Sobriety

[bradx]

I also hate playing music & would be fine never doing it again. Will probably get back to it at some point down the road, but it won't be ROCK & it will have to be mostly about recording. Just sold my amp & it felt great.

i am basically assembling a band of people who do not drink, mainly just to practice and record, because i am straight up TIRED of being around drunks.  i love playing music but cant handle watching smelling and listening to people get fucked up. 

Unless the band is really talented and you love their music, shows are so damn boring sober.

maybe its different for me because i come from nowhere, but as a drunk, i never could drive myself to shows, and when we played, i was generally too hung over to give a shit about the other bands.  now, sober, i can drive myself to shows, so i go see more live music than i ever have in my life, and yeah, its extremely boring, but much more interesting going to milwaukee or whatever than sitting here in manitowoc.

Exercise is a good call, as well as some sort of deep relaxation method. I've never been able to meditate properly, but I find hiking or biking out in the woods kills both birds for me.

Playing music is fun as heck. It's shows that suck. I had way more fun before getting talked into playing all those shows years back (and since dropping 'em).

i exercise daily.  do alot of walking, and drink alot of water. 

and i agree about playing, i love playing, but i told tom and norb, maybe we can do 5 or 6 shows a year because doing 50-60 is killing me.  its just not fun anymore.  4 years of norb being in the band, we dont have to prove anything.  we're in a holding pattern, we have three more gigs booked for 2016, and if we would book another one or two for sept-dec that would be just fine w me...

You'll never get on the cover of MRR with that attitude.

[rr]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds shows kind of boring now that I don't drink.  A lot of times, it's the even worse combination of anxiety/annoyance mixed with boredom. 

But that's mainly punk/hc stuff that I tend to avoid.  Checking out other live music can still be real fun (Tho I'm not always entirely sober...).  I don't think seeing Daniel Bachman do a great set of Fahey-influenced stuff would've been as entertaining as it was if I was ridiculous shitfaced.  Seeing legends like Fred & Toody I didn't have any problem with being entertained!  I think going outside of what I'd usually check out and shows that don't have a large percentage of the crowd shitfaced helps.  I hesitate to bring it up, but seeing Dead & Company and Dark Star Orchestra definitely didn't need beer in the picture, and those were really fun nights.  Would've been stupid driving 3 hours to see Neil Hagerty only to barely remember the show.  Had a great time at a rap show a few weeks ago.

Really don't have any advice for Erin, especially since I still dabble in things here and there, but checking out some live music where you're not gonna know a ton of people, and just relax and enjoy the music can be really energizing.  Seeing something that's fairly unfamiliar can be just as fun as getting drunk at a punk show.  Different people,. different vibes.  Don't have a bunch of people asking why I'm not drinking.  Excited to see Peter Brotzmann and Heather Leigh do a set in a couple of weeks.  Once in a while, I'd get kinda down that music didn't seem to excite me as much as it used to.  But I still find stuff that hits the spot and gets me just as excited as I ever was.  I haven't had the best luck, but I think exploring new things that you don't associate with drinking/drug use really helps, obviously live music is just one avenue to explore.

With all that said, good luck, and I'm about to see how Hank Wood holds up live without booze!  I bet it will still be a damn good show.

[grievous angel]

I don't know, I've struggled with sobriety myself over the years, but if you're telling me I'm going to start seeing Dark Star Orchestra after I stop drinking then I think I'll go pick up a couple of cases of High Life.

[rr]

I don't know, I've struggled with sobriety myself over the years, but if you're telling me I'm going to start seeing Dark Star Orchestra after I stop drinking then I think I'll go pick up a couple of cases of High Life.

Don't pick up any High Life.  Start livin' the HIGH LIFE.

[sloweducation]

exploring new things really helps

really good advice.

[nuggetsvolume1]

One piece of last advice I thought of: Be careful who you hang out with. Not everybody has your best interests at heart, and frankly, when you stop using, not everybody is going to give you a high five and a smile. The reactions I have gotten from people who know I am clean/sober range from happiness to extreme anger. Some people will actually be pissed that you are clean and they aren't. These people will try to drag you down. Avoid them. I'm surrounded by mid-30's douchebags who can't stay clean and want me to get fucked up with them because I "used to be so much fun".

[babyhulk]

Do you guys know of any non-alcoholic beer that doesn't completely taste like shit??
I really like the taste of beer and would enjoy drinking some without alcohol in it at least some of the time if it didn't suck so much.

Trying to significantly cut back, but first taking a break from drinking which I've done a couple of times with mixed results. Club soda doesn't always satisfy. Oh well.

I guess I'll do some internet research on .5's

Thought I'd start here though...

[OzKar KRaPo]

Do you guys know of any non-alcoholic beer that doesn't completely taste like shit??
I really like the taste of beer and would enjoy drinking some without alcohol in it at least some of the time if it didn't suck so much.

Trying to significantly cut back, but first taking a break from drinking which I've done a couple of times with mixed results. Club soda doesn't always satisfy. Oh well.

I guess I'll do some internet research on .5's

Thought I'd start here though...

Not a beer, but...

this : http://www.pimentodrink.com/en/

I tried it last week. It's been created in Paris... only a few meters away from a bar I go sometimes, and I was suggested by the bar tender and owner to try one just after I asked him the same question.
It has been created by an ex-alcoholic and it is now more or less a company. It's really hot and has a warm taste... the same feeling you can have from an old bourbon whisky... and you cannot drink it straight, you have to sip it, little by little, and it takes quite a long time to empty your glass. And icing on the cake, the taste is really enjoyable (maybe, too much sugar).
Frankly, it's the most perfect non-alcoholic drink/substitute I ever drank in my whole life.

[rutabowa]

Erdinger blue is meant to be ok.

[bradx]

thursday is two years sober for me.  if someone would have told me two years ago that i would be sober, working two jobs, able to wake up at 6:30 am to go to work in a nursing home, and would actually be HAPPY, i wouldnt have believed it.  after six years of the onions playing 50+ gigs a year i finally decided we have done enough and i am sick of hanging out in bars, so back in may i made the decision to drastically cut back our gig schedule, we did two gigs since then, with one more booked, and thats totally cool too.  i enjoy it so much more when i look forward to it, instead of having every day off be traveling and playing for apathetic crowds in shithole bars. 

i finally feel like i have this adult thing figured out.  jobs that dont make me want to kill myself.  nice car, nice house.  money in my pocket.  lots of records.

life is good being sober, its just the first six months or so that are a total bitch...

before and after

[nuggetsvolume1]

I am sober almost four years. It's nice. Just a thought: if you are a real alcoholic (up for you to decide), "cutting back" won't work. I would focus on complete abstinence.

[Wabash Trash]

Officer Brad you look fucking amazing maannn! A thousand congratulations on taking back your world. I know you cut the drink but did you stop smoking grass as well???

[bradx]

i cut back.  i was smoking morning noon and night, lots of dabs/hash.  now i changed jobs to something more laid back than delivery driving, and i dont need to smoke much anymore.  i still take a few hits here and there at a show or whatever, but day to day, not so much.  i can go a week or two, or even a month without smoking now, no problem.

[yullowteef]

Officer Officer Officer Officer Officer Brad is an inspiration to me right about now.

[bradx]

thanks.  yeah, its pretty alright.  finally able to handle working without getting stressed out.  discovered art.  exercise regularly.  honestly, its by far the best i have felt in 20 yrs or more.  maybe ever.