The Myth Of Drinking

“I have absolutely no pleasure in the stimulants in which I sometimes so madly indulge. It has not been in the pursuit of pleasure that I have periled life and reputation and reason. It has been the desperate attempt to escape from torturing memories, from a sense of insupportable loneliness and a dread of some strange impending doom.”~ Edgar Allan Poe

Due to recent events, it is time to set the record straight.

I have been getting asked very frequently in recent days about whether or not I drink. Most specifically if I drink alcoholic beverages.

Most of my social life revolves around live music, which everyone knows. And of course live music venues are usually clubs and bars where the sale of alcohol is their prime business. A large percentage of people that know me, well that’s where they see me. In venues.

Happy to say that they are kind enough to want to buy me a drink. However, 99.98% of the time I either politely decline their offer outright or I tell them that I don’t drink and come up with a counter offer to something like a Coke or a soft drink of some sort.

Ever since I started enjoying live music, this is how I have operated. People are accepting of it and respectful.

The other night however I was spotted by a great number of people enjoying a beer. Suddenly, people were very, VERY confused at what they saw. One person said that they thought that they were dreaming.

And another night, someone said that they saw me having shots with some band members.

So now, this is my public service announcement to those who are stumped, confused, and essentially losing their mind over the subject.

I will start out by actually answering the question: DO I DRINK?

Answer: Yes.

As just about everyone else on the planet, after I surpassed the legal age of drinking, I did have my times of going to the night club, watching people, enjoying music, and drinking. And I learned what my limit was to where I knew that I needed to stop so that by the time I went home, I was sober enough to safely do so.

But after a while the money that I was spending on buying drinks was growing and growing that by the end of the month I didn’t have enough money to feed myself.

I finally stopped going to the night club because it got very boring to me, and I didn’t like how much money I was spending on drinks. I even stopped going to the store to buy alcohol.

This went on for a while and if I was drinking anything at all, it was at someone’s home. Usually during a dinner or some small gathering of friends.

And now with the atmosphere of live music, and the passage of time, the idea of drinking is less appealing. But that is mainly due to the COST of buying alcohol.

The other factor is whether or not the restrooms in the venue are actually accessible. If I am not able into a restroom at a venue or have a lot of difficulty doing so, then I will simply choose not to drink. And a lot of the times when I politely refuse it is because of the accessibility situation. And that is commonly what the situation is. If I cannot properly relieve myself when I am away from home…. I won’t drink.

My travels in recent years to Houston, I may have ONE beer if anything. But that is only because the venues that I have attended are not accessible at all. Some in Austin are a lot easier but not quite what I would need to make sure that I can get the business done.

Having Spina Bifida makes consuming alcohol more of a pain in the ass!! It goes through the bladder a lot faster than the average person. To put this very bluntly, if I am at some venue and I have a drink or whatever and I have to urinate, because of the decrease in bodily function and control, all it takes those few seconds that I am transferring from the wheelchair to the toilet before it just comes pouring out of me getting all over me and my clothes. And essentially making me unfit for social interaction for the rest of the night.

There have been times when I have been on antibiotics or other medication that warn against drinking while taking it. Thankfully, that is not the case all of the time.

So I am NOT necessarily against drinking. It has nothing to do with personal beliefs or anything like that. I’m not necessarily restricted from drinking. It just depends on where I am and what I am able to do when nature strikes. It obviously would be a lot easier to deal with at home as I can just clean up and if need be change clothes. It is not that easy to do when I am not at home. Even if I take extra with me.

And I am definitely NOT trying to offend anyone or hurt their feelings when they want to buy me a drink and I say no or counter offer them with something else. It is just my way of self-preservation.

I AM against the idea of being drunk and trying to ride the bus home. Bus drivers are instructed to deny passengers too inebriated from riding. I have witnessed others being told to get off the bus. I don’t wish to be stranded somewhere when I am not close to home. Or at all!!

So for those reading who have tried to buy me drinks, keep in mind the following:

If I can’t easily get into the rest rooms where I am at. I won’t drink.

If I am on medication, I won’t drink.

I will not go beyond my personal limit of consuming alcohol.

I have no problem with your courtesy, in fact it is appreciated. In fact, I would LOVE To have a drink with you!! And I will always thank you later for it. But there are just parameters that I follow when the question of drinking comes up.

I hope this answers the questions that you have had and/or clears up any confusion. Feel free to start a conversation in the comments below if there’s anything that I missed.

Idiot Award For August 2014

Go ahead. Make me dizzy with my eyes a-rollin’..

This one is way to close to home.

Meet Alicia Walicke of Cedar Park, Texas. A city just outside of Austin, Texas.

