Hi HF and Chrissie - thanks for the kind words.

Technically I still have a 3-month thesis project to finish before I can graduate, but I'm done with classes and will no longer have to commute to Boston after work...which was brutal. My masters is in Digital Media (with a concentration in Interactive Design), which I'll admit is kinda strange (and has almost nothing to do with my profession), but I loved the program and learned a ton of cool stuff.

Chrissie - I blew through Seasons 1-3 of Breaking Bad over the past month and I'm two episodes away from finishing Season 4. This show has been amazing, and there are literally so many great television series out there right now. I'm a huge Game of Thrones fanboy (especially the books), so I can't recommend that series enough.

Sorry about the Jayhawks. I love college basketball and would've won a bracket challenge if Kansas pulled it off (I was on fire with my picks this year). Sadly, my alma mater hasn't danced since 2004, and I would give ANYTHING to see them back in the Final Four.

-H

OMG, you are SO LUCKY to have the last two episodes ahead of you!!! The writing was just...over the top, they way they pulled everything together. Makes me wonder HOW they will proceed w/ the next season, can't wait...Man! Has Walt ever been transformed from the milk-toast science teacher... (isn't that cute, Jesse still calls him Mr. White???)

Sorry, off topic! have a good (moderate) weekend.

Chrissie

Hi Hess

Congrats on the last class for your masters! Given the circumstances your units aren't too bad. I thought about Red Sky at Night this week too. I hope he's OK.
IMO lately you've been doing well, so keep up the good work..

Cheers
Sticky

Hey Hess,

Fellow Game of Thrones fanatc here, books and show. I think I watched every EP last season with a buzz. Watching Dinklage as Tyrion always brought on a craving for a bit of red for me.

Best wishes,
WIMB

Good to hear from you, WIMB. I had to rewatch so many Thrones episodes last season because I was borderline BOC'ed for most of them. I hope you're enjoying the second season so far (it seems like they're deviating a bit more from the books this year, but I'm still loving it). The direwolves are looking quite badass.

Weekly recap time for numero 31. I barely got back into the 20's with a total of 28.5 and 3 AF days. Monday night I stayed up super late finishing Breaking Bad (Chrissie - holy sh*t, Gus' head was INSANE) and bingeing, which led to a late entrance to work on Tuesday. I've made a bad habit of overdoing it on Monday nights to get over feeling like sh*t after a Sunday Funday. I really need to get this under control, since I had a good streak of avoiding Monday Meltdowns during the middle months of TSM.

On Thursday, I ducked out of work early to watch Opening Day with some some co-workers, which led to a long night of karaoke at a local basement bar. I ended up at about 10 units (I was attempting to get some honey in my voice...unsuccessful), but these were spread out over 10 hours and I stuck to light beer. Nothing too bad there. On Friday, I met up with some friends in Boston to get the surly train rolling, but I ended up feeling really spacey from the Nal and couldn't finish drinks.

I was considering a NYC trip for the weekend, but ended up visiting my parents. Instead of getting banged up in Brooklyn, I played catch with my dad, then went to go see The Hunger Games with my sister (quite entertaining, and Jennifer Lawrence is gorgeous...but the book was better) and had a nice AF Saturday. On Sunday, we had an Easter brunch with my dad's side of the family (HEAVY drinkers), but I stuck to orange juice, and no one bothered me about it. In fact, the only drinks I had all weekend were 2.5 John Dalys during Thrones last night.

So it was nice to not feel hungover this morning, and hopefully this good start to the week carries through to Friday (the Red Sox Home Opener - one of the surliest days of the year). I'll be attending the game with my dad, who doesn't drink much at all anymore, so I've got a good chance to survive without getting blacked out at Fenway and ending up at some random bar on Landsdowne screaming at strangers about how stupid the Carl Crawford signing was.

Mon - 8
Tues - AF
Wed - AF
Thurs - 10
Fri - 8
Sat - AF
Sun - 2.5

Total - 28.5/3 AF

I hope those in the US enjoyed the holiday. Thanks for reading!

