I'm feeling better about writing, but I wanted to put out certain things that I have done before.
The point is reviewing what I did before The posts between now and Easter will be pertaining to 3 different genres.
I. Expository Writing - this type of writing relates to a objective, sharp observational narrative. Sometimes, I love pretending I'm Spock and just writing in the most logical, sometimes professorial fashion. I've done this for a dozen Wikipedia articles. The other aspect that I love about those type of articles are there short, concise style (not unlike some of the writing where I work).
II. Reminiscing. I've given a lot of thought about the terrible, old firm I used to work at. Coincidentally, my first 3 months writing the blog covered some of those dreadful times on Jackson, near Halsted Street.
III. Tales of LeftWing. Some people live wild lives. I know of certain people like that when I was a young man of the 80s & 90s.
Let's go with what's interesting first. I can't promise sex but good ole' Left Wing knew a thing about drinking, drugging and rock and roll. In those days, Left Wing was a bit socially backward, so he wasn't so great with the ladies.
Here's one article, and there will be more that are better about him.
There was a oil gas shock way back in the late 70s. My friend that used to get the football players (like me) in the fall and basketball players our beer in the winter was good ole Left Wing. In the year of 1979, there was a terrible shock of high prices. Why they were paying way over $1.00/per gallon ! Isn’t that terrible? (yeah don’t laugh too hard at the 70s)
LeftWing was a man who had great glory as a beer-barrelled defensive lineman. He was 5’7” and 200 lbs. He was Mr. All-Conference Southwestern Wisconsin Ridge & Valley defensive tackle of 1976 (the nation’s bicentennial). Have you ever heard of athletes getting women easy? The funny thing was; Left Wing didn’t ! It’s hell blocking a guy that’s built like a tough hard-charging beer barrel. But guys that look like beer barrels don’t get laid a lot.
So he told a story, “You know Vince, I am getting tired of spending a ton of money on gas. I’ve gotten toughened up like the good ole 1976s when I was an Ithaca Bulldog DT All Conference”
“Yeah Lefty, can you get to the point???” I asked.
“Well, you see I’m tired of farming and I can get health insurance working at the hospital”
“No shit?” I asked encouragingly, “How’s that working out for you?”
As we drank from the keg after a hard fought win over Wauzeka 24-0, he smiled with the admiration you show a victorious Ithaca Bulldog and warmed up to the subject.
“I walk to work, the hospital is 3 miles away; it takes 45 min. Tough shit if the hospital is in a rough neighborhood, riven w/ gangs and low-life drug dealers. If I don’t bother them, the odds are low of them bothering me. Then I found this Schwepper’s tavern near the other end of town and that’s 6 miles away so it takes about an 1 1/2 hours to get there. When I walked home to my apartment something kind of special happened. To get from Schweppers’ place to my place, I go through a forest preserve (so named because it has bike paths and is patrolled by the county police). It was such a beautiful night out, and the temperature was perfect. The coolness killed off all those damn insects, yet it was warm enough so that you didn't have to worry about your hands or feet getting cold. All I had to do was follow the yellow line of the bike path, and I had no problem whatsoever in finding my way home. I saw white-tailed deer that would get close enough to try and figure out who I was, then run off as I walked next to them on the trail. It was fun trying to guess what the strange noises were.”
“That sounds pretty cool, Lefty”, I encouragingly observed.
”You know, Vince, I couldn't help but think how much more fun it would be to have a girlfriend, two sleeping bags and just being "one with nature". It was a great night to be outdoors! There was a slight bit of apprehension because I was actually breaking the rules. The County Rules are that no one is supposed to be in the forest after sundown. (It was 8 pm) I couldn't imagine them throwing me in jail for walking home, minding my own business. Just as I was less than a 1/4 mile away from leaving the Forest Preserve, there was this white light shining on my back. "Oh shit," I thought, "The County Mounties!".
“What the hell happened, Lefty?” I exclaimed excitedly.
“Well, Vince, here's how the conversation went after I turned around and saw this biker with a light beam coming from his helmet.
--------
"Uh-oh!", he exclaimed
"I'm just about ready to leave at the next exit," I explained.
"That's cool; I'm just biking", he said.
"Oh, I thought you were a County Mounty! "
"No, we just scared each other"
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I remember telling Left Wing, "That's not as good a story as you taking acid. Tell us what happened, Lefty".
