Comments on: How Hallucinogens Ruined My Life, section III

By: aaron

aaron — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:40:18 +0000

This story is at once disturbing and thoroughly enthralling. Probably because it mirrors my own life so well. And yet, I have to say with or without psychedelics I think my life would have followed a similar trajectory regardless. I won’t lie as some people do, drugs will change people, I’ve witnessed such changes in my friends and in myself, but at the same time you get out of such substances what you put into them. No one drops and suddenly becomes an intellectual. Nor does everyone who smokes weed suddenly pick up a guitar and play like a virtuoso as pop cultural mythos would expect one to believe. That said, the lack of self-satisfaction does seem to be a common side-effect.

Otherwise, though, I love your writing. Should be titled: Confessions of an American Acid Eater… or would that be too cliche?

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 18:36:41 +0000

again, simply amazing… Its as if you captured the essence of innocence. My first love lasted three years, yet through all of the trials and tribulations, I could reduce it all to that kiss on the cheek.. as if time had no place and the form of beauty was all that was left in its place. Still and forever.

By: Peter

Peter — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:20:46 +0000

Johnny: I would recommend it, but do it once.

Jo: Thanks. I was, unfortunately, into both. I should have the second half of Lobelia up by the end of the month.

Bob: I don’t think you have missed the point at all, but it was an unconscious point on my part. I wouldn’t call myself an “intellectual” in a good way (is there even a good way to be intellectual) — I have been harassed by all thought and little intuition for a long time, and for the sake of convenience I blame the acid. My intended point with this essay was just to write something entertaining — so long as it does that I am satisfied.

Paul: your sentence “the girl seems like a projection of the real, he cannot describe her in any way that humanizes her because he never saw her that way” is so clear and hits the nail on the head so well that I wish I would have thought of it earlier: it would have saved me having to write this long winded essay!

Thank you all for reading and for leaving comments!

By: Paul

Paul — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 23:09:43 +0000

This piece is so comprehesive in its examination of its subject that it really leaves nothing to be said except that it dazzles me in its intellect and attention to telling detail. The narrator seems to exist behind the careful cloak of the diction, the girl seems like a projection of the real, he cannot describe her in any way that humanises her because he never saw her that way. And so on, awe inspiring writing, beyond anythingelse I’ve seen in bloggoworld.

By: Bob

Bob — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 13:39:50 +0000

Perhaps I’m missing the point of the writing, but it seems to me that the acid represents no more than the focal point for the assignation of fear, in an attempt to explain to the world an introverted personality. Underlying the entire piece, I hear a cerebral trying to explain away his obvious intellect by dropping acid ‘Look, world, I’m really just like you’… while references to Rilke, Nietzsche and the understanding of brain functions on the molecular level would tend to belie the premise.

Honestly, I’m fortunate that I’ve never had to worry about such eventualities… proclivities toward deep-thinking ended as I stepped into the car for another trip to the liquor store.

By: johemmant

johemmant — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 21:46:32 +0000

What had actually happened was that I had developed a taste for things only in so far as they were idealized, unreal, like in a dream.

For whatever else one seeks in life, whether as exalted as truth or as trifling as fame, in the end we measure ourselves by our relationships

A fascinating piece, I copied the two lines that really struck me…….I enjoyed reading it very much……it’s insightful, thought-provoking and is very well-written. I only ever did acid a couple of times, I was far more into marijuana, a different experience, acid was too distorting, what you write here makes me glad of my drug of choice though a little envious of the disconnection, if that makes any sense. Anyway, it’s late and I’m half asleep, so not at all coherent. I’m awaiting the second part of Lobelia.

By: johnnypeepers

johnnypeepers — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 17:28:22 +0000

I have never dropped before and am contemplating it for spiritual/consciousness reasons. Would you dissuade me from doing so? On balance, do the harms outweigh the potential benefits?