O & R's Odyssey to Rock Bottom EXTRA (Not updated)

Collection of A/Ns

Some author's notes in relation to some of the chapters in the book. They are just little EXTRA info about the chapter's inspirations or a fun fact.

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Chapter 19. Restroom 2.0

A (not so) fun fact about the inspiration for this chapter.
       Years ago, my friend and I went to a lot of concerts with one of our favorite bands at the time; Mew. At one occasion, just as Mew took the stage and began playing, some idiot from farther back in the venue, threw a plastic cup of beer into the crowd. Yes, it landed right on the two of us, soaking us in beer.

       I'm not a stranger to the phenomenon. I've seen it multiple times at outdoor music festivals. But this was an indoor venue, and Mew does not play the kind of music where you see the audience go crazy. So I did not expect it at all.
       After the concert ended, we had to drive for an hour and a half, sticky and beer stinking, to get home.

DON'T READ ON UNLESS YOU HAVE READ CHAPTER 35
(Or want to spoil yourself, I guess...)

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Chapter 33. Rush & 35. ER - again

Ah, real life and the inspiration you can draw from it.
       This happened to me. I was on my way to a concert, which several of my favorite bands were playing, so I just could not miss it. I got hit by a car as I crossed the street (I promise I looked both ways before I stepped onto the road) to catch my bus. Or so I thought. Because the bus driver told me I had to take the bus from the side of the street I had just come from, to get to the venue... great... 🙄
       When I got to the venue, I suddenly felt faint. Luckily, the people I met up with got me some water. And a lady working at the concert checked my wrist (she was a nurse), saying it was probably just a strain and gave me a disposable arm sling and some painkiller.
       I remember I kept running into a guy that got more and more drunk as the night went on. Every time he saw me, he would point and say loudly, "Hey! It's you!" And, why yes, it was.
       Because I thought my injury was just a bump, I didn't go to the hospital for almost 24 hours. I thought it just needed rest. Yeah, not so much... I, indeed, ended with a cast going all the way up my arm.
       Today, I think the nurse did it as an excuse to practice because I still don't understand why my entire arm had to be encased because of a broken wrist. But hey, this is the way it went down in my case, so this is the way it's going down for Liv.

DON'T READ ON UNLESS YOU HAVE READ CHAPTER 38
(Or you still don't mind spoiling the story for yourself...)

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Chapter 38. Homeless love

Ricky's description of his mother's hospitalization is inspired by the months my father was in the hospital until his death, and what that period was like for me. My dad did not have pneumonia though, his (far too long) stay in the ICU was because of the injuries he suffered when my family and I were hit by another car. But we did go through months and months of not knowing, watching his body slowly shutting down. It is still a thing I regret today – how long we allowed the hospital to carry on before we finally said enough, and let him go.

        Tom's death is completely made up.

DON'T READ ON UNLESS YOU HAVE READ CHAPTER 35
(Or you'll spoil yourself...)

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Chapter 44. Wake-up call

The idea for the woman wearing a fake bird as a hat, in the theater, is actually from a very real experience. Some time ago, when I went to NYC, I attended an opening for a David La Chapelle exhibition (if you don't know his work I highly recommend checking him out! He's known for taking crazy colorful photos of celebrities and much more). There was a woman at the opening that walked around in crazy high heels and a bird on her head. Whether it was fake or a real stuffed bird, I don't know... But it was... different... 😁

DON'T READ ON UNLESS YOU HAVE READ CHAPTER 57
(Or want to spoil yourself, I guess...)

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Chapter 57. Hoe hoe hoe

Some years ago, I went to a small pub with my then boyfriend. All the tables were occupied, so we asked a man sitting alone if we could sit at his table. We started talking and he seemed really nice. Then (I don't remember exactly why) he told us he was just having a beer before he was off to another city where he was going to "talk" to a man that owned Hells Angles some money. Yeah, we had unknowing sat down at a table with a motorcycle gang's enforcer...
       Even though I know he was more than likely going to brutally beat up someone when he left the table, I still remember him as being nice – oddly enough.
       He called himself Buster, which was obviously not his real name. That is why I named Milgram's enforcer Bambi. 😎