Yes, let’s face it, it’s destroying me. Even though, cruelly, I’ve been mostly enjoying it.

There comes a time when you ask – where are all those pictures? I’m a fine artist but I don’t do much work.

And why do my symphonies peter out after a few dozen bars? Why haven’t I properly recorded all the stuff I perform on my own instruments?

Why am I so fucking fat and getting fatter and less fit day by day?

There’s no mystery involved. I’m a slave to the booze, because for a long time, I’ve relied on it to take me out of time, to the timeless places.

On the daily surface, I have very low tolerance of each day’s stress. But I’m aware there are vast resources of mind to help me cope, that I’ve been neglecting.

Much easier to “get mellow” out of the bottle. And I’ve been doing that for so long I am now definitely “alcohol dependent”.

I’ve tried rationing it but when that means having a two-to-three day break between many days of binging, sooner or later reason demands that it’s time to give up.

Give up the booze, for the duration. Don’t just aspire (and fail) to score a whole week, just give it the fucking boot.

And that is what I now pledge to achieve. No more drinking booze for the foreseeable future, at all.

Thanks for your indulgence of this self-indulgent topic :)

Bubblecar said:

Yes, let’s face it, it’s destroying me. Even though, cruelly, I’ve been mostly enjoying it.

There comes a time when you ask – where are all those pictures? I’m a fine artist but I don’t do much work.

And why do my symphonies peter out after a few dozen bars? Why haven’t I properly recorded all the stuff I perform on my own instruments?

Why am I so fucking fat and getting fatter and less fit day by day?

There’s no mystery involved. I’m a slave to the booze, because for a long time, I’ve relied on it to take me out of time, to the timeless places.

On the daily surface, I have very low tolerance of each day’s stress. But I’m aware there are vast resources of mind to help me cope, that I’ve been neglecting.

Much easier to “get mellow” out of the bottle. And I’ve been doing that for so long I am now definitely “alcohol dependent”.

I’ve tried rationing it but when that means having a two-to-three day break between many days of binging, sooner or later reason demands that it’s time to give up.

Give up the booze, for the duration. Don’t just aspire (and fail) to score a whole week, just give it the fucking boot.

And that is what I now pledge to achieve. No more drinking booze for the foreseeable future, at all.

Thanks for your indulgence of this self-indulgent topic :)

Can’t sleep. Got up for a cigarette. Yeah..It’s probably killing me.

sarahs mum said:

Can’t sleep. Got up for a cigarette. Yeah..It’s probably killing me.

You ought to try the e-cigs. Most people find it a remarkably easy way to give up smoking.

Ironically and stupidly enough, I re-animated a long-dead nicotine addiction by taking up e-cigs to help curb the appetite and help me concentrate.

Didn’t work, but did get me re-addicted to nicotine :)

What I can say though, is that e-cigs are a very much more gentle and forgiving nicotine habit than smoking.

When I ran out of nicotine juice some time ago, I bought a packet of Benson & Hedges to tide me over, but found the smoking unbearable, even with tiny puffs. Really made me feel ill, and as far as the nicotine is concerned, they didn’t satisfy.

Get yourself a powerful e-cig starter kit and some nicotine e-juice from NZ or wherever (the juice is available in very high nicotine concentrations if necessary) and you’ll soon leave the burning tobacco behind.

Bubblecar said:

sarahs mum said:

Can’t sleep. Got up for a cigarette. Yeah..It’s probably killing me.

You ought to try the e-cigs. Most people find it a remarkably easy way to give up smoking.

Ironically and stupidly enough, I re-animated a long-dead nicotine addiction by taking up e-cigs to help curb the appetite and help me concentrate.

Didn’t work, but did get me re-addicted to nicotine :)

What I can say though, is that e-cigs are a very much more gentle and forgiving nicotine habit than smoking.

When I ran out of nicotine juice some time ago, I bought a packet of Benson & Hedges to tide me over, but found the smoking unbearable, even with tiny puffs. Really made me feel ill, and as far as the nicotine is concerned, they didn’t satisfy.

Get yourself a powerful e-cig starter kit and some nicotine e-juice from NZ or wherever (the juice is available in very high nicotine concentrations if necessary) and you’ll soon leave the burning tobacco behind.

spose.

Addictions seems to be a roller coaster of emotions. And people shaming you into giving up your addiction doesn’t usually work. I hope your family and virtual friends can help along the way.

I remember giving up cigarettes and then lighting up that cigarette after giving into the addiction once again and feeling of self loathing that yet again I had allowed myself to go back to that place.

