Good News / Bad News

On August 1 I made a commitment to cut my television watching to one hour per day and to write at least 100 words every day for my blog for the entire month. It was a pretty lofty goal for someone that had never written more than five days in a row in my life and has at some points in my life had three Tivos recording shows at the same time. Here it is August 31 and it’s time to see what happened.

Mr. Know It All

I started writing a post about tennis today, but because I’m such a tennis nerd it’s completely taken on a life of its own and there is no way I could finish it before midnight tonight. Lucky for me, Kelly Clarkson premiered her new single this afternoon so I don’t even have to try to finish the tennis post until Friday (Tomorrow’s post is just a debrief on my month long writing commitment).

T.G.C.H.H.O.

On my way home this afternoon I ran into a friend. I’d already heard from someone else that he wasn’t currently sober, but I always like to give people the chance to disclose their lives themselves. I didn’t have to wait long. I barely had the “how are you” out of my mouth when he told me what was going on.

2011 Men's US Open Preview -- Young Gun Edition

Verdasco's a must have

The mens. Mens, mens, mens. My favorite thing about writing the men’s preview is looking for and posting the pictures. I’m a bit tired of the same ole same ole though. To mix things up a little, I’ll be posting pics of the next generation of potentially great players (but only the ones that are 18 or older – I’m not interested in being THAT creepy). If I remember I’ll caption them to let you know who they are. And there will probably be some of the regulars mixed in as well. Enjoy!

Milestones in Crackheadedness -- Part Two

Well, I made it. Four years sober today. For those of you that haven’t dealt with addiction personally, it hard to explain what the milestones feel like. They are at the same time no big deal and an incredible miracle. If you had told me four years and one day ago that this day would come, I’d have laughed at you. Hell, if you had told me I’d make it six months at that point I’d have thought you were insane. But being here now, it feels perfectly normal. I won’t tell you that I wouldn’t like to have enough money that 20-dollar bills would start flying out of my pant legs again, but I can’t imagine what it would take for me to really ever want that life again.


I wrote the first Milestones post a couple weeks ago and it got a bit longer than I expected. So as promised, here is part two.

2011 US Open Women's Preview

Here’s the crux of the women’s preview for this year’s US Open: Unless she falls down and breaks a hip, Serena Williams should easily win the tournament. Since that’s not at least a hundred words, I’ll handicap the rest of the field – although most of them are handicapped enough already.

The Spirit of the Yankees Saves New York

I really need to get to writing the US Open preview posts, but here’s a little bonus for Friday afternoon. Here’s a story a NY Yankee fan will someday tell his grandchildren.


Come on over here kids. I want to tell you about how the Yankees saved New York – AGAIN – in the summer of 2011. It was a terrible, dark and stormy night. New York was under attack from the forces of evil.

Please Support My Walk in the AIDS Walk San Diego 2011

The last time I walked in an AIDS Walk was 2001. How did I let ten years go by without lifting a foot to participate in an event that I had done annually for the ten previous years? It’s hardly a mystery where the first six of those years went – up in smoke as it were. Even though I didn’t start using crystal meth until 2004, there were other drugs on the way to that one. And with every passing year, the idea of spending an entire Sunday morning without doing any became less and less palatable. 

Six Unforgettable US Open Matches (Women)

I’m still feeling a bit tennis-y tonight. And this is a blog post I’ve probably wanted to write every year since I started watching tennis. I love the US Open. Don’t get me wrong. Wimbledon is something special for sure, but I think it’s more special for the players than the fans. The US Open is where you get some knock-down drag-out battles where both players just leave everything out on the court trying to win. And while it hasn’t been as true the last five years, the Open is the place where you get to see some truly memorable women’s tennis matches. Here are six I think are unforgettable. I’m sure if you’re a fan you want one added that I don’t have on here, but that’s the other thing that makes the US Open so great. Trying to choose just five or six great matches is virtually impossible.

Not-So Great Dane

The US Open starts Monday, which means that at least half the posts between now and then will be about tennis. That’s probably not so good for some of you. But I’m sure a few people will be happy about it. Normally I just do the preview of the draws, but since I’m writing every day this month I can spend a little more time on some things.

God Willing?

As my 4th sober birthday is approaching, I have a confession to make – one that I can only make when I’m not sitting in a 12-step meeting (because it would be completely scandalous). I don’t always take things one day at a time. Appalling I know, but what can you do? I’m an addict you know, a screw up. That’s what we do.

