art history
reflex
If Michelangelo had sculpted David with a huge big stiffy hard-on
aiming upward toward the heavens like a 12-gauge loaded with
buckshot with a hair trigger ready to explode at the slightest
vibration, instead of that little dangly broken-off thing that's
there now, how would that have changed history?
Here's a pic. Just imagine. If I had time, I'd Photoshop.
<http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/flashpoints/visualarts/david
_big.html>
--
Goodbye, Blackie Lamb, sorry you had to grow up--we'll miss you.
Semolina Pilchard
> If Michelangelo had sculpted David with a huge big stiffy hard-on
> aiming upward toward the heavens like a 12-gauge loaded with
> buckshot with a hair trigger ready to explode at the slightest
> vibration, instead of that little dangly broken-off thing that's
> there now, how would that have changed history?
>
> Here's a pic. Just imagine. If I had time, I'd Photoshop.
>
> <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/flashpoints/visualarts/david
> _big.html>
Savonarola would have whacked it off, either literally or figuratively.
Glad to see you're stll in the Land of the Living, reflex.
--
Sem
reflex
>
> Savonarola would have whacked it off, either literally or figuratively.
>
> Glad to see you're stll in the Land of the Living, reflex.
Oh yes, I am alive, most indeedy. Perhaps you are referring to my
severe bout with mental illness a half-year back, during which I almost
expired? I have more to that story that I must relate. Turns out when I
reported it here on AT, I thought the saga had ended, but it had not.
Through a series of hilarious misadventures I developed a dependency to
clonazepam, a "mild" tranquilizer--they said--that turned out to be
anything but. I went cold turkey and now as a result have what may be
permanent neurogical damage; specifically, I suffer from uncontrollable
whole-body twitches at inappropriate times, sort of like
mini-convulsions. The withdrawal symptoms were accompanied by profound
paranoia and delusional behaviors, which when I relate to you I believe
all shall chuckle and shake their heads in humorous disbelief. The
story is very AT-worthy, but it is a long one, and to do it justice I
must delay its telling when I have an hour or two free to type, which
won't be for at least a week, for I must travel away to the West Coast
this coming half-fortnight.
As for Savonarola: I always thought it amusing that he pissed so many
people off so bad with all his kvetching about what was and what was
not moral that when the people finally had enough of his shit, they
decided to both burn him AND hang him simultaneously. And then they put
a plaque on the spot where they did it so that generations following
could know what happened there. I mean, they were some seriously pissed
off folk.
Semolina Pilchard
> Oh yes, I am alive, most indeedy. Perhaps you are referring to my
> severe bout with mental illness a half-year back, during which I almost
> expired?
Indeed.
>I have more to that story that I must relate. Turns out when I
> reported it here on AT, I thought the saga had ended, but it had not.
> Through a series of hilarious misadventures I developed a dependency to
> clonazepam, a "mild" tranquilizer--they said--that turned out to be
> anything but. I went cold turkey and now as a result have what may be
> permanent neurogical damage; specifically, I suffer from uncontrollable
> whole-body twitches at inappropriate times, sort of like
> mini-convulsions. The withdrawal symptoms were accompanied by profound
> paranoia and delusional behaviors, which when I relate to you I believe
> all shall chuckle and shake their heads in humorous disbelief. The
> story is very AT-worthy, but it is a long one, and to do it justice I
> must delay its telling when I have an hour or two free to type, which
> won't be for at least a week, for I must travel away to the West Coast
> this coming half-fortnight.
It occurs to me to wonder why in the fuck you'd choose to go cold turkey.
I finally came off one of these "mild" mood-enhancers myself this very
week. It took a month of gradual reductions which I followed to the letter
like a good little soldier. No drama.
I shall look forward to tales of your suffering.
>
> As for Savonarola: I always thought it amusing that he pissed so many
> people off so bad with all his kvetching about what was and what was
> not moral that when the people finally had enough of his shit, they
> decided to both burn him AND hang him simultaneously. And then they put
> a plaque on the spot where they did it so that generations following
> could know what happened there. I mean, they were some seriously pissed
> off folk.
I'm sure there's a lesson for us all in that. Truth be told, just as there
are people who need hangin', Savonarola needed a good burnin'. What
annoyed me about the pisswad was that he made a pretence of democracy while
trying to establish a theocracy. He'd be right at home in the Bush
government.
