Back In The Saddle Again

Those of you who wait with barely restrained glee for the next excuse me, ghidorah podcast (all four of you) will be pleased to know a new episode is now available for download. Just go to iTunes, podcastalley, or click this here link.

Or in TV parlance: "Tonight... on a very special episode of... excuse me, ghidorah."

It's a highly personal episode about my own wrestling match with OCD (that's Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) and I think I manage to pull it off with smart-alecky aplomb. OCD can be, as they say in medical talk, "a crippling disease" which can have a devastating effect on one's "overall quality of life". I have found that while OCD is caused by faulty wiring (I'm convinced of that), there are ways to outsmart it. In fact, much of the distress it causes can be traced to a single mental trick -- a trick which OCD folks fall for time after time. So please, if you or anyone you love or anyone you hate suffers from OCD, download the show and get them to listen. I really think it will be helpful. Heck, for all I know, people who suffer from various sorts of mental illness may find it helpful -- since the overall effect I am shooting for is "coping...with style".

Those of you familiar with the TV series Monk will probably by now have envisioned me triple and quadruple checking that my car keys aren't locked in the car, refusing to share lip balm simply because there's a hair on it (and a mole -- I think I see a mole), and arranging all my pencils and pens at clean right angles, all while solving a murder or two. Well, it doesn't actually work like that. I would probably be fine with the lip balm. I only check once or twice for car keys. And I limit my crime fighting to misdemeanors. ("Pick that litter up, mister! That's right. Nice and slow...")

My variety of OCD isn't as visible and quirky and colorful as all that. It all happens between my two ears and it's truly horrible when it's running at full steam. On the other hand, I discovered you can teach your disorder to do Stupid OCD Tricks. So there is a bright side.

"But, Lint," you ask, "what has this to do with the usual contents of excuse me, ghidorah?" Well, the goal of this podcast is to come up with creative ways to sneak past the dragon. As St. Cyril said, "We go to the Father of Souls, but it is necessary to pass by the dragon." Suffering and illness are among the things that may potentially trip us up. It's all about your perspective, your expectations. If you have a theology of the cross in your head, you're not made bitter against God (and pals with the dragon) when trouble comes. But even knowing about the cross doesn't actually help you to carry it. That's where coping skills come into play. We all need creative coping skills or when trouble comes we will snap like a twig.

IN OTHER NEWS: An interview with yours truly will appear some time soon on Taylor Kent's podcast, Snark Infested Waters. Taylor is also known as The Snarky Avenger. Given the intrepid nature of his podcast, I thought capitalizing the "T" in "The" as in "The Batman" is only appropriate. Here's the RSS feed address: http://www.snarkyavenger.com/rsspodcast

CAWNAHSTONE: The revamped website for the 2007 Imaginarium is up and it is a doozy. You must check it out. No, I insist. You must. Here is the link: http://www.cornerstonefestival.com/imaginarium

I will be presenting a three part seminar called "The Aisle of Misfit Toys: Kitsch, Irony and Innocence". Of course, that material will eventually find its way to excuse me, ghidorah, but wouldn't you rather hear it in person somewhere in the middle of Illinois in a tent filled with Christian geeks?

Also featured in the Imaginarium: Mike Hertenstein on "Hollywood & The Fifties: A Love-Hate Relationship", Kim Paffenroth on the redeemable aspects of Romero's zombie fllm franchise (that oughta be interesting), Jeff Gundy on Magical Realism, Paul Nethercott on otaku / J-Pop / hikikomori, plus a whole lot more. And what Imaginarium would be complete without Paul Leggett providing Criterion-quality commentary on a slew of cool movies? Plus, we'll be showing the Korean horror film, The Host! Plus, the not nearly as Korean film, Robot Monster! Plus, Don Glut's autobiographical docudrama, "I Was A Teenage Monster Movie Maker!"

All aboard! Next stop - the Cornerstone festival by way of Hackinsack, Salem's Lot and Kookamunga!