1 Month Smoke Free !!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, that's right, I've been over a month without having one single cigarette!

It's been unbearably hard (obviously that's over-stating it, because I did bear it) but I am so happy that I've made it this far.

I still want a cigarette, but not enough to commit unspeakable acts to get one, which is how I felt before.

I've been off the patches for the last two weeks, and I think I'm going to make it. I have put on quite a lot of weight, which is not good, but I figure with my new lungs I can excercise more and take that off over the next month or two.

1 Week smoke free !!!

I have made it a full week without so much as puffing on a cigarette. Admittedly I've breathed in a lot of 2nd hand smoke, but that doesn't count does it?

I had a nasty head-ache yesterday that was with me this morning, but seems to have gone now. I'm wearing nicotine patches, and I think they're helping (they'd ruddy better help at $25 for a weeks worth of the cheap'o brand).

The patches manufacturer says I should wear them for 12 weeks, which makes $300. If you add to that all the lollies, icecreams and general bad food I've been indulging in, quitting smoking is a costly operation. But there's no-way I'm going to wear them for 12 weeks, I mean $300 worth of nicotine when I'm trying to quit the stuff?

Welcome to my nightmare

I'm sitting at work, during lunchtime and I really want a *%$@&#^ cigarette. But I'm not going to have one. Anyway, yesterday I said I'd give a run-down of my dreams, so here goes:

On Sunday nite I dreamt (<-- is that how you spell it?) that I was at a remote building. There were a few people there too. Someone turned up and locked us in. They slid these massive steel doors (like 'blast doors' or something) closed and we were traped. I went looking for an exit, but there were guard dogs chasing me. I'm pretty sure I found my way out eventually, but I remember running and being scared a lot. Afterwards (or was it before? The 'dream' was two days ago) I was out in a field, swingning a rope with something on the end (a chair I think). I swung it faster and faster, and then let go. It was then I realised there were people at the bottom of the hill (I was in a field/on a hill, you know how dreams are). I saw a lady with a pram, and instantly knew what was going to happen.
For what seemed like a long time I waited, then a thing looking like a small plane (like about 4-5 feet) came hurtling strait down and crashed just next to the pram. The mother screamed, I crouched down with my hands covering my head; I think I was mumbling something.

Turns out it missed the child, but It was a close run thing. On the next nite I remembered another dream, this one was a bit more friendly. I'll write it up in the next day or two (I'd better get back to work, lol). If anyone can explain what I have just given away about my inner psyche, let me know.

I am still not smoking, and it is killing me, but it will kill me if i start again, so I'm pretty much scr*wed. Oh yeah, and happy valentine's day everyone (bah, humbug). ( , y , )

Day two of non-smoking

OK, I've made it to the end of day two!!! I'm pretty stoked, but I'm also not going to get ahead of myself. A few years ago I went about 10 days and then started up again, so I need to keep an eye on myself. Sorry about the picture, but it pretty much sums up my brain function at the moment. Anyway...

I started quitting on Sunday, and went to a mate's place for a barbie, and everyone was smoking. It was tough, but I figure if I can get through that (drinking beers, eating plenty of food etc.), anything else should be OK.

Well, today was of-course Monday. Working and not smoking isn't too hard, it's the morning, the lunch break and after work that had me grinding my teeth. Sh|t, I really wanted to go and get some smokes, but at the same time I knew the will-power was there to avoid it. I'm quietly confident.

On Sunday night I had some NASTY nightmares. I havn't remembered a dream for a while, but I sure remember this one. I havn't got time to go into it, but I'll write it up soon. Good to be back going on and on about my my pisssweak excuse for a problem. Want to tell me where to stick it? Leave a comment or chuck a message in a bottle, whatever floats your boat.

This time

OK, I'm going on a new quitting campaign. I've been planning it for a week or two now, and set teh 11th of February as the date. People ask me "why the 11th? has it got some significance?. But no, there is nothing special about the date, it's just before Uni starts and after I saw Tool play (I'll have to tap out a few words about that later).

So, I'm soon to be a non-smoker. The 11th is a Sunday, so that should give me a day of relaxing before I unleash on my workmates on Monday.

Oh yeah, I didn't mention that I'm working now. I'm an accountant!!! go figure.

This is my first post for a while, and I plan on making some more to vent about how hard quitting is etc.

Wayne Rooney is a Tool

Stomping on testicles is not cool. I think we can all agree on this (especially those of us who have testicles). This is a bit of after-game footage with experts trying to spin his red-card as being orchestrated by someone else. HE STOMPED ON TESTICLES, now I dunno about you but I think that deserves more than a red-card: perhaps a smashed nose?