The Florentine "republic" gave quite a few people a good send-off. I must
do a bit on their stylish executions, one day.
--
Sem
nikolai kingsley
> Here's a pic. Just imagine. If I had time, I'd Photoshop.
>
> <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/flashpoints/visualarts/david
> _big.html>
three and a half minutes in photoshop:
reflex
nikolai kingsley <sher...@invalid.alphalink.com.au> wrote:
> http://fapomatic.com/61/david_bigger.jpg
very nice!
reflex
Semolina Pilchard <semo...@ecosse.net> wrote:
>
> It occurs to me to wonder why in the fuck you'd choose to go cold turkey.
> I finally came off one of these "mild" mood-enhancers myself this very
> week. It took a month of gradual reductions which I followed to the letter
> like a good little soldier. No drama.
>
Again, I don't have time to do the story justice now, but at the
risk of giving away the plot, I can summarize the reasons I went
cold turkey as follows:
1. I didn't know clonazepam was dependency-forming, or, rather, I
suspected, but figured my good competent psychiatrist wouldn't
give me enough of the drug or for so long that I would become
addicted.
2. I was wrong about (1).
3. I didn't realize I was addicted to clonazepam, when I was, and
no one cautioned me;
4. When I asked my (new) psychiatrist whether it was
habit-forming, he said, "Eh. I wouldn't think so, but it might be
good for you to stop it."
5. So I did. There was no mention of tapering off.
6. Along these lines, I didn't realize the severity of the
withdrawal symptoms until the knowledgeable nice psychiatric
emergency room doctor filled me in, about a week after stopping
the drug, after I checked in after basically literally running
away from wife and family in a paranoid rage and roaming the
streets for a (short) period of time.
7. And it was after that time that the physical symptoms, i.e.,
the uncontrollable twitches, started.
8. I waited for the symptoms to go away, but they haven't, even
after five months. I might get lucky and they will gradually
diminish, or I could be fucked and they are permanent. Knowing
how this life and fate works, I would not bet against the latter.
9. Despite this, I don't give a fuck. I briefly considered suing
the doctor who gave me this shit, but then I figured that even
had I known about the addictive qualities of the drug, I probably
would still have taken it, so desperate was I for some relief
from my mental sufferings. And of the three psychiatrists and one
therapist I talked to about the dependency or possibility of
dependency, none of them really knew about the dangers of sudden
withdrawal. Dickheads. I'm fucked and the people who are supposed
to help me are dickheads. At first this realization bothered me a
great deal but now I understand that some things, such as the
world falling into the sun eventually, just fucking happen. There
is a certain strength in knowing that the time you are living on
is borrowed. And I also realized that I should not be surprised
that the supposed experts are dickheads.
nikolai kingsley
>>http://fapomatic.com/61/david_bigger.jpg
>
> very nice!
thank you. the hardest part was getting the substitute dick the same hue
as the statue.
nikolai kingsley
> And I also realized that I should not be surprised
> that the supposed experts are dickheads.
Dr Jonathan Miller went into great detail on this in one of his medical
history shows. the days of doctors being benign, kindly caring
individuals who would be there when you need them are long over. they
can't afford to care any more; it doesn't pay enough. the risk of having
your ass sued by some litigious cock-sucker because you didn't fix his
fucking hang-nail makes it doubly pointless. house calls? don't make me
fucking laugh. broken leg? here, i'll write you a script for some
antibiotics.. why? because most bacteria are immune to the damn things
and they aren't moving as well as the pharmaceutical companies would wish.
you are far better off googling for a post by some poor bastard who has
already been through the hoops and who managed to survive what the
medical profession did to them.
reflex
nikolai kingsley <sher...@invalid.alphalink.com.au> wrote:
> thank you. the hardest part was getting the substitute dick the same hue
> as the statue.
that always seems to be the hardest part, it seems.
EMT420
>
>6. Along these lines, I didn't realize the severity of the
>withdrawal symptoms until the knowledgeable nice psychiatric
>emergency room doctor filled me in, about a week after stopping
>the drug, after I checked in after basically literally running
>away from wife and family in a paranoid rage and roaming the
>streets for a (short) period of time.
>
Wow...*that* brings back unpleasant memories. I went cold turkey off Xanax, not
because I'd discussed it with my quack, but because I'd postponed my appointment
for two weeks and in the intervening time, I ran out. Being clueless at the time
(pre-EMT) I had no idea that Xanax was addictive; hey, everyone I knew was
taking Xanax or something like it, so what's the big deal, right?
