Re: [Harp-L] Alcohol a dangerous drug

[michael rubin <michaelrubinharmonica@xxxxxxxxx>]

Jeff Jones,
I haven't had a drink in over 10 years.  I take alcohol abuse very seriously.

I am glad you found a poem that talks about alcohol abuse.  But it did
not change my opinion.  You still have not convinced me that alcohol
is an evil that all people should avoid.

You ask me to point out one positive thing about alcohol.  I consider
myself to have a problem with alcohol and yet I can point to many
times when use of alcohol was a positive thing in my own life.  I had
some fun with friends, I loosened up socially with women.

You say alcohol does not help with serious music?  It definitely
relaxed my mind concerning the self-inflicted rules that can hold one
back concerning music.  Can you read the history books concerning some
of our favorite serious musicians and ignore that they drank
sometimes? You cannot take a part out of a life story just because it
does not fit comfortably with your philosophy.

Most of all I drank while I grew up and was able to look at myself
doing something I did not like most of the time and was happy to find
that I had the strength to walk away from a situation I did not like.
I do not regret my time with alcohol, I am grateful for it.  It helped
make me who I am today.

Booyah.  And I will buy my friends a drink anytime I feel like it.
Michael Rubin
Michaelrubinharmonica.com

On 1/7/10, Michael D'Aurizio <mdaurizio@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
> In my opinion regular ABUSE, not use of alcohol is an illness. One can use and not abuse this drug. Unless you happen to be one of the millions of unfortunate people afflicted with the terrible disease of alcoholism, there's no reason why one can't responsibly partake in "the nectar of the gods". Just my opinion..not really worth all that much. (Harp content) whiskey laden saliva will definitely gum up the reeds.
> Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: "J.JONES" <jjones@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: Fri, 8 Jan 2010 00:15:03
> To: <Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: [Harp-L] Alcohol a dangerous drug
>
> Hi,
>        To the guy who disagreed with my assertion that drinking is an illness, it might be good to keep in mind a famous
>  quote from Charles Lamb, the English essayist, entitled "The Joys of Alcohol":
>
>      To be an object of compassion to friends, of derision to foes; to be suspected by stangers,
>  stared at by fools; to be esteemed dull when you cannot be witty, to be applauded for witty when
>  you know you have been dull; to be called upon
>  for the extemporaneous exercise of that faculty
>  which no premeditation can give; to be spurred
>  on to efforts which end in contempt; to be set on
>  to provoke mirth which procures the procurer hatred; to give pleasure and be paid with squinting malice; to swallow draughts of life-destroying
>  wine which are to be distilled into airy breath to tickle vain auditors (listeners); to mortgage miserable morrows for nights of madness; to waste whole seas of time upon those who pay it back in little inconsiderable drops of grudging applause---are the wages of buffoonery and death.
>
>      If regular use of alcohol is not an all or nothing
>  pastime, then please supply a reason that alcohol
>  use is a positive activity---it loosens players up a bit, but really has no place among adults who are trying to create serious music.  I need not mention
>  all the social misery this dangerous drug causes---
>  perhaps more than any other substance.
>
>  Best,
>
>  Jeff Jones
>
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