On mental health and related issues

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I've been thinking about this for a long time - and by "a long time" I mean close to a decade.  I always want to say something, but I'm never sure what to say, so I think some more.

I guess the easiest way to do anything is to be direct.  I have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which is an anxiety disorder.  As often happens, the anxiety often calls its good friend depression, which is, you know, suboptimal.  I won't go into the specifics of what happened or anything like that, except to say this.  Shit happened when I was a kid.  Nobody knew how to deal with it, so I bottled it for roughly 25 years.  Part of the reason my anxiety was so bad for so long, is that I bottled shit and sat on it and didn't deal.  I think that's why I want to say something.  Sproglet Crafty was not prepared to deal with it, and I grew up in an environment where we Do Not Talk About Things! so, yeah.  It's completely understandable, and now these are different times so there's less need to bottle shit up.

I got myself into therapy almost fifteen years ago.  I've been open about the fact that therapy and antidepressants saved my life.  I'm eternally grateful that I got lucky with the first therapist I called, and that the first antidepressant we tried worked well enough for me to stay with the therapy.  There are a million other things I am grateful for, but I'm not writing a novel at the moment.  

Anyway.  I just wanted to say that if you're struggling, it's OK and you're not alone.  I'll pop some links down into the end of this, in case someone stumbles across this and wants to click through.  And to borrow Wil Wheaton's words - be kind to yourselves and each other, ok?

Make it OK

National Alliance on Mental Illness

Crisis Helpline - you can text this one, you don't have to talk-talk!

And if you like podcasts, The Hilarious World of Depression is one of my all time favorites.

A Year Later

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I came to Portland a year ago.  I like it here, even more than I hoped I would.  A friend of mine described it as "the most Crafty town I know of" - and he was right.

It's really nice to be on the west coast again.  It's nice to live in a town where I have friends.  Truly, the only thing I miss about Durham is that I made some friends there and now they are far away.   I like living in a city, and I like walking across the river to come home, and going to the weird-hippie-cool places and all of it.  It turns out, I even like seasons a little bit.  

So yeah.  Ask me again in a year, but at the end of year one, I think I'm gonna stay here a while.  

Springtime in Stumptown

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Man this joint is pretty.

That's all, really.  It's been clear and warm for a few days and I'm enjoying it.

Today: Roasted Root Veg

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OK in all honesty this is winter food.  It's hearty, warm, and filling.  But I am still finding turnips and parsnips at the market, so I got a bunch of root vegetables together and roasted them up.  

Here's what I generally do.

You'll need

  • some combination of parsnips, turnips, rutabaga, sweet potato.  I tend to do a couple parsnips, a rutabaga, and a turnip; of course, use what you have, what looks good, and/or what's at the market.
  • salt and pepper
  • fat of your choice - I like bacon fat, because I always have a mug of it in the refrigerator, but olive oil or butter will also work just fine.
  • sheet pan (baking sheet, cookie sheet, whatever you call it)
  • oven
  1. Heat the oven to 425F
  2. Cut the vegetables into half-inch cube-type shapes.  I don't get persnickety about it, but it's good to get them all around the same size. 
  3. Toss the vegetables in your fat. If you're using a solid fat (bacon or butter) then you'll need to melt it enough to toss the veg in.
  4. Salt and pepper the vegetables generously.  
  5. Roast the vegetables for about 10 minutes; check and stir/turn them over so they roast evenly
  6. Roast the vegetables another 10-15 minutes, or until they're brown around the edges and still soft in the middle.

If you want to add some more zing, you can make a little vinaigrette and toss them with it while they're still warm.  Sometimes I'll cut the veg more like coins or slices, and let them get a bit firmer and eat them like chips once they've cooled.  Another option is to use your favorite spice mix in place of the salt and pepper.  Curried roasted root veg sounds delightful, no?