DOCSLIB.ORG

WHAT WE HIDE by ASHLEE BOWCOTT B.A. Depaul University

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
WHAT WE HIDE by ASHLEE BOWCOTT B.A. Depaul University WHAT WE HIDE by ASHLEE BOWCOTT B.A. DePaul University, 2013 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts in the Department of English in the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Spring Term 2015 Major Professor: Terry Thaxton ©2015 Ashlee Bowcott ii ABSTRACT What We Hide is a collection of memoir essays that explores the themes of mystery and deception in personal relationships, specifically within familial and romantic ones. Though the essays in the collection explore the decades from early in the narrator’s childhood through her move to Florida for graduate school, the narrator’s keen discernment of the world around her and her curiosity for what experiences shape a person’s character remain constant. Many essays explore the extent of her father’s alcoholism and the consequences of it, as well as the narrator’s obsession over the possible sources of his addictions. Other essays examine the narrator’s relationships with men beginning when she enters high school and question the extent to which her strained relationship with her father both excuses and/or explains the way she deceives and allows herself to be deceived in these relationships. What We Hide is endlessly implicating and looks for the accountability of these situations from all sources. The narrator delves into the sneakiness of her parents’ courtship, the accusations that become commonplace during their divorce, the ways in which the narrator lies to family, friends, and boyfriends for her own selfish motives, and how each of these experiences shapes subsequent ones. What We Hide uses personal experience, emails, and newspaper articles to demonstrate the vulnerability, contradictions, and complications that are inherent in all of us as humans and how these weaknesses manifest themselves in the relationships with those we are closest with. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS CLUES .......................................................................................................................................1 BY BASEBALL SEASON ....................................................................................................... 18 HOW TO RUIN YOUR BOYFRIEND’S IDEAL OF HIS FATHER ........................................ 40 EVERY DRIVE IS ANOTHER STORY ................................................................................... 45 WHAT WE HIDE ..................................................................................................................... 68 ON MY FIRST TIME DRINKING ........................................................................................... 81 BEFORE YOU GO ................................................................................................................... 95 LEARNING TO GRIEVE, TO HURT, TO HIDE ................................................................... 111 A TIME TO PRETEND .......................................................................................................... 121 THE LIQUOR DOESN’T KEEP PROMISES ......................................................................... 134 HERE WE ARE, AFTER DARK ............................................................................................ 148 THE BACK COURSE ............................................................................................................ 168 TEN LIES ON A STREET IN NASHVILLE .......................................................................... 180 MEN I’VE THOUGHT I LOVED .......................................................................................... 188 A HISTORY OTHERWISE LOST ......................................................................................... 202 NOTES FROM MY FATHER ................................................................................................ 228 APPENDIX: READING LIST ................................................................................................ 254 iv CLUES The times I think I could love my father, he’s wearing a three-piece suit. A thrift store purchase, the suit hangs proudly in his closet in a beige garment bag. He doesn’t wear it often, but it is dry-cleaned regularly—the black fabric pressed stiff and spotless. The first time he wore it we were at my cousin’s wedding in California. I’d just finished third grade, and my father offered me a glass of champagne to toast the new couple. He told me I could have the whole glass since it was a special occasion, but after one sip, I set the flute down, smacking my lips together as I tried to understand what the big deal was about alcohol. Toward the end of the night, “Brown Eyed Girl” played: his song with my mom. Since they separated and I was an identical version of her younger self, it became our song. He asked me to dance. As he spun me around, the stagnant blue of his eyes became shaky, like tiny ripples that water bugs create as they sit atop the stillness of a lake. When the wedding photographer stopped our twirling to take a picture, I stepped on my father’s feet to look tall. He pulled me closer than he ever had—me in my short-sleeved pink dress with beaded butterfly design and him in his suit and black bow tie. He would later crop me out of this picture, asking for my help uploading it to several of the dating sites he used, but the quivery blue of his eyes would remain. The only other times I saw him in this suit, I called him Jeeves. He still wore the black bow tie and combed his shining hair across his head, but he also draped a towel over the sleeve of his suit coat. The plush emeralds and plums of each towel were monogrammed with different initials of the families