How to Fry Potatoes
When Thanksgiving rolled around I spent all my money on alcohol, and was left eating potatoes every meal for two weeks.
When Thanksgiving rolled around I spent all my money on alcohol, and was left eating potatoes every meal for two weeks.
An epically organized guide to some of our best work on topics including depression, anxiety, grief, eating disorders, substance abuse and other legitimately important topics.
I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, and it did: “I am hoping to fill the stage with artists who are willing to donate 20 minute sets.”
I refuse to make a New Year’s resolution. I can’t buy into that idea anymore, because I know it only sets me up for failure.
ANTM contestants Jael Strauss and Renee Alway have been in the closet all this time, says Jael.
I say, “Hear, hear!” to iced tea and present to the National Iced Tea Month goddesses 10 delightfully delicious iced teas to try.
“I could not wrap my head around having to jump back into the dating scene – sober no less. Where would I find suitable dating candidates? How do I “come out” as sober? It’s bad enough that the queer dating pool is incredibly small. Now, I had to contend with the fact that some people would be averse to dating a sober recovering addict.”
I relish that I am out in the streets with my community protesting inequality, instead of hiding from it under my sheets with a hangover.
I no longer default to the routine pairing of food with wine. Instead, I can really think about complex food and drink pairings that are layered and interesting.
The holiday season is the perfect time to indulge in decedent non-alcoholic hot chocolate concoctions that will put your co-workers’ spiked eggnog to shame.
“If a group I was attending was still printing, distributing, and teaching from a book that was blatantly racist or homophobic, I would get up and leave and/or advocate for change. I do not give special passes for misogyny and sexism, especially in my sobriety, because my self-worth is so integral to my complete recovery.”
The party starts at 6:30 am and ends at 10:30 am.
“The fellowship said I was thinking too hard about it, that I was stubborn, and that I was not willing to admit that there were forces bigger than me. What they didn’t get was that I did believe there were forces beyond my control, powers bigger than me. Let’s just take gravity as one of many examples. I just don’t believe that praying to gravity or the radiator or the ocean would cure me of my alcoholism.”
It also turns out that I’m a foodie and love brunching sober because I get to focus and spend more money on the actual food! (Pizza and Oreos are NOT theeeeee best combination of food I’ve eeeeeeever eaten. That was the vodka talking.)
“On one hand, she said she fully supported my path to recovery, but in the same breath she would ask me provoking questions like ‘When is fun Ginger going to come back?’ in response to me choosing not to drink.”
“I used to go to The Pride March every year, starting at age fifteen. I don’t remember exactly how old I was when I started to become disillusioned with it, but I do remember why.”
“With summer here, I do not have to forgo the act of social drinking. But, I can forgo the hangover, the shame, the guilt, and the regret. Here are 20 summer mocktail recipes to try now, sober or not.”
Here are some tools I employ to protect my sobriety while still allowing me to participate in all of the fun. If you’re concerned about being a sober queer at Pride this year, some of these tools may come in handy.
Other than partying, what did we like, what were we good at, what defined us? One area that many LGBTQ individuals, including myself, struggled with was redefining what it meant to be queer. But, if being queer was synonymous with getting drunk, then how would I ever be able to define myself as anything other than a drunk?
“My sobriety buddies warned me that if I violated the ban on dating before I was ready, I might be pushed into a relapse. Instead, I’ve just been pushed into never wanting to date again.”
“It’s on my twenty-fourth birthday that I realize something is wrong. I wake up crying and I don’t stop.”