Substandard Trip

This is a description of my second trip on mushrooms, approximately one month after my level 1 Tactile Sensations experience. This time, I had told Shaggy that I planned on achieving a level 4 experience, as I had enjoyed my first trip and wanted to be sure of getting some visual hallucinations. The trip was planned for the weekend, although Shaggy said that he would not take any mushrooms, as he had used them the previous weekend and is responsible not to abuse the substance. However, a third person decided to join us, hereafter known as John Little. John Little is a fairly large man, mid-twenties, and very intelligent. Both Shaggy and I felt that he was reasonably stable to experiment with the mushrooms, so we made sure to have enough for him. Two of my roommates, who were and are still opposed to trying mushrooms, decided to observe our general state during the trip.
When the weekend finally came, Shaggy brought over a huge bunch of fresh and dried shrooms and gave some to both of us. I ate the equivalent of five grams of dried shrooms, plus two large fresh ones. This I realize now was pushing it a bit, but by this time it was a little late for regrets. After I ate my share and John Little ate about three to four grams dried (from what I can tell), we sat back and waited for the effects to take place. The two observers were watching us like a pair of vultures, but Shaggy was just his old friendly self, giving the occasional advice to John Little (as it was his first time).
It was about 20 minutes after I had taken them that I started feeling some of the nausea, but much greater than my first time. My past experience had taught me to push aside the nausea and just ignore it, and that must've flipped a switch in my brain. I was immediately overcome with a rush of euphoria, which inspired my repetitive manner of giggling and then letting out a "Waow..", a goofy grin plastered on my face. Everything around me looked like it was on TV, with horizontal scanlines passing through my vision. Once again, my equilibrium decided to take a holiday, but this time it wasn't checking its messages. I could barely stand, so I remained sitting. Staring down at the carpet as it started to undulate under my feet, I told Shaggy between giggles, "Aw, fuck. I took way to much, man." I wasn't nervous about it, as I prefered feeling euphoric, but if this was the "coming up" experience, I was certain that I was going to be thoroughly done over by the time I peaked.
Meanwhile, John Little was starting to feeling the nausea, and was having serious problems with it. Shaggy decided that some juice might settle his stomach, so I got up and somehow managed to get my can of pineapple juice from my room and bring it out. John Little and I both drank a glass of it, which did neither of us any good, leaving me feeling more queasy than before. Roommate A was playing some rather disturbing music, which left John Little very agitated. He was obviously very unhappy as the music got more and more disturbing, until he finally started yelling for Roommate A to change the music. I was beginning to feel empathy for him as I could sense his darkening mood and this harsh silence fall over the room (which happened when the music was switched). However, his mood improved when the music switch over to some Aphex Twin.
So we decided to head out to a nearby Albertson's, but we had to wait for Roommate A, as he still wanted to observe the situation. Roommate B was uneasy about the whole matter and so stayed home. Unfortunately, it took Shaggy and Roommate A about 30 minutes to get ready to go, which left John Little and me outside, alone. At one point, John Little was sitting by himself at the base of the stairs to my apartment building, and was trying to keep himself together. My sense of empathy suddenly heightened and I was hit by an overwhelming feeling of isolation, like my link with the universe had been severed, leaving me alone and without any love or friendship. The sensation passed as quickly as it came, and I headed up the stairs to get our two friends out of the apartment.
It was then that I saw the cobblestone step on the stairs. Each stone seemed to boil like a bubble on the surface of soapy water, burst, and then reveal another bubble beneath it. I stared at that rolling, blurring step for a long time, coming to realization that, as I said to myself under my breath, "Oh, God! I am seriously fucked up." I pulled myself out of that wonderful step and eventually we all (Shaggy, John Little, Roommate A, and myself) got on the road. Roommate A was giving all sorts of bad vibes, and John Little was not enjoying himself, leaving me feeling somewhat guilty and self conscious about enjoying my own trip. During the ride I suddenly became very nauseous, which I think was a combination of the car ride and the pineapple juice. I was barely able to say, "Woah, I'm feeling that nausea again," before I yakked all over myself in the front seat of Shaggy's van.
We immediately pulled into a gas station and I pulled myself out of the car, looking like a truly trashed stoner as I fell to the ground, covered in mushroom stems and pineapple juice. Now, this was near an intersection, so several people got a good look at this poor, disheveled slob sitting on the curb in full daylight. Shaggy brough me some paper towels and as I cleaned myself off, all of my former euphoria fell away like a shattered window. I was still under the influence of the mushrooms, but I began speaking clearly, "This was a bad idea. I don't think I'm going to do this again." Shaggy was understanding, but I was still in bad shape. One bad experience can really put you off, and I was basically determined to never try mushrooms again.
We left the gas station and got to Albertson's, and Shaggy went inside to get some Dramamine. After a long wait in the car, I decided to head inside and clean myself up in the restroom. I left the car and my two suprised friends and headed into the store while they both watched me stagger to the door. I swear I was walking straight, but then again Mr. Equilibrium was still on his vacation. I headed straight to the restroom as quickly as I could, and I felt like I was going extremely fast. Everything blurred past me like I was on a bullet train, and I noticed several stares as I passed by about 15 people. My knack for getting public attention while stoned was obviously quite well-developed. To my dismay, the restroom was locked, so I returned via my "bullet train" and met up with Shaggy.
We got back to the car and I turned the radio to an oldies rock station (a feat which required a hell of a lot of concentration), which began playing an old 60's song. Roommate A began talking about how the music was going to give us a bad trip, to which I asked him to stop talking, as I thought the music might improve my mood. When Roommate A stopped talking and I laid back in the warm sun with my eyes closed, I got a wonderful effect. I saw rows upon rows of orange and red fractal designs across my eyelids, but I no longer heard the music. I sensed the music and could perceive it, but my ears didn't hear it. I realize now that I was actually watching the song! It was simply beautiful, with each leaf-shaped design rolling outwards in a cycle of color, and my mood improved with a sudden rush. I was back to that glorious sensation of peace and serenity.
We headed back to the apartment, and as we drove I could almost see the dark aura of a bad mood pass beyond and give way to a good mood. Once back, I changed clothes and John Little wandered into Roommate A's room to lie down on his bed. I joined him shortly and stretched out beside him, staring at the ceiling while listening to some Aphex Twin music. John Little's nausea had finally passed and he was now giggling like me, both of us enjoying the ceiling. It was a plain white ceiling covered in spackle, but each piece created little explosions of color, each burst a concentric circle of multi-colored paint. The effect was similar to watching the surface of a pond during a light rain as each droplet creates its own ripple, but this was in technicolor! I was giggling almost constantly, awash with the feeling of this new, colorful world. We spent what must have been 30 minutes on Roommate A's bed, until Shaggy suggested we go to across town to see the sights.
The only thing I vividly remember during the car ride was passing by a small lake that was near the highway. It was a brighter, deeper blue than I had ever seen, and the surface of the water seemed to be frozen in place, with a tiny boat stuck in the middle. "Wow," I said, in awe of the scene, "it's just like ice..." Everything else is a blur, and it seems like we were on the road forever, but only for a brief moment. By the time we got to the mall, I was almost completely done with my trip, which I had basically not enjoyed. John Little had enjoyed the last half of his trip, but I found my experience to be more of a learning experience than a fun trip. After thinking over the day, I've come to several conclusions which I will follow if and when I trip again.