he purchased them from at estate sales along the wealthy north shore of Chicago. He carried tarnished silver trays, passed down through his family, full of chicken teriyaki, barbecue chicken, mashed potatoes, and local steamed corn. Though he didn’t fake an accent, he spoke in an elevated language that I imagined he used when he wanted his students at 1 the university where he taught to think he was particularly smart. When he wore this suit, he and I were comrades. No longer father and daughter, or the ever more complicated father and daughter-of-an-alcoholic, we were working together to suspend disbelief, to neglect reality and enter into an imaginative world where I was a silent film movie star, he was a butler, and twelve of my closest (also famous) friends were invited over for dinner. It was a reality that we could never hold onto for long, one we had forged together. One that we saved for the nights I hosted these parties. In junior high, I found a Clue murder mystery party game at a yard sale and became obsessed with mysteries. Since divorcing my mother a couple years earlier, my father was eager to do anything for us kids that would give him the upper-hand as favorite parent. For me this meant his constant approval for me to invite as many friends as I wanted and host parties at his house. I spent the time at my father’s hogging the single phone line to research party tips on the Internet. I looked up costumes, hairstyles, and names from the 1920s: the decade I thought lent itself best to a night of secrecy and faux-murder. I hated staying at my dad’s house. My younger brother fared better while I kept to myself in the office; the two of them watched sports until my brother fell asleep, leaving my dad to drink without worrying that my brother or I would smell it on his breath. The way my dad acted late in the night, stumbling up the back stairs as he grasped for the railing he never finished building or past my doorway, slurring angry half-words to himself, scared me. When I was party planning though, I tolerated the visits, if only for the fact that he had inherited a computer from his investment banker brother while my mom would not be able to afford one for years. 2 I spent all night in his office, tailoring the names and occupations of the dinner party attendees until I had one that fit each of my friends. I made handwritten invitations—a frustrating attempt to copy a gothic font I’d found on the Internet—that I would not so secretly hand out in the junior high hallway of our small Catholic school. Each invitation contained a character bio, letting the girl know what her name and background were, and also how to dress on the night of the party. It was tough to choose a date that thirteen girls could attend, so I gave them invitations more than a month before the party. In the weeks leading up to the party, I grew anxious. I decided I was bored with the run-of-the-mill murdered-murderer dinner party. So I complicated things. The dining room table had been set for weeks after my dad added the extender to the antique table to make room for all the guests. I placed character name cards at each seat, positioning myself between the two girls who were my favorite at the time. I included another notecard beneath each girl’s China plate. The notecard contained a list of the character’s friends and enemies, additional tasks the girl had to complete during the party, and secrets she had to guard or use to bargain so she may complete her tasks. I was trying to create three-dimensional characters, ones that helped the girls see the reality I created. I handwrote the notecards, but my friends never accused me of using the knowledge to cheat at the game we played. I did. A few times. The desire to not only be well liked but the most-liked, was too strong not to. On party days, I got to skip mass with
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Hemingway's Mixed Drinks: an Examination of the Varied Representation of Alcohol Across the Author's Canon
    OLIPHANT, ASHLEY YARBROUGH, Ph.D. Hemingway’s Mixed Drinks: An Examination of the Varied Representation of Alcohol Across the Author’s Canon. (2007) Directed by Dr. Scott Romine. 214 pp. The purpose of this research was to determine how alcohol functions in four main texts: The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, The Old Man and the Sea and In Our Time. Because of Ernest Hemingway’s self-perpetuated image as a literary celebrity, scholars have historically used his public persona (and their diagnoses of his perceived alcoholism and other medical conditions) to speculate about its impact on his work. This study establishes the importance of first addressing the textual evidence relating to Hemingway’s crafting of symbols, characters and plots before the biography of the author enters the critical conversation. The project defines and examines important terms relevant to Hemingway’s representation of alcohol, including “saturated” and “dry” fiction, “situational dryness,” “communal consumption” and “restorative drinking.” When applicable, Hemingway’s characters are viewed within the context of their Lost Generation existence to challenge the critical notion that the post-war experience for the author’s characters (particularly those who consume alcohol) is static from text to text. Hemingway’s drinkers are explored instead as individuals with varied impetuses for imbibing (whether in moderation or in excess), and his non- drinkers and occasional consumers are examined at length to provide a complete picture of the role of consumption across the four works. The data taken from these considerations leads to the conclusion that contrary to the critical consensus, Hemingway’s depiction of alcohol sometimes reverses the dichotomous relationships it has long been believed to support.