For me, the twitches came first. Then very heightened senses. Small noises and
sudden movements made me jump. I saw flashes of light in my peripheral vision. I
didn't sleep for two consecutive nights.
At this point, a few unrelated things were converging on me. I'd had a cold for
the last week or so, which started to worsen. I'd been performing conspicuously
poorly at my job and earning a lot of negative attention from my boss, which
fueled the paranoia. I'd become aware that my unemployed roommate was stealing
money from my wallet. All this caused the rebound anxiety from quitting the meds
to multiply.
The hallucinations started after I finally fell asleep for a few hours and had a
very vivid dream featuring violent flashbacks from childhood. The next morning,
I drifted in and out of a delusional and mildly hallucinatory state. I can't
fully describe the delusions because they were so whimsical, but it was
something like that game you play in psychology class, where you take some
clueless student and make him perform a task like standing on a chair, using
only applause or lack of applause as feedback. It was like that, and I was that
student, only the plot was something exponentially more elaborate and
threatening, and *everyone* was in on it. I ended up walking around town for
hours with a worried friend, staring at people suspiciously and looking for
someplace where the "vibrations were more friendly." (My words, apparently.)
Later that same night, said friend and my roommate had to hold me down as I
kicked and screamed, terrified of the armed gangsters hiding in all my closets
who were waiting to shoot me as soon as I closed my eyes. Then the Teletubbies
came. They had guns. I don't want to talk about that.
I was taken to the ER, slipping in and out of that paranoid hallucinatory state,
but occasionally lucid. I remember telling the ER nurse that I'd recently
stopped taking Xanax, and could this be some kind of withdrawal? They gave me 2
milligrams of Xanax and kept me in observation the rest of the night. I had the
deepest most satisfying sleep I'd had in days, and went home the next morning,
completely lucid and sane.
Unfortunately, my response to this whole nightmare was "Do what the Good Doctor
tells me to do from now on." Consequently, it was another three years till I
finally quit all the pills, but quit them I did.
Now, of course, I read all the time how Xanax is the most addictive
benzodiazepine, even more so than Valium, and produces more severe withdrawals.
You'd think my shrink *might* have known that. I'm less and less convinced all
the time that psychiatrists are competent medical professionals, rather than
well-paid glorified therapist weenies.
A_Lizard
> In article <IqmdnRcIh6u...@comcast.com>, reflex says...
>>
>>6. Along these lines, I didn't realize the severity of the
>>withdrawal symptoms until the knowledgeable nice psychiatric
[snip]
>
> Now, of course, I read all the time how Xanax is the most addictive
> benzodiazepine, even more so than Valium, and produces more severe withdrawals.
> You'd think my shrink *might* have known that. I'm less and less convinced all
> the time that psychiatrists are competent medical professionals, rather than
> well-paid glorified therapist weenies.
The moral of these charming stories is *DON'T* assume your doctor
necessarily knows what he's doing, get your own Physician's Desk Reference
(PDR) or at least check up at http://www.rxlist.com (not as complete, but
does include a search engine, a search feature for IDing drugs using
imprint codes, and usually, the information for medical professionals as
well as the patient inserts)
A.Lizard
--
"The responsibility of government for the public safety is
absolute and requires no mandate. It is in fact, the prime object
for which governments come into existence."
Winston Churchill - 9/1936 - speech to the UK Parliament
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
> The moral of these charming stories is *DON'T* assume your doctor
> necessarily knows what he's doing, get your own Physician's Desk Reference
> (PDR) or at least check up at http://www.rxlist.com (not as complete, but
> does include a search engine, a search feature for IDing drugs using
> imprint codes, and usually, the information for medical professionals as
> well as the patient inserts)
Frankly, the PDR is crap. You'd do better with something like the Davis's Drug
Handbook or the Nursing 2005 Drug Guide that they sell in the nursing section of
your bookstore. You don't need all the molecular shit; why pay for it?
--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
msch...@carolina.rr.com.REMOVE
nikolai kingsley
> You'd think my shrink *might* have known that. I'm less and less convinced all
> the time that psychiatrists are competent medical professionals, rather than
> well-paid glorified therapist weenies.
the standards have definitely slipped over the past twenty years or so.
you get lackwits who confess they have no idea how to proceed, and
perhaps you should consult someone else? you get bladder-brained gimps
who advise you to follow the Ten Commandments. and you get the conniving
rat bastards who pretend they know what to do, while scheduling you for
expensive MRI tests that won't do a damn thing.
