A disclaimer about all this stuff I'm talking about.

[pinback]

Well-adjusted, happy people, like Flack, Robb, Jiz, of course Paul, and you, if you're well-adjusted and happy, have zero use for any of this. I'd still recommend you read it, but just for the comedy. It holds absolutely no value for you, and you should ignore/dismiss it immediately.

However, for those who have suffered deeply, who struggle with depression, anxiety, self-loathing, existential angst, stuff like that, it is priceless and wonderful.

I know.

Quitting drinking has never been this easy.

(Three weeks tomorrow, btw.)

[Flack]

I am sure I speak for everyone here when I say I hope you find something that leads you to health and happiness.

Also when you get to the step where you are supposed to make apologies to people or whatever let me know and I will update the old Pinback apology generator. We are here to help.

[pinback]

I am sure I speak for everyone here when I say I hope you find something that leads you to health and happiness.

Thank you. I feel fortunate to have found that very thing, about three weeks go. Since then, my blood pressure has gone from 160/95 to 128/70, I've lost 15 pounds, and I have never felt a greater sense of peace and contentment in my entire life.

That's why I'm excited to share what I've found with others who may need it. Which I realize is probably nobody here except for Retro, and he's not replying to my emails, so fuck 'im.

Also when you get to the step where you are supposed to make apologies to people or whatever let me know and I will update the old Pinback apology generator. We are here to help.

The 12 Steps are for shit. I know, because I go to meetings where they are held up as a sacred text.

There will be no apologies.

[Tdarcos]

Well-adjusted, happy people, like Flack, Robb, Jiz, of course Paul, and you, if you're well-adjusted and happy, have zero use for any of this. I'd still recommend you read it, but just for the comedy. It holds absolutely no value for you, and you should ignore/dismiss it immediately.

Perhaps there is a way to make what you have to say applicable to more people, or perhaps I/we can find a way to give you the words and/or concepts needed to make what you are trying to express have greater relevancy. Wotan knows people can use all the help they can get.

I am sure I speak for everyone here when I say I hope you find something that leads you to health and happiness.

Thank you. I feel fortunate to have found that very thing, about three weeks go.

What was it? A self-improvement book, a course, a website, something else, or was it, like Samuel L. Jackson said in Pulp Fiction, "When I had what alcoholics refer to as a 'moment of clarity'?"

Since then, my blood pressure has gone from 160/95 to 128/70, I've lost 15 pounds, and I have never felt a greater sense of peace and contentment in my entire life.

That's why I'm excited to share what I've found with others who may need it. Which I realize is probably nobody here except for Retro, and he's not replying to my emails, so fuck 'im.

If what you did helped you that much it may even be of some use to otherwise well-balanced people. As the saying goes, "even a stopped clock is right twice a day."

Also when you get to the step where you are supposed to make apologies to people or whatever let me know and I will update the old Pinback apology generator. We are here to help.

The 12 Steps are for shit. I know, because I go to meetings where they are held up as a sacred text.

There will be no apologies.

Well, of course, Ben. Alcoholics Anonymous' famed 12-step program is religiously based, where you call upon a higher power, i.e. God, to offer assistance. As a person who rejects a meaningless sycophantic grovel to a non-entity, you would see that as the pointless gesture it is. Whether you consciously recognized it or just intuitively discerned it and rejected it without knowing exactly why.

[pinback]

What was it?

I've been reading books and stuff for about ten years now, all screaming "there is only what is, the appearance of the present moment!" No big deal, anyone who does five minutes of mindfulness meditation realizes that right away. But knowing "there is only what is" was a very cold comfort. It was still an idea that sounded good, which I could verify from time to time during sitting meditation, but still did little to alleviate the underlying incompleteness and fear which pervaded my every waking moment.

So three weeks ago, out of utter desperation, it was finally trusted that there is only what is, right now, and everything else can be safely let go of.

To the mind, this is insanity, akin to falling backward off a cliff.

And yet... life went on, fully and completely, lacking nothing.

