A room full of depressives, schizophrenics and recovering addicts will almost never agree on what constitutes “Must-See TV.” The only options that night were "American Idol" and a Mel Gibson movie, the one where the kids make tinfoil hats to ward off alien mind control. Watching anything brain-related in a mental hospital—forgive me, behavioral health facility—is pretty much verboten, so we decided on "Idol." Personally, I was more interested in my proximity to Mike on the couch, and how his hand had crept toward mine under the edge of the stiff, synthetic blanket on my lap. It was August, but you wouldn’t have known it. The air conditioner was [...]

"Loose Change" or "Amazing Eights": that's a one-dollar play with a maximum win of $500-or half of what I owe this month. "Lemon Twist" or a crossword: that's two dollars to fix my car and kill off one of my Visas. Five dollars buys me a "Black Series 2" or a "Millionaire Madness." Either one would bring me back to baseline, make me someone who pays her phone bill on time and maybe once a year goes on vacation. A "Platinum Payout" costs ten dollars (eek), but I could both break even and buy a house-not a big one, but that's okay. Yes, I know, Megamillions costs just a [...]