I am thirty-seven years old and have paranoid schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder. I reside in the southwestern United States in Tucson, Arizona. I live at home with my parents who look after me. I plan to become self-sufficient and be able to move into my own apartment which I foresee as being viable in the near future.

I used to be employed at Ethan Allen® in their warehouse here in Tucson which was shut down. (The warehouse was closed, not the showroom.)

I support myself on social security disability benefits. I plan to get off of social security as soon as I completely recover and am able to find full-time work.

A relationship with someone special hasn't been easy. Hopefully I'll be able to settle down.

I attended college full time until my junior year going for a business degree when I dropped out because of my paranoid schizophrenia. Since, I have taken some college courses. I haven't been in school for several years and do not plan to pursue a business degree.

I wrote seven self-published books which are all out of print. The majority, if not possibly all of the content was written while I was not doing well mentally.

I presently am working on several writing projects which include manuscripts for a children's novel series, a manuscript about paranoid schizophrenia, a manuscript about my paranoid schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder and a manuscript about my brother Kevin and his autism. I'll keep everyone up to date via my e-mail newsletter, blog (Richard Writes™) and Web site.

My education has become a priority. Looking up words in the dictionary and writing them down in a writing composition notebook increases my vocabulary. A spelling home study course I went through on cassette has shown to be very helpful. I plan to go through two memory and one mathematical improvement home study programs again. They were very helpful, however I didn't practice all of the techniques taught in them a number of which I have forgotten. I've been studying mathematics flash cards to improve my math facts. Either I never learned them in school or I just became rusty. Although I didn't learn all of my addition and subtraction math facts, I scored high in calculus which I got through in community college. I also might go through a speed reading course again I already went through once. Speed reading might not be as good as I believe it to be. How much information does a speed reader understand and recall as compared to a traditional reader? I'll let everyone know, as I probably will be interested in finding out more about it.

In my spare time, I study vocabulary words in a home study program. I listen to a compact disc and read a workbook of the words and their definitions. I also define the other words used in the definitions and example sentences I do not know the meaning of. I hope to be finished with the program within three years the longest. The vocabulary building program contains seven hundred and fifty defined words, many of which I already know or know the general idea. I also have vocabulary building software on my computer. Learning new words gives me enjoyment and great satisfaction. I will let people know of my progress.

My favorite music is baroque classical music which increases learning ability, promotes relaxation and lessons stress and tension which helps me concentrate and learn new things effectively and efficiently. From an online auction Web site this past year, I acquired eight compact discs, which is the complete set of the music in a product series a company that specializes in learning and other similar products offers. Do I learn, read and write more effectively after or while listening? Is there proof? According to the literature included with one of the compact discs in the series, it can help with reducing stress and more.

I have also been listening to other music on compact disc that has been developed to enhance learning, artistic expression, relaxation and more.

If you want to try the programs or music compact discs I use or have used, feel free to contact me. I will be more than happy to provide you with more details about the products. Please let me know if you've had success with any of the types of products I mention above or elsewhere in my Web site.

Please excuse me as I haven't been truthful about which language I really need to learn. I still need to absorb everything there is to know about my native tongue, English. I have started learning Spanish (Latin American), which I do with Spanish language software and a Spanish and English dictionary and I love it! The software is something interesting I saw on television here in the United States. Before I dropped out of college because of paranoid schizophrenia, I took two college semesters of Latin American Spanish; however, I'm very rusty to say the least.

I was very overweight once and lost over seventy-five pounds. Since, I have gained some of the weight back. My diet has become a problem as I still do not eat what I should and exercise like I'd really appreciate and love. Could I be on a roll? Maybe I'll eventually lose the rest of my gut like a healthy person might and laziness and habit are the reason.

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