From time to time, we will post short interviews with interesting people about their thoughts and feelings on women and drinking. There is such a wide array of perspectives about this topic, and we are excited to gain insight into as many as possible and to share them with you.
Tara Handron is the author of the one-woman show, “What’s a Girl to do When It’s Time to Put Down the Drink?” (now entitled Drunk with Hope in Chicago). The play evolved out of her research of female recovering alcoholics and the comparison of their experiences in traditional face-to-face 12 Step recovery meetings versus computer mediated/online meetings. The play is a fictional compilation and product of many women’s stories along with Tara’s observations, assumptions, and imagination. It premiered at Georgetown University in April 2008. It was so much fun the first time, she did it all again at H St Playhouse in Washington, DC, in February 2009.
After a successful run recently in the Capital Fringe Festival, Drunk with Hope in Chicago will have its Chicago premiere in their Fringe Festival, September 2-5, 2010. In her spare time, Tara is a change management and communications consultant in the government healthcare market in Washington, DC.
Drinking Diaries: How old were you when you had your first drink and what was it?
Tara Handron: I had sips here and there of things that looked pretty but tasted nasty like crème de menthe and whiskey sours. My first “real” drink at 15 years old, the one that opened the golden gates, was vodka and diet coke. It was positively disgusting, but it got the job done.
How did/does your family treat drinking?
Some treat it responsibly, as an obligation and as part of being an adult at weddings and funerals. Some treat is as a fun party companion that stays only as long as it is welcome, never too unmanageable. Others treat it or have treated it as a substitute for water.
How do you approach alcohol in your everyday life?
I don’t. It is a foreign country to which my visa has permanently been revoked–which is just fine. I more than abused my privileges.
Have you ever had a phase in your life when you drank more or less?
Yes, that phase was pretty much my whole life until I stopped drinking altogether. Some circumstances made it desirable to binge and then the awful consequences would give me pause. Then I would temporarily drink less. And then the cycle would start all over again.
What’s your drink of choice? Why?
Today it is carbonated water in a variety of brands. Tastes decent, feels even better, and is wonderfully calorie-free. Being healthy (and somewhat sane) is pretty yummy, much better than a glass of wine.
Can you tell us about the best time you ever had drinking?
Honestly, no. At this point none of them really seem all that great in retrospect. There were some glorious moments of feeling immune to insecurity and depression and anxiety but they always ended. Finally, in those moments, I didn’t feel like a square peg in the land of no holes, not even circular ones to try and squeeze into. But as I said, it always ended, sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly, but it did end.
Has drinking ever affected—either negatively or positively—a relationship of yours?
Most definitely. Getting dumped by the man you thought you were going to marry because of awful actions you took while intoxicated felt pretty damn negative. Without it though, many positive things might not have occurred, or might have been further delayed.
Do you have a favorite book, song, or movie about drinking?
I love Carolyn Knapp’s Drinking a Love Story. I also love the movie, 28 Days, with Sandra Bullock. Let’s just say they were very relatable. Seeds were planted.