So now there is truly only what is, and all of the doubt, fear, and suffering has been set free.

[Tsummary]

Well-adjusted, happy people, like Flack, Robb, Jiz, of course Paul, and you, if you're well-adjusted and happy, have zero use for any of this. I'd still recommend you read it, but just for the comedy. It holds absolutely no value for you, and you should ignore/dismiss it immediately.

Perhaps there is a way to make what you have to say applicable to more people, or perhaps I/we can find a way to give you the words and/or concepts needed to make what you are trying to express have greater relevancy. Wotan knows people can use all the help they can get.

I am sure I speak for everyone here when I say I hope you find something that leads you to health and happiness.

Thank you. I feel fortunate to have found that very thing, about three weeks go.

What was it? A self-improvement book, a course, a website, something else, or was it, like Samuel L. Jackson said in Pulp Fiction, "When I had what alcoholics refer to as a 'moment of clarity'?"

Since then, my blood pressure has gone from 160/95 to 128/70, I've lost 15 pounds, and I have never felt a greater sense of peace and contentment in my entire life.

That's why I'm excited to share what I've found with others who may need it. Which I realize is probably nobody here except for Retro, and he's not replying to my emails, so fuck 'im.

If what you did helped you that much it may even be of some use to otherwise well-balanced people. As the saying goes, "even a stopped clock is right twice a day."

Also when you get to the step where you are supposed to make apologies to people or whatever let me know and I will update the old Pinback apology generator. We are here to help.

The 12 Steps are for shit. I know, because I go to meetings where they are held up as a sacred text.

There will be no apologies.

Well, of course, Ben. Alcoholics Anonymous' famed 12-step program is religiously based, where you call upon a higher power, i.e. God, to offer assistance. As a person who rejects a meaningless sycophantic grovel to a non-entity, you would see that as the pointless gesture it is. Whether you consciously recognized it or just intuitively discerned it and rejected it without knowing exactly why.

Summary: Tdarcos is willing to give you his words, but probably not his sandwich.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

It's a good thing Paul knows that he's required to reply insipidly to every single thing Ben posts in this base.

[The Happiness Engine]

However, for those who have suffered deeply, who struggle with depression, anxiety, self-loathing, existential angst, stuff like that, it is priceless and wonderful.

As someone who is now 9 days sober and 3 days a free man I'd like to say I appreciate what you're doing here.

(Three weeks tomorrow, btw.)

Congratulations, keep looking forward.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

However, for those who have suffered deeply, who struggle with depression, anxiety, self-loathing, existential angst, stuff like that, it is priceless and wonderful.

As someone who is now 9 days sober and 3 days a free man I'd like to say I appreciate what you're doing here.

When you say "free man".... you mean...

Well, are you black or single?

[pinback]

As someone who is now 9 days sober and 3 days a free man I'd like to say I appreciate what you're doing here.

It's true, I am an inspiration.

[The Happiness Engine]

Well, are you black or single?

Well, let's just say certain parts of me may resemble certain videos you may or may not admit to having seen on the Internet. So... wanna go get some Tequila Slammers later?

More seriously, I was considering an "Ask me about my week in a psych ward!" thread but I am pretty boring and didn't really want to derail what's going on here.

ProTip: Get committed about now to a teaching hospital, because it will suddenly be flooded with college chicks having finals breakdowns and it seems the pajamas issued only come in "so huge they're constantly trying to fall off". You may wish to see if you can stomach the food situation first by preparing and consuming SLOP.

[Flack]

When I was a kid my mom used to take me to the beauty college to get haircuts. The upside was that haircuts were $3 (mom would give me a $5; the tip was the change). The downside was, I spent 10+ years of my youth with crooked bangs.

Would you say time spent in a teaching hospital is comparable? I.E, affordable, but with questionable levels of care (and/or uniforms, apparently).

[Flack]

Also for the record I can think of no other place or group of characters where discussion of a psych ward would be more fitting.

[The Happiness Engine]

Let me split to a new thread.