Abstaining From Norms

Ok, so, apparently it is not ok for me to not drink. I think a lot of the people I know can no longer feign not being uncomfortable around me as I continue to not drink at a bar, at dinner, or at get-togethers. A quick explanation for my non-drinkiness: I just got tired of it. And you say to yourself, hmm, thats interesting, there must be some deep psychological trauma or event that made this happen. Nope. Just got tired of it. And you would hope that such a rationale would provide the best of support...you would be sort of right.

By my abstaining the vibe I get from other people seems to be I am somehow lording some type of superficial or even non-existent reasons( which is strange when you think about it), my self-imposed sobriety makes people uncomfortable, dare I say intimidated around me--almost as if my not having a beer with them is like me spitting a curse upon their first born child's head and painting the door with goats blood. I still tell the same kind of humorous anecdotes, still drop pop culture bombs, still wax politico....but yet the results from folks are not the same. Honestly, it hurts me deeply. Im still me. I just changed a few (what I thought) minor things to make me feel better about who I am.

IRB, a cursed three letters in my field, is giving me fits this week as I press myself to get the damn paperwork in on time. This is of course the last week of interim session as well, and I get he obligatory three day weekend coming up to prepare for my next two classes for sessions I and II come next week. Just have to keep telling myself that this time next year, course work is done for ever and I can just focus on the dissertation, although thats not much of a bright spot is it? :)

This past weeks Coen Bros. film was Fargo. Much darker than I remember, and honestly, a bit of a bummer coming off the wonderful effervescent playful tone of Hudsucker Proxy. My friend Heath and I argued about this is the start to the second half of the Coen's film career, and it is a dozy of a lefty. Does it belong in the national registry of film? That I am not sure of. This week, its on to cult favorite The Big Lebowski, so get the White Russians ready (well not me, obviously) and tell Donny to shut the fuck up because his dudeness, or dude-a-rino, or just plain dude is going to be examined a bit more throughly. As always, if you want to join in on the fun of movie night, drop me a line on twitter @jldprod2002 , or watch the film at your leisure and post your messages here at the old blog.