Her boyfriend apparently went to jail for reasons unknown at the moment.

But she wanted to take full responsibility for her significant other’s incarceration, and so she decided to steal a bottle of wine that cost $3.99!

Walicke made it NO secret what she was doing and when the police officers arrived on the scene and began to arrest her, she insisted that she be taken to jail.

Just so she could be with or be closer to her boyfriend.

Umm……….. what??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!!?!?!?????????????

I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise that Walicke does have a criminal history for similar actions, but stealing a bottle of Mad Dog 20/20 just to be closer to your significant other. That places you up there with the rest of the boneheads, morons, and idiots of this world that keep the progression of the human race from advancing as far as they can.

Walicke was released after posting $5,000 last Friday. No word on whether or not she got to “make it up to her boyfriend” or not.

Then again, how in the world was she going to do that to begin with? She should have known just by her own criminal arrest record that she would be separated from the male inmates.

She makes it easy to pick on her hair color. But I’m not going to sink to her levels of whatever you wanna call it.

I fear that one of these days, this award is going to be handed out to someone that I personally know!!!!

But this honestly is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard just to get next to someone. Couldn’t she just wait out her boyfriend’s incarceration time to be served? Then “make it up to him” in other ways??

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/local/cedar-park-woman-stole-wine-to-follow-boyfriend-to/ng3y2/

 

Taking And Losing Control With Fear Control: 11 April 2014- Dirty Dog Bar

“Last chance to take a stand
Finally lets kill this man
Loss of fear now takes control
Lost my chance to save my soul
Now there’s no turning back
Now’s the time we must attack
The end of your reign has come
Swift vengeance now be done” ~ ‘Off With His Head’ by Fear Control

I sadly missed the Texas Independence Fest today  with CASKET OF CASSANDRA playing along side other bands with big name recording labels such as Behemoth and Goatwhore.

But I went to the pre-party the night before. Again to the Dirty Dog. I realized that I had not been out in a few weeks so the bus ride was a little wonky even though it seemed like I got there in no time.

One of the bartenders actually took the time to introduce himself because he said that he had been seeing me a lot and wanted to say hello. He kept my hands filled with Coke whenever he saw that I was done drinking one.

It felt good to get out of the house. Especially since it was the beginning of the weekend and I started to hear chatter about other people’s plans of showing up at the venue.

Some actually showed up. Others did not. But I was definitely there for Fear Control as I have been in close communication with guitarist Frankie Rodriguez and lead singer and guitarist Kash Sakaria. They KNOW that I am pretty much obsessed with their song “Off With His Head” and proud of it.

I was very much happy to see most of the members of CASKET OF CASSANDRA there at the Dirty Dog. They had one missing due to work. But they were also busy with getting ready for the Texas Independence Fest. So they stayed for a while before taking off.

Meanwhile, I kind of was splitting my time between CASKET OF CASSANDRA and Fear Control’s guitarist.

After a while the show got started and soon enough things were going up and up. Like I have been saying every time I write one of these show reviews for my blog, whenever I am sticking around long enough to hear OTHER bands… I end up getting swept up into some other band.  And that show was no exception to the rule.

Trauma Concept

I couldn’t understand a lot but what I could hear, between listening to music and being involved in conversation I got swept up in two different bands by the time the night was over.

First band was Trauma Concept. I don’t know what it was, there was just something about them that caught my attention and then I ended up being stuck either in front of the stage or off to the side of the stage and just listening and watching.

I went to their merchandise table and gobbled up everything that they had to offer.

I did the same thing for Nekrist who played later in the evening.

But I was for sure about Trauma Concept.

After that there was one band on the bill that kind of made me A LOT nervous.

Whore Of Bethlehem

Whore Of Bethlehem.

I had no idea what to expect. I had no idea what they were up to. I had no idea what their gimmick was. All I know is that their band logo was on the bass drum on the drum kit.

The thrashing death screaming vocals that came out of this guy was amazing. I had never experienced anything like that in my life. And the band was probably singing a song about slaughtering angels or someone innocent or puppies or something.

So after that I took a look at their business that they had to offer.

I didn’t know that the woman that was standing by the table was the girlfriend of the lead singer. And since I didn’t know her name at the time (and cannot remember it now even though she told me) I referred to her as “Satan’s girlfriend.”

Death/Black metal….. even they get the ladies. But had I known that’s who she was… I would have left it alone. I took a photograph with two members of Whore Of Bethlehem, and then turned around and took one with the woman who literally said “Let me get my boyfriend to take the picture.”

I knew then to stay clear, but I didn’t realize it would be the guy screaming his heart and soul and lungs out on stage minutes before.