    [Show full text]
  • Clark 1 Half Moon She Held the Bay in Her Eyes, Green As the Sea, Looking
    Clark 1 Half Moon She held the bay in her eyes, green as the sea, looking at the waves of sparkling glass that moved across the Atlantic. At age thirty-nine, Amelia’s hair unfurled, like black seaweed in the autumn wind. Her skin turned brown in the sunset, her figure, a dark contrasting silhouette, letting in all of the remaining light, eclipsing her body. This scene was all for her, the ocean, the sand, the birds, everything. But soon, she would have to leave it behind. Amelia was on break from serving at the Ocean Palace, a restaurant and bar built on the docks overlooking the Kachemak Bay. From the outside, the business looked like a two-story shack with its crooked boards and peeling layers of white paint. Inside, the upstairs was filled with wooden tables covered in white dining cloth. The tables sat on a black carpet with white etches of dolphins, whales and various other sea life. An old chandelier hung from the ceiling, like a conglomeration of fishhooks reflecting light. The room was dim and had windows on three sides with the ocean and masts staring back in. Downstairs, the bar had a small stage where local musicians sometimes performed with a bucket for tourists to drop money in. The bar was like any other with its neon signs of various beers and hard alcohol. It had only two windows in the wall facing the ocean. Many of the sailors and fishermen passing through filled the air with smoke to mix in with the scent of fish guts and booze.
    [Show full text]
  • Femininity, Binge Drinking and Music Videos
    Copyright is owned by the Author of the thesis. Permission is given for a copy to be downloaded by an individual for the purpose of research and private study only. The thesis may not be reproduced elsewhere without the permission of the Author. “If she’s drunk, she’s easy”: Femininity, binge drinking and music videos A thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science In Psychology At Massey University, Wellington, NZ Shobna Naomi 2014 i Abstract Young New Zealand women continue to drink more than previous generations. Research demonstrates that legislation, access, changing gender roles, identity, marketing and culture contribute to the current desire that many young people, including women, have for the excessive consumption of alcohol. The current study sought to explore popular youth culture, namely music videos, to understand the ways in which young women engage with and understand such media and the role it plays in drinking cultures. Three music videos were used to stimulate discussions surrounding gender, identity and alcohol consumption among four friendship groups, each containing three female participants. Participants were aged between 18-25 years and came from mixed ethnic backgrounds in Auckland, New Zealand. Three music videos were selected for their inclusion of portrayals of femininity and binge drinking (by Katy Perry, The Paradiso Girls and Cobra Starship). The music videos were shown to the groups, and questions prompted discussion following each. The discussions were transcribed verbatim, and subjected to a discursive analysis which identified four key discourses that participants drew on during their discussions.
    [Show full text]
  • GOOD, ADRIAN BRINTON, M.A. Investigating Relationships with Alcohol: the Construction of Meaning Through Narrative in Interview Situations
    GOOD, ADRIAN BRINTON, M.A. Investigating Relationships with Alcohol: The Construction of Meaning through Narrative in Interview Situations. (2013) Directed by Dr. Steve Kroll-Smith. 211 pp. Relationships between humans are comprised of many interwoven facets. So are relationships between humans and alcohol. This pilot research project attempts to conceptualize a few of the components that exist in the latter relationship and demonstrate an approach that may be used for additional investigation in the future. Ten male college students discussed their history with alcohol in an interview setting and, in doing so, described ways in which they developed relationships with the substance. Discussion of familial socialization focused on lessons centered on culture and/or moderation. Informants embedded discussion of the continued development of these relationships in discussion with components they considered to be important to their life stories. Much of the language used to put words around these relationships was divided into vernaculars of intent and vernaculars of strategy. These groupings allow for a rich understanding of different motivations that rest behind alcohol-related decisions and ways people categorize and understand different types of drinking behavior. Structuring the data in this manner creates an understanding of different alcohol-related desires and a variety of drinking styles that people use to achieve these ends. As alcohol can impact a situation in unpredictable ways, attempts to match strategy with intent may fail. Some of these strategies, such as alcoholic drinking, are not portrayed in a favorable manner. With this in mind, a struggle for control is embedded in the vernaculars of strategy.