Ok, well, Vince, a year or so after I graduated from IHS, I had the good luck to have a fun roommate named Greg who was from the Milwaukee area. We were roommates in LaCrosse, WI going to UW-LaCrosse. Greg was fun because he played guitar, had similar musical interests than I and knew where to get good pot. During the summer, I found a job and was able to stay in town. Greg moved out after the school year, but, as friends, we still saw a lot of each other.
Greg and his laconic friend went to a Grateful Dead concert. He asked me if I wanted any acid. I had to say yes. Ever since 8th grade I wondered what acid would do to a person. I was proud of the fact that Ithaca did an excellent job of educating me on the different types of drugs. Sometimes, you’ll hear some old fart say, "One kind of drug is just as bad as the other." My education showed that was total and complete nonsense. The other reason I thought that my education was excellent was because they made a very important distinction. Certain drugs like alcohol and opoid class drugs (heroin, opium, then Vicodin) are addictive. Other drugs like marijuana and acid were not addictive, but a person could develop a "psychologic dependence" . That’s an important distinction, because these days, "addiction" is one of the most overused words you hear.
"I second that, Left Wing", I smiled.
I can’t help but recall in 8th grade reading about LSD with some amazement and curiosity. It stunned me that someone could actually get a flashback. I wondered what it would be like to see something that wasn’t really there. Every so often, someone would talk about taking acid. I would "pepper" them with questions about it, because of my curiosity.
Greg came back from the Twin Cities concert with acid. I called him up and told him to come and bring it over. He questioned me as to whether I should take it, because it was 10 pm. The acid would keep me going for 6 hours. I said that’s ok. I figured since I weighed more than Greg, it would probably not last as long for me. Once he came over, he said that this guy was walking around the Grateful Dead concert saying, "Trips! Trips! Anyone want any trips?". The way Greg described it, I always get this image of a guy comparable to the vendor at the the baseball games that shouts, "Get your peeeeeea-nuts!" Anyway, that’s who they bought the LSD from.
Greg gave me very detailed directions on how to consume LSD (right down to "put it in your mouth"). I guess I was a little slow in those days. Instead of licking the small piece of paper it was on as he recommended, I simply ate the paper so that I would get every bit of acid I paid for. Right after he came over, we also smoked some hash. We listened to Beatles (circa Magical Mystery Tour) and I always thought listening to any John Lennon vocal was the best thing to listen to when one is high. He sounds so compelling! Then we walked over to Greg’s apartment and we saw a tape of either the Grateful Dead concert that Greg and his laconic friend went to or another Dead concert. I remember sitting there in my happy high looking and saying, "That Jerry Garcia looks like a puppy singing!" Just imagine a puppy, your pet or any dog and imagine them up at the microphone singing. Then you know why I had such a shit-eating grin on my face.
So did that mental image come from the hash or the LSD?" I asked.
"Who knows?
Anyway, by midnight the hash had most definitely worn off, and I was feeling effects of the acid. I recall that things that I imagined seeing/hallucinating weren’t actual visions but things that looked like a negative just taken out of a camera. Or if you ever saw the CD Let It Be...Naked, you know? that cover? I saw ribs and images of monkeys as negatives, not really images. I remember laying in bed and rhyming words with nonsense words (EX skeleton, skeletar, skela, etc. ).
Greg was right, and I was wrong. The acid lasted until 5:30 am inspite my attempts to try sleeping it off and futilely "honeymooning with my hand". My impression is that it was slightly similar to pot, but with the added kick of keeping you going for an extended period of time. I didn’t like the fact that it would not allow me to sleep which made me resolve, as I did later with coke, that I wouldn’t take it again.
I also confessed to the Monsignor in LaCrosse that I took a drug. & he said that it’s a big problem out there and that I should not want to be part of the crowd that is afflicted with that problem. That was the only time I ever confessed to taking a drug. Honestly, I don’t think of smoking marijuana to be a sin.
Anyway, acid was a much more interesting experience than coke, but did not give me the fun times that I’ve had with pot.
----------------------
I chimed with, "That was pretty good, next time you'll have to tell us about the ‘shroom that got stuck in your throat".
"It won't be as fun as the blow by blow summary of smoking dope." Left Wing said with his glowingly drunk, shit-eating grin from drinking 108 oz. of beer.
----------
I remember telling Left Wing, "That's not as good a story as you taking acid. Tell us what happened, Lefty".
