Better Than You

Last blog, I mentioned that I had never tried any illegal drugs in high school.  That is something that has been true to this day.  I’ve tried alcohol, and I admit to having gotten buzzed a few times, but drinking is something I have never cared for.  Despite having done it a couple times, I realized I didn’t care for the act, and I didn’t care for the feeling.  Smoking is something that has been around me my whole life, and seeing my mom smoke her cigarettes every single day is enough of an indication that I don’t need tobacco either.  I hope I don’t come off as preachy in this post, because preaching my lifestyle is the last thing I want to do.  I merely want to talk about the way I live my life and my thoughts on foreign substances, legal and illegal.

Alcoholism is something that has been evident in my family.  Two of my uncles just can’t seem to put the drinks down, and from what I’ve heard, my grandfather used to drink a lot too.  I never considered my dad an alcoholic, but he did have his drinking “phase.”  I remember being a kid in the fifth or sixth grade and seeing my dad sitting at the dinner table late at night with a bottle of tequila, a glass, and some lemon slices.  I didn’t give it much thought back then, but if he had continued doing that every night, he would have undoubtedly ended up in some serious trouble.  I recall one night when he actually gave me a small amount of liquor.  I drank it, not knowing any better.  Other than that, I drank very sporadically, not even once a year.  Last summer during my oldest sister Marcela’s going away party I had a couple drinks.  It was nothing major, and I just ended up fallling asleep after playing a little “inebriated Mario Kart.”  It was sometime in late August 2008, and that was the last time I ever drank.

I had been curious about that sort of thing for years, and after a having a few tries every so often, it dawned on me that I don’t care at all for any of that stuff, not even alcohol.  Some of my coworkers and former coworkers smoke marijuana just about every single day.  I remember my first day working security.  I went to my coworker’s house, and upon entering, I noticed that the smell of marijuana plagued the air.  When we left for work, the driver and the guy whose house we went to started hotboxing it.  I was offered a hit, but I politely declined.  I learned two things that day: 1.) Rejecting drugs is as easy in college as it was in high school.  2.) I can’t get contact high.  I could probably attribute the latter to the fact that I was taking very small breaths, though.

I’m going to make one thing clear: I consider illegal drug use one of the stupidest things ever.  There’s no reason for it.  At all.  And to be honest, I do think some people succumb to it because they’re weaker than others.  Some say they crave a different feeling, a euphoric feeling.  If that’s the case, then they can just go masturbate.  As crude as that may sound, it’s true.  For the record, marijuana use doesn’t bother me all that much.  I know it isn’t a hard drug, and I understand its medical usefulness completely.  However, when I hear about people who can’t put the syringe down, people staying up all night because of their meth addiction, and others just hallucinating and having out-of-body experiences after consuming their hallucinogens, I can’t help but feel that these people are completely weak and stupid.  And despite the fact that marijuana isn’t as bad as other drugs, when I see people using it everyday, I find it a bit ridiculous, to be quite honest.  Regular cigarettes are that much worse.  I see my mom, who hasn’t been able to ditch the habit for 40 years, and it’s a bit saddening.  Ultimately, though, people will make their own decisions, no matter how stupid they may be.

As a kid, I always knew I’d never start using illegal drugs.  That’s something I’ve never done and never will do.  I also know I’ll never abuse prescription medication.  Then there’s alcohol and cigarettes.  As legal as those substances may be, they’re still foreign substances, and I don’t plan on using them, recreationally or as a crutch.  I’ve drank maybe five or six times in my entire life.  It didn’t take long for me to realize that I can easily avoid using any type of substance.

Note that my decision to live a completely clean and sober lifestyle has absolutely nothing to do with religion.  I have my faith, and I follow it as best as I can, but the decision to completely stay away from drugs and alcohol is something I’ve decided to do for my health.  I don’t think I’m better than others for doing so (despite the title of this blog entry).  Maybe my will is a bit stronger, and perhaps my decisions can be considered a bit smarter as compared to people that live their lives wearing their vices on their sleeves.  To be quite honest, I feel sorry for these people.  It may take a long time for them to realize what they’re putting themselves through.  Some may never realize it.

