At 17, all I wanted was to be a famous junky. Like all my heroes. Jerry Stahl More Quotes by Jerry Stahl More Quotes From Jerry Stahl If you're here for four more years or four more weeks, you're here right now. I think when you're somewhere, you ought to be there. It's not about how long you stay in a place, it's about what you do while you're there, and when you go, is that place any better for your having been there? Jerry Stahl long years thinking Heroin spread that soft blanket over everything. But once the blanket was ripped off, it took a layer of skin with it, leaving nothing but nerve ends screaming in the breeze. Jerry Stahl nerves leaving skins You may think you don't want to throw your life away for mere fleeting euphoria. But, once you get a taste, it doesn't feel so mere. From then on the planet becomes a waiting room. The rest of your life devolves to no more than the time between highs. Jerry Stahl fleeting waiting-rooms thinking You need an entire drama to construct your life around to avoid living it. Jerry Stahl constructs drama needs Jake La Botz is a creator of dark poetry and haunting song, the kind of music that gets in your bones and rides you for days, a sound and vision only those who've been to the bottom and clawed their way back up can generate. His midnight gifts evoke Hank Williams and Skip James as much as Tom Waits and Dylan. Not everybody will get this music - because not everybody is ready for the truth. Jerry Stahl waiting dark song I need - and occasionally love - to write for the same reasons I always did: hard as writing is, it's generally easier than life. Jerry Stahl reason writing needs All of us, at some point in life, choose our cliché. Jerry Stahl points-in-life Junkies are liars. They have to be professionally. Jerry Stahl junkie liars It's not like I was an alkie or anything. Alcohol is for cleaning needles Jerry Stahl needles cleaning alcohol A waft of sweet hash drifted by, and I wanted to float after it like Wimpy levitating at the scent of a hamburger. Jerry Stahl scent hamburgers sweet I don't really know how to do much else besides write. Jerry Stahl know-how knows writing I always figured I myself would never be lucky enough to die, I'd just live on and on in this increasingly dreary spiral. Jerry Stahl spirals lucky enough The traditional dictionary definition of the difference is that an alcoholic will steal your wallet in a blackout, come to, and apologize for it. A junkie will steal your wallet and then help you look for it. But ultimately I think all addictions boil down to just not being able to be with yourself for any long degree of time. Jerry Stahl addiction differences thinking There was a weird intimacy, sitting in a car together. Couples sat in cars. Cops and their partners. Strangers became unstrange, sharing a windshield view of the world. Jerry Stahl car couple views I've always wanted to be a guy with a rec room. Jerry Stahl guy wanted rooms I used to say, for me, writing was like walking a high wire, and heroin made me forget there was no net. Which is a fancy way of saying dope made me forget how shitty I felt for being on dope. Jerry Stahl wire dope writing In my family, misery didn't just love company, it wanted hostages. Jerry Stahl company misery my-family To me, God is like this happy bus driver. Jerry Stahl bus-driver bus drivers All my life I'd gone for women who were a little off. Jerry Stahl gone littles How do you write when you're not miserable? The solution, of course, is to make yourself miserable about not writing. Jerry Stahl miserable courses writing