Ok, well, Vince, a year or so after I graduated from IHS, I had the good luck to have a fun roommate named Greg who was from the Milwaukee area. We were roommates in LaCrosse, WI going to UW-LaCrosse. Greg was fun because he played guitar, had similar musical interests than I and knew where to get good pot. During the summer, I found a job and was able to stay in town. Greg moved out after the school year, but, as friends, we still saw a lot of each other.
Greg and his laconic friend went to a Grateful Dead concert. He asked me if I wanted any acid. I had to say yes. Ever since 8th grade I wondered what acid would do to a person. I was proud of the fact that Ithaca did an excellent job of educating me on the different types of drugs. Sometimes, you’ll hear some old fart say, "One kind of drug is just as bad as the other." My education showed that was total and complete nonsense. The other reason I thought that my education was excellent was because they made a very important distinction. Certain drugs like alcohol and opoid class drugs (heroin, opium, then Vicodin) are addictive. Other drugs like marijuana and acid were not addictive, but a person could develop a "psychologic dependence" . That’s an important distinction, because these days, "addiction" is one of the most overused words you hear.
"I second that, Left Wing", I smiled.
I can’t help but recall in 8th grade reading about LSD with some amazement and curiosity. It stunned me that someone could actually get a flashback. I wondered what it would be like to see something that wasn’t really there. Every so often, someone would talk about taking acid. I would "pepper" them with questions about it, because of my curiosity.
Greg came back from the Twin Cities concert with acid. I called him up and told him to come and bring it over. He questioned me as to whether I should take it, because it was 10 pm. The acid would keep me going for 6 hours. I said that’s ok. I figured since I weighed more than Greg, it would probably not last as long for me. Once he came over, he said that this guy was walking around the Grateful Dead concert saying, "Trips! Trips! Anyone want any trips?". The way Greg described it, I always get this image of a guy comparable to the vendor at the the baseball games that shouts, "Get your peeeeeea-nuts!" Anyway, that’s who they bought the LSD from.
Greg gave me very detailed directions on how to consume LSD (right down to "put it in your mouth"). I guess I was a little slow in those days. Instead of licking the small piece of paper it was on as he recommended, I simply ate the paper so that I would get every bit of acid I paid for. Right after he came over, we also smoked some hash. We listened to Beatles (circa Magical Mystery Tour) and I always thought listening to any John Lennon vocal was the best thing to listen to when one is high. He sounds so compelling! Then we walked over to Greg’s apartment and we saw a tape of either the Grateful Dead concert that Greg and his laconic friend went to or another Dead concert. I remember sitting there in my happy high looking and saying, "That Jerry Garcia looks like a puppy singing!" Just imagine a puppy, your pet or any dog and imagine them up at the microphone singing. Then you know why I had such a shit-eating grin on my face.
So did that mental image come from the hash or the LSD?" I asked.
Anyway, by midnight the hash had most definitely worn off, and I was feeling effects of the acid. I recall that things that I imagined seeing/hallucinating weren’t actual visions but things that looked like a negative just taken out of a camera. Or if you ever saw the CD Let It Be...Naked, you know? that cover? I saw ribs and images of monkeys as negatives, not really images. I remember laying in bed and rhyming words with nonsense words (EX skeleton, skeletar, skela, etc. ).
Greg was right, and I was wrong. The acid lasted until 5:30 am inspite my attempts to try sleeping it off and futilely "honeymooning with my hand". My impression is that it was slightly similar to pot, but with the added kick of keeping you going for an extended period of time. I didn’t like the fact that it would not allow me to sleep which made me resolve, as I did later with coke, that I wouldn’t take it again.
I also confessed to the Monsignor in LaCrosse that I took a drug. & he said that it’s a big problem out there and that I should not want to be part of the crowd that is afflicted with that problem. That was the only time I ever confessed to taking a drug. Honestly, I don’t think of smoking marijuana to be a sin.
Anyway, acid was a much more interesting experience than coke, but did not give me the fun times that I’ve had with pot.
----------------------
I chimed with, "That was pretty good, next time you'll have to tell us about the ‘shroom that got stuck in your throat".
"It won't be as fun as the blow by blow summary of smoking dope." Left Wing said with his glowingly drunk, shit-eating grin from drinking 108 oz. of beer.
1 comment:
I've never had any friends who tried any of that so it's very interesting for me, too, to read your friend's experiences.
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