Can I get an "ah, man!"?

Took the last of the little blues Sunday, and in celebration, I consumed volumes of celebratory liquid and smoked a pack of my favorite menthols.



Made you think it, didn't I? Hehheh. Not to worry, there has been no relapse, and it would seem I can now become one of those militant ex-types any time. Go about making others feel guilty, restricting where they can engage in the behavior, urging my legislation to raise the per pack taxes to extortionate levels, making funky faces whenever someone lights up around me. You know the type, the ones that come off as a bit holier than the rest of us, but are probably sneaking a smoke behind their pulpits, and hoping that NBC's Dateline doesn't decide to start producing "To Catch a Smoker."

Or perhaps I can just take a deep breath, not cough, and figure out why my newest addiction has to be so problematic that it could make a weaker person say "wtf" and return to the old addiction, just out of spite. I say this for many reasons, not the least being that the void left by the extinction of one addiction is much like a vacuum, and you know what nature thinks of that. Well, you do if you are learned, and if not, think physics. Mommy Nature has nothing on Mum Psyche. A behavioral vacuum gets filled before the old way even has it's butt smacked by the door.

Yes, I can take joy in the success of the Chantix and my brain working together to remove the decades-old habit, but I really need to figure out how to equate staying up late to the evils of smoking. If I find a way, I can then begin research on a little blue pill for that, and I'll dust off my pulpit to prepare for the crusade which will follow. I can begin work on the "Awake Tax" legislation, and compile a list of those who don't care. I can build a web site to warn others of the destruction the behavior can create. I can develop curriculum for self-help groups to use to "cure" the new illness and make room for the next new illness.

Yeah, I could do that. Or I could go accomplish something related to the project.