8 Ways to Sunday

I “quit” smoking a few months ago, but today I bummed a cigarette off a woman down the hall. Recent car-related stress has me craving nicotine again, I’m afraid.

The borrowed death-stick was a Marlboro Light 100 — one of those all-white cigarettes that I hate. I lit it up when I got home for lunch, and my concentration on keeping it out of the high winds long enough to get it burning kept me from realizing that I was actually setting fire to the filter tip instead of the tobacco. I inhaled a good-sized lung-full of filter smoke, coughed furiously, and cursed at myself for being a moron.

So, have I heightened my already-increased risk of cancer?

As a side note, I think being a smoker is like being an alcoholic. You may quit, but you’re still a smoker; that craving will always exist. Addiction is addiction, I suppose, whatever name you give it.

A belated, July-4th-inspired “question of the day”: What’s your American Dream, and how is it going so far?

Me, I want to be a full-time writer. I’m realistic enough to know that this will likely entail a certain amount of ad copy and some fluff pieces for lame in-flight magazines, my own creative work probably being insufficient to pay the bills. That’s okay, though; I want to get paid to do this thing that I enjoy and (so I’ve been told) do well.

My progress up to this point has been, I admit, less than stellar. I lost my way for a few years after deciding not to go to medical school as I’d planned, then got caught up in learning and pursuing a new career. Right now, I’m working with my mother — herself an aspiring author — on finishing a medical/science-fiction thriller she started just over twenty years ago. Had she finished the book in 1985, its core concept would have been considered revolutionary and shocking. Looking at what’s already written, I’m amazed at how prescient it was. With a few additions, I believe it can still be relevant, attention getting, and even controversial today. The book is two-thirds complete, but the whole thing needs re-written to bring the science and the style up to modern standards.

I’m optimistic about this book, but it’s not going as fast as I would hope. Where will this American Dream be headed by next July 4th? I’ll be very interested to find that out, myself.

What about you? Tell your story below, in the comments.

(this question was inspired by a similar one on Jen’s blog)

 vs. 

Who would win in a fight, Smokey Bear or McGruff the Crime Dog?

My money is on Smokey for his size advantage and sharp claws. Besides, Smokey survived a forest fire as a cub and was raised an orphan; he’s obviously tough, and probably has some deep-seated emotional issues and repressed anger to boot. All told, I think he has the upper hand in this fight. Unless McGruff has a .38 Special under that trench coat, in which case the bear is toast.

Colleen, on the other hand, thinks McGruff would win it because “a guy in a trench coat beats a guy in a ranger hat any day.” What do you think?

Update: As Jen points out in the comments, the name is Smokey Bear not Smokey the Bear. Having worked in the Forrest Service, I actually knew this but… well, see my comment for the long-winded explanation.

Why are nickels larger than dimes? Wouldn’t it make more sense the other way around?