’ve never been at a wedding that didn’t actually come off . . . that would be awful.

Is it too much to ask

For those folks who feel the need to post pornographic pictures on their blogs to post them far enough down the page that we don't have to view them when we hit the blog randomly? I'm seriously thinking about never using the "next blog" feature again since I just got the same blowjob picture three times in one session. Once, accidents happen; twice is enough--but three times? There are so many frickin' blogs on blogspot, that I can't help but think that someone is trying to tell me something:

Time for a random surfing hiatus.
But then I think, I'll miss out on finding more interesting blogs, and I'll miss the randomly weird blogs dedicated to "Hot Sauce" (literally, features different salsas, and spicy stuff) or carpet or lung cancer. Okay, I can do without the cancer . . . but couldn't stand to have more knowledge about carpet?

On another note,
Tom Cruise was on Leno last night, and I have to tell you, it was the performance of a lifetime. (Note, for those who might mistake that sentence for my typical sarcasm, I'm completely serious). He was charming and funny, and totally laughed about the Oprah show, even at one point, telling Jay, "I can't talk abut her. Things happen when I talk about her. For example, I'm checking out that couch, a joking Oprah reference to his jumping up and down on her couch . . . and then laughing, and with some prompting from Jay and the audience, he made his way over to the couch and parodied himself. He, in my mind, completed redeemed himself by joking about all the publicity and his own enthusiasm. He didn't apologize for it, but seemed more in control of his faculties, and still blissfully happy.

Interesting to note, however, that he committed one of my dating faux pas: that is, when asked about Katie, he said, she's a great lady. I hate it when guys use that word to refer to women. This may well be my own hangup, but I find that term inappropriate for a relationship that is supposed to be based on equality, and to me, lady doesn't imply equality. Sure it's respectful, but there's something old-fashioned about it that I just don't like. It's not unlike the guy I dated for a few weeks last fall who used the word "gal" unironically. "Gal" just bothered me. He also said "oriental" instead of Asian (note: oriental is okay when referring to rugs or Raman noodles, but otherwise, use the right word--this is not PC, it's respect). These were red flags . . .

But anyway, back to Tom--I was happy to see that he could laugh at himself and not take it all so seriously. Now if the rest of the world could just follow his cue. One final note on Cruise control--he's the first guest I've seen get up and go into the audience on Leno and actually shake guests' hands (maybe this happens off-camera sometimes, I don't know). It was really nice especially since there was a large number of military uniforms in the audience (with people in them of course!), so when he came back up on stage, he had a big sticker for the regiment on his jacket. It was really nice.

An Open Letter to Tom and Katie

Dear Tom and Katie,
Congratulations on your newfound romance!
I saw the now-famous Oprah appearance, and I found it refreshing (if a tad bit over-the-top). So often, these days celebrities are so poised and collected and, well, plastic. It’s nice to see people take risks and put themselves out there. I wish that people would stop criticizing you both for being happy and giddy and silly. I love it. Maybe it’s not the best thing for your films, but frankly the films will be done in a couple months whereas your life, well, your life will still be your life. Why not express yourself and be yourself and enjoy your life—especially because you are young and beautiful and have the whole world, literally, at your fingertips?

But Tom, when you get your M.D., then you can start dispensing medical advice. Your cracks at Brooke Shields criticizing her use of anti-depressants were out-of-line and just plain wrong. Post-partum depression is real and scary and a terrible thing to have to go through. I think Brooke Shields is a bona-fide hero for coming out about her struggles and her recovery. To say that a "few vitamins and some exercise" would have solved these problems, which are recognized as a legitimate medical condition, is just ignorant. Thanks you Brooke for helping to lessen the stigmata of anti-depressant medication. If one or two more people get help from the publication of your book, then it was worth writing.

And while I'm at it, it’s all well and good for Mr. Cruise to make statements like “there is no such thing as race” on Oprah, but for Oprah, who had just held a weekend long party to honor her racial heroes, to let that remark slide . . . Well, I’m disappointed. Sure, to a wealthy, attractive, powerful, white man any number of social barriers and discriminations don’t exist: race, gender, age, physicality . . . but for the rest of us, these categories are real as are their repercussions and consequences. Also important are their incredibly rich and valuable histories and traditions. To deny all of this is ridiculous to me.

But, while I object to these two positions, I don’t object to your recent happiness, and I think you should express that joy however you want (as long as I don't have to watch you groping each other). Shame on the cynics and the doubters--so what if it happens (too?) quickly, or even if it happens to be a publicity stunt—it’s no one’s business but yours. I've never known love to be something rational and I, for one, will come to your party and celebrate with you!

Three(s) for Thursday

I like lists.
Here's another one I've pillaged from Quodlibet

Three things you are wearing right now:
-khaki pants
-white button down shirt (I'm feeling very preppy today)
-my life force necklace

Three favorite bands/musical artists:
-the Frames
-Matt Pond PA
-Bloc Party

Three favorite songs (this changes by the minute, but here we are for right now):
-Rebellion (lies) by Arcade Fire
-New Hampshire by MPPA
-September by Earth Wind and Fire

Three things you want in a relationship:
-communication
-sense of humor and irony
-physical attraction

Three physical things about the preferred sex that appeal to you:
-smile
-shoulders
-tall

Three of your favorite hobbies/interests:
-reading
-going to see live music
-I'm a TV junkie

Three things that scare you:
-the current political climate in the US
-bugs with actual bodies and guts that will come out of them if stepped on
-the future (mine, specifically)

Three of your everyday essentials:
-some form of caffeine, be it coffee, tea or diet coke
-ipod
-internet

Three drugs of choice:
-caffeine
-advil
-flonase

Three favorite toys:
-ipod
-ibook
-tivo

Three careers you have considered/are considering:
-academia
-law
-hair stylist

Three places you want to go on vacation:
-Ireland
-Big Sur/Monterey
-Vegas

Three kids' names you like:
(for kids I will probably never have)
-Simon
-Owen
-Shannon.

Three things you want to do before you die:
-have a successful romantic relationship
-become financially independent
-get a real job

Three celeb crushes:
-Matt Damon
-Michael Vartan
-Hugh Grant