The speaker at today’s Old Timer’s meeting was a trollish man with a powerful stage presence who recounted the story of his addiction to alcohol and every other drug he could get pudgy hands on. He currently has 35 years sobriety.
His father was an alcoholic – an ‘animal’ who abused his wife and their 9 children. The family had a reputation in the small New England neighborhood for being ‘bad people’, and our venerable speaker was one of the baddest in the bunch. “All I ever been was a punk.” Continue reading Some people will never understand→
Most people think Alcoholics Anonymous is a beneficial group that helps people recover from their their addiction to alcohol. It provides a safe, structured and open environment where people can discuss their problems and provide mutual support to stay clean, get better, and move on with their lives. Continue reading School for Scoundrels→
Today I was turned away from 2 meetings. The first one was an open meeting at the gay center in Hollywood. The leader said I could not attend because I did not have a desire to stop drinking. Of course, this is not a requirement to attend an open meeting. But since they rented out the rooms from the center, they can reject anyone for any reason. But the real reason is that two weeks ago I stood outside the room and handed out my flyers (under the “Activism” tab) as the people left.
Tonight’s late night meeting in Weho was full of drama. It’s a regular meeting of mine, and I enjoy it. It’s a mixed gay-straight crowd and interesting people. Today I met a software guy — like me!
I was assigned to read from Chapter 3: More about Alcoholism. I love this chapter, because it says how the alcoholic is constitutionally different from normal people, and the belief that they are the same is delusional. Of course I announce my name and that I am not an alcoholic or addict, and then proceed to read it with gusto. “The delusion that we are like other people, or presently may be, has to be smashed.” Of course this is pure brainwashing. Continue reading Late Night Live→
You can drink and drug until you’re in your 40’s, and run around and be crazy, and even neglect your children. Then, when you start feeling tired and old, just go to AA. Discover you have a disease, have a spiritual awakening, seek forgiveness from everyone you hurt, meet a good man there (don’t forget the 13th step!), and all is well again. It’s a great life!
Again today we heard this inspiring message at the Old-Timer’s meeting. Our distinguished speaker was a 60 y/o woman with a stage presence much younger than her years. Now she is an accomplished health professional with a loving family, but you wouldn’t expect that based on her childhood experience: there was a lot of violence in the home, and dad was super abusive. Continue reading The Purebred Liar→
Today I went to two meetings at the gay center. The first meeting wouldn’t let me in because I blogged about it last week (“Addiction Fiction”). Well now you tell me — I didn’t know you weren’t allowed to do that (I didn’t mention any specifics, including even first names). So instead I handed out my flyers, which were met mostly with anger and contempt. But some curiosity, which is greatly appreciated. One guy spoke to me and asked why I was doing this. I said because of the War on Drugs. He said I should do something more useful with my life. Continue reading Double header→