Australia wins World Cup opening game

Australia (The Socceroos) wins it's opening match against Japan 3-1. Wow what a game! I was watching it on the Tube (it runs from 11PM to 1AM here) and it was a real rollercoaster of emotion.

The Socceroos had most of the posession, but about 20mins into the first half, Japan scored. It was nasty. Our goalie, Schwartzer, was taken out by a Japanese striker but the umpire let it go. After the game he apparently admitted he'd made a mistake.

85 gruelling minutes go by, with Australia's first World Cup appearance for 32 years slipping away with every minute. Then, out of nowhere,

we score!

I was so pumped!

Then, against all probabilities we score again. This second goal was a very nice piece of work, hitting both upright posts. I was absolutely beside myself. I went from thinking it was over, to being in front.

Just to seal it, the Socceroos scored for a third time in the final 10minutes, to make the score 3-1.

We're in a group with Brazil and Croatia, so it's all uphill from here. Just winning one game is enough for me (not to mention scoring our first ever World Cup Finals goal) especially since we havn't been there for 32 years and I'm 25.



http://i75.imagethrust.com/i/496844/australia.gif

A quote from a book

I've just finished reading Terminate with Extreme Prejudice by Richard Belfield (2005, Macmillan by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd, Sydney). There are so many things I could quote from the book, but I had to pick one, so here it is:

"The ironic result is that the USA is now in the public assassination business, with huge cash rewards ($25-50 million in the currency of your choice) for the capture or assassination of Osama Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zwahiri.
The cynical advice given to torturers is that if you break a man as badly as the Egyptians broke Zwahiri then you had better kill him, otherwise he will come back and destroy you.
When the planes flew into the World Trade Center in 2001, many commentators looked for significance in the date, but none spotted the crucial link. It was exactly twenty years to the month since Zwahiri, the key planner of the attack, had been arrested, tortured and broken."

The book is full of interesting things. It's a great read if you are interested in world politics and history, but may be too heavy going for casual readers. Questions or comments?

Deja vu again, again

OK, here we go, I quit again tomorrow. I am determined that this time will be the last time. As I've said before: Quitting is easy, I've done it hundreds of times. The key is to stay...eh...quitted. How I'm going to achive it this time, when I've failed on so many other occasions, I don't know.

I suppose I have to just keep in mind that cigarettes stink, they taste bad, people look at you like you're a lepper, they cost way too much money and I've heard a rumor that they are not all that good for you. Also, in my home State of Tasmania, you are now not allowed to smoke in bars and clubs. That's right people, the age old tradition of having a beer and a smoke will now cost you $2000 and the pub owner twice that.

That siht really pisses me off. I want to quit, but surely people should be allowed to have a beer and a cigarette if they want to! The argument is that the employees of the bar have no choice. Well, I've got news for everyone: people work in hazardous environments all the time. I admit that bar-chicks in face masks is not all that good a look, but it should be a possibility for those that want to open a "smokers' bar".

Hopefully it won't be an issue for me, because I won't be a smoker tomorrow, but I think the principle of choice is an important one.

Happy New Year everyone!

Oh yeah, I hear that women prefer their men to not smoke, but I don't have any evidence to back it up. Any female who has bothered to read this far (congrats!) let me know what you think (and if your in the Tassie area... tee hee hee).

I won $50 at Blog Explosion!!!

As usual I went to check my e-mail today, had a quick scan, no mail from where I was expecting it. Then, something caught my eye. Could it be? "You won $50 from the BE Christmas Contest" as a subject line! Man, was I pumped, and on Christmas Eve too! I've had a lousy couple of days leading up to Christmas, and I was getting humbugshous, but this has put a big smile on my dial. (B.E. comp. details

Thankyou to all Blog Explosion staff and, of course, all Blog Explosion members, who have been so good to me. If you're reading this, have a site, and don't know about Blog Explosion, I recommend it very highly. The community has excellent people (sooo nice and helpful), excellent features (did you know you can win $50 each day in December, hehe) and excellent blogs (except mine, which must be the exception); excellent!

Once again, THANKYOU and

Merry Christmas EVERYONE!

PS: thankyou, thankyou, thankyou, thankyou.

The Chronic

I duno if this will work. We'll see eh.



It worked. PS: shamelessly stolen from: youtube.com

Merry Christmas Everyone!

