Our Swords (Gabe Hutchinson)
29/05/10 • 5 Comments

So this is the end. With one week remaining in my HSM I would like to share with you all the things that I like or even love about being a teetotaller (is that one L or two?). I once heard that if you ever reach total enlightenment while drinking a beer, it will make beer shoot out your nose. This has instilled in me a great fear of over thinking while knocking back a brew or two. Seriously though, my extended period of abstinence has allowed my mind to operate much more clearly. I’m remembering things I haven’t remembered for years and I love it. My clear mind has also kept me occupied at work. A few times I feel like I’ve been on the brink of enlightenment only to realise that I’ve actually gone mental from thinking about absolutely everything in circles for hours. This is where the [...]

Giving Up The Gun
01/05/10 • 3 Comments

Today I am entering unchartered waters. I’m going to a music festival and I’m going to be sober all day. I’m hoping the people from Guinness World Records will be there, because I’m probably the first person to ever be sober at a music festival. Jokes aside, it is quite a significant thing because for the 3 or so years that I’ve been going to music festivals, not once have I spent the day entirely sober. Sure, I’m not part of the usual festival brigade who spend the day in a drug and alcohol induced stupor but I still enjoy a little drink to help me slide on my dancing shoes. I’m sure it will be a little bit strange and a little bit awkward at first but I’m hoping I’ll be feeling good before the sun sets. Or will it be the complete opposite and any attempt to sway my hips [...]

We Are Going To Be Friends (by Gabe)
08/04/10 • 0 Comments

It’s been a while I know but let me explain… As you may already know, I’ve been madly saving money in order to spend to latter 6 months of the year in Europe. I realised a few weeks ago, that I could work casually and make enough to get myself over there where I’d then need to take up some more boring work OR I could work my lazy ass like it has never been worked before and do Europe in the lap of luxury (on a beach being served drinks and massaged by scantily clad European women I’d imagine). Hmmm, I choose scantily clad Europeans. So I’m writing to you from Bendigo in Victoria where I’m working tirelessly on a gold mine as a Geology Assistant. That makes it sound interesting enough but in essence it’s just smashing rocks with a hammer. And after a long day of working down in [...]

Shake It Out (By Gabe)
09/03/10 • 6 Comments

I have now completed Week One of this new adventure. So far everything has gone swimmingly. I’m feeling good, I’ve gone surfing everyday since I started (no signs of improved ability as of yet, will update findings next week) and have had basically no desire to drink…which is good…I think. The weekend posed no real threat to my abstinence. The few brush’s I did have with the devil’s mouthwash were minor affairs and certainly didn’t have me clutching for the bottle. On Saturday night I hung out with a few mates before chauffeuring them to the nightspots in Mooloolaba. It was surprisingly enjoyable. I thought it’d just be me watching a few drunks make bad jokes whilst having beer spilt on me but it was just like hanging out as usual. We sat around just listening to music, talking crap and throwing insults at one another. Hope still remains for Sober Gabe! I really do [...]

Introductions are always hard (By Gabe)
03/03/10 • 2 Comments

Hello Friends, My name is Gabe, first time caller, long time listener and I am about to begin my HSM journey. I’m 18 years old, a University Student, music fanatic (bordering psychotic) and a social drinker. I’ve been drinking for a few years now and I’m curious to see things from the other side. Almost all my family and friends are quite partial to the occasional drink so I had a comfortable introduction to drinking. The first time I had a good crack at the drink (excluding the thrill of a .089mL sip of Dad’s mid strength beer) was in a Pub in Italy. I was 15 and a bit years old and on a school trip through the country (Before anyone asks, the school teachers on the trip did not solicit this chapter of the trip, though it would’ve been memorable if I had in fact been doing keg stands with [...]