Medication and children

[magisme]

Chemically Enhanced = Zombie as Fuck

[Len Cnut]

And what if it is ? Why is that a problem in itself? What's so great about humanity that its natural state has to be better than a chemically enhanced state?

Nothing, it's just not a solution to the problem, the illness. Other than that people are pissed up and stoned all the time.

Can't even blame them. The thought of taking a pill that changes your personality sounds super appealing to me.

Why don't you do it then, whats stopping you? You've said previously that you have some personal issues etc, if you truly believe drugs are a solution then there's an entire world of em out there, why don't you partake?

Edited March 14, 2015 by Len B'stard

[magisme]

Just legalize coke and solve everyone's problems.

[GivenToFly]

And what if it is ? Why is that a problem in itself? What's so great about humanity that its natural state has to be better than a chemically enhanced state?

Nothing, it's just not a solution to the problem, the illness. Other than that people are pissed up and stoned all the time.

Can't even blame them. The thought of taking a pill that changes your personality sounds super appealing to me.

Why don't you do it then, whats stopping you? You've said previously that you have some personal issues etc, if you truly believe drugs are a solution then there's an entire world of em out there, why don't you partake?

There are a lot of things I don't do that I know I should be doing. I don't have a reason, I just find myself unable.

[Len Cnut]

Coke is my problem Or was. Literally the only drug I've come across thats like, perfect is weed. Booze is great but i find a do a lot of nothing when i drink. Socially it's brilliant and it can be brilliant on your own but not regularly so in that sense it's not totally functional, speaking as someone who likes a bit of something every day. Plus I can be a bit aggressive some times and when i drink that becomes amplified ten fold. Weed is perfect, comfy cosy snuggley drug. I've actually come to realise that i dislike cocaine immensely. On it's own it's just a fuckin' intense tightening of your nerves and a horrible awake 'i need to do something now!' type feeling. It's great with booze cuz you can just drink all night but i can do that anyway.

And i HATE not being able to sleep. Plus i dunno if I'm getting old but when i do it now it really hits me hard as in like the next whole week i feel like i got the flu. But weed? Love it, absolutely love it, i smoke a minimum of a draw a day and it's just totally perfect for me in every sense, just a nice unwind and chill out for a couple of hours before bed thing. Just makes me wanna relax and eat and just doesn't have any negative side effects whatsoever. It's a beautiful thing and i understand why Rastafari think it's some kind of holy sacrament, it's beautiful stuff.

[Len Cnut]

And what if it is ? Why is that a problem in itself? What's so great about humanity that its natural state has to be better than a chemically enhanced state?

Nothing, it's just not a solution to the problem, the illness. Other than that people are pissed up and stoned all the time.

Can't even blame them. The thought of taking a pill that changes your personality sounds super appealing to me.

Why don't you do it then, whats stopping you? You've said previously that you have some personal issues etc, if you truly believe drugs are a solution then there's an entire world of em out there, why don't you partake?

There are a lot of things I don't do that I know I should be doing. I don't have a reason, I just find myself unable.

Unable to what, buy em, pay for em...?

[arnold layne]

Pharm meds fucked me over.

Fuckin' hell. I haven't been happy in years. I sleep my life away, my room is a literal shit-hole, stacked high in cereal bowls, pizza boxes, dirty-clothes and beer bottles. Smells rank. It's quite obvious I am deteriorating whether I would like to admit it or not.

Not sure when the downward spiral began, but I have some suspicion my mental stability started going haywire after I was put on Paroxetine.

Shit isn't even on the market anymore. If I remember right, they don't even sell the shit anymore. It was taken off market.

I have absolutely no reason to complain. I understand this is MY problem and I have nobody to blame but myself. It's just disheartening. It's fucked up.

I haven't eaten anything but Cheerios, Klondike bars or beer for the past four days and I slept thirteen hours straight.

It's quite obvious I should probably go back to the psychiatrist but they just tell me I'm mentally unstable and prescribe other shit. My parents don't even want to see me anymore. It's fucking sad. They figured it would be easier to ship me off to Grandma's and have her deal with me because she's oblivious to the shape I'm in. She thinks sleeping and being locked in the room for hours on end is typical 'teenage' behavior. I'm fucking 23.

My aunt is my only real saving grace at this point. She's not even my blood relative, but I am so grateful she cares about me and asks me how I'm doing.

It's awkward. We don't really talk all that much. It's often her and I in silence because quite frankly she wishes she could say something to help, but nothing ever really does.

