GET LIT, BUT NOT TOO LIT

Get lit, getting lit, lighting the fuse?

They all shift things around, sometimes more than planned.

In one case you’re in for an internal reaction; in another it’s external.

Both come with their own problems, and you might be one of them.

The baby boomers in the audience have heard about the evils of alcohol as we age.

Now ‘getting lit’ responsibly means one or two alcoholic beverages per day for men, one for women.

From the Harvard Medical School:

If you drink alcohol, follow the 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans: men should consume no more than two standard drinks in a day, and women should consume no more than one standard drink in a day. A standard drink is defined as having 14 grams of alcohol, which is generally contained in 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of spirits. 

Health conscious baby boomers can follow the guidelines, but how will they get their swerve on with two drinks?

The Cross Swerve: Beer And Bongs

If you sip more than two drinks you might be headed the wrong direction in more ways than one.

You will end up:

Addled, badgered, bashed, besotted, bibulous, blasted, blind, blitzed, blotto, bombed, boozy, canned, cockeyed, crocked, drunken, fried, gassed, hammered, high, impaired, inebriate, intoxicated, juiced, lit, lit up, loaded, looped, oiled, pickled, pie-eyed, pished, pissed, plastered, potted, ripped, sloshed, smashed, sottish, soused, sozzled, squiffy, stewed, stiff, stinking, stoned, tanked, tiddly, tight, tipsy, wasted, wet, wiped out, zonked

Add weed to the program and you could be found:

Baked, blazed, blitzed, blown, blown out, blunted, bread, burned, caned, caramelyzed, crossfaded (when also drunk), crunched, crunk (when also drunk), dankrupt, faded, flame-broiled, geeked, high, high as a kite, hurt, in like Flint, keyed, krunked, lifted, lit, lit up, low, out of one’s element, pot-head, red, ripped, sketch, skunt, sloppy, smoked, stoned, strunk, stuck, tall, zoned

If this sounds familiar, if you know someone, if it’s you, are you concerned?

How concerned?

Get Lit On A Loaded Planet

One thing about planetary instability that rings my bell are the scientists co-opted by industry to produce studies to calm the masses.

“Everything is fine,” says Big Tobacco.

“The new pain medication has no addictive properties,” says Big Pharma.

Do we remember how those two worked out?

Now we hear, “There is no climate crisis.”

Scare tactics do a job, one job no matter the topic: Scare people into agreeing with you.

Is that a blogger’s job? Not this one.

I leave scare tactics to bullshitters, bushwhackers, and shit talkers.

It doesn’t have the poetic ring of “Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My” but the memory of The Wizard of Oz is fading with each incoming generation.

A tin man logger with everything replaced but his heart; a scarecrow without a brain; a lion without courage?

Is that a movie cast or a gathering of Florida republicans?

In my experience so far I’ve seen people downgrade most threats to their happiness right up until the threat is on them, then it’s a worst disaster ever. In the world, the galaxy, the universe.

Climate change is no different.

Blame The Hippies

Look, the groovy generation did their part.

From Earth Day, to Save The Whales, to setting what you love free, they were consistently on brand: Live simply, live organic, consume less.

Did anyone listen? When hippies got college degrees, got married, and got haircuts to go with their new jobs, they got a hearing loss.

They recognized new values like a dependable car instead of communal bus; like a house with indoor plumbing instead of a tent; like getting their kids educated.

The more mainstream people become, the more they ignore their youthful idealism.

Except burning down the planet for the betterment of mankind is not youthful idealism.

So we need a new kind of hippie? Or do we need the Old Guard to pick up the slack?

If you come to BoomerPdx to find new solutions, you’ve come to the right place.

Climate change can best be addressed by old hippies, or aging boomers who embrace their inner hippie.

No one is asking you to drop a tab of acid so a global fix can leap out of your head.

Athena, Greek goddess of both knowledge and war, had an unconventional birth. Unlike her fellow Olympians, Athena was born fully grown — and fully armed. Both masculine and feminine, she burst from the head of her father Zeus, the ruler of the gods in Greek mythology.

I’ve got a feeling that something might burst sooner than later if things keep heating up.

One idea, and it’s a crazy one: Less dependency on fossil fuels, fewer known toxins released into the atmosphere and oceans, and less spin from scientist working to cover their employers’ asses with bullshit research.

Get Lit And Limit Toxic Waste

Toxic waste is a tough one because it includes so much:

No gun, car, or trophy wife will help reclaim your masculinity. I’m sorry to say that once it’s gone, it’s gone.

The awful reality is you weren’t very masculine to start with, so where are you looking?

Try a therapist’s office.

The phallic symbol is unattainable, yet firearms and, consequently, violence are used to promote white masculinity. Gun advertisements use phallic imagery and language that promotes toxic masculine ideals. Due to the demographics of gun owners, the majority of the consumers of these products are white men.

Where does this train of thought lead?

After you get your mind right do an audit of what you can change for planetary health.

Where will you start?