Tag Archives: top ten

What I Learned Not Drinking For Two Years

I came across this fantastic post on Medium.com during the Christmas/New Year’s break; I don’t recall how I got there but it struck a chord in me so I saved the link in my drafts to share in the near future.

The article is written two years after author, Andy Boyle, quit drinking and summarizes some of his learnings and successed he’s achieved during that time.

Here’s a short list of what I’ve accomplished since I stopped drinking two years ago:

  • Lost 75 pounds
  • Bought a bad-ass loft condo
  • Finished a first draft of an advice book
  • Started exercising three days a week, then four
  • Went from a size XXL to size Large
  • Performed in three comedy festivals
  • Got a badass new job at Breaking News (download our apps!)
  • Finished multiple drafts of multiple television and movie scripts
  • Went from 42-inch waist to 36-inch
  • Went from hating myself daily to relatively enjoying myself

A lot of this is what I externally accomplished, what I can show on paper. But I think that last one is the most important.

I’ve learned a lot in two years, so I thought I’d share that with you, in case you’d like to take a break from the booze cruise. Also, that’s what I tell myself: I’ve taken a break. Maybe I’ll drink again. Maybe I won’t.

But overall, life seems to be a shitload better for me because I took a break. Perhaps it could be for you, too.

From this excerpt, Andy goes on to listing the top nine things that he’s learned in the past two years during his journey. I recommend clicking on through the link below to reading the full article; he writes about some of the absolutely positive lessons one can re-learn about life through sobriety.

What I learned not drinking for two years by Andy Boyle

My Top Ten Songs

I’ve been using the site Last.fm to track my listening habits since April of 2004. While my current username has mostly been scrobbling tracks since November of 2009, I never really finished scrobbling to my old username until June of 2011.

Since opening the account associated with my current username, below are my top ten most played songs; links open the track in Spotify.

  1. Billy Talent – Saint Veronika (35 plays)
  2. Metallica – …And Justice For All* (27 plays)
  3. Billy Talent – Viking Death March (27 plays)
  4. Alter Bridge – Blackbird (26 plays)
  5. Slipknot – Dead Memories (25 plays)
  6. Muse – Supremacy (25 plays)
  7. Muse – Hysteria (24 plays)
  8. Billy Talent – The Dead Can’t Testify (24 plays)
  9. Muse – Follow Me (24 plays)
  10. Thom Yorke – And It Rained All Night (22 plays)

* This song is artificially elevated to #2 status as it would appear at the top of my library and start playing by default on my Android phone… which I experimented with for almost a year. My #11 is Alice In Chains – Would? and should actually be my #10 song.