[slang]

[ humorous ] When I think about what my life was like before the "recession" and what it is now, I really feel like killing *someone* (with a desk drawer handle and a roll of wheat pennies) but not myself. [ /portion ]

I usta think about suicide when I drank alot. Yes, I know you think I drink a lot now. That's what everybody thinks. I only have <B>a</B> beer about twice a year now. The reduction in consumption has helped tremendously.

I can't remember the exact day I decided to quit, but I did enjoy being piss drunk every weekend for quite some time. I was really good at it too. I don't think there was an event, no dui, loss of job, fight or anything, I just saw the complete lack of progress in the things that I wanted to do. And I was always depressed.

Now days I see not a complete lack of progress, but an incredibly *slow* progress. (slang is depressing himself whist attempting to be vulnerable and uplifting to the new member)

So anyway, humor is my new therapy. Humor is not prescribed by some doc that asks me how I feel about my mother. It's not detrimental to the liver, or the brain. It's legal 24 hours a day in all states (cept Mass), and I can use it anywhere. Are my jokes and skits funny? *I don't care*, they are more for me than anyone else.

How does one develop a sense of humor? I dont really know. What I do is attempt to exaggerate situations to an extreme to make them funny. I am a paraody of myself. When I do something that I think *might* be funny, I take it to an extreme to make it more ridiculous. This helps me cope through laughter.

Thousands of people in this area carry weapons for personal protection (and to show off cool handguns to their friends) That in itself isn't funny. I carry 3 handguns and 80 rounds of ammo. When you see me, you might think "does that guy have a stick up his ass.....or is he carrying some type of bazooka rocket under his jacket?" That's funny. (**may not be appropriate for everyone....possibly a bad example**)

I look for humor in everything I do. I need it. Without it I'd be twitching in the corner of some day room , drooling all over myself, wondering if maybe I should have taken the blue pill.

Another thing I find as an <b>e</B>ffective anti-depressant is searching out hapless bastards in *more* dire straights than me. This may seem insensitive , but I've found it to also be very comforting knowing there are so many more people that have it worse than me. It *is* getting harder to find these people since I started my new shitjob, but you may find the technique useful.