Detox Monastery in Thailand.

"The Thamkrabok monastery in Saraburi, Thailand, runs a detox program where both Thais and foreigners alike experience a Buddhist approach to drug rehabilitation. For the first five days addicts take an herbal medicine that facilitates a rapid detoxification, causing immediate vomiting. Addicts are expected to stay at least a week at the monastery after they make their vow, but are welcome to reside at the monastery for weeks until they feel mentally and physically cleansed."

Link: (With Picture Gallery)

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Update On My Husband

Steve's in Charlotte, NC, at a rehabilitation center for his spinal injury now after a 2 week stay in the hospital for back surgery and recovery.

His days are full of physical therapy. Learning how to get from a wheel chair to the bed and vice versa and exercises to build up muscle. He still can't stand on his own. His legs aren't working well enough but each day there is improvement so that is the main thing and we all remain hopeful. :D

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Ibogaine Addiction Therapy

Ibogaine Addiction Therapy

I recently read glowing reviews in the Ibogaine newsletter about an Ibogaine treatment center in Puerto Vallarta called Awakening in the Dream House.

We are a "family" committed to providing a fulfilling and comfortable place for people to detox and recreate their lives. We offer a safe, clean, and calm setting to work in and will assist in meeting your needs. You will be treated as an equal, with respect and an understanding of the path to recovery you have chosen.

'Ibogaine - Rite of Passage' Trailer can be viewed below.



IBOGAINE
Studies undertaken by leading research and academic facilities have shown that ibogaine is invaluable in treating physical dependency and the associated withdrawal symptoms of Heroin, Methadone, and Prescription Opiates. It alleviates 90% of opiate withdrawal symptoms and can address cravings for two to six months. At the same time it changes habitual thought patterns and helps to restore the proper functioning of the brain's neurochemistry that, if left untreated, can make it so difficult to stay free of addiction.

I wonder how soon I'll be able to get Ibogaine in the rural Blue Ridge Mountains?

link | mindvox | lunart | rocky

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PARADISE LIFE

A Stunning Memoir about Recovery from Addiction

Author Christopher Keeley offers hope for drug addicts to get clean, to start over, and have a wonderful life

Addiction to drugs is like a lover that you crave for, the more you give in to it, the harder it is to let go. This unhealthy obsession can cause horrible consequences, not only to yourself, but also to your family and the people you care about. Author andaward winning photographer Christopher Keeley shares how he quit this nasty habit through Paradise Life, a profound collection of personal stories and photographs that inspire a spirit of recovery.

link

As a recovering addict myself I find his book very interesting. His other web presence is also entertaining-- displaying art, activism, photographs, etc. Go have a look around.

Related:
From the Book
Daily Dreamtime
Intervention Organization
Secret Surrealistic Society

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"Lean," A New Hip High

It's more than a drug; it's a culture. It's what's known on the street as "Lean," a highly addictive cocktail of cough syrup, cold medicine, alcohol and candy -- so potent it makes you "lean" over when high.

The drug first began to get attention a few years ago, when a popular Houston DJ overdosed on it. [MORE...]

I've never heard of "Lean" before. Is it really new or new to the media? There's been cough syrup highs for probably 100 years. I remember a strong cough syrup that was gold and almost as expensive as the precious metal. Long, long ago...

via: addiction and recovery

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Ten Reasons We Already Miss Ann Richards

Ann Richards, the famously silver-tongued and silver-haired former governor of Texas, died Wednesday from complications of esophageal cancer. She was 73. Here's just some of what we'll remember and miss about her:

1. Richards used her wit not only to disarm her political opponents but to encourage other women to get into politics: "Let me tell you, sisters, seeing dried egg on a plate in the morning is a lot dirtier than anything I've had to deal with in politics," she said.

2. As a homemaker raising four kids, Richards became politically involved by volunteering on campaigns, including helping elect Sarah Weddington, the 25-year-old lawyer who had successfully argued Roe v. Wade before the Supreme Court, to the Texas House. Richards called Weddington the first "out-and-out feminist activist" she'd ever met, according to the Washington Post.