..
there was a quote by Burroughs about doctors having the words MURDERING
BASTARD written across the windscreens of their BMWs, but i couldn't be
bothered finding it.
Steve
> [caveat emptor]
>
> 9. Despite this, I don't give a fuck. I briefly considered suing
> the doctor who gave me this shit, but then I figured that even
> had I known about the addictive qualities of the drug, I probably
> would still have taken it, so desperate was I for some relief
> from my mental sufferings. And of the three psychiatrists and one
> therapist I talked to about the dependency or possibility of
> dependency, none of them really knew about the dangers of sudden
> withdrawal.
That's what electronic journals are for. If you're going to take a
drug, then get yourself over to a University computer and print out
relevant abstracts listed from the Cambridge Scientific searchable
database. Then, you go to the journal stacks and photocopy the
relevant articles you've selected from reading the article abstracts.
It's easy. It's fun. And you don't have to incurr irriversible
genetic damage or liver failure first.
Fuck doctors; most of them have never looked beyond the product
literature that accompanies the free samples they get from teh product
salesdroids. Trust me, I've asked my family doctor(s) about anything
they've tried to add to my metabolism, and to a man, the lot of them
didn't have a fucking clue. This is why I normally only ever take
Asprin, pot, or pseudoephedrine-based cold medicine. (Pot is a
hit-or-miss affair as quality around here varies considerably. I blame
the govt. for getting involved in pot production.)
> Dickheads. I'm fucked and the people who are supposed
> to help me are dickheads. At first this realization bothered me a
> great deal but now I understand that some things, such as the
> world falling into the sun eventually, just fucking happen. There
> is a certain strength in knowing that the time you are living on
> is borrowed. And I also realized that I should not be surprised
> that the supposed experts are dickheads.
If you're fucking with your brain chemistry in order to deal with
lifestyle or environmental issues, then you deserve every short- and
long-term side-effect you get.
Relevance to A.T.? There are appareantly a few drug-company shills
lurking and/or writing here about their various miracle cures, looking
for yucks from the jaded tastes of the local crowd. Just watch for the
ones who use the word 'meds' regularly.
Regards,
Steve
Pantheras
> On Fri, 14 Oct 2005 19:15:31 GMT, "Mortimer Schnerd, RN"
> <morts...@carolina.rr.com.remove> wrote:
>
>>Frankly, the PDR is crap. You'd do better with something like the Davis's Drug
>>Handbook or the Nursing 2005 Drug Guide
>
> I like the PDR so much I have two of 'em. I use them to elevate the
> head of my bed (I have the Purple Pill Disease).
>
With the purple pill you should not need to elevate the head of your bed.
I think I qualify as the poster boy for them.
Miz Daisy Cutter
out (in article <IqmdnRcIh6u...@comcast.com>):
> Again, I don't have time to do the story justice now, but at the
> risk of giving away the plot, I can summarize the reasons I went
> cold turkey as follows:
>
> 1. I didn't know clonazepam was dependency-forming...
<snip plot outline>
Neither did I, when I was first taking Klonopin, back in 1990. I didn't have
all the marvelous psychiatric sequelae that you enjoyed -- I never took more
than one milligram (the blue version of the pill) per day -- but I did start
to develop flu-like symptoms. The quack I was then seeing on an outpatient
basis at the "world-renowned" loony bin known as McLean Hospital said, "Oh,
you're probably just coming down with something."
IIRC, putting two and two together involved talking to other people who'd
been on clonazepam. So I began to taper off it sloooooowwwwwwly, carving the
pill into smaller and smaller slivers with an X-Acto knife. My last dose
constituted maybe 1/20th of the pill. Excessively cautious? Perhaps, but once
I was off it, the symptoms didn't return.
I've had scrips for it since, but I've used it so conservatively that I've
actually had pills expire on me (although I don't throw them out for another
few years after that), and I have a two-year-old scrip in my wallet that I've
never filled. It's nice to have happy pills on hand for when a
psychologically trying event happens, like when either of my parents
eventually shuffles off this mortal coil. But it's not something I want to be
taking regularly ever again.
-- Daze
ObT: Why not to play pool with shitfaced friends:
http://www.deviantclip.com/?Show=Media&Id=280