Snippets

I'm not sure what the point of this piece is, but I'm at work with nothing to do, so we'll just do this. I have been dealing with hypertension for a couple of decades (blame genetics). I first took notice of high readings when I was in my early 20's. It wasn't until my late 20's that I told my doctor it was time to take action, because everyone kept telling me I was in danger of stroking out if I didn't get it under control. (Imagine Rachel being proactive with her own health care? I mean, this was serious.) Just one script (no trial and error) and I was good as gold (relatively speaking). I hate taking pills. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it. I knew I would eventually go off birth control, so that was never a huge deal. I had long since resolved that I would be on psychotropic drugs for the rest of my life, so that was slightly less of a big deal. Blood pressure medication shouldn't have been a big deal. Adding a pill or two (I eventually needed a di

At the time “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was released, my musical tastes were already reasonably eclectic. I was digging classic rock, metal, Motown, easy listening, disco, 80’s pop, new wave etc. etc. I had never heard of Nirvana and grunge wasn’t really a thing. Cliché as it sounds, that video changed everything. (Good fucking heavens, that really is a cliché. This whole article is going to suck because of it.) The fact that I can remember exactly where I was and what I was doing the first time I heard that song/saw the video is not the slightest bit impressive. I was a 15-year-old with one friend and no life. What else would I have been doing beyond sitting on my bedroom floor, painting and smoking a cigarette, while engrossed in my own loud thoughts? (A thoroughly exciting existence. I fancied myself a tragic artist with the depth of a poet and no need for a curfew, because I never left the house. I was a rebel, goddamnit. I played by my own rules!) Needless to say (but I’ll say i