3. Two years after undergoing rehab for alcoholism in 1982, Richards was elected state treasurer, making her the first woman elected to a statewide post in Texas in 50 years. Of her return from addiction, she said: "I believe in recovery, and I believe that as a role model I have the responsibility to let young people know that you can make a mistake and come back from it."

4. When Richards gave the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in 1988 -- where she zinged the elder George Bush -- "Poor George. He can't help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth" -- she also reminded the audience that she was only the second woman to give the keynote address at the convention in 160 years. The first was Barbara Jordan.

Continued in the Comments.

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Reading the world through Asheville's digital diaries - They're a new breed of citizen-reporters, net-savvy activists and digital diarists, and through their Web logs, or blogs, they keep journals of their passions, posting them online for all to read. In recent years, they've also made blogs a new media force to be reckoned with.

And now cyberspace is rife with blogs from and about Asheville – a widely varying set of sites that are tough to classify, except to say that each one of them is driven by someone's passion for getting their message out. Log on for an inside look at Asheville's blog scene.

Easy Bake Coven - easybakecoven.net
According to the description by creator Susan Cook, EBC's content "May include art, literature, music, film, recovery, counterculture, political climate from a guitar-picking earth mother who practices sarcasm as a form of tantric sex."

Very nice write-up on great group of Asheville bloggers in Asheville's alternative weekly, the Mountain Xpress, with a quick note about my site, too. It mainly features the good folks at Blog Asheville. I thought it would be rather gauche of me to participate in the meeting for this article when local paper, Citizen-Times, already did a blogging spread on me and some others in May 2003. They also chose some folks off of my blogroll to feature. Remember that, Anne and Theo?

Link

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Ramble On...
Permit me to ramble a bit this morning. Friday Blogging is conducive to small talk and rambling, cat blogging, etc.

I'm so tired seeing of the dreaded Blue Screen of Death. In fact, it was all I could see for a couple of hours this morning. Windows was stuck going through the same thing over and over and wouldn't advance. This old dinosaur has seen me through many good days so if it'll just hold on until I can save enough scratch for a new one, I'll be happy. Or a good used one will also do.

Such a glorious day in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. We're expecting a high of 75° which is a little low for mid-June, but I'll take it.

Detroit Basketball! Now it's getting very interesting.

Rehab Is For Quitters
Yesterday was my recovery anniversary. Fourteen Years. After many, many, and yes, many more years of substance abuse, I finally got help for my addiction and if you don't count weed and a few other botanicals, I have been drug-free since June 16, 1991. Go me!

Off to get another cup of coffee, read the news and visit YOU....

I feel a sin coming on.

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From singer of The 13th Floor Elevators, to solo career, a mental hospital and back, Roky Erickson has lived in poverty as a virtual recluse, shying away from the music world as he battled schizophrenia for the past 20 years or so. Now Roky is on the road to recovery and rediscovery and working in the studio while under care and rehab of his brother, Sumner. I've gotta root for any 'phoenix rising out of the ashes' story, and hope to see him do well.

(via Tom Hallett @ [The Pulse »]

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For some reason, woman oriented politics are especially likely to give rise to silly labels, from the "soccer moms" of yesteryear to the "security moms" of today, and cringe-worthy catch phrases like the Bush campaign's "W Stands for Women." A few years ago, Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway spoke of "the three 'magic M's'—marriage, mortgage, and munchkins" that move women toward conservative politics. This year, a concert/political event in New York intended to galvanize young women's vote in support of the Democrats was titled "Chicks Rock, Vaginas Vote." In the presidential election, the candidates in their urgency to garner the women's vote, sometimes do more harm than good. Neither one of them has reached out for the women's vote that I can see. Link



Long Trip For Psychedelic Drugs - Psilocybin for headaches? A proposal for testing MDMA as a treatment for anxiety in terminal cancer? Link





Dave’s addiction - Red-hot rock guitarist Dave Navarro talks about his latest project: A book documenting his road to recovery, among other big changes, Don’t Try This at Home: A Year in the Life of Dave Navarro.



