Drugs — Blog — Healy Chen

Getting my ass kicked

What really counts is when you do the thing, even when you absolutely do not feel like it. It’s the first week of school at university, so on the support side it is the usual extreme busyness. The last thing I want to do after work is to then lift some weights. It would be all too easy to skip this one, because the excuses practically write themselves. But no: I got the workout in after I got off work yesterday. Felt like shit during, felt great afterwards.

The times when you feel no motivation, but you do it anyways? That’s where the gold is. Motivation is fickle, you cannot count on it for consistency. And it is consistency that will get you where you want to be.

Speaking of which, I am going to be in a consistent state of crazy dryness for the next five months. After antibiotics failed to resolve my persistent acne issues last year, I finally decided to go for the sledgehammer: isotretinoin, better known to the public as Accutane. It will solve any and all acne issues once and for all, but the reason it is to be avoided if possible is because of the arduous process. The side-effects of isotretinoin are not trivial.

All users will experience dryness to varying severity. That’s how you know the drug is working. I am actually looking forward to it drying out my oily face. You ever wash your face and then it becomes oily enough to fry an egg in about an hour? That’s me. The equation is simple: oily face plus bacteria equals chronic acne.

My degree of dryness is this: chapstick and eyedrops application every two hours. Full body lotion every evening. I am chugging water constantly like I am on a mountainous hike. Anything less and I would feel super dehydrated (and probably am). From what I can gather, these symptoms are comparatively not so bad. That said, I definitely do not feel normal. It’s as if a very thin layer of sickness has been draped over me. And it’s going to be like this for five months?

Worst: I think they up the dosage after the first month. One week in and I’m already getting my ass kicked!

Criminal elements

My mom informed me there was a police raid recently in their townhome building. Thankfully this time it was not for my felonious brother (no joke). Rather, it was for the son of our downstairs neighbor, who is about my age. Apparently (and allegedly) he was a major fentanyl dealer. The feds came bright and early to smash in and arrest him. San Francisco’s new district attorney - Brooke Jenkins - is not messing around!

It was kind of a surprise to hear about this because I’d always thought the son was a stand-up guy. A regular dude with a job, a wife, and a baby daughter. Growing up in Visitation valley’s public housing, I expect to be amongst some criminal elements. For over twenty years there wasn’t a peep of bad news from our direct neighbors. If anything, it was my own brother who’s had trouble with the law. It’s sad to see.

At least it wasn’t strong-arm robbery or killing a guy. Just distributing some illicit substances to willing customers (again, allegedly). Victimless crime? These are consenting adults making transactions with one another, after all. Sure, I live in a neighbor now where I don’t see any drug users on the streets. People who live in the Tenderloin would say there’s definitely victims to this whole drug thing. The blocked sidewalks, the human excrement, and the street harassment.

These quality of life stuff is hugely important. Residents ought to feel safe and protected in their own neighborhoods. The reason we recalled the previous district attorney is because we largely did not feel safe. It doesn’t matter of crime statistics show otherwise. Often times, feelings don’t care about your facts, and not the other way around. Good to hear that DA Jenkins is on it.