Holy Crap, That's Weeks Now!

I can't tell if it is the patch or the familiarity from last summer, but thus far being smoke free has been much easier. I am enjoying not opening my locker at the gym and smelling my "clean" clothes! I am running again an must say it is a lot more fun running here than in Hollywood.






















I did enjoy the new landmarks on my route today. In LA I loved running over the 101 and down Santa Monica Blvd and finally crossing the stars on Sunset to finish my run at the gym. Today I ran so that I could hook around Wrigley Field on my way home. Hopefully soon I will be going farther and can add more Chicago landmarks to the course. Eventually I want to do a marathon, but let's be reasonable, it's still just week two.

The apt. is slowly coming together as well. We have a new stove (that does not leak gas) and there was some hint that new windows maybe on the way, but I am not holding my breathe on that one. It's always wonderful in Chicago when your apt is getting fixed up, but there also remains a slight concern that i is not necessarily being fixed for you to live there. That seems a long shot though. We also got a couch finally and can now comfortably enjoy the living room.

We just need to figure out how to zone out the noisy foot traffic outside the windows. Last weekend, when the Cubs swept the Sox at Wrigley, it was a little crazy here in the neighborhood. Not too bad, but enough. Tiff and I are taking turns as to who will be frustrated each time.

One Week!

Just a quick check in. For those interested, I have successfully passed the week mark. Hell I am hours away from hitting 9 slid days. To say I don't miss it would be a lie, but that is what smokers across the boards say after they have actually quit. I am glad the monkey is off my back, to be sure.

Five Days Strong

It's a bit odd, but the quitting effort seems easier than last time. There is a sense of familiarity to actually not smoking that is helping. Plus, I am sure the 21mg patch of nicotine on my back has something to do with it to. I thought the habitual effort would be the harder though. It feels pretty good so far. My brother quit. A couple more friends quit. Aside from almost punching one of my supervisors last night, thing have been damn near docile. But, in all fairness, I usually wanted to punch that supervisor even while smoking.

In any case, day five is pretty good. Plus it's a great day to be on the north side of Chicago for me! Rox win!

Day 3

Tiffany is in Ohio for the weekend and I have my first day off since quitting smoking on Tuesday. I tried to keep busy so as not to get in my head too much. Going to the gym was a bust in that I am still recouping from the sinus thing. My neck is still a tad tender too. All in all it's been a rougher week on the body. I realized this quickly into my workout and just gave up in favor of grabbing some breakfast at Pick Me Up Cafe. The rest of the day I spent cleaning and fixing up parts of the apartment. Seems we have a new challenge here in getting certain repairs taken care of. We were aptly warned that repairs would not be swift. None the less, the stove (circa 1962) has not been working right and tends to leak more gas when attempts are made than burning. We should be getting a new stove I am told next week. Another difficulty we have experienced here has been very weak water pressure on the "new" shower head. I took matters into my own hands there and found a nice, water saving head that increases pressure without using more water. So far it seems to work well.

The toughest thing thus far to get used to has been getting used to not taking smoke breaks. It's funny how used to those little ten minute escapes you get used to. Hell I even began to like my new walk to the Brown Line stop on Chicago Ave from work as it meant no transfers and a peaceful 4 blocks to have a smoke. I guess it's lucky for me I only did that for a week. All in all though, it would seem last year's attempt has made this one feel less weird. I walked to CB2 and Trader Joe's and only a couple of times did it feel odd not to be smoking. I am glad I did not try and get down to Cellular One Field tonight to see the Rockies and White Sox play. I had trouble containing my temper at Wrigley when they were here and that was just not getting to smoke in the stadium. Think I'll try and keep those kinda challenges to a minimum for a little while longer.

48 Hours

Just thought I would drop a line and report in on the quitting smoking. I am well beyond my 48hr mark and doing well surprisingly. When I finally told Mom I was smoking again, she said she had her suspicions. When we suddenly stop talking about it, that's kinda a dead giveaway. I partially did not want to tell people before because I thought I could just put them down again. I also did not want to become that guy again. Part of me also wanted to not discourage anyone else quitting. The lastly, I was embarrassed I let a good 6 months go.

None the less, I was not sure if I wanted to write a lot on Stupie about it. I just reread what I posted a year ago (quitting smoking label), and the funny part was that it helped a little to reread it. I am not trying this with a homeopathic approach I did last year. I gave that a brief and futile go with Scotty just as we left Minneapolis. I made it 22 hours and gave in to craving with the lame excuse that I was afraid of being that spaced out on stage for our first show the next day. Yeah, it was a lame excuse.

As for this effort, it is chemically backed. I have a patch on and thus far doing alright. It helps a little that I got smacked with a hella back sinus problem Mon night and developed a crink in my neck that would not even allow me to look to the right. All that fun together just made life on the whole a weird and difficult place. The neck is better as are the sinus', and I am still going strong. It helped a little too that my shaved head serves as a constant reminder things are different.

So here I am again on the right course. Sorry for any feelings of betrayal on not being more forthright till now, but I hope this helped explain where I was coming from. What really got to me from rereading the previous year's posts was all the support. It was with that in mind I felt like coming clean. I definitely need you all!

Tune in Next time for "Birthday Bowlin'" or "Quit Again!"

First things first. Bowling on your birthday is super friggin' fun. Thank you to everyone that came out! For those that couldn't, we will bowl again, I assure you. Second, I am again quitting smoking. It was difficult having people slowly find out I had picked up again over the last few months. That seems to be the nature of the beast. Well, I am back on the quitting path. Today is day one and it is almost in the books. As a sign of my seriousness (and a tip of the hat to Mark in Ft. Collins), I am making the decision a total one in change. Observe the new do!

Moved in

We made our last trip from our studio in Roger's Park on Saturday to our new place on Cornelia. It was barely finished when we got with some of the painted walls being just a tad still on the wet side. None the less, we are home now.



















This move was to be one of more a settling nature. Tiff and I are tired of hopping around and ready to get comfy. We have the room to do it here. Our modest remaining possessions look even more modest here. However, I was impressed at the amount of things Tiff had crammed into the nooks of the studio. I thought we would be done in just a load or two. No. It took about five runs with her Toyota. We are hitting IKEA tomorrow out of necessity in that there are certain things that we find may be higher priority than anticipated. I am glad to say we have silverware now though. It was a rough discovery that we had bought ice cream before spoons!


It's also my birthday today. I am having a fantastic one thus far. It has been very chill and that is as I hope it stays. Last year Tiff and I went to Vegas and stayed at Treasure Island for kicks. It was a great trip. This year I have been to the gym and had breakfast at my favorite brunch joint, Orange. Tiff joined me for food. Unlike the last time I went to Orange on June 9th, I did not come out to find my car booted on Clark Street. Guess I am growing up a little. That and my car is still safely tucked away in a garage in Colorado.

All in all, I have to say life is going pretty good right now. I am beginning work on a new Art of... for the Abbie Hoffman festival and just had a good audition or two. The picture of the car was my ride for the film I just shot. Pretty stylin". It is the year of "bringing the art back" after all! Last but not least, it was great to see Jack and Tanya on their all-too-short trips to Chicago. Come back soon!