Free Speech Movement @ 40 - Veterans plan commemoration in Berkeley in October.



So long, Hurricane Jeanne. Thank you for missing me.

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Dubya, M.D.

Intelligence Doctor? Spin Doctor, Witch Doctor, Doc-in-a-Box Doctor, but Intelligence Doctor?



Rasterbator - a web service which creates huge rasterized pictures out of relatively small image files. Will have to try this out. [via - waxy]



Caffeine patches - Get it in a mug, slap a patch on your shoulder, but I'm looking for a caffeine IV so I can really amp up. [via - bestweekever]



Sluggers Path - Sobriety simplified. A snapshot of recovery that you will remember and use. A tool that may be helpful to alcoholics.



Blog Of Death - Hmmm.



March 11, 1955 - Nina Hagen's birthday. On the cusp of 50 and looking fine.



Is Pillow Drooling an Olympic sport?

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Good morning to you...



:: The same team that brought "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" to SF now takes on twisted satire siblings David and Amy Sedaris' "The Book of Liz," a story about a woman with overly active sweat glands and a dream. See what happens when Sister Elizabeth Donderstock, a hardworking member of a group of religious recluses who call themselves "The Squeamish," leaves the safety of home and her job as a cheese ball maker to try her luck in the big city. What she encounters is a strange world full of boozers, users and funny-talking immigrants.



:: Robert De Niro, 60, has prostate cancer, but his prospects for a full recovery are good. You didn't hear much about prostate cancer not long ago; but it's everywhere now.



:: Grace Slick still showing her paintings, most recently in SF.



:: The 50-year-old housewife across from me manipulates her dildo like Demi working the clay in Ghost. Part of the Best of LA series in the LA Weekly. Seriously, the whole 2003 series is pretty interesting.



:: Fox News declares Bush winner of 2004 Election, says fun new satire site, Dateline Hollywood.



:: Fall Color Guide for Asheville and Western North Carolina



Some say the glass is half empty, some say the glass is half full. I say, Are you going to drink that damn thing or not?

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Good morning to you...



Today is Rosh Hashanna. "Teach us to number our days so that we may obtain a heart of wisdom." Rosh Hashanah reminds us that our time in this world is limited, so let us do our best to make a difference in the world and in our communities in which we live.



{music} Bands Against Bush is an international movement which uses music and art and the support systems of these activities for protest and political involvement. We oppose the Bush administration and its domestic and foreign policies. Some celebrations are planned for Oct 11.



And Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello is planning to hit the road with fellow politically minded musicians Billy Bragg and Steve Earle on the Tell Us the Truth Tour this fall.



{fashion} The Edge of Hip: Vice, the Brand



{artsy} Clay illustrations by Amy Vangsgard. [via: sweet anne]



{political} Myanmar's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi returned home on Friday after more than three months in detention but her doctor said she faces house arrest again at home while doctors tend to her there in recovery.



{quote} Disbelief in magic can force a poor soul into believing in government and business. ~Tom Robbins



saturday morning me//

bedhead/pass the visine/

drinking: dr enuf & java/2 fisted drinker/cheerios/

still smoking & toking/hubby quit smoking/

olive henley/jeans/yoga flats/

listening: my morning jacket-it still moves/

so how's about you, mon amis?/



Can I trade this blog for what's behind door #2?

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::Good morning to you... It was a good morning when I wrote this. And a cool and fantastic 55°. (Tip: to type your degrees thingy, hold down the "Alt" key and type 0176. )



::Trying To Help, by Dennis Miller

"I'd like to make a few simple observations for those of you who still don't quite get me. Maybe this can help:

Between Rush Limbaugh and myself, he's the fatter, louder and richer one. Otherwise, we're just two disingenuous egomaniacs who'd rather hobnob with the pompous and powerful than scrutinize them."

