Comece Elevado

I want to go to Brazil and get high.

Okay, that's not entirely accurate, but it's not entirely wrong, either.

Allistair Appleton -- the BBC presenter and hottie who I find more fascinating the more I learn about him -- has had a lot of interesting things to say recently about his experiences with ayahuasca, a psychotropic plant medicine used by Amzonian shamans for hundreds of years as a way of communicating with the "Bigger Aspects of the Universe." He produced a documentary last year about his trip to Brazil to partake of the drug.

And I've been thinking a lot about the fact that I'm 42 years old and haven't done anything, ever, like that. Haven't done a lot of the things in life that I'd like to try. Touring Italy. Visiting Thailand. Puking my guts out on a psychotropic drug somewhere in the Brazilian jungle.

Okay, I'm kidding about the last part -- I think -- but the idea of taking some psychotropic plant and puking my guts out in a jungle, while a bit daunting, is also rather intriguing; especially when you're sharing the the experience in a supervised setting. I was never one to try controlled substances -- well, aside from some candy-ass speed during my college days and, more recently, some marijuana. I'm not a big fan of losing control. But doing it while experiencing an awakening to the wider world and in the company of fellow travelers... that interests me.

Alas, it costs $2,400 for an introductory seminar, and that doesn't include travel. So it seems that this experience, at least, is for the more-gainfully employed than I. Still, I suppose it's good to have a goal, no?