day one: quitting smoking.

from some don't smoke and don't smoke now website:

Within 12 hours after you have your last cigarette, your body will begin to heal itself. The levels of carbon monoxide and nicotine in your system will decline rapidly, and your heart and lungs will begin to repair the damage caused by cigarette smoke. As your body begins to repair itself, instead of feeling better right away, you may feel worse for a while. It's important to understand that healing is a process­;it begins immediately, but it continues over time. These "withdrawal pangs" are really symptoms of the recovery process.

Immediately after quitting, many ex-smokers experience "symptoms of recovery" such as temporary weight gain caused by fluid retention, irregularity, and dry, sore gums or tongue. You may feel edgy, hungry, more tired, and more short-tempered than usual and have trouble sleeping and notice that you are coughing a lot. These symptoms are the result of your body clearing itself of nicotine, a powerful addictive chemical. Most nicotine is gone from the body in 2-3 days.

my sister visited this weekend!

we:
went to la
went to venice
went to hermosa beach
went thrift store shopping
went to dinner w/friends
took photos
went to dog park
went home.

my sweet summer.

corona del mar, ca.

may, june, july.

enjoy your weekend.

xoxo

a conversation (unedited) between me & the V.

robinamcintosh@gmail.com says:
what are you doing
vans says:
there were more changes when I finished my last batch I grabbed a couple
vans says:
I think there was one left
robinamcintosh@gmail.com says:
no i already grabbed it
vans says:
how efficient of you
vans says:
putting me to shame as usual :) :) :)
robinamcintosh@gmail.com says:
please.

time.

christopher david ryan.

reasons to quit smoking:

- I will live longer and live healthier.

- The people around me will be healthier.

- I will be able to breathe easier.

- I will lower my risk of heart attack, stroke, or cancer.

- I will be able to sleep easier.

- I will have dewy, youthful skin!

- I won’t get emphysema before I turn 25.

- My asthma will reduce.

- I will save money (200 a month!)

- I won’t smell like cigarettes.

- My car won’t smell like cigarettes.

- My DOG won’t smell like cigarettes.

reasons to continue smoking:

- because quitting is too difficult?

office - place.

My day revolves around the candy jar at the front, the tea machine in the break room, and the random pages hanging from my cublet walls. Currently I have a Christopher David Ryan heart w/small text inside it: Get in here.

But now the creepy sales guy, who zips by my sunny cublet no less than 12 times a day, is staring it like it's a pin up from playboy. Maybe said sales guy would like to "get in" my heart and I should take it down. If I were him I would think the "Get in here" was a secret signal, or maybe an affront, seducing him in a coy & censored way.

But not everybody is as creative as I am.

I think I'm going to start writing about life at the 101 Innovation.

It's rich with material and a wasteland of intellect. Paradox at it's best.

Have WONDERFUL weekends, I know I will :)

amy hempel (again).

On the last night of the marriage, my husband and I went to the ballet. We sat behind a blind man; his guide dog, in harness, lay beside him in the aisle of the theater. I could not keep my attention on the performance; instead, I watched the guide dog watch the performance. Throughout the evening, the dog's head moved, following the dancers across the stage. Every so often the dog would whimper slightly. "Because he can hear high notes we can't?" my husband said. "No," I said, "because he was disappointed in the choreography."

ork posters.

i really want one!

orkposters.com

photo from berkeley

berkeley, ca.

visited san francisco this weekend.

sarajo frieden.

sarajo's illustrations & artwork.

A Dream Deferred

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

my service.

I just received an email from a friend of mine in India. Although it has taken me a bit of time to transcribe, I wanted to post this Amy Hempel story for him - I hope he, and you, will enjoy it.

The Man In Bogota.

Amy Hempel.

The police and emergency service people fail to make a dent. The voice of the pleading spouse does not have the hoped-for effect. The woman remains on the ledge--though not, she threatens, for long.

I imagine that I am the one who must talk the woman down. I see it, and it happens like this.

I tell the woman about a man in Bogota. He was a wealthy man, an industrialist who was kidnapped and held for ransom. It was not a TV drama; his wife could not call the bank and, in twenty-four hours, have one million dollars. It took months. The man had a heart condition, and the kidnappers had to keep this man alive.

Listen to this, I tell the woman on the ledge. His captors made him quit smoking. They changed his diet and made him exercise every day. They held him that way for three months.

When the ransom was paid and the man was released, his doctor looked him over. He found the man to be in excellent health. I tell the woman what the doctor said then-- that the kidnap was the best thing to happen to that man.

**

Maybe this is not a come-down-from-the-ledge story. But I tell it with the thought that the woman on the ledge will ask herself a question, the question that occurred to that man in Bogota. He wondered how we know that what happens to us isn't good.