Larry Gude
Strung Out
...I've been a regular beer drinking my entire adult life. It would be unusual for me to go a week without at least a few beers. I certainly drank more than average but, I can't say it was a problem with my life. I've always gotten up and trudged off to work on the bad days with the occasional bad weekend or Holiday where I was miserable all next day. It didn't miss important meetings or dead lines or whatever because of it. I've just always liked drinking beer. In any event, for well over 30 years, I've been a beer drinker.
I've been tapering off the last 6-7 months or so and, since just before Christmas, I've had 6 beers, total over the last, basically, month. And a couple of them were one beer with lunch. It has really been interesting to me how effortless it has been. There's not been a moment of 'I gotta have a beer!'. I have felt better and lost weight without trying and both those seem perfectly obvious but, it has been, truly, effortless and not any sort of obvious detoxification. My life and behavior patterns haven't changed a bit. I don't avoid bars, I don't avoid my beer buddies, was out New Years and had two of those 6, hung out with some friend who are Huge drinkers and that was another 2 of them. I've just stopped drinking and I am pretty sure New Years was the last alcohol I've had.
Until last night.
We went out and jammed an open mic and we sat and sat and sat for two freaking hours before our turn came up and I started getting nervous and thinking about a couple of hard parts a little too much, parts I sometimes struggle with. Now, I sat their and noodled the entire time because I have some arthritis and my fret hands hurts and I HAVE to warm up and keep it warm, so, I was loose enough but, just psyching myself out. SO, I figured I'd have a beer and see if that chilled me out a bit. Back when I was drinking a month or two ago I would not have done this, preferring to be stone cold sober before playing but because I am so aware of not being a drinker anymore, it sounded like a good idea.
The point isn't that it hurt or helped. I only had maybe a 1/3 of a pint glass before we went on, just sipping at it. So, we played, I ####ed up a bunch but, we got the best applause we've had so far which is more a function, I think, of the bar crowd being sick of one man acoustic acts for two straight hours, who played fine but, that #### gets OLD, than any credit to me. Bass player totally blew a part or two and the drummer was not sharp but, hey they liked us and the drummer actually came back in after leaving to tell me how much props we got from the standing out in the frozen smoking section folks.
In any event, short story long, I stayed and was rewarded with the guys who came on after us who did a FABULOUS Voodoo chile and I had a second beer.
I felt fine on the way home but, did feel it. Got home around midnight, ate, watched TV for a few minutes and off to bed. Lots of weird dreams last night, slept merely OK and, now we come to the point...
Two pints of Flying Dog Snake Eyes IPA and I feel like crud this AM, a mini hangover. Two freaking beers! I enjoyed them, a lot. Great beer but, damn. Bleh this am.
So, in any event, I am sure I will drink again at get togethers or hanging with pals but, I'm pretty much not a drinker anymore and my body is amazingly clean and pure...at least when it comes to alcohol.
I've been tapering off the last 6-7 months or so and, since just before Christmas, I've had 6 beers, total over the last, basically, month. And a couple of them were one beer with lunch. It has really been interesting to me how effortless it has been. There's not been a moment of 'I gotta have a beer!'. I have felt better and lost weight without trying and both those seem perfectly obvious but, it has been, truly, effortless and not any sort of obvious detoxification. My life and behavior patterns haven't changed a bit. I don't avoid bars, I don't avoid my beer buddies, was out New Years and had two of those 6, hung out with some friend who are Huge drinkers and that was another 2 of them. I've just stopped drinking and I am pretty sure New Years was the last alcohol I've had.
Until last night.
We went out and jammed an open mic and we sat and sat and sat for two freaking hours before our turn came up and I started getting nervous and thinking about a couple of hard parts a little too much, parts I sometimes struggle with. Now, I sat their and noodled the entire time because I have some arthritis and my fret hands hurts and I HAVE to warm up and keep it warm, so, I was loose enough but, just psyching myself out. SO, I figured I'd have a beer and see if that chilled me out a bit. Back when I was drinking a month or two ago I would not have done this, preferring to be stone cold sober before playing but because I am so aware of not being a drinker anymore, it sounded like a good idea.
The point isn't that it hurt or helped. I only had maybe a 1/3 of a pint glass before we went on, just sipping at it. So, we played, I ####ed up a bunch but, we got the best applause we've had so far which is more a function, I think, of the bar crowd being sick of one man acoustic acts for two straight hours, who played fine but, that #### gets OLD, than any credit to me. Bass player totally blew a part or two and the drummer was not sharp but, hey they liked us and the drummer actually came back in after leaving to tell me how much props we got from the standing out in the frozen smoking section folks.
In any event, short story long, I stayed and was rewarded with the guys who came on after us who did a FABULOUS Voodoo chile and I had a second beer.
I felt fine on the way home but, did feel it. Got home around midnight, ate, watched TV for a few minutes and off to bed. Lots of weird dreams last night, slept merely OK and, now we come to the point...
Two pints of Flying Dog Snake Eyes IPA and I feel like crud this AM, a mini hangover. Two freaking beers! I enjoyed them, a lot. Great beer but, damn. Bleh this am.
So, in any event, I am sure I will drink again at get togethers or hanging with pals but, I'm pretty much not a drinker anymore and my body is amazingly clean and pure...at least when it comes to alcohol.
.