I am just happy I have a job at this point, and I am fortunate that I have experienced a good life. I have some friends, family to reach out if I ever ask for anything, and I'm not dying of anything. The only thing that's killing me is my mental state. I've finally accepted that I'll just be ridden with depression and anxiety for the rest of my life.

Having a hobby would help immensely but I just don't care to do anything.

And every now and then I'll manage to fuck some other meaningless girl and it will lift my sadness away for a good forty-eight hours. A temporary band-aid, as if sharing themselves is validation to keep trudging though, but really it's just that - absolutely fucking meaningless.

I don't care about them. They don't care about me, and if they do, then that's fucked up. Because they really fucking shouldn't. I want them out of my life, and I ask too much of them because I'd want more from them but I don't know what that entails.

[Facekicker]

Take up martial arts. Seriously. Read Duff's book. There is a lot of truth in the saying - "Healthy body, healthy mind."

[arnold layne]

I've been writing short stories that have been influenced by Tarantino, Steinbeck, Salinger as well as my experiences with women, Las Vegas and whatnot.

My friends tell me they're good and I should send them somewhere but I personally think they suck.

I find writing therapeutic.

[Len Cnut]

Tarantino dont fit there

[arnold layne]

Despite all the blood and gore he is notorious for Lenny, the man is a good story teller.

[Facekicker]

Read The Proud Highway, Hunter S. Thompson's collection of letters from when he started off as a writer in his early 20's up until he made it with Hell's Angels.

That guy had some dark days that's for sure. There's certainly evidence that he had manic episodes. He used to talk about his struggle with poverty, unemployment and all that quite a bit.

One of his letters goes into detail about how he was in a "deep funk" for days on end and that his girlfriend said he was screaming and shouting in his sleep "These dogs, get these fucking dogs off me!"

Throw his love of booze, drugs and guns into the mix and it is one hell of a read. However if you are into writing it is his discussion of writing and books that he read that should benefit you greatly.

The man was a genius.

Here is a letter from that collection. He was only 22 at the time.

April 22, 1958

57 Perry Street

New York City

Dear Hume,

You ask advice: ah, what a very human and very dangerous thing to do! For to give advice to a man who asks what to do with his life implies something very close to egomania. To presume to point a man to the right and ultimate goal — to point with a trembling finger in the RIGHT direction is something only a fool would take upon himself.

I am not a fool, but I respect your sincerity in asking my advice. I ask you though, in listening to what I say, to remember that all advice can only be a product of the man who gives it. What is truth to one may be disaster to another. I do not see life through your eyes, nor you through mine. If I were to attempt to give you specific advice, it would be too much like the blind leading the blind.

“To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles … ” (Shakespeare)

And indeed, that IS the question: whether to float with the tide, or to swim for a goal. It is a choice we must all make consciously or unconsciously at one time in our lives. So few people understand this! Think of any decision you’ve ever made which had a bearing on your future: I may be wrong, but I don’t see how it could have been anything but a choice however indirect — between the two things I’ve mentioned: the floating or the swimming.

But why not float if you have no goal? That is another question. It is unquestionably better to enjoy the floating than to swim in uncertainty. So how does a man find a goal? Not a castle in the stars, but a real and tangible thing. How can a man be sure he’s not after the “big rock candy mountain,” the enticing sugar-candy goal that has little taste and no substance?

The answer — and, in a sense, the tragedy of life — is that we seek to understand the goal and not the man. We set up a goal which demands of us certain things: and we do these things. We adjust to the demands of a concept which CANNOT be valid. When you were young, let us say that you wanted to be a fireman. I feel reasonably safe in saying that you no longer want to be a fireman. Why? Because your perspective has changed. It’s not the fireman who has changed, but you. Every man is the sum total of his reactions to experience. As your experiences differ and multiply, you become a different man, and hence your perspective changes. This goes on and on. Every reaction is a learning process; every significant experience alters your perspective.

So it would seem foolish, would it not, to adjust our lives to the demands of a goal we see from a different angle every day? How could we ever hope to accomplish anything other than galloping neurosis?

The answer, then, must not deal with goals at all, or not with tangible goals, anyway. It would take reams of paper to develop this subject to fulfillment. God only knows how many books have been written on “the meaning of man” and that sort of thing, and god only knows how many people have pondered the subject. (I use the term “god only knows” purely as an expression.) There’s very little sense in my trying to give it up to you in the proverbial nutshell, because I’m the first to admit my absolute lack of qualifications for reducing the meaning of life to one or two paragraphs.

