PODCAST

LOL Sober

Nelson H.

How to laugh your ass off in sobriety nelsonh.substack.com

All Episodes

5:05

Taylor Swift is speaking my language

LOL Sober ·

2022/12/27

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!Have you heard Taylor Swift’s new song, “Anti-Hero?” If you have ears and a brain that can process sound, you probably have. It’s one of those pop songs right now where you can be in the car and switch radio stations four times and it’ll be on three of

3:32

The instant replay idea

LOL Sober ·

2022/12/22

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!I was at a meeting recently where the topic was daily inventory. And a guy raised his hand who said he asked his sponsor how he should do a Tenth Step inventory every day. And his sponsor told him, “Pretend your entire day was recorded. If you sat down

9:47

Tis the season to be a real a*****e

LOL Sober ·

2022/12/20

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!According to the Hallmark Channel and every commercial on TV right now, this is the happiest time of the year. And some days, it does feel like that. I have a great life. I love my wife and kids. My job is awesome. I live somewhere that has a vibrant

7:59

Don't go to bed angry (at yourself)

LOL Sober ·

2022/12/15

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!The other night, I went through my family’s finances at midnight. For an hour, I realized over and over again how sloppy we’d been for a month or so, and most of it was on me. I didn’t spend all of the money, but I’m the family accountant and either gave

7:22

The "snow day!" sobriety problem

LOL Sober ·

2022/12/13

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!On Sunday night, we started getting some snow where I live in Connecticut. My older kids all of a sudden turned into local meteorologists, charting the snowstorm’s path and analyzing projections of total accumulation. At first I thought it was cute to see

8:58

Is swearing a f%*#ing character defect?

LOL Sober ·

2022/12/08

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!I was at a meeting recently where we read the part of the Big Book where Steps Six and Seven are introduced. Those are the steps that deal with character defects, and I almost always shake my head in disbelief because it’s only two paragraphs long! It’s

8:07

Getting over "getting over"

LOL Sober ·

2022/12/06

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!I heard an old YouTube interview with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson about the art of “getting over” in pro wrestling. By “getting over,” he meant that he had won over the crowd to either love him or hate him—either one works in pro wrestling.It made me laugh

7:35

A grateful heart never... does a lot of things, actually

LOL Sober ·

2022/12/01

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!One thing I wanted to mention because I haven’t in awhile… Nelson H. isn’t my real name. It’s a pen name that I use for this newsletter. And I sometimes change some details to protect others’ identities, and sometimes I combine people or anecdotes to make

9:40

The most valuable stretch of sober reading?

LOL Sober ·

2022/11/29

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!There’s soooooo much good stuff to read about sobriety, and how to get sober. I find all of the 12-step program literature to be incredibly valuable, and it’s good writing, in my opinion. I routinely am at a meeting where we’re reading something written

10:25

Five Thanksgiving suggestions

LOL Sober ·

2022/11/24

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!Well, the holidays are officially here. Good luck out there. It has been my experience that the hype around the lethal holiday trio—Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s—is real. In my sober time, I’ve never had a physical relapse during those times, but I

7:24

The cautionary tale of Matthew Perry

LOL Sober ·

2022/11/22

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!I saw Matthew Perry out on the book hype tour recently, and he seemed to be well on the road to recovery. The book is called “Friends, Lovers, and The Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir.” I don’t think I will buy the book myself but it sounds like an

7:24

The five levels of sober friends

LOL Sober ·

2022/11/17

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!I read an interesting piece recently about how many of us lost certain levels of friendship during the pandemic. So I went searching for how experts define the various levels of friendship. I found some disagreement but the five most accepted terms for

6:18

A very Hollywood anniversary

LOL Sober ·

2022/11/15

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!Last Thursday was 14 years clean and sober for me. Congratulations to myself. Let’s take a moment to observe my greatness.Ahhhhh, okay, thank you very much. I still really enjoy anniversaries… as much as I like to think I have gotten very, very humble

8:28

The power of the Actor's Scenario

LOL Sober ·

2022/11/10

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!A quick programming note: I am writing and recording this entry on Nov. 9, which means you’re probably reading it on Nov. 10. Nov. 10 is my sober anniversary. Hopefully, as you read this, I will have gone another 24 hours without a drink or a drug. I have

5:31

When your kid is the same age as you

LOL Sober ·

2022/11/08

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!I turned 45 years old last week, which means I am basically dead. Just barely hanging on at this point.My birthday is always an interesting experience for me, because my 31st birthday, in 2008, was right when I was at the very bottom. That means I had

6:57

The opposite of faith is fear... or is it?

LOL Sober ·

2022/11/03

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!I was at a great meeting recently where the topic was finding faith in sobriety, and someone shared the old slogan that “the opposite of faith is fear.”I found myself nodding along, because I do find that when my faith is strong, my fear is weak. When my

7:04

The Halloween that got me to rehab

LOL Sober ·

2022/11/01

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!We went trick-or-treating last night with my 8-year-old. My two older kids are too cool for Halloween now, so that’s kind of a bummer. But my second-grade buddy had a blast going as a snow leopard.By the end of the night, she was exhausted and overdosing

10:00

Nobody ever said spiritual experiences were all positive

LOL Sober ·

2022/10/27

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!At a meeting this week, we read from the Big Book appendix called “Spiritual Experience.” If you haven’t read it, I’d encourage you. It’s about a page and a half long. It pops up as an asterisk in multiple places through the Big Book, so the founders of

6:05

You're in a shitty mood? Cool, I'll join you!

LOL Sober ·

2022/10/25

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!The other day, one of my kids was on a real heater. She thought every person she interacted with—including me—sucked, and she let you know it, too.I knew right away what I should be thinking, which is that she’s having a tough day and is in a bad mood,

8:52

Loneliness=15 cigarettes?

LOL Sober ·

2022/10/20

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!I stumbled upon a recent study from the National Institute of Aging where researchers concluded that prolonged isolation has the same health implications as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.Wow, lots to unpack with that (check out the link here).First of all,

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