6 jayplay.
thursday,september 4,2003
DAYDREAMS
ALCOHOL FREE
Turning down a drink doesn't mean
Wondering what to wear this fall? Curious as to what will be the new trends? Go check out the fashion show tomorrow at Liberty Hall, 644 Massachusetts St. Local designers will be showcasing their wearable art and fashions in everything from professional and beach wear to wedding and cocktail wear.
Staying sober can be a chore, so be creative and don't be afraid to ask your friends to do something out-of-the-ordinary for a change. Illustration by Eric Braun/Kansas
Photo illustration by Eric Braem/Kensan
For $15, attend the VIP reception starting at 7 p.m. with wine and cheese and a jazz show by Free All Beats. To see the show, tickets are $10, and seating opens at 8 p.m.
The show starts at 8:30 p.m.
Clothing from the fashion show and each designer will be available for view and sale from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sept. 13, at Lawrence's Grimshaw Gallery, 731 New Hampshire St.
For more information about the show or about the designers being showcased, visit www.reformevents.com. Tickets are available at the Liberty Hall box office.
Ashley Arnold
For those of you who have to bite your tongue to keep from singing along to your favorite musicals, now is your chance to let your vocals be heard.
SING-A-LONG
The Lied Center is presenting the classic The Wizard of Oz on a huge 23-foot by 32-foot screen. And you are going to have the opportunity to sing-a-long with all those wonderful songs. Don't worry about knowing the words — a bouncing ball will guide you.
Julie Jantzer
Tickets are on sale at the Lied Center and University Theatre ticket offices, Student Union Activities at the Kansas Union and through Ticketmaster. Both shows begin at 7:30 p.m. Adult tickets for both nights are $28 and $23. Tickets for KU and Haskell Indians Nation University students and children are $14 or $11.50 Tuesday night or $28 or $23 Wednesday night. Senior citizen tickets are $27 and $22 for Tuesday night.
The show also encourages you to dress up as your favorite character, flaunt your creativity in a costume parade and join the onscreen characters in booing the Wicked Witch. Every audience member will receive a free "Perform-A-Long Fun Pack," which includes a kazoo, mystical bubbles, a noisemaker and a magic wand.
By Eric Braem
ebraem@kansan.com
Jayplay writer
Here it comes. Another Friday night; another night on town with your friends; another crazy, hazy weekend filled with strong drinks, strong bass and strong headaches in the morning.
But what would happen if you avoided alcohol for a weekend? Would you have no fun? Would you lose your friends? What would happen if you never picked up a rum and coke again?
Discord with drinking
When a frequent drinker decides to quit for good, the decision can change every aspect of his or her life. Brian Arnold, Chaska, Minn., senior, hasn't picked up an alcoholic drink since July 4. He didn't find himself behind bars or in a strange woman's bed, he simply got liquored up at the bars one too many times and decided to quit. Arnold, who has gone sober a few times in his life, avoids drinking because it simply hinders normal functioning. Imagine a light fog constantly invading your world.
Paul Santos, Shawnee senior, doesn't want drinking to become a lifestyle. "I've run across a couple people, you know, and they would say, 'I can have fun if I don't drink,' but they always drink," Santos says, avoiding his temptation to listen to a Creedence Clearwater Revival song. It's not that Santos has never touched a drink, but his liquor experiences make him feel like he's tasted rubbing alcohol.
Alcohol appeal
Staying sober, even for a night, can be a challenge for someone who finds alcohol to be a great temptation. "The more prevalent the vice is around me, the more intense the temptation" says Arnold, who does not avoid bars
Karen Christensen has never found a swig of straight intoxication very alluring. The Topeka freshman says her Mormon religion has kept her away from alcohol, but her friends have generally never been drinkers anyway. She also finds that a big motivation for her sobriety is always being able to remember what she did the night before.
or parties. He finds himself developing an immunity to the enticement. Arnold says mimicking his peers by keeping a glass of water or orange juice raises his comfort level.
Santos also finds drunken behavior to be a big deterrent. Too often he sees past stupidity become a topic to talk about later. "Remember when you peed on the floor last time? That was great, man," he jokes. He says he prefers sober conversations about sober topics.
Peer pressure
Santos, who used to attend
college parties, now stays away from them except for on rare occasions. He says finding someone who doesn't drink on the weekend is nearly impossible and playing sober cab gets old real fast. Usually he reads books or watches films on the weekends, but occasionally attends parties because as a film student he needs to explore people's interactions. Santos says his desire to stay away from alcohol has alienated him from his friends because he didn't think they could change.
Ty Stude, Learned junior, is not afraid to touch alcohol, but has never liked the taste of it, rarely feels the pressures of late-night drinking. The presence of alcohol irritated Stude when he was a freshman, but being the sober chauffer no longer perturbs him.
Alcohol-free alternatives
Being sober for a weekend or a lifetime doesn't have to mean
finding yourself sitting in a corner at a party and thinking everyone around you must be having a better time than you are. It doesn't require you to be a designated driver for your friends. It doesn't suggest that you'll be going to bed at 10 p.m. on a Friday night or that you'll be alone or you'll have nothing to do. You'll need a little creativity, but you and your friends could realize that skipping the bars doesn't make you immature.
Laura Johnson, Kalispell, Mont., senior, was a part of "Friday Night Frenzy" through last school year and the summer. Every Friday, the residents of four apartments and any other invited guests would gather at alternating dwellings and the host would cook dinner for the party. The "frenzies" could end as early as 10 p.m. and as late as 1 a.m. and frequently involve games, movies, bowling or trips to University of Kansas basketball games. Johnson says with a good idea, even someone who