The Book of Merman

I bolted awake at 3 am this morning with another epiphany. Apparently the universe has not yet gotten word that I’m sober and I now sleep at that time. Before, the biggest problem with my middle of the night revelations was that I had no idea what they were when I woke up in the morning. For awhile I kept a notepad by my bed so I could write these pearls of wisdom down, but after about the fifth time I woke up to a note that said, “Blue hens need bklsjglsehi” I decided maybe I was wasting my time.

Ladies Gone Mild

The night I’d been anticipating all summer finally came on Thursday. My first trip to the Greek Theatre to see the Go-Go’s on Belinda Carlisle’s birthday. It was truly the most anticipated day in my year. I’ve seen them at least twice before and I’ve seen Belinda Carlisle solo three times, so it wasn’t so much that the concert was the main event, it was more the total experience. The 30th anniversary of Beauty and the Beat, one of my favorite albums of all time, in Los Angeles on Belinda’s birthday. It was a perfect Go-Go’s storm.

Move Along -- Nothing to See Here Tonight (Really Nothing)

So, I have a whole new respect for people that really do write every day. Here we are on day 19 of 30 and I feel like I’m being dragged behind a car right now. I’m exhausted. There was the trip to Atlanta, the ridiculously long trip back, then the drive up to LA for the Go-Go’s concert and back the next morning to go to work.

Remedial Therapy

I had physical therapy today for a problem I’m having with my shoulder. Interestingly, I’ve had three sports injuries in the past four years and three different therapists have diagnosed each discrete problem the exact same way. Apparently I have a habit of building up the large muscle groups in my body while managing to completely ignore the little supporting muscles. I had a problem with my neck that was resolved by doing exercises with 5-pound dumbbells for about two months. Same thing with my back issue. Those situations occurred in NYC. Now I’m in San Diego and it’s a different problem – shoulder pain – with the same solution. I believe the expression that’s needed here is, “I never learn.”

Rush Hour

Short post today because all I can think about right now is how tired I am after the air travel experience from Camden (Hell doesn’t even begin to describe how annoying it was). Rather than bore you with the details of that, I’m just going to jot down a few observations about driving to and getting around LA (in car and on foot).

Mad About Her

Talk about living in someone’s shadow. Madonna not only had a monster career right on top of Belinda Carlisle’s, but she was born one day before Belinda in 1958.


I’m sure no one is surprised that today’s post is dedicated to Belinda and a handful of you were just sitting there waiting for it. Well, predictability be damned. Here it is. I’ve decided to focus solely on her videos, so the entire last half of her career is missing from this post.

Seven Timeless Songs From the Ageless Diva

Tomorrow (if I get this posted in the next seven minutes) is Madonna’s 53rd birthday. To celebrate, here are seven classic (or semi-classic) songs that FOR ME have passed the test of time. The only restriction I put on my list was that the song had to be at least ten years old. Other than that, I just went by what I still like. They are listed (I’m pretty sure) in chronological order.

Saturday in the Park

Sometimes I don’t remember what stories I’ve told here on my blog and which ones I’ve only told in meetings. I’d say stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but it will already be posted by the time you know you’ve heard it before.

Insomno-maniac

I’m feeling incredibly sleep deprived this week. Just about every morning this week I’ve been up at 4 am – from one side of the day or the other. I think I’ve averaged about four hours of sleep a night. Sometimes this happens because of a mini-manic episode. I’ll have a week or two where I just have a ton of energy and don’t need much sleep. This is not what’s going on this week.

Happy Birthday Dad

First August milestone reached. It’s always a relief when I get to my father’s birthday without having to do too much damage control. As I stated in an earlier post, August is Adventures in Crazytown for me every year. I still have to get to my sober birthday, but really this is the big one. I really miss my dad. In fact, I can’t type that sentence without getting tears in my eyes. It happens every time.

They Warned Us This Would Happen If We Let the Gays Get Married

I know I posted the link on Facebook today, but I feel like I need to memorialize my opinion on this matter on my blog as well. In case you missed it, here's toGay's big story: Inside the Bert and Ernie Marriage Campaign. Apparently Change.org has decided they have too much credibility and they want erode some of it by endorsing a ludicrous petition that they would scream bloody murder over if it were the other side positing something this absurd.

Re-Witched

Facebook was all atwitter today with the news that CBS ordered a new Bewitched pilot from Sony Entertainment – the people that brought us the Bewitched movie I was so excited about and never ended up seeing because I heard it was just a disgrace.