Scary situation!!! But I survived.

The band is local. So that means these people and this woman are local. And I live in a city of over a million people and that means I’ll probably never cross paths with them again, at least not on the street. Maybe at some other venue or show though… that would be possible.

Kash Sakaria

I did however think that it was really cool that Frankie allowed me to hold his guitar and pick a little at it. Then he took a photograph with my camera. I’m happy he allowed that. I begged Kash not that long ago to do the same thing with his guitar but …. no such luck so far.

KASH!! BROTHER!! Please!! Just one photograph with the guitar!! Lemme know….

And then came the problem of the night: ALCOHOL.

What I mean by that is FREE alcohol.

I’ve always thought that fans were responsible for giving bands their buzz. I never thought that bands would souse their fans.

I cannot count how many people had bought me so many cocktails and beers. And you know what they say about mixing them or drinking them in the wrong order. Ughhh!!!!

From all of that happening and the free Coke that I was getting myself, it made for a long, long, long, long night when I returned home and an excruciating morning afterwards. And again, not a single penny was coming out of my wallet for these beverages. I got to the point where I didn’t even know where they were coming from. Just that I would look up and there were more beers, more cocktails sitting there in front of me. 

Fear Control hit the stage and they started to tune up, set up, and I was ready for action again. Sweat pouring down my face as I began to wonder whether or not to change t-shirts in the bathroom. I received a very limited edition WHITE t-shirt from Fear Control.

Basically, they only had a few more left. And now I have one.

I was happy to hear that my favorite song was on the set list. I do not know why I would have ever thought that they would take it off of the set list. At least not right now. Perhaps down the road when more new songs are written.

I must say that I am really enjoying the song “Texas Tea” as well. Its basically a drinking anthem.

But “Off With HisHead” was a very surprising OPENING song to their set.

I lost it!!! But in a good way.

Singing along and just having a fun time. As their set went on, I realized that some drunken idiots attempted to start a mosh pit. The only way that I know is that someone bumped into me as he was shoved in my general direction from behind me.

Ohhhh crap. Not this again. I had problems enough with this going on at SXSW Festival this year and I probably would have had a little bit more help as this was a venue. The fine folks at the Festival probably would not have done a thing.

Suddenly “Satan’s girlfriend” comes up to me while I was enjoying “Off With His Head” and I turned around away from the stage and she took a photograph of me in front of the band playing on stage.

That was cool. But then mosh pit was getting a little more active and a little too close for comfort for me. My back is damaged enough from assholes in the past who injured me over trying to steal something that had less than $20 value, I don’t need some drunk guy ramming into me and then trying to start something with me because he slammed into the back of my wheelchair and he hurt himself and me in the process.

I think that “Satan’s girlfriend” saw the concern and fear in my face. So she put her arm around my shoulders and stood there throughout the rest of the song that was playing.

I slowly turned back behind me and I saw him AND his girlfriend nearby.

And instead of having the feeling of the possibility that they were going to protect me from people slamming into me…. I felt fear again. Thankfully I never “touched” her or put my hands on her that would cause trouble.

After Fear Control, the lead singer to Trauma Concept walked by. He shook my hand saying, “Hey, I just wanted to say thank you for getting all of our shit.” Ohhhh if he only knew…. if he only knew.

A $5 cover and free drinks and merchandise. I came out of there like a fricking bandit!!

So I took off at the end of the night and had to get a taxi or something since buses stopped running. I found this giant extended van that was sitting there and this guy assisted me in finding this van. He looked to see how far my home was in miles and then did some kind of weird calculation and said that he could get me home for $25.

Well, that’s fine. Taxis are about $20…. so its pretty close. But that van was right there and I didn’t have to sit there on any sidewalk, yelling and waving like a fool and an idiot trying to pull someone over. The guy was ready to go. All I had to do was climb inside…. which was a pain because the van was so high up. But I made it. 

Come to find out that the driver was ALSO in a band and his band was in the recording studio. He mentioned that he wanted to give me his card and that if I found the band on Facebook that he would connect with me and give me merchandise……….. FOR FREE. Again, with the free merchandise!!

Has anyone that has been reading these band show posts writing this stuff down on how this is working??

Earlier in the day prior to the show, I sent messages to both Kash and Frankie stating that a storm was coming.

Boy did it ever!!!! Now someone please hand me a glass of water and a few tylenol and grab me the trash can and don’t wake me up until June. Unless there is another show that I can go to.

A Thanksgiving Only For One: Flying The Enemy Skies

“The knack of flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”~ Douglas Adams

So I received this just in the nickname of time from LISAFAYECHARDONNAY.

