I'd been meaning to come here all day to say a legitimate but not permanent good bye (more on that in a second). Today, however, I received a phone call that i thought was worth sharing here, particularly given the number of people who have claimed that bodybuilding/weightraining "saved their lives". It was something I truly and honestly did not understand or grasp entirely until tonight. As many of you who know me well are aware (and I believe i put it in my "10 Things" confessional) my brother and I are as opposite as can possibly be, save for height. I'm 6'2"/6'3" ish 240-260 and he's 6'4"/65"ish 150-165. I've done my (edited non-specific degrees) in addition to university hopping all over the world and planning for law school and he dropped out of high school. I read Pynchon and Rousseau for "fun" but couldn't tell you where the oil goes in my vehicle or what it doesn once it's in there. He's been taking apart and rebuilding engines and motors since he could walk but has never even began a book. That gives you only a peek into how different we are.
Another very major way in which we are different is that, aside from the college days of fairly minor experimentation (the obligatory booze and a bit of shrooms and weed) I am more or less drug free (well, the AAS thing, but that's a technicality) while he has been to the edge of death due to a chronic drug addiction. My extended family had tried everything with nothing seeming to help. On a whim, I bought him a few sets of dumbbells (10-35 lbs.) and gave him some of my old books (the arnold encyclopedia, etc) mostly in the hopes that if he got into it a bit, maybe he'd hang out with the "bad crowd" just a bit less. That was three months ago. Today he called (this in itself you have no idea how much of a step it is for him) to let me know that he hasn't so much as smoked a cigarette in two and a half months, no longer goes out on weekends, and, in what can only be evidence of our at least decent genetics, went from 165 to 190 during this time, using only the dumbbell set and exercises that can be done with standard furniture. I'm heading down this weekend to set him up with a gym membership and workout program. I'm aware it's way too early to tell if this is gonna stick and truly be what pulls him out, but I haven't had this much hope for him in a number of years. Largely, I was prompted to do this for him based on the number of stories circulating AR in various forms that pay some sort of homage to the weightroom as catharsis. For this I certainly thank you guys.
On the other hand, grateful as I am, I think I'm taking off for a while. I'm going to frequent the workout forum, but my heart just isn't in the rest of the board right now, and i'd rather back off and be a part of it not only sometime soon, but way down the road than to force myself to keep it up and get soured on the thing. I'm not sure what brought this about, but think a great deal of it had to do with the bad taste left in my mouth after getting scammed for two cycles worth of gear. On top of that, and this is where I give props to the vets and active seniors, I was literally beaten into the ground by the sheer volume of PMs after heading over to the steroid forum for a few weeks and flouting some knowledge. I don't know how in the hell you guys make the time and enthusiasm to continue to lend a helping hand...it was all i could do to keep up for a few weeks.
At any rate, i'll be in the workout forum from time to time, so I'll get any PMs and such, but for what may turn out to be a little bit, you're not going to be seeing me outside of there. Take care and someone, please, if a thread in the lounge does come along that kicks so much ass and stirs up so much laughter it can't be missed (I'm looking at you, Hoss and Nathan, but for different reasons) do alert me through PM and I'll check it out.
BigGreen
PS: i've decided on "Anabolic Academic" as my custom title...who in the hell do i contact for that change??
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Originally Posted by nevaenuf
Ya better not miss it! 
Anyways, you made a **** good impression on me, one I won't forget. Drug addiction seems to me to generally be a representation of some other problem(s). I'm at my worst when I'm at my most depressed, personally. Anyways, make sure you pummel into your brother's head the fact that bodybuilding PAYS OFF, but it's an investment and doesn't pay off right away. I never saw it when I first started but I do now. Some people treat me poorly because of it and are reluctant to get to know me but on the other hand, it's solved a lot of other problems for me. Plus, the fact remains, chick dig muscles. 