I’m going to steer clear of the word “existentialism,” but you might keep it in mind as a key of sorts. You might also try something called “Being and Nothingness” by Jean-Paul Sartre, and another little thing called “Existentialism: From Dostoyevsky to Sartre.” These are merely suggestions. If you’re genuinely satisfied with what you are and what you’re doing, then give those books a wide berth. (Let sleeping dogs lie.) But back to the answer. As I said, to put our faith in tangible goals would seem to be, at best, unwise. So we do not strive to be firemen, we do not strive to be bankers, nor policemen, nor doctors. WE STRIVE TO BE OURSELVES.

But don’t misunderstand me. I don’t mean that we can’t BE firemen, bankers, or doctors — but that we must make the goal conform to the individual, rather than make the individual conform to the goal. In every man, heredity and environment have combined to produce a creature of certain abilities and desires — including a deeply ingrained need to function in such a way that his life will be MEANINGFUL. A man has to BE something; he has to matter.

As I see it then, the formula runs something like this: a man must choose a path which will let his ABILITIES function at maximum efficiency toward the gratification of his DESIRES. In doing this, he is fulfilling a need (giving himself identity by functioning in a set pattern toward a set goal), he avoids frustrating his potential (choosing a path which puts no limit on his self-development), and he avoids the terror of seeing his goal wilt or lose its charm as he draws closer to it (rather than bending himself to meet the demands of that which he seeks, he has bent his goal to conform to his own abilities and desires).

In short, he has not dedicated his life to reaching a pre-defined goal, but he has rather chosen a way of life he KNOWS he will enjoy. The goal is absolutely secondary: it is the functioning toward the goal which is important. And it seems almost ridiculous to say that a man MUST function in a pattern of his own choosing; for to let another man define your own goals is to give up one of the most meaningful aspects of life — the definitive act of will which makes a man an individual.

Let’s assume that you think you have a choice of eight paths to follow (all pre-defined paths, of course). And let’s assume that you can’t see any real purpose in any of the eight. THEN — and here is the essence of all I’ve said — you MUST FIND A NINTH PATH.

Naturally, it isn’t as easy as it sounds. You’ve lived a relatively narrow life, a vertical rather than a horizontal existence. So it isn’t any too difficult to understand why you seem to feel the way you do. But a man who procrastinates in his CHOOSING will inevitably have his choice made for him by circumstance.

So if you now number yourself among the disenchanted, then you have no choice but to accept things as they are, or to seriously seek something else. But beware of looking for goals: look for a way of life. Decide how you want to live and then see what you can do to make a living WITHIN that way of life. But you say, “I don’t know where to look; I don’t know what to look for.”

And there’s the crux. Is it worth giving up what I have to look for something better? I don’t know — is it? Who can make that decision but you? But even by DECIDING TO LOOK, you go a long way toward making the choice.

If I don’t call this to a halt, I’m going to find myself writing a book. I hope it’s not as confusing as it looks at first glance. Keep in mind, of course, that this is MY WAY of looking at things. I happen to think that it’s pretty generally applicable, but you may not. Each of us has to create our own credo — this merely happens to be mine.

If any part of it doesn’t seem to make sense, by all means call it to my attention. I’m not trying to send you out “on the road” in search of Valhalla, but merely pointing out that it is not necessary to accept the choices handed down to you by life as you know it. There is more to it than that — no one HAS to do something he doesn’t want to do for the rest of his life. But then again, if that’s what you wind up doing, by all means convince yourself that you HAD to do it. You’ll have lots of company.

And that’s it for now. Until I hear from you again, I remain,

your friend,

Hunter

Edited May 20, 2015 by Facekicker

[Len Cnut]

Yeah but using him as an inspiration in the field of literature is not the same as film, they take plaguarism rather more seriously with books.

[Dazey]

I'm totally in favour of it. Yep, medicating kids is the way forward. In fact does anybody happen to know the current opinion of the medical profession when it comes to shooting a six month old with a tranquilliser dart?

[arnold layne]

Here is my Hunter S. Thompson impression, to the best of my ability. Posted on facebook.

Rise up Oklahoma!

It is ILLEGAL to sell chilled beer in the state of Oklahoma. I am all for laws and regulations to maintain peace, harmony, and tranquility within the state. However my dear brothers and sisters, I refuse to spend my hard, earned money on LUKEWARM BEER. It's time to stand up when enough is enough. I will not tolerate this unjust, asinine stupidity! Time to write a scathing letter of disapproval to my legislators and reclaim our stocked coolers!

I am going to campaign for governor on this platform a la Thompson-Aspen style.

