I got into AA in the year 2000. I was living in Chico, CA at a Motel after getting fired from my job and getting evicted in San Jose. On New Years Eve, I was drinking heavily and watching VH1 Behind the Music for hours. There seemed to be a standard story... The Band practices for years, has a hit song, becomes Rich and Famous, Starts Drinking and Using Drugs, Some Members Die, others get Clean and Sober... So, I thought, maybe I should stop drinking before I die. I started going to three meetings a day. I ran out of money and had to go live in Bidwell Park. I ate at the Jesus Center Free Meal and rode my bicycle all over town. I sold my Stock that I had bought while working but it took months to actually get paid. Eventually I did get paid just before Winter... and I moved back in to a Cheap Motel.
I met many interesting people at those meetings. Some had very worthwhile advice. I found that by Listening to the G. O. D. (Group of Drunks) my life became much better. They suggested I move into an apartment that a member of the group had a spare bedroom. They Suggested that I Get a Job at the Factory where a member of the group was supervisor. They suggested that I Take a student loan from FAFSA and go to college, In Arcata, California. They Suggested that I quit smoking Marijuana, do my homework and attend class every time. They Suggested taking a Job after Graduation at the Welfare Office as an Eligibility Worker... So I worked there for 7 years and Paid off my student loan. When my father died, I quit work. He and I had become friends after I sobered UP. One of the reasons I continued working while he was alive was to make him proud of me. I remember one time we were driving around the neighborhood and he pointed at a house and said... "See, I Raised You Boys Right, That Man's Son Became a Merry Prankster." (A reference to Ken Kesey's Band of Merry Pranksters - who promoted the use of LSD Nationwide.) My Father was proud that I had a Good Job Doing Useful Work. We sold his house in San Jose for a Fortune. I was given a Trust Fund because my family was afraid that I would Smoke My Inheritance...
I retired and had the freedom to do whatever I wanted to do. My "roommate" is self-supporting and she wanted to stay at home, play with her cats, go on the internet, talk on the phone, take photographs etc etc etc. For a decade I have been traveling by myself and taking photographs, then showing them to her when I got home... I was her eyes... That allowed her to go visit events without leaving home. I drove over to Chico and found my friend Mike. We went to the Rainbow Gathering in Utah. We had a wonderful time. I met a woman who was selling Self Help Seminars on the Internet. I Bought Admission for $5.00 a Week for a year. By that time I had learned Everything She Had to Teach.
I spent the next couple of years traveling and publishing my photographs on a Blog. I wanted to provide Driving Directions to interesting places and events so people could go visit... and if they couldn't go visit (because they lived in Australia or something) they could see what I saw online.
When the State of Oregon Legalized Recreational Marijuana I drove North 112 Miles and Bought some. I spent the next 8 months stoned 100% of the time. I used my Crazy Mind to write Absurdist Fiction... It was very popular on the internet and My Blog started to have 1,000 visitors a day... I believed that the increase in traffic was because I was doing interesting art and fiction... What I have come to realize is that My Success was mostly because I had FOOLED THE GOOGLE SEARCH ENGINE to display my webpage for almost any search term. GOOGLE NOTICED MY TRICK AND CHANGED THE ALGORITHM. It is true that I thought up the idea while stoned... Marijuana DID allow me to THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX. and fool myself into believing that my fiction writing was wonderful.
In Alcoholics Anonymous There are Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. Tradition TEN states that AA has no opinion on "Outside Issues." For Example: AA has no opinion about Smoking Marijuana. That's an "Outside Issue." I have attended countless meetings while stoned. HOWEVER, I Personally May Have an Opinion, and I Personally Can USE the Twelve Steps to Quit Smoking Tobacco, Marijuana and Sugar....
That's all for now... Thanks for Listening.
I learned a LOT by Listening to my G.O.D. Group Of Drunks.
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