8:58 p.m. | 2003-05-18 The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Waste, But Even Harder To Understand. I finally saw A Beautiful Mind this weekend. What a great flick, and more importantly, what an amazing story. Ron Howard, et al., found a fabulous way to show those of us who aren�t paranoid schizophrenic what it�s like to experience it, and how problematic it can be. The symptoms are so universal. All the letters I receive from schizophrenics and the encounters I have with sufferers contain the same stuff. The pursuit by �those people� (FBI, KGB, law enforcement, CIA, bad people, etc.), code making and code breaking, the implants, the fascination with shapes, colors, symbols, etc. The ones I encounter don�t take their meds. The movie does a great job of showing why they don�t. Meds do take away the symptoms, but they also take away the parts that make a mind beautiful in the first place. They dull the senses along with the hallucinations. I think it�s remarkable that John Nash figured out a different solution. He figured out how to successfully live with schizophrenia without medication. Of course, he had a tremendous amount of support. And a great sense of humor. But still, that�s a remarkable thing. And, now I have an even better understanding of schizophrenia, and its sufferers. Since I was picking the movies, I chose to follow that with Robin Williams: Live On Broadway. Interesting. Anyway, I personally love some unleashed Robin Williams comedy. I wouldn�t want his mind either though. I mean, does it ever sleep? He makes me laugh a lot though. He�s so quick and just strings one-liners together like popcorn garlands. He needs to have laughter intermissions. Or, I just have to watch the tape over and over to catch what I missed before. Note that I don�t usually �review� things here, and of course, the words above aren�t even close to a critique. Just a few of my thoughts. Anyway, I also had the roof, gutters and exterior of my house and garage cleaned this weekend. Whoa. I didn�t realize just how dirty it all was. My house is all sparkly and stuff now. In addition to all that, I met up with my other law school study buddy, Scotty. It�s always good to see him. Like me, he received his JD and left it at that. Unlike me, he owns his own business and makes a ton of money. He�s a couple years older than me, single, and no kids also. He�s also very handsome and rich. And, FYI to you inquiring minds� we�re just friends. It�s always been that way. Since the beginning. Frankly, I was surprised when he approached me about studying together. We come from very different worlds. He grew up rich, advantaged and, at that time, lived in a mansion. (Now he lives in a new mansion.) I grew up poor, disadvantaged and, at that time, lived in an apartment. (Now I live in a very small house.) I saw the writing on the wall, he didn�t. I mean, there was never any chemistry between us, so I didn�t really get it. However, we became friends and have remained friends for the last nine years. (God, has it been that long?) But, you know, he trusts me. First, because I�m trustworthy and second, because he knows I don�t give one whit about money. As long as I have enough to keep a roof over my head, a savings account and a retirement account, I�m content. Any more than that is welcome, of course, but not mandatory. I think that, in some ways, I have it easy compared to him. I know that people don�t like me for my money, that�s for sure. However, he�s pursued by lots of people intent on separating him from his money, including a whole bunch of gold-digging women. And, sometimes, I think he thinks I have it easier too. Most of the time, I think he�s right. your thoughts? seed flower