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    Home and Deranged

    Why alcohol is better, and cheaper, than couples therapy: Maintain yourrelationship with booze, not fake docs

    Caroline Gallay
    Oct 9, 2010 | 3:12 am
    • Do you really want to go through this type of couples therapy torture?
    • This set-up fueled The Boyfriend and my reconciliation after a year-longseparation.
    • Drunk eyes and an awkward arm picture? Evidence this night was just us.
    • Getting occasionally drunk one-on-one is an important component of any healthyrelationship.

    Therapy is expensive. I also hate it.

    I feel weird speaking so frankly when we’re not both lying down and I detest rock gardens (one of my earliest memories of marriage counseling — not my own). Psychologists aren’t real doctors — cue the comments — and ever since my first grade teacher said I couldn’t be in her class unless I were medicated, I’ve been suspicious of psychiatrists, too.

    Miss McKlaren’s opinion over mine? Get real.

    Couples therapy is even worse, like paying someone to passive aggressively abuse you. I think it’s akin to self-flagellation.

    So I prefer to drink. I’ve always known that a couple of timely cocktails and the right audience do wonders for working out funks, but I believe it’s equally effective for repairing relationships.

    Actually, forget repairing. It’s maintenance. As routine as it is to change the oil in your car, couples should make time to get drunk with one another.

    And I don’t mean in a social setting — weddings, family get togethers, football games and funerals don’t count. I mean mano-a-mano. You can do your romantic dinner dates, but I’m beginning to think drinks a deux take care of a host of standard relationship hang-ups.

    Your significant other isn’t affectionate enough in public? Get drunk together.

    Soon hands will be held, hair caressed, neighboring tables offended. And you’ll dance — like nobody’s watching.

    He won’t talk about his feelings? Get drunk together.

    As The Boyfriend likes to say, “I’ve got my nothing drawer out.” I don’t know exactly what that means, and I’m kind of jealous. I have to get an MRI or schedule a sensory deprivation sesh to achieve that kind of Zen. If you find yourselves reading in the same room in silence for one too many consecutive nights, take a night out. The only drawers out will be the kind that drop.

    Need to get something of your chest, or resolve an argument? Get drunk together.

    Where marijuana slows time down (I’m told) alcohol speeds it up. Fights that could last weeks are over after a few hours-long drink-fueled pow wow. You’re quicker to say you’re sorry, quicker to forgive, and ready to get the damn thing over with and on with your night.

    Don’t think you’re doing it enough? Get drunk together.

    It doesn’t matter what activity you elect as the excuse; it’s the same concept that slayed you when you were single, put to far more productive use on a significant other. Where pounds were dropped and faces altered in ways no plastic surgeon could, your goggles now serve to forgive past offenses, make quirks into qualities and remember why you liked each other in the first place.

    Doing it too much? Get really drunk together.

    Boom, baby. Relationship rescued. Sic me on world peace.

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    This Week's Hot Headlines

    5 Houston suburbs among best places to retire and more popular stories

    CultureMap Staff
    Nov 8, 2025 | 11:00 am
    The Woodlands, Houston suburb
    Visit The Woodlands/Facebook
    The Woodlands is one of the best place to retire, according to U.S. News.

    Editor's note: It's time to look back at the top Houston news of the week. Five area suburbs are among the top places to retire, plus the long-awaited Ismaili Center — the first in the U.S. — prepares to open its doors. Get the details on our most popular stories below, then plan your weekend right here.

    1. 5 Houston suburbs deemed best places to retire in 2026 by U.S. News. Houston-area suburbs should be on the lookout for an influx of retirees in 2026. A new study by U.S. News and World Report has declared The Woodlands and Spring as the 4th and 5th best cities to retire in America, with three other area suburbs making the top 25.

    2. Houston's new retro-styled jazz supper club sets opening date. Brent “Doc” Watkins has a very specific reference for Doc’s Houston, his new jazz supper club that’s opening November 15 in the historic Tower Theater in Montrose.

    3. CultureMap editor's 11 favorite dishes at Houston restaurants in October. New to CultureMap: A roundup highlighting editor Eric Sandler's favorite dishes of the month.

    4. 10 things to know about America's first Ismaili Center opening in Houston. The long-awaited Ismaili Center, Houston is set to open to the public next month. As the only Ismaili Center in the United States, and seventh in the world, it joins its international communities in London, Vancouver, Lisbon, Dubai, Dushanbe, and Toronto.

    It opens to the public next month. houston.culturemap.com

    5. H-E-B's new store brings strawberry cups and seafood boils to Katy. The beloved Texas grocery store chain H-E-B has opened its Jordan Ranch location, serving Katy and Fulshear and further expanding the footprint of the brand in Houston.

    favorite disheshouston restaurantsismaili centerus newshebmost popular storiesretirementopeningstop stories
    news/city-life

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