My mother and my son frequently badger me about dating. I got divorced in 2000 and seventeen years later I am still single. I hate dating, and to be honest I'm pretty picky. Also, I have all these medical issues which interfere with starting a relationship. "One second honey, we can go back to cuddling after I puke for an hour."
Anyway, I did once try eHarmony.com. My sister actually met her husband there, and they are basically the same person. So I thought, well, maybe I can find a person like me. Even if things don't work out romantically I might find a new nerdy friend.
So I went online, took the survey (I think it is just a two hour Myers-Briggs test), made a totally honest profile and posted some photos and waited. I got a lot of hits, although no one seemed particularly like me. Then I got an in-app message from a guy who said he thought we would be a great match and he lived right nearby and let's get together for coffee.
So I meet him at Starbucks, and he's nice enough looking and friendly and we have a pleasant conversation. Early in he says, "Hey, I think we would make a great couple.; especially since I'm ALSO bipolar."
To which I replied, "I'm not bipolar; I just have a lot of hobbies."
I went back to look at my profile to see what made him think I was bipolar. I think it was the photo below, which admittedly does make me seem a little too happy. (In my defense, I think that's a hilarious t-shirt.) SIgh.
My "Aliens Gave My Cat a Beard" shirt, that I got off some website like RedBubble. Evidently other people didn't find it as ridiculously funny as I did.
So, no, I don't have Bipolar Depression. I only have regular, boring, Major Depression. I find a way to get through bad days the best thing is distraction. Hence the hobbies.
When I first became disabled from my job as an eye surgeon (the coolest surgery there is), I was extremely depressed and spectacularly bored. I'd been commuting 3 hours a day down to University of Chicago and routinely was down there from 7am to 6pm. Suddenly becoming a stay-at-home mom felt boring and unfulfilling and only worsened my feelings of uselessness. So I started taking classes at the local community college, Oakton. I took classes in all the things I never had time to learn before. I took: Guitar, Voice, Acting, Drawing, Painting, Ceramics, Spanish and Graphic Design (don't judge me!). Early on, I briefly looked into the University of Illinois Masters Program in Medical Illustration, in the hopes of finding a new career, but unfortunately 3D modelling software universally made me vomit (due to the vestibular migraine).
Anyway, that's why I have so many hobbies. (I've since gotten rid of the shirt.)
Pronounced: (shegg).
(Translation: beard)
Exercise: skjegg" in a sentence:
Example: Utlendinger fra verdensrommet ga katten min et skjegg!
(Aliens gave my cat a beard)