I'm quitting smoking. I'm not really quitting but I'm just kind of not smoking so much any more.

I started smoking 11 years ago at the age of 17. I had been dating a girl at the time who smoked. When she broke up with me, I thought I could be closer to her by have an occasional smoke every now and again. I even started smoking her brand of cigarettes, which in retrospect reminds me that even I am not fully immune from doing really stupid things.

I'm reading a book right now that is reminding me how dumb it is to smoke. What I think is relieving stress or curing boredom is contributing to all those things, while at the same time making me stink and turning my teeth yellow and contributing to a lifestyle that isn't exactly contributing to my beer gut. It's no longer sexy, if it ever was. Unless you're an actor or in a rock band it doesn't do much for your social image, either.