    [Show full text]
  • October 2016 Luxe Living
    VIETNAM 10—2016 TRANCE FORMATION An Age-old Spirit Possession Ritual PAGE 26 WAITING TO INHALE Masking the Air Pollution Problem PAGE 34 ARCTIC BLAST Photographer's Guide to Iceland PAGE 80 CHASING CHARMANDERS Be Careful Catching 'Em All PAGE 94 ẤN PHẨM CHUYÊN ĐỀ QUẢNG CÁO - MIỄN PHÍ Mia MN - Oi Ad Sept 160927 FA.pdf 1 9/27/16 12:38 cape to the beach ...because everything is better with aea view 30% off on allooms until 22 nd December 2016 THE PERFECT BEACHFRONT GETAWAY TO WAKE UP TO THE SOUND OF WAVES, SURRENDER TO SUNSHINE, SWIM AND SIP THE DAY AWAY. FOR RESERVATIONS: +84 623 847 440 | [email protected] | www.miamuine.com VIETNAM 10—2016 EVERYWHERE YOU GO Director XUAN TRAN Managing Director JIMMY VAN DER KLOET [email protected] Managing Editor CHRISTINE VAN [email protected] Online Editor JAMES PHAM [email protected] This Month’s Cover Location Mia Mui Ne Chief Photographer NGOC TRAN [email protected] Mia Mui Ne is a small and exclusive boutique Graphic Designer HIEN NGUYEN resort located in the center of Mui Ne. The [email protected] resort is a haven of tranquility and relaxation for couples and families alike. It is situated right on the beachfront, looking out onto the beautiful East Sea and its white beaches. 24 Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street, Ham Tien, Mui Ne, Vietnam +84 (0) 623 847 440 - 442 www.miamuine.com For advertising please contact: ƠI VIỆT NAM Sales Manager NGAN NGUYEN [email protected] NHÀ XUẤT BẢN THANH NIÊN 090 279 7951 64 Bà Triệu - Hoàn Kiếm - Hà Nội ĐT (84.04) 39424044-62631719 Account Manager CAROLINE DORAN-TRAN Fax: 04.39436024.
    [Show full text]
  • Raising the Bar: Consumption, Gender, and the Birth of a New Public Drinking Culture Adam Blahut
    University of New Mexico UNM Digital Repository History ETDs Electronic Theses and Dissertations 7-12-2014 Raising the Bar: Consumption, Gender, and the Birth of a New Public Drinking Culture Adam Blahut Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/hist_etds Recommended Citation Blahut, Adam. "Raising the Bar: Consumption, Gender, and the Birth of a New Public Drinking Culture." (2014). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/hist_etds/9 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Electronic Theses and Dissertations at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in History ETDs by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Adam Blahut Candidate History Department This dissertation is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication: Approved by the Dissertation Committee: Dr. Andrew K. Sandoval-Strausz, Chairperson Dr. Larry Ball Dr. Paul Andrew Hutton Dr. Sharon Wood i RAISING THE BAR: CONSUMPTION, GENDER, AND THE BIRTH OF A NEW PUBLIC DRINKING CULTURE by ADAM BLAHUT B.A., HISTORY, MERCYHURST UNIVERSITY, 2002 M.A., SOCIAL SCIENCE, EDINBORO UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, 2005 DISSERTATION Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY HISTORY The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico May, 2014 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Durwood Ball, Paul Andrew Hutton, and Sharon Wood for their advice and help while working with me on this dissertation. I would especially like to thank Andrew K. Sandoval-Strausz, my adviser and dissertation committee chair, who guided me through this project and made me a better historian in the process.
