driverfastasleep

"New Years E"

And I thought to myself, "I AM THE HAPPIEST MAN IN THE WORLD." And as far as I'm concerned, on that night, I was... I WAS the HAPPIEST MAN IN THE WORLD.

I was never one to ridicule others for doing drugs, BUT I was strongly opposed to doing and drugs myself. Drugs WERE not for me. Not THEN...

I had friends that did drugs. And I didn't love them any less... They ARE AMAZING. They would pass me the bowl, and I would pass it on to the next person, without taking a hit. They would ask me if I wanted any, and I would say "No." And they didn't give me a hard time about it, and I didn't give them a hard time about it.

I think my friends respected me for taking a stand about my decision not to do drugs.

Don't get me wrong, drugs weren't a taboo subject either. I loved to talk about drugs. And listen to my friends stories. You could say I had a healthy interest in drugs.

My best friend Chris would call me, and I would ask him how his weekend went, and he would tell me great stories about his trips on Mushrooms, Mescaline, Cocaine, Weed, etc. And I would listen intently... Those were some great stories. And from these stories, I would gather information, and decided what drugs I would like to try if I EVER DECIDED to take drugs.

I decided that I first wanted to try Weed, and Shrooms, and then later I decided I wanted to try Ecstasy.

I would read books like On The Road by Jack Kerouac, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading the parts about drugs.

Some of my favorite movies are SLC Punk, Trainspotting, and Requiem for a Dream. I loved those movies from the first time I saw them... I mean, I must've seen Trainspotting over 10 times. That movie single-handedly made me want to do Heroine, and NOT DO HEROINE. Requiem for a Dream sealed the deal, I DON'T WANT TO DO HEROINE. But, I still love those movies.

I would start listening to the music that my friends who used drugs listened to... Slowdive, Colleen, Animal Collective... then later Benoit Pioulard, Yndi Halda, Grouper... I loved the music. (By the way, I'm listening to Grouper right now. So sweet!)

Everything changed last January when I moved to Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. I was living with my sister and her husband at the time. It was a big move for me - from Florida to Massachusetts. They are polar opposites. And I wanted to live differently. I wanted to try new things. I wanted to experience MORE.

The first few times I smoked, NOTHING happened. My sister and John would smoke, and they would get high and giggle, and eat all the snacks in the pantry, and watch YouTube videos. And I still wondered what all the fuss was about.

It was on the fourth try that it hit me. We smoked weed out of a pear. My brother-in-law knows how to make bongs and bowls out of anything... Well, pears are my absolute FAVORITE fruit. So, we stopped smoking and I walked to the kitchen to clean out the pear so that I could eat the parts that weren't burnt. As I was cutting off the burnt pieces with a streak knife, I sliced my finger with the knife... a nice deep cut into the middle of my thumb... and as I was inspecting the now bleeding wound, I erupted into laughter... at first a few deep chuckles, and then it started - I was in an uproar. DEEP BELLY LAUGHTER. It was the hardest I had laughed in a long time, and the best part was, I couldn't stop laughing. So, I sat don't on the couch with the pear in hand, and I rolled around on the couch and laughed. Meanwhile, my brother-in-law broke out the camera and started snapping photos of me laughing out of control. I was laughing so hard I even drooled a little bit, and started slapping my knees - like an old man. WHAT WAS GOING ON? I was HIGH.



(To Be Continued)