Great Literature, Illicit Drugs, and Ice Cream

I browsed through my neglected emails before starting to write this morning, and found that one of my friends had posted a discussion of what she was reading and watching (in the way of movies) to our writer's group. She talked about Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, and other writers. She also spoke of seeing "Sense and Sensibility" for the first time the other day. She wanted to know what the rest of us were reading/watching.

I thought of the irony of my recent selections: I already mentioned watching The A Team, but my friend's post had come at a time when the night before, I had just received my first issue of "Critical Care Nursing 2007" and was browsing through it and came across an article on crystal meth. My immediate reaction was, "Cool! an article on crystal meth! I've been wanting to learn more about this drug!" A rather far cry from Jane Austen and other great English literature, but I yam what I yam, as Popeye said.

Anyway, my interest in crystal meth was not morbid, since I work in the ICU of a large metropolitan hospital and I see a rather significant number of people who are on drugs, or who have landed themselves in the hospital for drug or alcohol-related health issues. I figured I'd better know how to care for a meth user if I came across one on my unit.

You know, I can understand addiction to a certain extent, and I won't judge anyone for medicating whatever pain they may be in by the use of alcohol or illicit drugs. Many of the addicts who I have met have managed to survive some extremely tough life experiences, and I can't honestly say that if I'd had some of their experiences, I wouldn't be prone to trying drugs or falling into a bottle, so to speak. But I truly don't understand the fascination with crystal meth. Not only does it (this is rather simplified) pretty much knock out the pleasure centers in the brain, leaving the chronic meth user in a state of depression or psychosis, but one of the components is battery acid. Another component, depending on how it is made, is anhydrous ammonia (apparently it is commonly found in fertilizer). It's as if someone went out into their garage one day, looked at all of the toxic junk stored out on his/her shelves, and thought, "I could make a drug out of this."

Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox now. One of the movies that my friend mentioned was called "Truly, Madly, Deeply," and that she wanted to see it, but it was out of print. Which reminds me of a guy that I had dated for a (mercifully) short time. I am one of those people who tries to give a guy several chances before I decide that he is really a kook/weirdo/not meant for me, etc. This was one of those guys. Now I have to say that I am 42 years old and divorced, and I have been on some dates with men that make me realize "there's a reason this guy isn't married." But I digress, a bit.

So this guy came over to my place one time, and brought what he described as his favorite movie that he wanted to share with me: "Truly, Madly, Deeply." He also brought some ice cream to share (without checking with me, since it was a flavor I couldn't stand). So anyway, we were watching what I considered to be an over-the-top, boring, sentimental love story that he was extremely enthusiastic about. At one point in the movie, I almost turned to him and said, "So when do people start getting into fistfights, and when does stuff start getting blown up?" But I decided I'd be polite and keep my opinion to myself. When the movie was over, I gave it one of those "Thanks for sharing" unenthusiastic comments, and the date ended, and the guy left--without his ice cream.

It was only a date or two later that I decided that this guy was in one of the above categories that caused me to break up with him (I will let the reader guess which category I placed him in). When I told him I didn't want to see him anymore, he actually asked for his ice cream back! Like that was the most important thing in the breakup. I think the only time I was more shocked upon hearing what someone said to me was when I received a call from a recently-fired member of the staff at the place I was working at the time: She told me that she was going for a drug test for her next job and asked me if I knew whether drinking pickle juice would cover up the drugs in her system. Looks like I made the right decision on the guy, and the managers made the right decision about the employee. Yikes.

On a more literary note, I am currently reading Mary Oliver's "Rules for the Dance," a guide to metrical poetry, and Garrison Keillor's "Good Poems." But I also got excited to hear on CNN that someone is making a movie about the Marvel Comic character, "Iron Man." He really isn't my favorite superhero, but hey, a movie about a Marvel Comic character is at least worth checking out!