[via: chapel-perilous]





::Zen Quotes and Other Stuff- Maximum Bliss



::Tile-A-Day at Citrus Moon. Also look at their OverAlls section for a more customized choice of designs.



::Earthquake Simulator



saturday morning me//

black sports bra/black yoga pants/

black ballet flats/b&w Indian print shawl/

dog jumping & spinning/husband picking, not grinning/

java #2/nicotine #3/looking for more bad habits/

nah-I'm still in recovery & abstaining/

so, how about you?/



Today is the last day of some of your life.

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Good Monday morning.... No linkie love today. Just a little gabbing. I believe everyone is still in recovery mode from the long weekend.



Hair-A-Pa-Looza. Skye called and asked my permission to let her friend's Mother cut/shave the back of her head. I said yes. But only a few inches. She's still visiting her friend, so I've not seen the results yet. On the bright side: Haircuts that suck still have time to grow out before school begins in the fall.



Musak In Hell I've got a little portable tv I took out to the sunroom with me, which only picks up a few channels. And was looking for something to watch as I breathed in the night mountain air, drank my delicious beverage, and watched the world go by. And without reading any further, you just know what was on the only channel that got the best reception. Freaking Law and Order. It's a mutant; it's morphed. It's everywhere. Make It. Stop. I imagine the elevator muzak in Hell will be that damn theme song.

{{{{{Duh-DUM........}}}}}



Quote For Today

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson



Don't Be Sexist - Bitches Hate That.

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Thanks for the objective, agenda-free support yesterday on my recovery anniversary and for not being judgemental. It's been a long time straight, but still extremely hard for me to discuss any of the details from my past.



See 35 years of Rock Poster Art here. [via j-walk]





Evan Dando is glad to soon leave New York behind for Paris after September 11 and the subsequent political climate.



Retired General Wesley Clark moves closer to announcing his candidacy for president; most likely as a democrat. He helped clarify events in Iraq for me as a frequent guest on CNN. If he does announce, I'll certainly study his proposals closely. But at this point, the first non-Republilcan who steps forward and demonstrates that they've got a pair, will be getting my vote.



Watchblog is a 2004 election news, opinions and commentary. Nicely done.

[via fimoculous]



There's a new gossip site in cyberspace, called Tabloid Column.



Collect the eggs and don't let them break in the Scrambled Eggs game. I didn't do so well, but it's really quite simple.



Porn-o-matic. Where you fill in the blanks to write a porno scene. Caution: X-Rated.



Quotes For Today 3 favorite little quotes on faith

Pray for a good harvest, but keep on plowing. ~Unknown

Leap and the net will appear. ~Unknown

Step out in faith. ~Unknown



Keep your hands where I can see them.

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Rehab Is For Quitters

Today is my recovery anniversary. Twelve Years. After many, many, and yes, many more years of substance abuse, I finally sought help for my addiction and thankfully have remained drug-free since June 16, 1991. I lost my cherished home I'd bought on my own at age 24. But I didn't stop using. I went from main custody to weekend custody of my son to my ex-husband in a nasty court battle. I still didn't stop using. I saw many friends die and my heart ached for them, but I didn't stop using. I wouldn't be ready for another 8 years. For no specific reason other than I was sick and tired of being sick and tired, I sought help for my drug addiction. And I have been drug-free every single day since June 16, 1991. Fucking A. I did it for myself in my own time and that's important to know about addiction.

.:__::__:.



There's now a CyberBeg site. A sampling of the begging on the site: "money needed to get deploma" (their spelling) "My last shot at LOVE & my son may have ruined it!!" "need bOOb REDUCTION -- or Chiropractor - help it hurts ;-( "



Shee-it. I suppose I should congratulate the San Antonio Spurs on their NBA Finals win over the New Jersey Nets last night. Tim Duncan just can't be out maneuvered by anyone. Even though the Nets didn't win, and it looked more like a comedy of errors a lot of the time, I still enjoyed watching the series and am curious to see if Jason Kidd will stay with the Nets now that he's a free agent.



Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction, will be co-hosting with Jimmy Kimmel all this week with Jane's Addiction appearing on Friday.



