Fuck Social Media!

Yes, I'm on Facebook & Twitter; I admit it!  But what have they gotten me?  Facebook has probably hurt me.  That is where I reconnected with my aforementioned frenemy, who, as a bad influence, convinced me to go back to drinking and smoking weed regularly, even though I told him right from the start that I didn't want to rekindle those old, self-destructive habits.  That cost me a lot of money and brain cells.  It also led to me being arrested for the first time!  Thanks, Facebook frenemy!  I take full responsibility for my actions, but I'm 99.9% sure I wouldn't have gone back to drinking and smoking weed regularly, and have gotten arrested, without my frenemy's influence.  If I ever get into a no-holds-barred argument with him, I'll try to remember to ask him if he's taught his teenage daughter yet that you can't have fun without drugs and alcohol.
I joined Facebook and Twitter (and began blogging) when I read a book about getting one's writing published.  The authors of the book suggested that, in this (good-for-nothing) modern society, one needs to utilize social media to promote one's writing, so that explains that.  But, even though I have written 3 books, Veganman (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZSHNT5I), American Loser (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HQSO9RO) & Farts and Literature (featuring Bald D-Bag) (https://www.amazon.com/Farts-Literature-featuring-Bald-D-Bag-ebook/dp/B074MCFPVD/ref=sr_1_2?s=digita), that I think are good, I am not a successful writer (not even close).
I have tweeted a lot of tweets about animal cruelty (https://twitter.com/TheBaldVegan).  It can be a good way to express oneself.  But what has all this tweeting accomplished?  NOTHING!  It's still socially acceptable for BILLIONS of people to needlessly, and selfishly, support animal cruelty by buying meat, leather, fur, etc.
Facebook and Twitter (Even the names are shit.) are colossal time wasters.  I don't waste as much time with them as most people probably do, because I don't have a smartphone.  I suppose F & T are what these morons are looking at most of the time: or Instagram, Snapchat, etc.; it's all SHIT!  Fuck social media!  Fuck life in this worthless modern society!  I have fallen into these traps a little bit.  Has anyone liked or retweeted my tweet?  Has anyone liked what I put up on Facebook?  I have checked.  I just did it a few seconds ago!  The result: no new likes or retweets (what I deserve for taking the time to check something so pathetic).  People taking, and posting, selfies makes me sick!  Even just the word "selfie" makes my skin crawl.  It says so much about what's wrong with this society that there's this very commonly-used word that's all about people using their goddamn smartphones to take pictures of themselves to put onto worthless, time-wasting social media.  I'm sorry.  Did I say it was worthless?  Hell, no!  Not to stalkers and perverts.  I'm sure they have used social media to their advantage.  At least one person used Craigslist to commit a murder.  Does anyone doubt that predators have used dating websites to commit rape?
I woke up this morning to see that someone unfollowed me on my jokey Twitter account (https://twitter.com/TheBaldDBag), which has been a total fucking failure!  I had hoped that it would generate interest in my comedic book, Farts and Literature.  NOT ONE PERSON HAS BOUGHT IT.  MY LIFE IS A SHITTY JOKE.  You come up with some good jokes, you put them out there, and hardly anyone gives a fuck, because there are TOO MANY PEOPLE IN THE WORLD: all desperate for attention.  Who needs this shit?  It's garbage!  By the way, of course I returned the favor and unfollowed the prick. 

Alcohol & Drugs: Destroyers of Lives

Drugs and alcohol may have ruined my life.  As I've mentioned here before, there certainly were problems before I became acquainted with drugs and alcohol, but they have definitely taken a toll on my life. 