The text book says that it will take a few goes to kick the habit and so it was true. I have been smoke free for about 7 years now (I think).
I know abstaining always feels better than that feeling of self loathing after given in to the addiction.

Now managing my weight seems to be the last frontier and will be a life time focus for most (I suspect) because unlike alcohol and cigarettes humans cannot survive without food.

There certainly are a lot of things to be addicted to out there in the world that is for sure.

I don’t know if this seems true for you bubblecar but often people whom lean toward alcohol addictions are often quite sensitive people and what people say and do really matters and affects the person quite profoundly and easily. I think the alcohol might provide a temporary emotional buffer a bit like a day off from your troubles or something like that.

I don’t think giving up alcohol alone is an easy thing to do and there are a lot of programs to help you along the way. The GP can definitely help you along this journey and do some tests to see how your body is coping with the alcohol as well as referral support services.

Bubblecar, it’s a cliché, i know, but you’ve already done the toughest part.

I wish you all the best in getting the alcohol monkey off your back. I’ve seen it destroy better people than me, people with skills and talents that i could never hope to emulate. I know it can destroy me the same way.

I do enjoy a drink, but i’m fortunate to have now learnt to recognise, on the occasions when i partake, when i’ve had enough, when i really don’t want the next one. I’m not saying i’m ‘better’ than you, no more than i was ‘better’ than any of the people i mentioned above – and i was certainly not even equal to some of them. I may have been more lucky, in that i haven’t had the same pressures, under the same circumstances. Maybe that leaves me walking a tightrope, maybe i’ll remain lucky enough to stay on it, maybe i’ll be lucky enough to recognise it in time if i begin to slip. I don’t know.

What i can say is that, for various reasons and at various times, i have gone with the use of alcohol for long periods. The good news is that i’ve found that the longer you go without it, the less you miss it. You begin to wonder why you had an affection for it at all.

I think it’s like what someone said to me about how they gave up smoking – you don’t tell yourself that you’re ‘cutting down’, you don’t tell yourself that you’re ‘giving it up’. Right from the word ‘go’, you have to be someone who says to themselves and to the world ‘i don’t do that’.

Keep us informed, we want to know how you’re doing.

A lot of the great artists and authors were pissheads.
Brendan Bean, Dylan Thomas, Edgar A. Poe, C. L. Dean etc.
Sometimes it just goes with the territory.

Peak Warming Man said:

A lot of the great artists and authors were pissheads.
Brendan Bean, Dylan Thomas, Edgar A. Poe, C. L. Dean etc.
Sometimes it just goes with the territory.

Immanuel Kant was a real pissant
Who was very rarely stable
Heidegger, Heidegger was a boozy beggar
Who could think you under the table

David Hume could out-consume
Schopenhauer and Hegel
And Wittgenstein was a beery swine
Who was just as sloshed as Schlegel

There’s nothing Nietzche couldn’t teach ya
‘Bout the raising of the wrist
Socrates, himself, was permanently pissed

John Stuart Mill, of his own free will
On half a pint of shandy was particularly ill
Plato, they say, could stick it away
Half a crate of whiskey every day

Aristotle, Aristotle was a bugger for the bottle
Hobbes was fond of his dram
And Rene Descartes was a drunken fart
“I drink, therefore I am”

Yes, Socrates, himself, is particularly missed
A lovely little thinker
But a bugger when he’s pissed

Bubblecar – not much we can do to help, but if it helps don’t hesitate to post here.

Sarah’s Mum – it’s got to be your decision, but what bubblecar said sounds like a good idea to me.

Peak Warming Man said:

A lot of the great artists and authors were pissheads.
Brendan Bean, Dylan Thomas, Edgar A. Poe, C. L. Dean etc.
Sometimes it just goes with the territory.

And a lot of great artists never really matched the promise of their youth because of the booze and/or other drugs.

mcgoon said:

Bubblecar, it’s a cliché, i know, but you’ve already done the toughest part.

I wish you all the best in getting the alcohol monkey off your back. I’ve seen it destroy better people than me, people with skills and talents that i could never hope to emulate. I know it can destroy me the same way.

I do enjoy a drink, but i’m fortunate to have now learnt to recognise, on the occasions when i partake, when i’ve had enough, when i really don’t want the next one. I’m not saying i’m ‘better’ than you, no more than i was ‘better’ than any of the people i mentioned above – and i was certainly not even equal to some of them. I may have been more lucky, in that i haven’t had the same pressures, under the same circumstances. Maybe that leaves me walking a tightrope, maybe i’ll remain lucky enough to stay on it, maybe i’ll be lucky enough to recognise it in time if i begin to slip. I don’t know.

