http://www.thesecondroad.org/bouncing_off_the_bottom Twelve Steps to a Real Life and a Pretty Good Time. Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:46:44 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The meeting topic was responsibility. And, kind of an aside, the guy chairing asked us to think about when does responsibility tip over into ego gratification--at what point are we in danger of helping others mostly so as to be able to feel better about ourselves. This is, I think, one ... http://www.thesecondroad.org/bouncing_off_the_bottom/2008/11/24/helping-others/ Okay, I had to have very minor eye surgery, which required that I be awake. After talking over the risks/rewards with my doc of taking Valium (given that I am a drunk and a junky who's--hallelujah--in recovery) I decided to risk 2 milligrams  in the interests of having my best ... http://www.thesecondroad.org/bouncing_off_the_bottom/2008/11/20/once-a-junky/ This is a hopeful country, right now. Perhaps a hopeful world. After a decade of what felt like partisan bickering for bickering's sake, it feels to me as though we're abruptly willing to slow down, chill out, and start looking for each other's  good qualities again. All around me, I'm aware ... http://www.thesecondroad.org/bouncing_off_the_bottom/2008/11/12/hope/ Okay, it was bound to happen. Everybody who rides a motorized bike is going to drop it at some point. Perhaps its just that I wasn't expect to have trouble leaving my own driveway. But there I was caught in the drainage ditch on the other side of the dirt road ... http://www.thesecondroad.org/bouncing_off_the_bottom/2008/11/06/thoughts-on-dropping-ones-scooter/ Yes, I'm tired. Something we all learn early in sobriety to guard against. I can feel that my whole being is stretched a little thin. But the deal is, there's not a lot I can do about it till the weekend. I'm deep in public radio fundraising, on deadline for ... http://www.thesecondroad.org/bouncing_off_the_bottom/2008/10/22/im-pooped/ Sorry, I've been away. No reason, except too, too much to do. But, you know, I missed blogging, so, you know, I'm just going to find the time. I spent Friday fretting our world economic crisis and the disturbing appearance of blatant racism in the American presidential campaign. Saturday and Sunday, ... http://www.thesecondroad.org/bouncing_off_the_bottom/2008/10/13/scooting/ to go so long between posts. I had another piece in the Chicago Tribune and have been spending my spare moments responding to the many, many interesting e-mails it generated. Here 'tis. This is part of a larger piece that I'm working on about being in partnership with God. I'd be ... http://www.thesecondroad.org/bouncing_off_the_bottom/2008/08/08/sorry-sorry-sorry/ Ashley Bryan, 85 last Sunday. The Warm Springs Gallery in Warm Springs, Virginia (population around 900) had an opening for a rare exhibition of his paintings. Bryan is best known as a writer and illustrator of children's books. He was one of the first persons of color to present images of ... http://www.thesecondroad.org/bouncing_off_the_bottom/2008/07/19/i-met-a-remarkable-person-last-friday/ Multi-tasking. I'd like to suggest it's the antithesis of sobriety--at least of the all-important part of sobriety that's manifested by a calm mind. I re-decided this (for the 89th time!)  a couple of days ago while  talking on the phone while e-mailing someone else while simultaneously doing a web-search while trying to ... http://www.thesecondroad.org/bouncing_off_the_bottom/2008/07/09/arguably-the-biggest-challenge-to-a-sober-head/ God and I can only partner in any useful way in the real world, and the reality is that the real world often makes me uncomfortable. I’ve certainly done my share of damage by shying away from my own discomfort. Back in the early nineties when I was first climbing out ... http://www.thesecondroad.org/bouncing_off_the_bottom/2008/06/30/the-liberation-of-discomfort/