“You grow up the day you have your first real laugh at yourself.” Ethel Barrymore
"Not On My Good Rug" Mixed Media on Canvas/Paper. Copyright 2012 Totsymae
Just like I thought. Watching the Nightly News with Brian Williams last night and guess what the talk is on the food circuit. Sugar is being looked at by scientists as a drug, like alcohol and tobacco. It’s even been suggested to put an extra tax on sugar, like tobacco. That it’s killing folk! Now, I already knew sugar was a drug on account that that Dixie Crystal stuff ain’t how sugar looks in its natural form. Granted, I eat brown sugar but guess what I do sometimes…Should I come out the closet with yet another bone?…(sigh) I pinch the sugar and eat it solo. Aww, stop it! It’s just a pinch or two and I don’t do it everyday. I can quit anytime I want.
(Pacing and marinating on a thought or two) I just don’t want it to go bad. Shit, food’s high nowadays. Waste not, want not, right? And what you expect from me? I gave up the cookies and brownies. Been five whole days of sobriety! I don’t even sweeten my tea. I’ve learned to crave the taste of bitter (Liar!)
(Sigh, as I put the back of my hand to my forehead, suddenly becoming faint and fall strategically on the sofa). Whatever’s a Southern Belle to do without her sugah? (The harmonicas commence to playing in the background for dramatic effect.)
I'm an artist who's writing,mothering, blogging and doing a few other things under the sun. I buy toilet paper 99.9% of every trip I make to the grocery store. I'm a people watcher, so I know you're here but drop me a line anyway.
You are damn sweet enough Tots!
I shall have my finger for snack today.
I believes you just had a fainting spell.
I do declare, I think I did.
I’m not giving up my sugar. If they say I’ll live longer without it, I’ll say, what would be the point?
Amen!
Well, I’m not exactly giving it up since fruit has the natural sugar. I guess I’m not the rebel as you and Michael Ann are.
I saw the same report, Totsy, and I feel your pain, your frustration, too. What else can they take away from us? Where will it end?
I know. First they say chocolate’s bad for you and then it’s not. So what good is a piece of chocolate after all?
I swear your art work/talent gets more stunning with each piece i get to see.
Thank you, Twin.
Sugah, if sugar is a drug I’m hooked!
Psssst…Lulu, over here. I’ve got the “stuff” right here.
No cake, pastry or ice cream for 10 weeks. Lost just 2 stinkin’ measly pounds. Screw it. Last night I got apple pie and chocolate ice cream.
Carl, Carl. You’ve been singing that tune all of this year. What on earth are you doing or not doing to shed two more of them pounds?
Throwing your hands up and meeting up with Mrs Smith and Edy all times of the night, I take it.
Honey, you done got yourself a case of the vapors. I use brown sugar in everything I add sugar to. But I don’t add it to eggs, or fish, or wait, I do add honey to my pork marinade. Is honey bad too?
If you don’t drink sweet tea anymore, I think that means you are actually from Cleveland and not Southern at all.
I reckon I am so afflicted, Linda.
Honey’s good for you. So far.
I can sweeten my tea with honey. Cleveland?! Well, I’d be as lost as Dorothy before she found Yellow Brick Road.
Hey, the first step to healing is admitting LOL!
Hello. My name is Totsy and I’m a Sugarholic.
Love your artwork!
Thank you so much, V. Lyn.
I do think you are going to feel amazing once the fainting spells stop. Good luck, Totsy!
I’m drinking Hisbiscus Tea now (without sugar) and since I’m not doing the shakes, I think the worst part may be over.
I stopped eating sugar and anything with or produces sugar in the system and lost a bit of weight. But my sweet tooth got the better of me.
I heard the report on the news and thought, WTF? Sugar, what’s next? They’re just taking all the joy out of life. Now, I don’t care for the sugary drinks like soda and juices but I need my little fix of butterscotch ice cream and shortbread cookies every now and then.
I’ve been losing weight as a result of everything else I’ve stopped eating. I was just trying to hold on to a little something.
Tots, I am giggling so much I just blew sugar all over the table out of the sugarbowl. Did you know that unprocessed cane syrup and sorghum molasses are not harmful like refined sugar? Bring on the Bre’er Rabbit and the blackstrap!
Cane syrup and sorghum molasses. What’s that, Granbee? I’m a city Southern Belle.
Couldnt help but to laugh at you saying you a city Southern Belle!
Beautiful artwork! Now I wish I hadn’t seen this post because I truly love my sugar and don’t want to give it up! Coffee got to have sugar! I’m addicted!
I really like the painting…well done.
hansi
Thank you, Hansi.
Ah, we’ll just convert to honey. We couldn’t have have a nation of people going through withdrawal!
I loved the saying, “May as well laugh at yourself now; otherwise there’ll be a line-up of folks waitin’ to do it for ya.”
Gads, you are so talented. Wow.
