40 Days? You won't last one week.
Day 14
Well, my fellow Catholics and non-Catholics, the season of Lent is upon us. This is the time of year where we Catholics (and some others, as I understand it) give up something for 40 days and 40 nights, the same amount of time Jesus spent in the desert being pestered and tempted by that pesky Satan.
"Satan! Stop pestering Jesus!" I can hear Satan's mother saying from the checkout line of the corner grocery store.
"But mom, it' soooo much fun to tease!" he replies, heh heh heh...
Anyway, moving on, it's a time for us Christians to reflect on how hard that must have been for Jesus, and so in our own small way we try and relate by giving up things important to us. Sometimes it's candy and chocolate; other times it's coffee and soda, and we always give up red meat on fridays. Problem is, I've been pretty slack about this for, oh, the past 7 years let's say.
Last month my friend Trent and I caught the film "40 Days and 40 Nights" on television, a movie in which Josh Hartnett attempts to give up all forms of sex, and basically all women in general, for Lent. This prompted me to try and sacrifice something big for Lent as well. I've been out of the game for a few years, so why not jump back into it with a bang.
The airing of that movie was fortuitous at best, because before I knew it, Ash Wednesday had appeared within a few days, and I hadn't a thought-out plan of what to sacrifice for 40 days. Hmmm, I hadn't had an alcoholic drink in the four days previous, I thought, so why not try and give that up? It would save me money and stand to be a test of the wills for sure.
Ash Wednesday coincided with the very first day of babysitting my 6 cousins, and as much as I might have wanted a drink during those hectic 9 days, luckily I was in an area unsuitable for such activities. But then the week ends, the weekend begins, and friends call and wish to go out. And that's when temptation rears it's ugly head.
Friday night: I have dinner with my stepmom at Kabuto's. Desperately want some sake to go with the hibachi steak. It's even harder to refuse free alcohol. A few hours later I meet some friends uptown at Grand Central and watch people dance. I sip on water. Can't dance without a drink. Or excuse me, can't dance WELL enough in my mind without a drink. So I relegate myself to standing on the wings with the guys, watching the girls get groped by creepy, drunk men. On one occasion I do have to go out and save my friend Cristina from some moron who won't stop touching her inappropriately. At this point I think "who needs liquid courage" and deduce that without alcohol in my system to hinder my reaction times, I just might be able to get a few good licks in on this guy if he tries to start trouble with me. Lucky for him, he doesn't. The Hulk is contained.
Saturday night: I meet the same friends from friday, with a few new ones from Chapel Hill, at a bar near my house. They do karaoke on saturday nights, and the past few times I've been there, I've sang. But I won't sing without the liquid courage to prompt it. So again, tonight I drink water, hoping that the strange combination of fatigue from the week before, along with copious amounts of H2O, will produce a feeling of delirium on par with drunkeness within me. It doesn't. I'm the designated driver again this evening and take Cristina and Laura for a late-night meal before getting home around 3 AM.
But I made it though without a drink (please don't count the tiny sip I had of Cristina's drink to ensure there was alcohol in it), and now we come to Day 14 without indulging. I'm almost half-way through, and I haven't gone crazy yet.
However, I also made the insane decision to give up women for Lent too. It's not like I'm overindulging in either alcohol or women. Far from it. It's not like I've had a girlfriend lately either. I just thought it'd be an interesting experiment to see if I could survive. So no dates, no hanging out, no Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. My friend Bobby likes to think that deep down I might really be masochistic. I starve myself, stay up for days upon days on end to do work, give up alcohol, give up women- I must like wallowing in my own misery. Maybe he's onto something. In any case I have a request for all of you foul temptresses: Stay away from me for the next 26 days while I barricade myself in the house!
--Cbake
Well, my fellow Catholics and non-Catholics, the season of Lent is upon us. This is the time of year where we Catholics (and some others, as I understand it) give up something for 40 days and 40 nights, the same amount of time Jesus spent in the desert being pestered and tempted by that pesky Satan.
"Satan! Stop pestering Jesus!" I can hear Satan's mother saying from the checkout line of the corner grocery store.
"But mom, it' soooo much fun to tease!" he replies, heh heh heh...