    [Show full text]
  • Kaikava Me Kare Inuinu Kaikava Me Kare Inuinu
    Kaikava me kare Inuinu Kaikava me kare Inuinu The place of alcohol in the lives of Cook Islands people living in Aotearoa New Zealand A report prepared by Sector Analysis, Ministry of Health for the Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand ALAC Research Monograph Series: No 7 Wellington 1997 ISSN 1174-1856 ISBN 0-477-06322-5 Explanation of Title Kaikava me kare inuinu: Kaikava is to drink alcohol; inuinu is the process of drinking (sipping). The title implies that people drink for different purposes and their drinking reflects the level of social interaction. Acknowledgements We would like to thank all those people who took part in the interviews and shared their stories with us. This report has only been possible because of their willingness to take part. Our thanks to Jean Mitaera and Repeta Puna-Turia who read the report and made helpful comments. Kia orana Anne Allan-Moetaua, Lanuola Asiasiga, Ian Hodges, Helen Kapi and Terongo Tekii Cook Islands Border Design Vaitoa Baker As a freelance illustrator of mixed ethnic groups, having the opportunity to work on this project that incorporates many designs of the Pacific, I hope I have done justice to each. I also want to give thanks to my partner, Yvette, whose love keeps me going. Disclaimer This report was prepared by staff of Sector Analysis, Ministry of Health for the Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand. Its purpose is to inform discussion and assist future health promotion strategies. Therefore, the opinions expressed in the report do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand, Ministry of Health nor the members of the field team.
    [Show full text]
  • Mustang Daily, October 17, 1979
    Booze is not only cause of alcoholism San Luis Obispo counselors fault social attitudes, acceptance BY JOHN KELLER Dally Co-Editor going to create an alcoholic. That Most people know that, good or formula comes from the fact that bad, alcohol is sometimes used to problem drinking destroys solve hassles temorarily. On oc­ emotional growth,” said Arblaster. casion, partiers believe solving a “ It puls your emotions to sleep and quarrel or giving a Speech 200 talk it's hard to wake up. to a full classroom is all right to “ Three percent of those ex­ work out beforehand with some perimenting with alcohol become beers. What most people do not alcoholics," said Arblaster, a Cal know is that alcohol has played a Poly graduate student who has not role for one-third of all suicide drunk alcohol in two years. “ The > v* * victims looking for a solution. tragedy is that 19 out of 20 don’t Psychologists and health make it.” ■) m educators can trace almost all the A common belief among reasons why 10 percent of all adults drinkers and non drinkers is that a in the United States are alcoholics. majority of all alcoholics are bums But why is one out of four 12-year- lying in a gutter on skid row, said olds a heavy drinker as reported in Arblaster. a 1978 Los Angeles Times article? "Bums under the bridge are very Teen magazine in 1978, few (five percent of the total who published an article stating that 2$ drink),” said Hansen. “ Most percent of all 13-year-olds are (alcoholics) are in family moderate drinkers.
    [Show full text]
  • 1. Learning to Drink: the Social History of an Idea
    1 Learning to drink: The social history of an idea The idea that you could teach people to drink sensibly has been around for decades. In the United States, this notion was of particular interest after the end of Prohibition in 1933,1 prompted by the challenge of encouraging moderation after years of binge drinking, criminal gangs selling illicit grog, adulterated drinks and speakeasies.2 One who rose to the challenge was American etiquette aficionado Alma Whitaker (1933: 2), who endeavoured to communicate to post-Prohibition drinkers what older, more experienced countries knew about the ‘precious creed’ of moderation. In her aptly titled book Bacchus behave! The lost art of polite drinking, she stressed the need to appreciate the sacred rituals of etiquette to experience the benefits of wines and spirits as social lubricants. In this way, we could learn to drink and, ‘properly fortified with instructive information, we may yet learn to carry our liquor like gentlemen. It’s deucedly messy when we don’t’ (2). Whitaker declared that the ‘right quantity imbibed under the right conditions affords a pleasant stimulation’, while people who became drunk revealed all their nastier 1 Prohibition (1920–33) was a political failure, but was positive in other ways. There is good evidence that there was less drinking and abuse than before World War I; the cirrhosis mortality rate dropped sharply then plateaued, as did the alcoholism mortality rate. There was a differential affect across social classes and across regions: while the law was flouted in the north and east (and in New Orleans), the working-class people of the south and west were largely dry (Cook 2007: 26).