What i can say is that, for various reasons and at various times, i have gone with the use of alcohol for long periods. The good news is that i’ve found that the longer you go without it, the less you miss it. You begin to wonder why you had an affection for it at all.

I think it’s like what someone said to me about how they gave up smoking – you don’t tell yourself that you’re ‘cutting down’, you don’t tell yourself that you’re ‘giving it up’. Right from the word ‘go’, you have to be someone who says to themselves and to the world ‘i don’t do that’.

Keep us informed, we want to know how you’re doing.

All of this.

Also know that people care a great deal about you. I have your wise words on my workshop wall, read them yesterday as I stared off into space. They do help, I got moving and did stuff.

You’ve had a very stressful few years – the destruction of the garden you have lived with for 10 years; the roosters; your bike…it adds up and sometimes it is easy to numb one’s brain to deal with shit.

And a move is imminent.

We are here – this motley crew of a row boat – I’m sure everyone supports you in this decision.

(Just don’t be like mr kii – ie: get bitten by a rabid (suspected) ferret in a bar in Germany, whilst in an alcohol induced blackout and end up robbed by the ferret’s owner and a whore. Rabies shots require giving up alcohol…..)

The Rev Dodgson said:

Peak Warming Man said:

A lot of the great artists and authors were pissheads.
Brendan Bean, Dylan Thomas, Edgar A. Poe, C. L. Dean etc.
Sometimes it just goes with the territory.

And a lot of great artists never really matched the promise of their youth because of the booze and/or other drugs.

Excessive alcohol use in younger life before 18 years and the continuance can slow down and even pause a person’s emotional growth , focus and more.

Only when the person stops the alcohol can they start to wake up and actually start to grow again. There are formal words for this but I think the message is explained well enough.

By the way, it’s always seemed a shame to me that there is no AAA organisation (Atheist Alcoholics Anonymous).

Maybe we can serve the same purpose.

Thanks for the support, comrades :)

Ya… ^^ what son of goon and TRD said.

I reckon you probably need some professional assistance.

Good luck with it bubbles.

The Rev Dodgson said:

By the way, it’s always seemed a shame to me that there is no AAA organisation (Atheist Alcoholics Anonymous).

Maybe we can serve the same purpose.

I wasn’t going to bring thta up but since you did. There can be nothing more demeaning than to have to stand in front of a group of AA and recite the 12 steps, if you are an athiest and you know that God’s not going to give a shit.

wish you the best in your endeavor, Bubblecar… when I was relying on alcohol a little too much I had to figure out, then get rid of the cause – then not having it was easy, I hope you can find your cause… and always remember this –

roughbarked said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

By the way, it’s always seemed a shame to me that there is no AAA organisation (Atheist Alcoholics Anonymous).

Maybe we can serve the same purpose.

I wasn’t going to bring thta up but since you did. There can be nothing more demeaning than to have to stand in front of a group of AA and recite the 12 steps, if you are an athiest and you know that God’s not going to give a shit.

A friend here is caught in that situation :/

kii said:

roughbarked said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

By the way, it’s always seemed a shame to me that there is no AAA organisation (Atheist Alcoholics Anonymous).

Maybe we can serve the same purpose.

I wasn’t going to bring thta up but since you did. There can be nothing more demeaning than to have to stand in front of a group of AA and recite the 12 steps, if you are an athiest and you know that God’s not going to give a shit.

A friend here is caught in that situation :/

the 12 steps actually state “higher power – turn themselves over to whatever or whomever they believe their higher power to be. “ so probably doesn’t have to be ‘god’ as such. but also there this –

Do You Have to Be Religious to Join?

AA accepts people of all faiths, even atheists and agnostics.

AA welcomes non-religious people even though the program takes a spiritual approach to treatment. The spiritual aspect comes into play with the twelve steps and their reference to God or a “higher power.”

The 12 steps of AA acknowledge that people may conceptualize a higher power in different ways and clarify this with the addition of “as we understood Him” with almost every reference to God. The “higher power” concept is about recognizing that some forces are beyond our control.

AA accepts people of all faiths, even atheists and agnostics. However, nonreligious people may find themselves more comfortable in a secular 12-Step alcoholics support group or a non-12-Step addiction recovery program.

and the non12 step approach can be found here

it seems they just want to help people with addictions… go figure

Arts said:

kii said:

roughbarked said:

I wasn’t going to bring thta up but since you did. There can be nothing more demeaning than to have to stand in front of a group of AA and recite the 12 steps, if you are an athiest and you know that God’s not going to give a shit.

