Blog Archive

“Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before.” —Kurt Vonnegut When I was in college one of my first roommates was a football player from Texas. Upon being placed on academic probation, he printed off a bunch of motivational posters and taped them to […]

“How small we are when our minds develop minds of their own.” —Jennifer Senior Some of my earliest memories are daydreams of what it would be like to be the last person on the planet. At the time I only really considered the romantic and short-sided aspects of such a wild fantasy: I could do […]

“Some might say that even if you don’t need God, you do need faith.” —Rogers & McMillin When I was a kid my dad would often take speaking engagements, filling in at various churches throughout the city we lived in. The thing I most took away from those all-but-forgotten Sundays is how they helped me […]

“I can resist everything except temptation.” —Oscar Wilde There are a lot of firsts in life that I do not really remember. I do not recall exactly when I had my first kiss or my first goal playing youth hockey, and to be honest I am not sure who my first grade teacher was either. […]

“Mental health should be more than the absence of mental illness.” —Martin Seligman I woke up a few hours after I had fallen asleep, with a nauseating urge driving me toward the bathroom. I did not have feeling in my legs though, so I ended up crawling to the toilet where heaving voided some of […]

“When a well-packaged web of lies has been sold gradually to the masses over generations, the truth will seem utterly preposterous.” —Dresden James “Our 1992 Survey showed that only 5% of newcomers to A.A. are still attending meetings after 12 months. This is a truly terrible statistic.” These words are widely attributed to Ron Whitington, […]

“An alcoholic is someone you don’t like who drinks as much as you do.” —Dylan Thomas I loathe the term “alcoholic.” I do not like being called an alcoholic, announcing myself as an alcoholic leaves me feeling dirty, and I cringe when people get cute in throwing the term around as though it is both […]

“Do not confuse motion and progress. A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress.” —Alfred A. Montapert Around the time I landed my office job, a friend introduced me to Alcoholics Anonymous. I recognized I was having trouble controlling my drinking, and after we talked he emailed me a link to the […]

“Until we lose ourselves there can be no hope in finding ourselves.” —Henry Miller Feeling a rush of pressure just below my abdomen, I pulled my truck onto a side street to stop and relieve myself. It was only after the vehicle’s springs shook off a sudden violent impact that I noticed the small median […]