Considering the first time I got drunk, I should have stopped right then and there.  I had never gotten drunk before.  My mother was at her night job, so I was alone in the house.  I was a high school student at the time.  I knew nothing about alcohol.  I started with a drinking glass full to the brim with blackberry brandy: straight and warm.  I drank it down.  Then I got to work on a quart of vodka: also straight and warm.  I almost finished it, and I probably would have, but I stopped because my mother returned.  I could have drank myself to death.  I vomited in my sleep that night.  I could have choked to death on it; many people have died that way.
Usually, when people first drink alcohol, they don't like the taste of it.  If we only followed our instincts and stopped right after that first sip, which is the smart thing to do. 
Even when I was a drinker, I thought liquor stores were evil places, and they are.  They supply the alcoholic with what he or she needs to kill themselves. 
I used to smoke weed.  I've wasted so much money on it.  After many wasted years, I finally quit smoking it.  But, thanks to Facebook, I reconnected with an old college friend (the guy I wrote about in the "Frenemy" post), and, he, being a bad influence, got me back to smoking it again.  Even a moment of clarity didn't get me to stop when I should have.  I was watching a movie that I ultimately didn't like much called Old Joy.  However, I took something very important away from it.  The movie involved 2 friends hanging out in the woods.  One of them smoked weed, and the other one didn't.  Even though I was smoking at the time, I thought it was pathetic that one of them needed to get his little pipe out and smoke over and over again while the other guy didn't.  I don't want to be the guy that needs it; I want to be the guy who doesn't need it. 
Smoking weed made me cough violently plenty of times, which hurts.  When we cough as a result of smoking, it's the body's way of saying it doesn't like smoke, that it's not good.  Smoke blackened my lungs.  Being high is fine, but not coming down from it, which, of course, is inevitable.  Then you need more.  More and more and more: it's never enough.  It's a big trap.  And it contributed to my depression.  I was depressed coming down from it, and depressed the day after smoking: sometimes 2 days after.  In college, the only semester I got good grades in is the one before I smoked weed for the first time.  After that, they went down and stayed there. 
People who drink risk getting a DWI.  If a sober person gets into a fight with someone who's drunk, who do you think the police are going to believe?
People who smoke weed put themselves in a weak position.  My new neighbors smoke it.  They opened the hall window, probably because they're paranoid and worried about getting caught.  I closed the window.  I have nothing to worry about.  I'm free, because I'm living a clean life.
If you're reading this, I care about you to some degree, because writers want people to read their writing.  Don't drink or do drugs.  They have ruined countless lives.  Life is hard enough without sabotaging yourself, which is I believe is what we do when we abuse alcohol and drugs.
I've been sober since 7/31/16 and clean longer than that.     

Got to Give It Up

 
I haven't been posting much original stuff here lately.  It seems like my page views took a nose dive when I shared my thoughts about god and religion.  People will be offended by my thoughts on this subject, but I'm likewise offended when a Christian says that anyone who hasn't accepted Jesus as their lord and savior is going to burn in hell.
I had a very uncomfortable psychiatrist appointment this week.  As usual, I met with her and the director of the mental health place I've been going to for a while now.  The appointment was going the way it usually does, when the director asked if I'd gained weight.  I admitted I had.  They began to interrogate me about the weight gain.  I was asked if I still exercise.  The answer was yes.  Then I was asked if I drink.  The answer was yes.  How much?  About 5 times a week.  This is where the mood in the room changed.  How much do you drink?  I had to do a little math in my head, because I usually drink vodka, and I measure out 1 ounce of it into each drink, which is 2/3 of a shot.  I answered that I drink about 5 drinks a day (5 times a week) or more.  The mood really got dark from that point on.  After all, it was clear that I was a fat drunk: definitely not the best day of my life.  Both of them stopped smiling and looked very concerned.  Then it was established that I've been drinking like this the entire time I've been on Prozac.  I was told that the combination of Prozac and the alcohol I'd been drinking wasn't good for my health.  They are concerned about my liver.  I need to see a doctor and get my blood tested.  It was also established that my friend thinks I'm annoying when I drink too much, and I black out regularly.  I was told these are enough good reasons to quit.  I was asked about other drugs.  I admitted to smoking weed a few times a month.  They seemed to be much more concerned about the alcohol.  I asked if I could finish what I had left: 4 beers and less than 1 bottle of vodka.  I was told I should pour it out.  I probably won't do that.  I plan to give it to a friend.
I haven't drank any alcohol since that meeting, which was 2 days ago.  I want to quit.  I'm much more likely to feel better the day after not drinking than if I had drank.  I don't like going to the liquor store.  I think liquor stores are evil places.  When someone goes into business manufacturing alcohol, or they sell it in stores, they are, in my opinion, involved in evil activities.  People drink themselves to death.  People drink and drive and kill others as a result.  People get drunk and become violent.  I'm hoping I can quit.  Unfortunately, alcohol is everywhere.
These are lyrics to a song by the great Thin Lizzy that are applicable:

       "Got To Give It Up"

I've got to give it up I've got to give it up
That stuff
I've got to give it up I've got to give it up
That stuff

Tell my mama and tell my pa
That their fine young son didn't get far
He made it to the end of a bottle
Sitting in a sleazy bar

He tried hard but his spirit broke
He tried until he nearly choked
In the end he lost his
Bottle drinking alcohol

I've got to give it up I've got to give it up
That stuff
I've got to give it up I've got to give it up
That stuff

Tell my brother I tried to write and
Put pen to paper but I was frightened
I couldn't seem to get the words out right
Right quite right

Tell my sister I'm sinking slow
Now and again I powder my nose
In the end I lost my bottle
It smashed in a casbah

I've got to give it up I've got to give it up
That stuff
I've got to give it up I've got to give it up
That stuff

I've got to give it up I've got to give it up
That stuff
I've got to give it up I've got to give it up
That stuff

I've been messing with the heavy stuff
For a time I couldn't get enough
But I'm waking up and it's wearing off
Junk don't take you far

Tell my Mama I'm coming home
In my youth I'm getting older
And I think it's lost control
Mama I'm coming home

I've got to give it up I've got to give it up
That stuff
I've got to give it up I've got to give it up
That stuff  

Dorothy Parker

Dorothy Parker

Resumé

By Dorothy Parker

Razors pain you;

Rivers are damp;

Acids stain you;

And drugs cause cramp.