The original Bewitched series is among my five favorite televisions shows of all time (maybe another blog post this month), so it's hard for me to NOT be excited at the idea of a “reboot”, as the kids are calling it these days. At the same time, it's in the hands of the same people that ruined the movie version (allegedly – like I said, I haven't seen it) AND the real brilliance of Bewitched was the cast and their chemistry. How do you recreate that? I don't know, but that's what I'm going to try to do right now.

Do You Remember When ...

Just a real quickie tonight. I thought I was making my life easy last night by doing the song list, but I forgot about my relationship with the internet, youtube specifically. I spent at least ten minutes searching for every song to make sure I had the best available video clip. Plus I had to make sure I had the ten I wanted so then I had to look for more to see if I missed any. So, tonight something that will get me to bed a decent hour. 

10 Great Songs You've Probably Never Heard

You may not know this about me, but I'm a big American Idol fan. Well, I was before Paula and Simon left. Now I'm just nostalgic for the good old days when I would scour the internet looking for whatever bits of music from Idol alumni I could find. I have to admit that I love Pia Toscano's new song, This Time. But that's sort of why I'm not such a big Idol fan these days. Not only did one of the best singers they've ever had on the show not even get to the top five, but the show all but admitted that winning the show no longer matters by letting Pia release a single before either the winner or the runner-up. Idol and sham are both four-letter words. Coincidence? Anyway, tonight's blog is dedicated to ten songs I love that you've probably never heard. All by Idol alum. I hope you like them as much as I do. 

Change Is Hard ... Because it's Different

I am completely blank tonight. I knew I would have a few of these days in the course of writing every day for a month, so it's not really a shock. I'm not sure I've ever written seven consecutive days in my life. It feels almost unnatural. It's like when someone will say to me, “I can't believe I've been sober x number of years and there are still days I think about using.” Bitch, you're a drug addict. It's a miracle there are days when you DON'T want to use.

Milestones in Crackheadedness -- Part One

I didn't realize when I decided to write every day in August that doing so would take me right smack into my 100th post. It probably doesn't seem all that significant since it's taken me almost two years to get here but it's a fairly big deal to me. I haven't been exactly prolific, but at the same time I haven't bloated my post numbers with a bunch of posts that were just pictures or video clips. In all but a few (fewer than a half dozen I'm pretty sure) I wrote at least 500 words. So, I feel compelled to mark this occasion. And of course to thank you all for reading. I get a lot of joy out of knowing that I've made a few of you laugh (and cry) over the past 99 posts.

Open Letter to Kelly Clarkson

Originally posted March 2007

While we're on the subject of open letters (see previous post), here's one from my first blog that I wrote to Kelly Clarkson in the spring of 2007 while waiting for what ended up being My December to be released. Ultimately it was totally worth the wait, but you all know that I was completely cracked out in the spring of 2007 so patience wasn't something I had in great abundance. Anyway, since today's post was short, and it was an open letter, AND I'm getting impatient for the next Kelly Clarkson album to be released here's that letter again for your enjoyment. BWH*

Horns Blow

Open letter to the woman that blew her horn and nearly knocked me into traffic this morning (and everyone like her):

I want to start off by letting you know that I’ve been on both sides of this. For the first year back in San Diego, my only two modes of transportation were bus and bike. I rode my bike a lot.

The "I dared p²" Challenge

I planned on writing about this later in the month, but now that comments have been made telling me I should take topic suggestions from my blog readers,  I guess I’m going to write about it today.

Shut Up and Spell

There were a couple of reasons I chose the so-low-you-could-get-over-it-without-lifting-your-feet bar of 100 words when I gave myself this writing every day challenge for August. One was because I saw a blog a while back where the writer wrote exactly 100 words every day and I toyed with the idea of making that the challenge for myself. Well, I toyed with it the way a cat might briefly toy with a rubber mouse before batting it away. I barely even reach coherence before the hundredth word, so that didn't seem like it would be fun for anyone – not for me to write and certainly not for you to read.

The Empty Bucket List

I think about 348 sober people I know posted a link to the story in the NY Times today about who gets addicted to drugs and who doesn't. Interesting as it is, I already know the only real answer that's important to me – I DO get addicted to drugs.

100 Words

So, if you are someone that doesn't hang on my every Facebook word (shame on you), you may not know that I've thrown down a challenge for myself this month. It's a two-parter: first, I've committed to watch only one hour of television per day (that includes TV shows downloaded on the internet as well – but I will allow the exception of one film per weekend if desired); second, I'm going to write at least 100 words on my blog every day as well.