What I learned was this:
1. Tripping with others is good, but be sure they are happy people. Emotional baggage can easily come up during the trip and usually brings down the mood.
2. If you have any non-tripping friends along, make sure they are people that a) understand the nature of psychadelics, b) are happy, good-natured people, and c) you would trust to keep you safe and happy.
3. If you start a trip on an empty stomach, stay that way. Only drink water and only eat the mushrooms. Anything else will just make the nausea worse.
4. If you feel nauseous at all, don't do anything that normally makes you queasy (I get lightly car sick occasionally)
5. Follow your instincts. If you don't feel like going anywhere, don't. If a person is bringing down the trip, remove them from the group. Uneasiness leads to negative emotions and those can quickly lead to a bad trip, and no one wants that.
6. Pick a general environment to be in and start the trip there. Transportation should be by foot only. A person's home, a park, or other such secluded place is ideal.
7. Daytime trips are hard on the eyes and everyone will notice you if the trip goes awry. Nighttime trips are easier on the eyes and you are a lot less conspicuous at night.
8. Prepare a music center ahead of time with at least 2 hours of ambient sounds. Aphex Twin, sounds of nature (rain, whales, etc.), general New Age, or other such things will greatly enhance the experience and will help you enjoy it a whole lot more.

Be prepared when you trip, and you won't regret it.