Happy Halloween!

20 Costumes That Will Earn You a Halloween Beating

Saying Good-Bye to an Old Friend

Not too long ago, Rusty asked me what it's like to quit smoking. There are good points and bad points:

Good

Saving money!
My house doesn't smell (as much--Chris still smokes)
I'm so much more productive now that my time isn't dictated by how long it takes me to finish a cigarette
I no longer hack up a lung like an old man after I laugh too hard
My lungs don't hurt in the morning anymore
I'm less likely to die of lung cancer
I feel good about myself for having the willpower to quit my 11 year 1-2 pack a day habit cold turkey

Bad

Not having something to do to fill up empty time
Not getting that buzz that you still get every once in a while
Being on edge
The fights that go on in my head when I want to run to the store to get a pack
The constant craving that feels like a boulder in the pit of my stomach
Obsessively thinking about smoking

Next Wednesday night I'm going to a bar, so that will be the ultimate test (unless it's one of the bars affected by the smoking ban--I'm not sure!)

HELP!

I have 5 grays! Should I pluck them?! Not only that, but they stick straight up in the air defiantly, as if to say, "You're not young anymore: you're pushing 30, your 10-year high school reunion is coming up, your hip hurts when you sit in one position too long, spicy food gives you heartburn, you're practically blind without your glasses, you get mail from AARP, a kid at work thought you were 60, you think the "music" that kids these days are listening to is noise, you reminisce about getting gas for 89 cents a gallon, and you talk about how much different things were back in your day."

No Smoking

I am currently smoking my last cigarette. I've smoked for 11 years, but it's time to stop for health and financial reasons. I pity anyone who comes in contact with me for the next couple weeks.

Total Jealousy

Holy shite! Check out the library in Jay Walker's house.

Art

I went to Baltimore with L. on Saturday, and one of the places we went was the American Visionary Art Museum. There were a lot of interesting exhibits by artists, most of whom have mental illness or mental retardation. Most of the pieces were extremely interesting, but the ones that really got me were the ones by Dalton Ghetti. He makes unbelievably intricate sculptures by carving the graphite in pencils without using a magnifying glass. Here are some pictures of his work and here's an article about him in the New York Times. The pieces they had on display at AVAM included a bust of Elvis, the letters of the alphabet, two interlocking hearts, a church, and the chain that is seen in the NYT article. This chain was carved from the graphite in the middle of the pencil and each link is interlocking. First, imagine how hard it would be to do that with a big block of wood, then imagine doing it with a tiny pencil. Simply amazing.

Spreading the Word

Shan posted a link to an op-ed piece from Huffington about Palin, and I wanted to share it with the three people who read my blog who don't also read hers. Here's the piece. Shan posted some of her favorite parts, but mine is this:

Now, I want to be clear and speak directly to those of you who LOVED that Palin interview. You're an idiot. I mean that. This is not one of those cases where we're going to agree to disagree. This isn't one of those situations where we debate it passionately and then walk away thinking that the other guy is wrong but argued well. I'm not going to think of you as a thoughtful but misguided person with different ideas who still really cares about the country and the world. No, sorry, not this time. This time, if you watched that interview and weren't scared out of your freakin' mind, then you're mentally ill, mentally disabled, or mentally disturbed. What you are NOT is responsible, informed, curious, thoughtful, mature, educated, empathetic, or remotely serious. I mean it.