And even though I don’t agree with substance use, I can understand why people like to drink, have the occasional cigarette, and even smoke the occasional joint.  I mean, I’m friends with people who fit each of these descriptions.  I don’t criticize others for their decisions, and up until now, I haven’t been criticized for mine.

Dark Star

Fun fact: This is the second time (the first being my previous post) that a video game boss’s name makes its way into my entry title.

I finished No More Heroes earlier today, just like I said I would.  I always have to watch the short ending and the real ending.  It’s just a habit of mine, even though the short ending is a part of the real ending anyway.  I guess that’s due to my completist personality.  I need to get over that sort of thing, seriously.  Now I can continue with Kingdom Hearts.  I’ll probably play that for a while tomorrow.  I seriously have to stop letting other games distract me.  If I have an unfinished game, then I should just play through it instead of playing games I’ve passed numerous times before.  I made the exception for No More Heroes due to sheer nostalgia, but now I’m going to focus primarily on Kingdom Hearts, Metroid Prime, and Indigo Prophecy for the next few months.

I’m listening to Modest Mouse’s No One’s First, and You’re Next as I type up this blog.  It was a gift from Marcela, along with a Hooters shirt.  She told me she got it for me because she knows I like owls.  Well, I love owls, but I also love breasts.  Haha  Anyway, I’m really digging the Modest Mouse album.  It’s essentially an EP with songs that were originally written for Good News for People Who Love Bad News and We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank.  The songs are all pretty mellow, and they actually remind me a bit of Isaac Brock’s other project, Ugly Casanova.  Good stuff.  Good stuff, indeed.

I’ll be heading to bed after I finish up this blog.  I’m a bit sick, and I have no one else to blame but myself.  I had the bright idea of putting my head right next to the air conditioner simply because it made my hair get really cold.  Idiot that I am, I was really amused by that.  I guess it was a little funny, but I regret it now.  I’ve had a sore throat since yesterday, and now I have a runny nose.  I’ve been taking medicine all day, so hopefully I wake up much better tomorrow morning.  I’d like nothing more than to be completely healthy so I can go for an early run.

Too Angry to Fall Asleep

Despite my efforts to fall asleep before midnight, my annoyance with my mom got the best of me.  It almost feels like I’m going to be staying up late tonight.  Now, she’s trying to kiss my ass by making me a bean, cheese, and chorizo burrito.  I’m pretty famished, and I’m not a jackass, so despite telling her repeatedly that I didn’t want anything to eat, I’m powerless to stop her, and I’ll probably give in once she puts the damn thing in front of me.  Ugh…

I finished reading Batman: Cataclysm today.  I really enjoyed the story, and I can’t wait to read No Man’s Land.  Unfortunately, I probably won’t have the necessary funds to get that series until a few months from now.  Who knows, now that I’ve gotten back into reading comic books, I’ll probably add No Man’s Land to my Christmas/birthday wishlist.

I only went running at the park once this week.  Last week was nice; cloudy in the morning and average temperature in the day.  This week has been way too hot for me to even feel like going running.  I think today was the hottest day all summer.  Hopefully it gets cooler tomorrow.  Anyway, despite not going running at the park, I still work out at home, so everything’s still cool, and I still feel healthy.  Once the weather starts getting fresh, I’ll probably feel like going running again.

I did a fair amount of catching up on GameTrailers today.  I read a good handful of blogs and commented on most of them.  I like seeing my updates go down to zero.  It’s just somewhat…comforting.  I wanted to read one or two more blogs a while ago, but damn GT is acting up.  I can’t even sign into my account!  Oh, well.  Maybe tomorrow I’ll get through the rest of those updates.

Well, I guess I should go eat now.  I have two burritos with my name on them.  I lose yet another battle…