This should have you crying and in stitches. But you have to read the entire article.

Enjoy:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/29/annoying-airplane-passenger_n_4360667.html

Prohibition Repealment Day

“Once, during Prohibition, I was forced to live for days on nothing but food and water. “~ W.C. Fields

Happy Ratification of the 21st Amendment to the United States Constitution, everybody. Or in short, repealing Prohibition.

On the 5th of December in 1933, the 21st Amendment was ratified and repealed the 18th Amendment of the United States Constitution which was the prohibition of alcohol.

In 1919, the requisite number of legislatures of the States ratified the 18th Amendment to the Federal Constitution, enabling national prohibition one year later.

Many women, notably members of what was called  the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, were pivotal in bringing about national Prohibition in the United States of America, believing it would protect families, women and children from the effects of alcohol abuse.

But to repeal this and get rid of Prohibition, another Amendment had to be voted on and ratified. It is the only Constitutional Amendment to be repealed in its entirety. 

So congratulations. It is a very historic day. Even though it is not receiving a lot of attention. If it wasn’t for this 21st Amendment, you couldn’t go to a bar, buy beer at the grocery store, or have that glass of wine after each and every meal.

In honor of Prohibition Repealment Day, I think you know what is the best way to celebrate.

Hungover On Halloween

“Charlie Brown is the one person I identify with. C.B. is such a loser. He wasn’t even the star of his own Halloween special. “~ Chris Rock

As Halloween 2012 comes to an end and I am sitting here in the dark and sharing text messages with a sexy Vulcan, I thought that I would pause from that and share the story that I was explaining to the rest of you.

It has been wonderful not having to deal with random strangers knocking on my door and begging for candy and treats. I’ve not had to deal with that for many years. Either I have lived on very private property where the practice of Trick-or-Treating was frowned upon or lived inside a gated community. It has worked to my advantage.

The point of this post is to tell the story of the last time that I did have someone knock on my door on Halloween.

They were not small children, they weren’t even teenagers. They were full grown adults dressed up in homemade costumes. And they were going door to door looking for beer.

The smell of the beer that they had already consumed was heavy. Some of them couldn’t even stand up on their own… they were that drunk!

I sent them away. And told them not to come back. BIG MISTAKE.

They did. But because they were so intoxicated, they made so much noise that I knew they were coming up the street. And so, I prepared for their return.

Let me set up the scene here. Halloween night in Kansas. Snow is already on the ground. It was around 12:30 AM. The air temperature was 25-30°F. And a thunderstorm was in the area. Actually it was approaching. But it was raining with a little bit of lightning and thunder.

I ran outside and waited in the dark, trying not to wake up the neighbors. The drunks had gone to the local grocery store which was on the other side of the fence from the property that I lived in, and bought a bunch of eggs to take their revenge.

Yep, they were there to throw eggs at my home. Two of them got a few off, but it did very little damage as the shattered eggs landed on bricks. Nothing that I personally had to worry about.

But what they did not realize was that as it began to rain softly in the brisk and cold night air, I was in the dark with a garden hose. And I hit them all with the water coming from the faucet that was on the side of the building through a garden hose that was laying across my patio area. It had been there already and so they didn’t realize it.

I soaked their drunk asses to the point of pure moistness.

They all ran off into the night, cursing me and threatening that they will come back to finish the job. But I was ready.

It was about 3:00 AM and half of the determined group had in fact, returned. I had put away the garden hose but had made some arrangements for company. The local police department.

Sure enough, the eggs began to hit my home, and I called the direct cell phone to the officer nearest me. Within a few minutes, the police officer came up on them in the dark and rain and night and got up right behind them before turning on his swirling lights and the siren.  Some of them were arrested for trespassing. Others were charged with damage to private property or intent to cause damage. The others who ran got away with it but I never heard from them ever again.

So yes, that was the very last time I had ANYONE knocking on my door on Halloween. I hope all of you who celebrated with Trick-or-Treating and attended parties were all safe tonight. And I also hope that you had a lot of fun.

Until the next time.

 

Profitable Alcohol

“Always profit from disaster”~ Jefe 

So today I received a telephone call. It was a friend wanting to know if I wanted to go to the liquor store with him. He’s got a brand new vehicle, and I had told him that I wanted to take a joy ride. So this was my chance.

As I abandoned my own meal that I had prepared for the evening, I took off into the Land of Booze. My friend was clearly on a mission, and I was just there to run around. I had no intention of buying anything there. Even if I did want something, I left my wallet at home.

And then I would turn the corner and go down the last aisle and find something familiar. Something that I would want. VAT 69.

