The Way I See It # 285

One of my favorite television shows on TV is "Intervention" where the families of drug addicts confront their sons, daughters, mothers, brothers, fathers, etc, about their addiction and urge them to get the help they need. I love the show because, like most people, I like seeing the under dog win. I love it when Hank, troubled by the abuse of his childhood and coping with it using heroin, gets the help he needs in treatment and begins cycling competitively like he did before he ruined his life with drugs. I feel good when I watch people beat the odds and win with their personal battles. Like most people, I also am fascinated with addiction. It horrifies me, and interests me at the same time. I am transfixed as if I were watching a train wreck. I'm fortunate not to have known anyone with an addiction. I watched an episode tonight, and as usual it was great, but it wasn't like the other episodes I'd seen.

It was about a guy who owned several successful tanning salons in Las Vegas. He was beaten heavily as a child along with his mother and brothers, and eventually left to be on his own. By the age 21 he owned three businesses. He took in his mother and brothers and took care of them financially. And he started body building. Back in the 90's a lot of muscle-building aids (powders, pills, whatever) used GHB, and he used that for when he slept to build muscle. It gave him a sedated feeling that he felt comforting. But the US Government made GHB an illegal substance in 1999, and so he had to find another substance to give him the same effect. He turned to alcohol, and was soon drinking steadily through the day, drinking out of plastic cups and mugs to conceal his behavior. He drank so heavily that he developed deep bruising all over his body due to liver function. After a short while, he was diagnosed with Testicular cancer. He immediately had the tumor removed, but refused to follow up with chemotherapy and a visit to the oncologist and urologist. His employees took care of him like a baby because he was too drunk to do anything. This whole time he is convinced that he has no problem.

On "intervention" the way that addicts are brought onto the show is that they are told they are in a documentary about addiction. But this man was in such a denial that he thought he was perfectly fine. He lied about what he was drinking, and how much. The intervention with his family came, and he refused their begging him to get help. It wasn't until much convincing that he agreed to go.

He spent 30 days in a treatment facility and was kicked out because he wasn't committed to his recovery. He went back home and was sober for 3 weeks before relapsing. All the while he said that he didn't have a problem with alcohol.

At the end of the episode, where there are usually shots of the recovered addict playing basket ball, or hugging family, there was an In Memoriam. He suffered esophageal bleeding and died of alcoholism.


It was depressing. It put me in a down kind of mood. I don't know why I decided to write about it. I guess it just scared me.

The Way I See It # 284

A decidedly stubborn problem has arisen concerning the whole rock climbing idea. "Sportrock" is 30-45 minutes away. I don't think it's even feasible to take the car that far, with all of us working and driving everywhere all day.

Interesting news from VCU. They sent me an email telling me that I've been awarded an extra 6 credits in AP credit. So, to break it down:

Transfer Credit (Meaning, AP Credit): 18 credits
Institution Credit: 29 credits.
Additional AP Credit: 6 credits.


So right now, as a first semester sophomore, I'll have 53 credits. by the end of this coming semester I'll have 70. That's pretty cool to me.

I'm a little worried about taking a 400-level linguistics course instead of the recommended Evolution class. I think I'll be fine. I hope I'll be fine...

The Way I See It # 283

My sisters and I were talking about the things we do at college, and Christina mentioned that she wanted to join the croquet team. Kara said she was doing dance, and I realized that my life at VCU was decidedly bland. I said aloud, "I want to get into a sport" and Kara said she wanted to as well because though dancing is fun, it's not very physical for her. She said they had a rock climbing wall at Radford and that she had tried it once, and said it was fun. WHY DOESN'T VCU HAVE COOL STUFF LIKE A ROCK WALL?

I decided then and there that I had to try that.
I want to try rock climbing.

There's an indoor center in Alexandria called "Sportrock" and they offer lessons for a pretty affordable price. I'm very seriously considering it.