    [Show full text]
  • Barnett (Doherty).Pdf
    Canterbury Christ Church University’s repository of research outputs http://create.canterbury.ac.uk Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. Barnett, L. (2017) Pleasure, agency, space and place: an ethnography of youth drinking cultures in a South West London community. Ph.D. thesis, Canterbury Christ Church University. Contact: [email protected] PLEASURE, AGENCY, SPACE AND PLACE: AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF YOUTH DRINKING CULTURES IN A SOUTH WEST LONDON COMMUNITY By Laura Kelly Barnett Canterbury Christ Church University Thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2017 ABSTRACT Media, government and public discourse in the UK associate young drinkers as mindless, hedonistic consumers of alcohol, resulting in young people epitomising ‘Binge Britain’. This preoccupation with ‘binge’ drinking amplifies moral panics surrounding youth alcohol consumption whereby consideration of the social and cultural nuances of pleasure that give meaning to young people’s excessive drinking practices and values has been given little priority. This sociological study explores how young drinkers regulate their drinking practices through levels of agency which is informed by values linked to the pursuit of pleasurable intoxication alongside friendship groups in a variety of drinking settings.
    [Show full text]
  • Alcohol in Popular Culture
    Alcohol in Popular Culture Alcohol in Popular Culture AN ENCYCLOPEDIA Rachel Black, Editor Copyright 2010 by Rachel Black All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Alcohol in popular culture : an encyclopedia / Rachel Black, editor. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978 0 313 38048 8 (hbk. : alk. paper) ISBN 978 0 313 38049 5 (ebook) 1. Alcoholic beverages Social aspects United States Encyclopedias. 2. Drinking of alcoholic beverages United States. 3. Alcoholic beverage industry Social aspects United States. I. Black, Rachel, 1975 HV5017.A435 2010 362.2920973 dc22 2010019892 ISBN: 978 0 313 38048 8 EISBN: 978 0 313 38049 5 14 13 12 11 10 1 2 3 4 5 This book is also available on the World Wide Web as an eBook. Visit www.abc clio.com for details. Greenwood An Imprint of ABC CLIO, LLC ABC CLIO, LLC 130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911 Santa Barbara, California 93116 1911 This book is printed on acid free paper Manufactured in the United States of America For my husband, Doug Cook, who offered me support and encouragement from beginning to end. Contents Preface ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction xiii Timeline xxi List of Entries xxv Guide to Related Topics xxvii The Encyclopedia 1 Selected Bibliography 211 Index 219 About the Editor and Contributors 227 Preface Alcohol production and consumption is a contentious topic in the United States.
    [Show full text]
  • ALCOHOL/TOBACCO/DRUGS Copy.Pages
    QUOTES ON ALCOHOL, DRUGS AND TOBACCO ! Forecast for tonight: Alcohol, low standards and poor decisions. ! —Weather Poster Research says that youthful binge drinking can have lasting consequences. They are called ‘children.’ ! --Jim Barach Alcoholism isn’t a spectator sport. Eventually the whole family gets to play. ! --Joyce Roberta-Burditt Avoid using cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs as alternatives to being an interesting person. ! —Marilyn vos Savant People who will try anything once may not get a second chance. ! —Unknown One reason I don’t drink is that I want to know when I am having a good time. ! --Lady Astor It never occurred to me to stop using drugs. The classic agony of addiction. You can’t stop and you can’t go on. The pain of living without drugs was as bad as the pain of living with drugs. When you use drugs in such a willful way, you’re transgressing some elemental code. You’re destroying yourself, and body and soul recoils at it....Unfortunately...there is only one conclusion, and that is death (by misadventure). ! --Marianne Faithfull An awful lot of…young women at our very best colleges are being traumatized by what takes place during so much…mindless, drunken partying when they’re steeped in alcohol, which brings out the least engaging aspects of their young selves. ! --Caitlin Flanagan ! - !1 - Alcoholic joys are brief—the results are lasting. ! --Unknown When you drink a little bit, alcohol seems like Popeye’s spinach working through !your system. It makes you stronger, smarter, funnier, bigger. It’s all an illusion, of course—but it feels absolutely real while you’re in the middle !of it, from the inside looking out.
    [Show full text]