I’ve had this before. The label says its Scotch Whiskey. The label also says “Imported from Scotland”. I still to this day have no idea if whether this is a scotch or a whiskey or if its really all just the same.

I’m not real big on drinking. I never really have been. And even when I go out, I don’t drink. So I honestly don’t know too much about the different kinds of alcohol and what they are.

But I’ve bought VAT 69 before, in the 1.75 L bottle. Tonight, I had my friend buy the only size bottle that they had, which was “1 litre”.  He paid $15 for it.

I was remarking about my journey to another neighbor earlier this evening, and I told her about my FIRST bottle. And what happened to it. That neighbor’s request has prompted this story to be told in this blog post.

When I had the 1.75 L bottle, I had paid almost $45 for it. Alcohol is not something that I normally would buy and so I knew that this would last me a while. And if I didn’t like it, it would last me a lot longer.

But I blame Hollywood for that first purchase. And I blame Hollywood for my interest in trying Absinthe.

This VAT 69 was purchased only because I became a fan of the HBO series, “Band of Brothers”. It was shown in an episode towards the end of the series. And since I liked the series so much, the next time I found myself in the liquor store… I looked for it.

For whatever reason, be it ignorance or whatever, since the series was set in World War II- I wasn’t even sure if VAT 69 was around any more. I would always look for the specific black label that was shown in the series, but never saw it. Instead it was always VAT 69 GOLD. Proving that yes, it is still being sold. 

So I would sit down and drink it the first few nights. But I wasn’t really drinking heavily at all. It wouldn’t even seem like I was making a dent to the bottle.

Then at one point, I had a bad tooth that needed to come out. So I would drown the pain away with VAT 69. At least I had the sense to stay inside of my home when I did that. And even still, that would never make a dent.

Enter: Neighbors In Need. 

A married couple had been displaced because of Hurricane Ike. And now they live here where I am. The husband very tall and yet quiet and perhaps shy. The wife being friendly, yet living the life piously of “a good Christian life”. She would berate me like she was my own mother if I were to say words like “crap” or “dang”. Heaven forbid I uttered the truer profane words of “shit” and “damn” in her presence! Not only would I receive the third degree for using profanity in her home, but anywhere else that I might have been where she was at as well.

Then her health began to take a turn.

Unfortunately,  she was not always financially able to get the medications that she needed at the time that they were prescribed.

Some other friends incessantly offered to make her a drink in place of the medication, saying that it would help ease her from the pain of whatever ailment she was suffering at the time. It would be an easier fix until they were able to afford the medicines.

Being that she lived this pious lifestyle, she would always refuse their offer. Drinking alcohol was just not something that she was curious about or had any desire to do… up until the evening where she felt she had no other choice because the misery and pain was too great. Desperate for relief, she called them back and begged them for a mixed drink. Of which I do not think that I need to mention was very, very stout.

She enjoyed it, and all the pain just melted away.  I understand that she even got a good night’s sleep that night.

A few days later, she would call upon that same neighbor for another drink. I don’t think it was too long after the first time. But those neighbors were not at home.

I had gone over to their place to watch television with them, and she went on and on and on about how much pain she was in, and she wished the other neighbors were home so that she could just “get a little something”.

Now, I know what you are thinking. No, we did NOT corrupt her into being an alcoholic. Neither did we corrupt her to stray away from the Christian lifestyle that she lived.

When I heard her whining about the pain and heard these wild stories about how she believed she was in the midst of a “spiritual/religious warfare” with her doctor, I finally stopped her from nagging about the religious differences and told her that I had some alcohol at home and offered her some of the VAT 69.

(Note: her doctor at the time was from India, and she didn’t believe that her doctor was a Christian. And why she was so shocked to hear that I had alcohol at home is beyond me. I AM of legal age to purchase and consume alcohol.)

At that time, I probably still had 80% of the bottle left. I came back to her place and gave her the bottle. She thanked me and blessed me and called me her “saving grace, her guardian and protecting angel”.

The bottle was then passed over to her husband where he would pour some of the VAT 69 into some smaller container. Measuring by finger width, he probably took two fingers. Not that much at all. Then she insisted that she pay me for the alcohol.

This would repeat. She would call to see if she could have any of the VAT 69, and that she would pay for it.

Then I started getting $20, $20, $20, $15, and so on.

Eventually, she would  take the rest of the bottle. It was all gone. And she paid for it all.

I paid $45 for the complete bottle. The neighbor would end up paying a total of almost $100.

It was a very profitable endeavor. All in all, she still has her lifestyle. But she quit complaining about her pains, and I got a little richer.