The Way I See It # 282

I went to IKEA (THE love of my life... besides Sid I guess) a day ago to check out my situation on what I can afford and what I can't. Considering my bank account is devastatingly lower due to paid off debt and a few trips out to eat and such, my situation concerning my once dreamy "nest egg" is now quite dreary. Not to worry though, I'm hatching a plan to get my dad to buy some furniture for me. Not that I expect any response (it's Dad of course) but I'm willing to take a crack at it. I'm going to need a bed, sitting area, desk, chair, and a wardrobe/closet. My needs also include lighting, but lamps and stuff at Ikea is so cheap that I think that if he doesn't even agree to lamps I can manage. As for the other stuff I'm happy to say that I can probably afford carpets, pillows, lights, decorative things, etc. from IKEA. I was thrilled to find an enormous area rug in a shade similar to my walls for only $30.00, and lamps purchased in a set of 2 for $12.00. Needless to say my shopping expedition went entirely too well, and made me very relieved.

I worked 8AM-3PM today and getting up at 6:30 was a bitch. I shouldn't complain, my mom gets up early every day and such. I remember taking Driver's Ed over the summer and having to get up early. I was done by 11AM which made me feel like I had the entire day left to do so much. I was actually reminded of this when I read Julian's blog. I've decided that sleeping in is a luxury, and that unless I am sick, or extremely tired, I really shouldn't try to sleep past 9. And if I do sleep in, I'm thinking it should be around 10. I wake up at 11 and I feel cheated. So I'm reforming, and whipping myself into shape.

Also, I have tomorrow off and I'm going to run, if I feel okay. I went to the doctor today for my ever-lasting plague with UTIs and got my very much needed drugs. But I'm going to run again, because I liked that a lot.

I just got out of the shower, and am waiting for dinner to be done. we're having black bean chili (so delicious). I love the feeling of being warm and clean after a shower. I think that's why I like to take showers at night, I like going to sleep that way. it's very comforting.

Abby wants to go to Baltimore instead of Richmond for Rich's show. I don't know if I can do this. I have no idea how to get around Baltimore at ALL. We'll see how that goes.

The Way I See It # 281

A lot has happened over the last two days. It was all pretty terrible, but now I have to spend some time healing myself and moving forward. So that's what I'm going to do, and hopefully we'll get on the right track again. I know we will.

The Way I See It # 279: Don't Ask

I got back from the Fourth of July Wedding with Sid's family last night. Overall the wedding was a nice time. I unfortunately didn't get to see/hear the ceremony due to seating arrangements, but I understand that it was a family function, so not being family I don't have priority. Other than the wedding, the weekend itself was not what I expected. We went down to Winchester Thursday night and stayed over in the hotel till Friday. The events that went on include a bunch of things I didn't expect, nor want to deal with, unfortunately. I guess I should have known things would be like the way they were. I don't want to give off the impression that I had a bad time, because I had a very good time at the wedding, but when we weren't at the wedding, things were difficult.
From dinner with Sid's mom and Jim which made me feel like a babysitter, to being included in a YouTube video, dealing with nasty behavior in the morning, and dealing with shit that I'm tired of dealing with, the events that unfolded around the wedding were lackluster.

I don't know what I wanted. I guess I just wanted to feel like a teenager, but I ended up feeling like the only mature person in the room. I don't always like that feeling.

I'm really pissed off right now, and I have to go to work in an hour. I hate going to work pissed off. I hate being pissed off in general.

I'll try and get online when I get back from work. I work 2-11.

The Way I See It # 278: FRESH BEATS

Julian's post was absolutely correct. Greg Gillis, AKA "Girl Talk" has some fucking fresh beats. I've linked the website where you can buy the CD in the title of this post, so click away if you so please!
Tonight I went to Ebbie's house for a shin-dig and I actually had a lot of fun. Everyone was there. I talked with Julie Chappel, who I never really talked to in high school, and thought wasn't very compatible with, but she's a really cool girl! It was actually really nice talking to her, and I enjoyed myself. It was nice to socialize with people my age, and also to get in touch with my actual friends at VCU like Ebbie, Emily, Julian, Brendan, etc. Kelly showed up but it didn't even matter. it was totally fine. I love closure!

Things got a bit tangled when Sid showed up after work, but we're going to talk about that tomorrow. All I was trying to do tonight was have a conversation, I didn't mean to start a fight.


I'm Tired.
"Set It Off" Is AMAZING.