Booze, bakes and board games.

Well. I have stopped drinking. For a month (8 days as I write this). I haven't posted in a while which is a pity because I've been going kinda nuts and it might have made interesting reading.

Why?

I am not doing it for lent! I am doing it out of a combination of frustration and curiosity. Frustration at how board I am at constantly being wasted and feeling ill. Curiosity because I have no idea how I'm going to feel in a month.

How?

Well I purchased and borrowed many board games, tobbacco and fruit tea. I figured these would be a fun (if a little cliched & geeky) set of distractions. I particularly enjoyed playing a game made by the Oxford dictionary people where you have to guess the meanings or spellings of obsqure words. I played that with Rob, Mat, Han and Ryannon until half past five in the morning. By which point we were so tired and baked that it became an enormous mental task just to work out if the number on the dice was odd or even. This brings me to perhaps the biggest hurdle. Sleeping.

Sleeping has never been a strong point of mine. At least if I'm pissed up I can achieve a comatose state with reletive ease. Day 1 I didn't achieve any form of sleep at all. Day 2 I was increadably tired and slept the normal 8 hours. Day three didn't sleep at all again and was really pissed off. Previously when dealing with insomnia I had had the bright idea of visiting the local pharmacy to procure some sleeping tablets. The highly morally responsible girl at the desk would only give me a herbal remedy. Fair enough. I supposed I should try them first as sedetives have a bit of a rep. However my scepticism (rightly) grew as on closer inspection the label revealled "may cause drowsiness". Only if you're lucky. On day 4 I went to Boots who prooved to have far fewer qualms in giving me real sleeping tablets. Just out of interest these didn't do much either.

Ratrace.

This board game definately needs a mention. It was Lenny's dad's and is from the 1970s. As such the instructions are written in the form "when he rolls the dice...". I took an instant liking to the un-PC nature of this game. The idea is to move up the social ladder scoffing at those below you as you go. The game is similar in appearance to Monopoly and a lot more fun. You can blow money at the racetrack, invest in shares, marry into higher classes and dump your friends at the social club behind. Then you can loose it all to a divorce or the tax "man". Brilliant.

Anyhow apart from this theres nothing much to say. As a consequence of being sober I've found myself doing strange and wonderful things that are actually connected with my degree like reading from textbooks and journals. Unfortunately I can't see you guys being interested in experiments on sea slugs (Aplysia) that provide a genetic and and biochemical basis for the mechanisms of learnig and memory. I'm right aren't I?

I will end on one more potentially useful nugget of information. Any of you looking for a strong herbal tea that actually tastes as good as it smells......

Twinings lemon and ginger. You heard it here first. Now you think i'm a hippy.