It's probably ill-advised

but let me indulge in the fine [boozer] tradition of making excuses.

I am unhappy with my inability to control, unaided, my consumption of alcohol. That wouldn't be a problem if my judgment were not impaired under the influence. My bottom was no where near as low as those of others I've heard about [Now, no jokes about my scant 32" inseam on a six foot man.]

I see nothing on these pages that I disagree with that I know was written while I was imbibing. (I did make kind of a dumb comment on Arnold Kling's Econlog, early one morning. Find it yourself, if you care that much.) I believe, in other words, that I am not apt to discover anything wrong with these views without discussing them with rational, reasonable people. The true dialectic is personal conversation.

I admit my problem here for several reasons: 1. accountability, although that is a crushing burden that addicts can seldom bear; it's "one day at a time," and, if I can't handle that, one hour at a time or five minutes at a time. Procrastination and laziness are actually useful tools for combatting addiction. And I'm not sober for you. 2. Maybe I can help somebody else. My story is more powerful at meetings, where the setting is pretty personal. Come to AA if you've got an addiction problem. You wouldn't believe how warm, caring and understanding people can be, without smothering you. They know just what you're going through. Somebody there is now, or has been, right where you are. The key is to listen. Be humble before (my favorite phrase) "The Laws of Nature and Nature's God."

Drunks are experimenters. We deny the validity of the old laws and try to create a new theory. When we know we've failed, we go to AA. As long as we haven't already breathed our last. You hit bottom when you see nothing but a long slide into a black abyss on the other side of that next drink. No matter where you are on the slippery slope.

I had a third point, but it's late and I'm tired.

Nighty night.