Things We Don't Talk About # 179

Warning: If you're easily offended, stop reading now

There is a huge drug-subculture in America and many of them are firm adherents to the belief that Lewis Carroll's classic Alice in Wonderland is about drug use. Opium and laudanum were legal drugs consumed by many of the literati during his time. Most historians don't believe Lewis Carroll was a drug user, but the Jefferson Airplane song "White Rabbit" clearly takes the position that Alice was high, not lost.

Of course, it could be argued she was high - and lost. Once you fall down the rabbit hole, it is easy to get lost and you find yourself in a place where getting lost can be very, very dangerous. The worst part is that all the rules have changed, you don't know who you can trust and you're not even sure you can trust yourself. Perhaps it's even yourself you trust the least. You're definitely not in Kansas anymore, Toto. Oh, wait, that's another story.

Back to Alice.

The Topic of Harm Reduction

(or you could think of it as how best to stay alive once you've fallen down the rabbit hole)

by Tanya dalton

A Column About Various Unmentionables

MUTE sound by hovering over bottom of video and clicking speaker volume button once

Ah, I see you.

Yes, you there, gazing in from your screen. Are you reading this story? But..but...that's breaking all the rules. It's still being written. Shoo. Go away. Come back and read the issue when this story is complete. I thought I'd be done with it by the Holiday issue, but it's looking like it might not be ready until deepest winter...

You must have chased that rabbit right down the rabbit hole and landed here. Go home now, go on. This article isn't done. But since you're here anyway, I'll tell you a secret (then you really must go). If anyone asks, the secret code is: May 4

You see, Lewis Carroll wrote Alice in Wonderland as a gift for a real little girl named Alice Liddell. In it was a secret gift for Alice: if you sort through all the clues in the book trying to figure out the month and day, you'll find Alice's adventure all takes place on May 4 - the real Alice Liddell’s birthday. Remember the secret code. May 4. But don't tell anyone. It's secret. Now, click on that rabbit in the drawing and he'll lead you home.