Edited May 20, 2015 by arnold layne

[arnold layne]

Yeah but using him as an inspiration in the field of literature is not the same as film, they take plaguarism rather more seriously with books.

Since when are inspiration and plagiarism one of the same?

You do realize that Tarantino writes as well, do you? It's not as if he jumps out of bed, brews a cup of coffee, thinks, 'well let's see here, maybe I'll direct a film about this and that today,' and proceeds to pick up his camera and drive to do a shoot.

Edited May 20, 2015 by arnold layne

[Len Cnut]

Yeah but using him as an inspiration in the field of literature is not the same as film, they take plaguarism rather more seriously with books.

Since when are inspiration and plagiarism one of the same?

You do realize that Tarantino writes as well, do you? It's not as if he jumps out of bed, brews a cup of coffee, thinks, 'well let's see here, maybe I'll direct a film about this and that today,' and proceeds to pick up his camera and drive to do a shoot.

Im well aware of what he does for a living, i just meant in a literary context he doesnt translate well as inspiration, believe me i know all about his movies and at least one of them is an all time classic but unless you're talking about being a screenwriter in which case you could look to him for inspiration with structure and form in a cinematic sense but just as a straight writer? Just seemed an odd one to point out is all.

Believe me i know where his talents lie, I owned all of his screenplays up to Kill Bill at some point of another and I've seen all his films...and all the ones he nicked em off too

I guess you can get inspired by anything one way or another.

Edited May 20, 2015 by Len B'stard

[arnold layne]

A movie with a shitty story but great cinematic effects is still a shit movie.

Just look at all the Marvel movies, for example.

Edited May 20, 2015 by arnold layne

[Len Cnut]

Yeah but writing a screenplay you don't write the way you write a novel, you write directions, you write descriptions in an offhand kinda way, reach Tarantinos screenplays if you want, they don't really have a literary voice in terms of the directions it's just a bunch of references like 'OK, this scenes dialogue is spoken in a rapid fire His Girl Friday kinda way'...you don't really write novels like that, with like 'this bits kinda like a Raymond Chandler novel', you're supposed to create the scene, not describe it so a bunch of actors can know where they're supposed to stand and how they're meant to move.

[Facekicker]

Having completed a 100,000+ word thesis on Hunter S. Thompson I'd like to think I've come to learn a bit about the man Certainly when it comes to how he developed as a writer and found his own unique voice.

Hunter read everything. The Western canon and then some.

He took being a writer seriously. Writers write. And he did. Religiously. When he couldn't think of something to write he went out and and got into drunken brawls and all kinds of hi-jinks, then came home and wrote letters to his friends detailing his antics. You could say his books are really just extended versions of these letters.

He also travelled all over America and South America. He got out there and saw the world. Then he wrote about it.

He studied his favourite authors inside out. He was so enamoured by Hemingway and Fitzgerald that he typed up The Great Gatsby & The Sun Also Rises in their entirety. Just to feel what it was like to type a masterpiece.

He knew the word count of The Great Gatsby and did his best to emulate it with Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. He claims they are the exact same length. I'll take his word for it.

The point is that he was as interested in the mechanics of writing as much as what they writer was saying. He spent years getting rejected as a writer and journalist. Yet he had an unshakeable faith in his ability. He knew he was great and he let nothing and nobody deter him. He kept tabs on his tally of rejection slips and compared them to how many Fitzgerald & Joyce got before their breaks.

He looked upon all those years of struggle as his education. And he was absolutely right.

Finally, nobody writes like Thompson. It's impossible. He poured his life onto those pages and there's no faking or copying that. But if you read his work and his letters you might just come away with something that you can apply to your own writing in the same way he was influenced by Hemingway and Fitzgerald.

Edited May 20, 2015 by Facekicker

[Dazey]

Having completed a 100,000+ word thesis on Hunter S. Thompson I'd like to think I've come to learn a bit about the man .

Do you ever think you may have been better off getting a proper job instead?

[Facekicker]

Having completed a 100,000+ word thesis on Hunter S. Thompson I'd like to think I've come to learn a bit about the man .

Do you ever think you may have been better off getting a proper job instead?

I have one, but probably best I keep my thoughts on lecturing to myself

[Len Cnut]

Hunters one of those writers its best not to read when you're deciding to set out to write cuz you just end up trying to write like him and it comes off shit

[wasted]

Maybe because you can't hit kids anymore some Dont have disipline. My friend has kids and they are pretty well behaved but he hits them. The ones who don't get hit are little maniacs not afraid of anything.

[Facekicker]

You can't even shout at kids in a classroom these days.