-H

Oh, I love reading your posts...they are so newsy & colorful, and just the right amount of detail. It's like being there - I get so many visual images going on...

And style aside, the substance is great: hearing your progress - 10 light beers, over 10 hours? How completely moderate. And pouring out drinks? Cool beans! Keep it comin'. But good luck w/ any post Breaking Bad let down syndrome. Yeah, Gus' exit was...perfect. It's fun to watch some of the extras on their website, like an interview w/ that actor, who in real life is amazingly animated and...human.

Chrissie

That total for the week looks great! And sometime else, if you are drinking for many hours, and only averaging one an hour, that is actually not bad!

Hi Hess

10 drinks over 10 hours and only 2.5 drinks in the weekend. Well done!

My boys enjoyed the Hunger Games movie but also thought the book was better.

Hope your week is going well.

Cheers
Sticky

Congratulations Hess! Masters in Digital (opps don't remember, too much alcohol lately )

Good job on battling the surly too. I have to watch Breaking Bad, never have, it does sound interesting.

Zip

Hi all - weekly recap time for week 32.

This was a bit of a strange week. It started out with four straight AF days, but soon devolved into a three-day bender that featured (among other things) vomiting, consecutive gray outs, and a particularly regrettable one-night stand. Bad decisions.

The easy excuse is that this was a pretty big weekend, as I was up in Boston for the Sox home opener (which I only had one drink during), but overall I'm not sure what's going on with me lately. I'm either sober or getting sh*tfaced, and I'm having all sorts of trouble moderating. I think what's happening is that since my volume of AF days has been notably higher over the past two months months, I'm setting myself up for big binges due to an uptick in ADE. Maybe I should start planning a moderate drinking session during the week to take the edge off? I've been good about using willpower to abstain completely, but that same willpower does not translate to slowing myself down during binges.

Anyway, this current week is going to be high, as dude-on-the-couch is back in town and we've been going out every night since his arrival. I'm going to another Sox game this weekend, so hopefully it won't be a repeat of last weekend.

Mon - AF
Tues - AF
Wed - AF
Thurs - AF
Fri - 12
Sat - 13.32
Sun - 10

Total - 35.43/4 AF

-----

Also...

Levon Helm - one of my favorite musicians ever - is in the final stages of cancer, and I'd like to give him a little shout-out here, if you'll indulge me.

Shortly after I graduated from college, I spent a lot of time digging into the Band's discography (Levon was the drummer, and one of the main vocalists in the Band - a criminally underrated folk/rock group that had their best output from the late-60's through the late-70's). I loved Robbie Robertson's songwriting and his obsession with Americana. I picked apart Rick Danko's jumping basslines and his goofy demeanor. Richard Manuel was the tragic drunk that I saw much of myself in. Garth Hudson had a sweet beard. But my favorite part of the Band was Levon Helm's voice - a rich, throaty tenor with a Southern drawl. I highly recommend checking out his pipes on the performance of "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" from the concert film The Last Waltz.

Unfortunately, I became a fan a little too late, because by then Levon had been diagnosed with throat cancer for almost a decade, and the treatment had withered that awesome voice into a rasp. It didn't stop him from doing what he loved though, and began holding weekly concerts in his upstate NY barn. He dubbed them Midnight Rambles, and they attracted all sorts of other musicians, and sell-out crowds. Back when my drinking was at its worst, I would drown myself in whiskey and watch recent live performances from these over and over, often being moved to tears because I was an emotional drunken mess. My girlfriend at the time kept trying to get tickets to a Ramble for me as a gift, but unfortunately they were too pricey, and the idea was put on the back burner a few years ago.

Not being able to hear Levon sing "The Weight" in person will become one of my great regrets in life. He was a very talented, colorful dude (check out his autobiography "This Wheel's on Fire" for the whole story). My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family, and I hope the end of his journey is peaceful. He lived his life doing what he loved, and in the big scheme of things, I don't think you can do much better than that.

"Ya take what ya need and ya leave the rest/But they should never have taken the very best."

That's it from me this week.

-H