A friend here is caught in that situation :/

the 12 steps actually state “higher power – turn themselves over to whatever or whomever they believe their higher power to be. “ so probably doesn’t have to be ‘god’ as such. but also there this –

Do You Have to Be Religious to Join?

AA accepts people of all faiths, even atheists and agnostics.

AA welcomes non-religious people even though the program takes a spiritual approach to treatment. The spiritual aspect comes into play with the twelve steps and their reference to God or a “higher power.”

The 12 steps of AA acknowledge that people may conceptualize a higher power in different ways and clarify this with the addition of “as we understood Him” with almost every reference to God. The “higher power” concept is about recognizing that some forces are beyond our control.

AA accepts people of all faiths, even atheists and agnostics. However, nonreligious people may find themselves more comfortable in a secular 12-Step alcoholics support group or a non-12-Step addiction recovery program.

and the non12 step approach can be found here

it seems they just want to help people with addictions… go figure

They help those who are willing to stay in that plane of existence.

Arts said:

kii said:

roughbarked said:

I wasn’t going to bring thta up but since you did. There can be nothing more demeaning than to have to stand in front of a group of AA and recite the 12 steps, if you are an athiest and you know that God’s not going to give a shit.

A friend here is caught in that situation :/

the 12 steps actually state “higher power – turn themselves over to whatever or whomever they believe their higher power to be. “ so probably doesn’t have to be ‘god’ as such. but also there this –

Do You Have to Be Religious to Join?

AA accepts people of all faiths, even atheists and agnostics.

AA welcomes non-religious people even though the program takes a spiritual approach to treatment. The spiritual aspect comes into play with the twelve steps and their reference to God or a “higher power.”

The 12 steps of AA acknowledge that people may conceptualize a higher power in different ways and clarify this with the addition of “as we understood Him” with almost every reference to God. The “higher power” concept is about recognizing that some forces are beyond our control.

AA accepts people of all faiths, even atheists and agnostics. However, nonreligious people may find themselves more comfortable in a secular 12-Step alcoholics support group or a non-12-Step addiction recovery program.

and the non12 step approach can be found here

it seems they just want to help people with addictions… go figure

This is America….the sky pixie is big in everything. Not having attended an AA meeting here I am taking her word for how it goes down.

How does one become an alcoholic?

> And why do my symphonies peter out after a few dozen bars? Why haven’t I properly recorded all the stuff I perform on my own instruments?

Well in my case the microphone is on the fritz, or the mixer, or the software. As for recording, it comes out far more natural and pleasant if I’m not recording. Recording makes people nervous, uptight, and frightened of error. So switch off the recording and just enjoy the moment.

> Why am I so fucking fat and getting fatter and less fit day by day?

Insufficient gin. Only with sugar-laden drinks do alcoholics get fatter. The worst alcoholics are painfully thin.

Or too much cheese and chocolate.

Car, I’m really glad to see this. I’m sure this is going to be a difficult time but you’ll come through stronger and happier ultimately.

I hope you get some kind of support, professional or otherwise.

But not AA. Their methodology is not evidence based and their results are kind of rubbish.

If Bubblecars can give up the booze I can try and give up the kava and loose women

Don’t go cold turkey or you’ll have a seizure

Scale it back gradually , one less drink every week

Bump, for Bubblecar

btm said:

Bump, for Bubblecar

There’s bound to be the odd hiccup or two.

Bubblecar said:

btm said:

Bump, for Bubblecar

There’s bound to be the odd hiccup or two.

bump

Bubblecar said:

Tonight I’m thinking: beefy cheesy pasta, with tomato & garlic etc.

So I’d better go and get some more ingredients, and also some FNDC supplies.

Last night of any booze until the move has been accomplished.

I’m not an alcoholic but I do like a drink,
But when I overdo it, it makes me stop & think.

Bubblecar said:

I’m not an alcoholic but I do like a drink,
But when I overdo it, it makes me stop & think.

After a few I’ll feel like I’m nsync
So please don’t send to the rehab clinic

Bubblecar said:

I’m not an alcoholic but I do like a drink,
But when I overdo it, it makes me stop & think.

Then why start the thread? The first definition in the dictionary is ‘one who takes alcohol’. We have been here before.

The few people from this forum I have actually met have said.. sorry, I’m driving and thus cannot do the ethanol thing. Without me mentioning anything about having a drink.

Most of us i’d expect, comprehend the values of overdo it.