Honey sounds good to me.
That quote is so true.
And thanks for your kinds words.
I have been known to sneak a clump or two of brown sugar when the kids’ backs are turned. (Wouldn’t want to set a bad example, you know?) I believe that sugar is like a drug and I’m totally addicted. They make it too easy – instead of having to sneak around bad parts of town to buy it in little baggies, they offer it in 5 and 10 pound bags. I’m feeling weak. Must find sugar now…
We should hang out.
Without the children, of course, They must be protected. 
Good lord, all we have to do is look to Prohibition and see what will happen if we ban or regulate sugar. I can see the Mob setting up a whole bunch of “speak easy” clubs, where you get in with a secret password, and they serve cupcakes and pecan pies run in by couriers and mules evading the lawmakers looking to crack down on this immoral vice.
Oh, and as one of them Northerner Yankees kind of guy who doesn’t put sugar in his iced tea, the very first time I was in Dixie and had sweet tea with a slice of pecan pie, I believe I passed out in a sugar coma. Y’all need to ease in a Yankee boy to your sweetness tolerance you’ve built up over the years of this kind of exposure.
If it’s regulated, I’m gonna start selling it in little plastic bags. I’d have to stop “using” ’cause I wouldn’t wanna eat up my profits and all. You don’t have to go the Speak Easy clubs. I gotcha back.
You know, it took me going overseas to get accustomed to minimal sugar in things like cookies and cakes. There was always just enough in them so you’d know it was a “sweet.”
Yeah, down here, the tea gives even me fits. What’re you doing eating pecan pie, by the way? I don’t know about anywhere else but the one and only time I had a slice, it was so sweet I couldn’t finish it. I feel for you, bro.
–Sugar( is) a Drug!
And you are toooooooooooo sweet as it is, Tots, my dear. Xxxx
Thank you, Chick. As you are too.
Yeah, I gave it up (except for honey) completely for six years. One taste of chocolate on a trip overseas and it’s back again; hardcore! Not as bad as it was before I gave it up the first time but it’s bad enough for me to notice the difference around my waist! Damn, I’ve never smoked so why do I feel like I need a patch?
I don’t know. Once you’re off the wagon, it’s hard to get back on. I’m doing well sticking to natural sugars in fruit but every now and then, that’s not quite enough. Who in the world craves bananas and oranges? You and I need patches. Would make a killing if we invented them.
Ugh. Next thing you know, they’re gonna put a tax on stupid. Which isn’t such a bad idea, when you think about it. I’m so damn sick of everything being taxed because it’s “bad for us.” Why don’t they call it what it is? Taxes to help pay down this outrageous credit card bill we’ve got as a nation. Pretty soon, the bookie’s gonna come and break Lady Liberty’s kneecaps, and we need a quick fix. Let’s tax everything everybody likes to indulge in! Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind paying the taxes. Why not? All these items are choice items. I can live without cigarettes (took me two pregnancies and a year without to come to terms with that), I can live without booze (OK, maybe not, so I’ll gladly pay the tax), and I can live without sugar (No I can’t!), so if I want some, I’ll gladly help Uncle Same outta debt and pay my taxes for these vices. But call the tax what it is. Cuz the government doesn’t give a damn about my health, especially because I’ve got my own health insurance, and they don’t have to pay a dime for me right now. The government needs money, baby! I’ll chip in. Don’t lie to me, though, you know what I mean?
Well, I don’t wanna pay the tax. I think folk whose income is 300,000 or more should pay the tax and let us regular folk keep paying the same price.
And you’re right, there should be a tax on stupid and they should walk around with the seal of a dollar sign on their forehead so that when they come your way, you’ll know exactly who you’re dealing with. Actually, it doesn’t usually take long to find out but if you don’t wanna kill time…
I have to say, since giving up sugar, simple carbs and gluten, I feel (and look) a lot better. I know, it doesn’t sound like I would, but I do!
Okay, Ms Hot.
Any withdrawal symptoms yet? Maybe it’s just me. I stopped sugar 3 years ago, and I was like a crabby smoker going off nicotine. It was worse than PMS. It eventually passed and I lost the lb’s I wanted, but since then I’m hooked back on the stuff again. I’d say moderation works, but that isn’t always the case either. Once I’m on the stuff, I can’t stop craving it.
I think the fruit’s helping me to avoid the worst parts of my coming down from the unhealthy sugar. Oh, once you’re off the wagon, it’s hard to get back on. Not that I know personally about this one but I was thinking of another wagon of two I’ve fallen off.
I enjoyed this! It gave me a good laugh…at myself! The accompanying watercolor, as usual, is colorful, beautiful, and so perfectly suited to this post. (The child pouring the water looks like s/he may be suffering from sugar withdrawal. Poor thing!)
Thank you.
So, can I offer you a bowl of sugar?
Love the artwork and the post. Thanks.