Guns aren’t lawful;

Nooses give;

Gas smells awful;

You might as well live.

A Letter for President Obama

I had to include Michelle, because she's hot.

Mr. Obama, I believe this country, and world, are backwards in certain ways.  In the way it bothers me most, animals, like cows, pigs, chickens, and turkeys, are treated horribly, because people like to eat their flesh.  They don't NEED to eat their flesh; they just WANT to.  The amount of violence and torture people inflict upon animals is depressing and disgusting to me.  I believe that crime should be all about violence and stealing.  Violence includes sex crimes.  Please spearhead a movement that seeks to make any unprovoked violence against any animal a crime.  I firmly believe that all animals should receive the same protection from violence that people do.  They live under our thumb.  Why not be proud of ourselves and treat them well?  Of course we'd need to make more room in jails and prisons; legalize all drugs.   People are free to kill themselves with alcohol, tobacco, prescription drugs, and food.  The war on drugs has been a failure for quite some time.  The drug laws tend to be racist.  Free all non-violent drug offenders to make room for those who have committed violent acts against animals.  Tax the crap out of all those drugs and have plenty of money for helping those who need it.
Another way in this country (and world) is backwards is that most people bring other people (their kids) into this brutal, miserable death world.  And they get tax breaks for doing so: ridiculous!  Stop giving tax breaks to people who irresponsibly bring other people into this violent, vulgar world, and instead give them to people who refuse to bring others into the world.  You could really make a difference.  The human population has exploded in recent years.  There are just too many people.  Plenty of people can't get jobs, because they're competing with too many humans for them.
Another way in which the country/world is backwards is religion.  God was created out of fear and ignorance.  Many things couldn't be explained, because science hadn't done so yet.  We used to be afraid, so we believed in a god who would watch our backs.  It's clear that no one is watching our backs.  Horrible things happen to many every single day.  And science can now explain so much of what was once thought to be unexplainable.  The time for religion has come and gone.  I have no problem with people worshiping, but let's start taxing churches.  They do not deserve tax-exempt status.  I resent the fact that my mother used to drag me to church every week as a boy.  As far as I'm concerned, they filled my head with lies.  That's what adults do to kids; they lie to them.  They tell them that god exists, and so does the Easter bunny, Santa Claus, and the tooth fairy.   

TV Is a Drug

Don't watch TV; watch this young groundhog!

It really is, and I am a recovering addict.  As a kid, I watched tons of it.  As an adult, I've watched tons of it. When you add cable, it becomes a hard drug.  A TV with digital cable is cocaine.  A TV with digital cable plus a movie channel is crack.  A TV with digital cable plus two movie channels is meth, and so on.  You get the point.  TV, the way I have it now, is like alcohol or marijuana.  I have no cable, so I get only three channels, and one of them is a 24-hour-a-day weather channel.  However, I have a DVD player.  I watch very little television programming, but I might watch anywhere from part of a movie to two movies in any given day.  I certainly don't miss having to pay the monthly charge for cable, which went up every single year. 
TV, like drugs, can be a real time-waster.  I'm pretty sure that Time Warner Cable isn't planning to offer free cable to me, but even if they did, I think I would decline it.  The older I get, the faster time seems to move.  I feel like watching TV is like watching your life pass by.  I want to do more with my life than watch TV.  And it really does get me high.  I turn it on, watch it, and get high on it.  It brings on a certain feeling of relaxation. 
Someone recently said to me that TV gets a bad rap.  I think that's true to a degree.  I think most of the programming is crap, but I have seen some interesting and informative stuff.  Probably the most informative show I ever saw was about the Three Gorges Dam in China.  I learned that many people were displaced by it.  A city was shown, from above, that was eventually going to be entirely underwater because of the dam.  It blew my mind, because it was a real-sized city with tall buildings and everything.  It was hard to imagine.  Of course the buildings would have to be demolished.  You can't have a ship, traveling down the river, crashing into an underwater building.  In fact, some people were paid to demolish buildings in their own town that they were being forced to evacuate: adding insult to injury.  So, as you can see, that was a very informative program.  On the other end is a show like Celebrity Apprentice.  What a piece of crap.  I have to admit, the commercials drew me in.  I gave it a try.  It didn't take long to realize that Trump's main objective was to create drama by getting the participants to criticize each other: garbage.
You're free to watch as much TV as you want to.  Just remember, ultimately, what you're doing is watching a box.