Goth Barbie and Marilyn Manson Ken? Someone made all these and many others which are pictured here. [via: j-walk]



Quote For Today

Even a thought, even a possibility, can shatter and transform us.

~Friedrich Nietzsche



I'm out of estrogen and I've got a gun.

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I still wish for peace.....



Vital Info On Iraqi Chemical Weapons Provided By U.S. Company That Made Them

BALTIMORE-The Pentagon has obtained vital information on Iraqi chemical weapons from Alcolac International, the Baltimore-based company that sold them to the Mideast nation in the '80s. "It's terrifying what Iraq has," Pentagon spokesman James Reese said Monday. "Saddam possesses massive stockpiles of everything from ethylene to thiodiglycol, according to sales records provided by Alcolac." The Pentagon has also been collecting key intelligence on Iraqi nuclear weapons and guidance systems from Honeywell, Unisys, and other former U.S. companies that supplied them to Iraq. [via: theonion]



I see where the English - Al Jazeera site experiences a Hack Attack.



My husband went to the doctor yesterday and found out that he has diabetes. We're just learning about diabetes and I'm a little worried. I'm glad he went so we know for sure what's wrong and can regulate it. Now, if I can get him to stick to a reasonable diet and get back into his yoga. He's the one that got me interested in yoga. *He also got some pills to take daily for two weeks and then a checkup to see how/if they're working. But they said he'll be on some type of meds for the rest of his life. [*edited @ 9:44]



Good News Another missing girl's been found in Mexico after 4 years. She's from North Carolina. A few days ago, a 14 year old girl, who left her home with a much older man under strange circumstances, was also found safe in California. And, of course, Elizabeth Smart is home safely with her family now. Hopefully, this good news rally can continue.



More Weblog Stuff The Addicted Bloggers was a web ring I joined right when I first saw it. It was a ring for people who have battled alcoholism and/or drug addiction. As far as I know everyone on the list is in recovery, clean, and doing very well. Most of you know my story: (nutshell) I was a huge drug addict and finally quit all drugs in June 1991 and have been clean ever since then. I met some great people there that I talk to quite often.



Quote For Today

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it. ~Buddha



Kinky is using a feather; perverted is using the whole chicken.

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*I had a post yesterday and a nasty picture taken of Nick Nolte when the cops picked him up. But I decided it was condescending of me to plaster that unflattering picture of him again on the web. So I took it off. I had also posted an unflattering picture of myself taken when I was obviously bombed. [Moral: We've both f*cked up, we're both now in recovery, no pictures necessary!]

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Regarding Tom Daschle speaking out to Bush yesterday...


DASCHLE FINDS BALLS ON SENATE FLOOR





Had Lost Them in Senate Cloakroom





Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle found his balls on the Senate floor

yesterday, just moments before launching into a stem-winding attack on

President Bush’s alleged politicizing of national security issues, Senate

sources said.





“What are you doing down there?” Senator Daschle said after seeing his

balls on the floor of the Senate well. “I’ve been looking all over for

you!”





Yesterday’s recovery of Senator Daschle’s balls brought down the curtain

on one of the Senate’s longest-running mysteries: what happened to the

Democrats’ balls?





The answer to that riddle, as unbelievable as it may seem, is also

surprisingly simple: the Democrats’ balls have been in the Senate

cloakroom for the last several months, seemingly lost forever.





Charles Hepworth, who runs the cloakroom used by all one hundred senators,

said that the Democrats had checked their balls in the cloakroom months

ago and had forgotten to claim them.





Somehow, Mr. Hepworth said, the Democratic balls became lost in a tangled

mess of other unclaimed items.





“It’s really a disaster area in that cloakroom,” Mr. Hepworth said. “The

Republicans lost their economic plan in there months ago and they still

can’t find it.”





Yesterday, though, was a time of celebration for the Democrats, who were

unanimously jubilant to be reunited with their long-lost balls.





“I’ve got to tell you, it feels great,” said Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA).
[via: borowitz report]

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