h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

hey there. i'm shika, another new member of H2G2.. just stopped by your page to say hi and to see if you wanted to chat for a while. i'd love to hear all about your acid experiences. like what you learned, what you did on it, how you partied. i'm really interested in party rituals throughout time.. and if your partying now has changed any from your partying then...
i'm 20, a student at a women's college in new england. i haven't done hallucinogenics in a while..
but lets talk later, ok?
take care, shika

Hi, Shika ... nice to hear from you ... sorry for the delay in replying, but I've been having trouble with line noise and connectivity at home, and too busy at work to check into the site from here very often.

I was not a "party" type user of psychedelics in the sixties, although I had a helluva lot of fun. I did a lot of research before trying acid the first time, including reading Leary, Alpert and Alan Watts, so I always paid attention to set and setting. I'd make the home clean and nice -- as an aside, doing acid totally changed the way I furnished and decorated -- I'd lay in jack cheese and french bread and strawberries for when we got hungry, and would only do it with people I adored. My husband at the time, my brother, good friends. We'd listen to music, of course, the music of the sixties was/is so great, and talk and trip and read aloud from the National Lampoon, cracking each other up. I lived very near Golden Gate Park, so some days we'd walk to the park and trip out on the trees and grass and dogs and other human beings who were there, dance to the drummers, or there'd be a free concert by the Grateful Dead or the Jefferson Airplane or Santana or Steve Miller. There would always be people I loved in close proximity.

For almost twenty years I was a single parent, so during that time I was concentrating more on financial and spiritual survival, getting an education, getting a career going so I wouldn't be a burden to my son in my old age, etc. I believe that the use of mind-altering drugs should only be done after careful consideration by a semi-adult, so I didn't want to model drug use for my son. He is now 22 and in Navy intelligence, so he's old enough to decide for himself. So I am free to pursue those other interests again. Mainly I am limiting myself to smoking grass, now, again with friends and music. I have a younger friend and lover, who shares my interest in blues and psychedelic rock music, so we smoke and go to blues concerts and run around parks together ... actually, not much different from my younger days, now that I think of it Still smoke and listen to music with my brother, too.

As far as party rituals go, I like to have a few (like 2 to 6) people over for dinner and conversation, and I like to play cards and board games too. I don't like big parties where there isn't the opportunity for intimacy, and I don't like to be around unconscious people, like drunks ... I want people to stimulate me and amuse me and enlighten me and I am willing to do that for them. It's all about intimacy and intensity for me ... no small talk, no bulls**t ... life is too short.

Dance is the metaphor for my life ... I try to live it intentionally and artfully, to dance my way through it ... dancing with people, with feelings, even with cars on the freeways, paying attention to form but even more to balance ... with the occasional emphasis of a tambourine clash or a wind chime tinkling in the background ... incense, comfort, and always music.

Tell me about your life, and how you party ... what are you studying, what are your goals and intentions for yourself. Twenty is an interesting age for intelligent people

Hugs,
gypsy