I googled Passages Malibu, and found "Passages Malibu Scam". I looked that up, and it said, oh dear, they charge $68,550 for a one month session and don't do it, even though the owner's son went through heroin addiction for 10 years, blah blah blah. So I called Passages myself just now. I got the receptionist, and I just asked how much a one-month long session was, and she said she'd forward me to an expert. Great. I'm going to talk to a quack who will give me a great sales pitch. Then I get a familiar voice. "Hello, this is Chris." It's the owner! I recognized his voice from the CDs!! I said, "HI. I just have one question. How much do you charge for a one-month session?" "Well ____" He found my last name. How? And funny that he calls me by my last name. He says a month session is $78,000 and if you get therapy at a nearby facility without his and his son's help it's $38,000. From the horse's mouth. My 2008 Subaru costs $25,000. Then he asks who's it for. On the top of my head I lied and said it's for my 32-yr old cousin. I'm 38. "That's young!" He says. "What is she addicted to?" Alcohol and cigarettes. "You know, the cigarettes are worse than the alcohol. But I bet she can't do one without the other." Which is true in my case. "We have the best experts in the country who can help her with that. Thanks for calling, ____(my last name). Have a good night". Wow. Chris Prentiss in the audio flesh. $78,000. That's probably about the Porsche I want or an RV. $78,000. I was expecting $3,000 which my parents could throw down for me. Seventy-eight THOUSAND DOLLARS. I could do so many things more with that. Go to Europe and see my friends 70 times. Go around the globe. Buy an electric car or two. Feed Ethiopia. Shit! According to Chris' $8.99 iPhone book I can fix myself if I get a therapist, a medic, and an acupuncture guy or gal. That would add up to oh, $1,000-$5,000 maybe in a month? Holy crap. That makes Anthony Robbins sound cheap. $78,000. Wow. Do I get a diamond ring with that? Sorry. I'm buzzed and I know I'm not on heroin, cocaine, or anything else harsher than what I am doing. What I did get from the book and $39 CD is that alcohol is ethanol, which scars your liver. And I've seen it in the art show Bodyworlds, which came to my town last year. It is art in the form of cadavers, but also shows a black lung, fatty liver, and a cirrhosis liver which was shrunken and had scars all over it. Chris Prentiss of Passages said ethanol burns the liver, leaving scars. I should ask my nutrition teach about that also. I seems true. But unfortunately the exhibit did not leave a mark on me, which I wish it should have. I am still young and maybe I should had told Chris it was me with the problem. But $78,000? If I spent $2000 on cigs and wine per year since 1995, that would be...$28,000! Wow. But is it worth almost 4-fold more? $28,000. Is that right? That's a good car. Well, in the morning I will kick myself again. Some people will think that's not a big deal, but it is to me. In a Passages CD ($78,000????) Chris said that negative feelings beget more negative neurotransmitters in the brain, and positive feelings bring more positive in the brain. So, if this is true, if I stop thinking, "Poor me, I'm a trust fund baby who is immensely creative but feels inadequate and 'stupid', then I will continue to feel so." But if I "fake it 'till I make it". Like Baron Baptiste says, then I will become successful. And more than that, If what Chris and his son Pax Prentiss says is true, that "If you are a junkie and you stop, your life will be greater than those who have never used in the first place". Is this true? One: Look at Mormons' Donny and Marie Osmond. Both have had great successes yet hardships. Marie was divorced twice. Donny seems to be doing well but has performing issues with Dancing With The Stars. I think it's the sugar too many Mormons eat in place of drugs. That's just me. But look at them, still more successful than alchie me. Then look at Robert Downey Jr.. Junkie for many years. A little successful being an actor in the 80s but not as popular as Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Jon Crier, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Demi Moore, or Andrew McCarthy. Gets arrested for many a drug occasion, cleans up, gets arrested again. Cleans up for good this time in the 90's and he is praised for the main role in "Chaplin". Then falls again. Then he's featured in SPIN Magazine in 2001, divorced, but clean. Then in 2002 he's arrested again. Cleans up for the last time, does some more movies and the feature character in an Elton John music video...then...VIOLA! After four years sober gets the Iron Man role. And look at him now. He also did a spectacular job in the 2007 pic "Tropic Thunder", which this American dude plays an Australian dude playing a black dude. He's been clean ever since. Look at him now. Iron Man II is in the works and he did that film about another black dude, Jaime Foxx in "The Soloist" and "Sherlock Holmes" will come out Christmas Day. This man was a huge junkie who got into a lot of legal trouble, plenty of jail time, and lost his wife. But look at him now! I only use wine and cigarettes, but a copious amount, and got two DUIs, and only served 48 hours jail time. Robert spent way more than that in jail. So can I compare myself? Can I hope if I clean up I can be as great as he?
Bon Nuit.
Smobergirl tomorrow.
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