Anyway, moving on, it's a time for us Christians to reflect on how hard that must have been for Jesus, and so in our own small way we try and relate by giving up things important to us. Sometimes it's candy and chocolate; other times it's coffee and soda, and we always give up red meat on fridays. Problem is, I've been pretty slack about this for, oh, the past 7 years let's say.
Last month my friend Trent and I caught the film "40 Days and 40 Nights" on television, a movie in which Josh Hartnett attempts to give up all forms of sex, and basically all women in general, for Lent. This prompted me to try and sacrifice something big for Lent as well. I've been out of the game for a few years, so why not jump back into it with a bang.
The airing of that movie was fortuitous at best, because before I knew it, Ash Wednesday had appeared within a few days, and I hadn't a thought-out plan of what to sacrifice for 40 days. Hmmm, I hadn't had an alcoholic drink in the four days previous, I thought, so why not try and give that up? It would save me money and stand to be a test of the wills for sure.
Ash Wednesday coincided with the very first day of babysitting my 6 cousins, and as much as I might have wanted a drink during those hectic 9 days, luckily I was in an area unsuitable for such activities. But then the week ends, the weekend begins, and friends call and wish to go out. And that's when temptation rears it's ugly head.
Friday night: I have dinner with my stepmom at Kabuto's. Desperately want some sake to go with the hibachi steak. It's even harder to refuse free alcohol. A few hours later I meet some friends uptown at Grand Central and watch people dance. I sip on water. Can't dance without a drink. Or excuse me, can't dance WELL enough in my mind without a drink. So I relegate myself to standing on the wings with the guys, watching the girls get groped by creepy, drunk men. On one occasion I do have to go out and save my friend Cristina from some moron who won't stop touching her inappropriately. At this point I think "who needs liquid courage" and deduce that without alcohol in my system to hinder my reaction times, I just might be able to get a few good licks in on this guy if he tries to start trouble with me. Lucky for him, he doesn't. The Hulk is contained.
Saturday night: I meet the same friends from friday, with a few new ones from Chapel Hill, at a bar near my house. They do karaoke on saturday nights, and the past few times I've been there, I've sang. But I won't sing without the liquid courage to prompt it. So again, tonight I drink water, hoping that the strange combination of fatigue from the week before, along with copious amounts of H2O, will produce a feeling of delirium on par with drunkeness within me. It doesn't. I'm the designated driver again this evening and take Cristina and Laura for a late-night meal before getting home around 3 AM.
But I made it though without a drink (please don't count the tiny sip I had of Cristina's drink to ensure there was alcohol in it), and now we come to Day 14 without indulging. I'm almost half-way through, and I haven't gone crazy yet.
However, I also made the insane decision to give up women for Lent too. It's not like I'm overindulging in either alcohol or women. Far from it. It's not like I've had a girlfriend lately either. I just thought it'd be an interesting experiment to see if I could survive. So no dates, no hanging out, no Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. My friend Bobby likes to think that deep down I might really be masochistic. I starve myself, stay up for days upon days on end to do work, give up alcohol, give up women- I must like wallowing in my own misery. Maybe he's onto something. In any case I have a request for all of you foul temptresses: Stay away from me for the next 26 days while I barricade myself in the house!
--Cbake
posted by Cbake at 5:17 PM
6 Comments:
[Water is] the only drink for a wise man.
Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862)
The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions.
Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809 - 1892)
Cbake, welcome to my world. And when I say 'world.' what I mean is, Hell. I am allergic to alcohol. I am always the DD and water on the rocks is usually my poison of choice. But it at least keeps me OUT of most trouble and IN most of my clothes. LENT AINT GOT NOTHIN' ON ME!! I AM THE DESERT, BIATCH!!
"Alcohol is the anesthesia by which we endure the operation of life."
George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)
*sigh*
-Matt Eagle
True, Lenten season is a time to reflect but definitely not a time to just reflect then be back again to our old ways...
nice blog you have... nice reflections...
You're the man, Cbake. Keep it up. Like Juliet said though, don't let it be just an outward sign or an empty gesture. Try to reflect daily on what you are doing and why, and you could end up getting a whole lot more than you give up.
Some dude was groping Cristina? Boy howdy, that is not cool. Way to step up.
Sage advice: Remember the jewels, boy... Remember the jewels...
Thank you everyone for your support. It's a long road ahead.
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