Charlie,

You did say your analogy was probably flawed;

Quote:
"Your analogy is fatally flawed Charlie."
(That's probably very true, this is something I never spent any time or energy worrying about)


For a more “substantive reply”, I’ll offer this.

My 15 yr. old nephew was a scrawny high school freshman with no hope of actually getting to play football, but he did join the team. After 6 months he looked as if he could join the WWE. I asked him about the dramatic transformation and he told me it was steroids given to him by his high school coach. At the time I hadn’t even heard of steroids.

He went from being a bench warmer to being a starter thanks to his steroid use.

Alcohol and drugs don’t make people better musicians or writers. It actually has the opposite effect, especially if the drugs and alcohol are being used in the learning stages. Some people may think it enhances their ability to play or write, but usually when they look at the fruits of their labor when they’re stone cold sober, they see it’s not nearly as good as they thought the night before when they were buzzed.

When you look at the careers of aging successful writers and musicians who’ve abused drugs and alcohol, most would tell you that they had made it in spite of their addictions, not because of them. They’ll also tell you they do their best work when they’re “clean.”

Your insistence that the analogy worked made me think you had an axe to grind, and like you, I “speculated” as to the reason why.

Bob
................................
http://soundcloud.com/bobcflatpicke/music-in-the-mountains