The Late Philip Seymour Hoffman Photo (cropped): Georges Biard (Wikipedia) ______________________ The death of Philip Seymour Hoffman  is shocking and very, very sad, especially since the cause of death appears to be from a heroin overdose (at this writing, news is still breaking, so this may change as autopsy and toxicology tests prove or disprove Hoffman’s cause of death as heroin overdose). I have always wondered why seemingly intelligent people use heroin – why they even start, knowing full well the addictive qualities of this drug. We can laugh and poke fun at Reefer Madness and its overblown hype regarding the addictive qualities of Mary Jane, but in the case of heroin, the hype, sadly, is all too true. One hit of heroin can be instantly addictive. Yes, you read that correctly: instantly addictive . That is not say that all heroin users become addicted the first time around, but the possibility should be enough for potential users to pause before shooting up. W

Cherokee Mental Health Institute, August 30, 2004 _______________________________________ I keep promising myself that I will complete Memoir Madness and get it ready for publication. Slowly, this is happening. I have completed the final proofreading and acknowledgement list (credit for sources). I tried to be thorough in verifying local and national events of the time, not always an easy task. Internet sources for 1968-1969 events can be problematic and potentially inaccurate. But if a source matches up with my memory and/or letters, then I figure that the source and my memory are accurate. The problem occurs when I can't find verification for a locale or event, such as the Mission Hotel or the tear gas attack there on New Year's Eve (1968) . This was a major event in my life, and it's like it never existed (except in my mind)! But this is one memory that is vivid, so I know it happened. Still, I can't help but have doubts. So I plan to admit (in the acknowledgements)

Jennifer Semple, Age 19 (1970) One year after she was released from the institution ______________________ Some personal issues have come up today, and I don't know what to do about them. Unfortunately, I can't do anything about them because they apply to me only indirectly, so I'll just have to continue worrying and fretting. Perhaps I should just jump on the treadmill and work out feelings that way. Or maybe work on my book Memoir Madness: Driven to involuntary commitment ; yes, I have changed the title from I, Driven: memoir of involuntary commitment --the new title came to me in a dream, and it just seems to fit. However, I need to do a bit of tweaking to the text itself. I just love the multiple meanings of "madness"--craziness, anger, and mania, all of which are contained in my memoir. The I, Driven title has never been, in my view, a satisfactory one, more like a placeholder until a better title came along, and so it has. The old titl

A prototype book cover: I, Driven: memoir of involuntary commitment __________________________ Procrastination is opportunity's assassin. --Victor Kiam Yesterday, I vowed to get my memoir ready for publication. I have been procrastinating far too long on this project, and I'm not getting any younger. I have concluded that it was time to stop whining about situations for which I have little or no control and start working on those things that I can manage. Now I have finally figured out my status in my family's food chain, I figure it's time to branch out and move in a different direction--by starting right where I am right now. :=) I'm 99.9% certain that I will be self-publishing my memoir. I'm not a celebrity, so traditional publishers are less likely to be interested in my personal history--at least that's the message I have received so far. The good news: self-publishing is becoming more acceptable and even fashionable as traditional publishers founder