This is your brain on Mr. Spud

I've always maintained that I never did serious drugs because my brain chemistry is so naturally screwy that I didn't need to challenge it any further. That's always been my excuse for being too chicken to do anything more than drink in high school and college. It made me feel better about missing out, to think and claim that I really didn't need that stuff anyway.

The longer I'm on the Radiant Recovery program, the more I realize how true my excuse really was. I knew something about myself without realizing I knew it. My intuition was hard at work again.

I'm currently on step 4, which requires taking a group of vitamins daily (B-complex, zinc, vitamin C) and eating a nightly potato three hours after dinner.

It all sounds so simple, and so weird, doesn't it? Vitamins and a potato, and your brain will feel much better.

But it works. What it does is help your brain make more serotonin, something which my brain has apparently been lacking for a long, long time. I knew that low serotonin was responsible at least in part for my migraines. But I had no idea just how much else it was responsible for.

A person with low levels of serotonin tends to depression, impulsive behavior, short attention span, being blocked and scattered, being reactive, and craving sweets and simple carbs. If you knew me at all, you'd recognize my face in the low serotonin portrait.

I've being doing Mr. Spud (as the nightly potato is known in RR circles) for 2 weeks now. It's been both a struggle and a miraculous change. The struggle has come from being exhausted because of the wild dreams from the sudden increase in serotonin. My brain is having a party every night while I'm trying to sleep. I think I've cleaned out about two years worth of subconscious stuff in the past weeks.

But the exhaustion is completely worth it. I'm feeling hopeful, focused, thoughtful. I'm starting to feel the creative juices flow again.

It all comes at a good time, too. But that's another post.

Too many books?

For those of you who don't live in Baltimore and have access to the The Bookthing, and have tons of books sitting around that you're not reading and would like to get rid of them in a useful way, try these: Operation Paperback, which sends gently used books to troops overseas; or The National Book Foundation's list of places that take book donations.

But, really - move to Baltimore and take advantage of The Bookthing - how cool is that? :)

(via Unclutterer)

LOL Trek

If you haven't seen this yet, click on through: LOL Trek. Someone took the loving time to set "Trouble with Tribbles" up as a bunch of LOL Cats stills. It's the funniest thing I've seen in a long time.

If you haven't yet experienced the LOL Cats hilarity, try here: I Can Has Cheezburger? or here: Meme Cats.

It all keeps me laughing til I can't breathe ...

UPDATE: Oh, and I forgot to include this Metafilter post which pretty neatly lines up the history of this mayhem.

UPDATE 2: Oh, and it just gets worse: LOL Geeks. Help me!!!