I was reading an entry on another blog which had a comment in passing about drinking past the point of happiness, which made me think about something to blog about. How about that?

I had a friend in college (about 25 years ago!) tell me that I was about the happiest drunk he'd ever seen. No matter how much I drank, I never got pissy. Or mean, or violent, or jerky. I just got happy and stayed happy. Silly, yes. Stupid, probably. Obnoxious, most likely. But never angry or mean.

I've always felt that alcohol was a mood elevator. Whatever mood you're in when you start drinking, that's where you end up, except more of it. Pissed off that a chick (or guy, though not in my case...) dumped you? Start drinking and next thing you know you'll be insulting some perfectly nice girl at the bar. Picking a fight with some other girl's boyfriend. Crying in your beer. Wrapping your car around a telephone pole on purpose. Whatever. Angry that you just lost your job? Start drinking and you'll probably be going off on a Chevy Chase rant about your boss, or your former company, or the guy trying to cut you off at the bar. Picking fight, crying in beer, wrecking car, etc etc.

On the other hand, if you go out and are celebrating a promotion, a win for your favorite sports team (go Bears!), paying off a mortgage, etc etc, I doubt that you will be picking fights. Dancing crazy and singing karaoke, maybe. Buying more drinks for others than you can afford, maybe. Laughing a lot, probably. When the guy behind the bar cuts you off, you slap him on the back, smile a big stupid looking grin, and toss him a 10 dollar tip.

I've seen both happen so many times. Getting drunk doesn't make problems go away. It magnifies them in your mind. It's like, you're looking at them through a bunch of layers(your life, other issues, consequences) and suddenly those layers get wiped away by the alcohol, and it's just you and your problem. Not good. Nothing, not even problems, exist in a vacuum, yet that's what getting drunk does. Takes away the inhibitions, the common sense way of looking at things, and leaves just you, your problem, and your anger.

I don't drink much anymore. I just don't feel much like doing it most of the time. Too tired, too many problems. We used to pound a few beers when we were jamming, but then, happiness rules. Probably hoist a few during the Super Bowl. Again, start out happy, end up happy. (Probably won't hoist enough to make a difference anyway.) Plus I physically can't handle my drinks like I used to be able to. And I can't afford to lose too many more brain cells.

I just think that if one realizes that alcohol is just going to make whatever you're feeling that much moreso, maybe one will pick and choose one's spots for drinking a bit more carefully.