And a happy new year!
If anyone wants to give me a present, they can donate to Oxfam, that would make me happy.

nothing in particular

I'm writing this post, not because I have anything in particular to write about, it's just been quite a while since I've written one so...

Well, a topical issue in Australia is the racist violence. Hmm, where do I start. Firstly Racists piss me off! but secondly, and perhaps more importantly, people like Howard who tacitly encourage it get me very mad. He uses 'dog whistle politics' to get elected, and then is surprised when people have an attitude towards others percieved to be different. Talking out of both sides of your mouth is not a uniquely 'political' skill, but come on, a leader should be more responsible.

Another topical issue here in Australia is boobies. The general consensus is that boobies are very cool, both men and women seem to agree. I dunno what else I can say on the subject, except that I don't have any boobies :( ahhh well, you can't have everything I s'pose.

One last comment, there, done.

I'm calm now

I have calmed down now. Since my last post I have taken a few deep breaths, realised that I can solve a lot of my problems with enough persistence, and that I am still a lucky son of a biach. I want to wish anyone with the persistance to read this far a happy time over the coming weeks, reguardless of your religious beliefs (or lack there of).

I watched the start of this Woody Allen movie the other nite (it was crap, but that's not the point). He started with a story:
Two ladies are having lunch. One complains to the other: The food here tastes terrible! The other lady agrees, saying Yes, it's awful, and such small servings too! Woody says that this is like life, it's terrible and also there's not enough of it.

To change topic, check out this website: The Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network NOTE Fair trade rather than the so often one-sided Free trade.

i am so fucking pissed off

I am fucking pissed off! I want to crush someone's face into the wall. It's hot and sticky, I have made bad decisions, I have fucking had enough of this shit and... well... what can I do? I can't just go around hurting people who don;'t dserve it can I? If this pain was caused by and enemy then it would be easy, hurt him. But its not that simple (it never is is it?).This is an outrlet i suppose, just bashing away on a keybored even though noone is going ot read this anyway nbut it makes me feel better anyway. see, a full stop. I just paused there and contemplated,m a sure sign that I'm calming down. Ah well, I have no reason to complain (well I do, but not compared to some people who keep their trap sut) so so ... so ... catharsis, hardly. But at least I've stoped typing

"What he witnessed from the edge of the escarpement was incomprehensible, and yet it made perfect sense.
A euphoric wave rushed through his mind effecting every thought and emotion he had ever experienced.
A thousand realisations so perplexing they tore the fabric of consciousness itself.
It was a reality that could not possibly exist.
The fight for his mind had begun."



These lines are from COG's fist real album, The New Normal U should hear it. Australians rule!

If you enjoy this music, you may enjoy other music, so get some and listen to it dips#&t!

In keeping with my theme of 'having no theme' (and following on from my last post); here are some of my songs. Do not listen to them, unless you want to piss yourself laughing at my inept attempts at music.

I spent ages copying and pasting links and posted before testing the links, damn. The site I put my songs on denies links to individual songs. So, here is the page with them all on it (mp3s and various streaming rates):

Autarky autarchy (yes, they are real words)

To torture, or not to torture?

I know it's inconsistent with my blog, and way too long, but I had to write it. I did a bingo search for the USA torture debate and found two Australian articles, 'one of each' so to speak. The first tries to lay out the case for torture, the second has both viewpoints, but I've cherry picked the opposing argument. Firstly:
"Torture is permissible where the evidence suggests that this is the only means, due to the immediacy of the situation, to save the life of an innocent person. The reason that torture in such a case is defensible and necessary is because the justification manifests from the closest thing we have to an inviolable right: the right to self-defence, which of course extends to the defence of another. Given the choice between inflicting a relatively small level of harm on a wrongdoer and saving an innocent person, it is verging on moral indecency to prefer the interests of the wrongdoer." from theage.com.au

The second argument seems so go something like this:
MARK SIMKIN: When it comes to torture, John McCain knows what he's talking about. He's been on the receiving end.
In 1967 he was on a bombing run over Hanoi. A surface to air missile blew off the wing of his plane. McCain bailed out, landed in a lake and was captured by the Vietcong. He spent the next five and a half years as a prisoner of war, being beaten and tortured.


JOHN MCCAIN: Our image in the world is suffering very badly, and one of the reasons for it is the perception that we abuse people that we take captive.
MARK SIMKIN: The White House isn't happy about the amendment. It's worried it will impede its ability to fight terrorism, and George W. Bush is even threatening to block it with the first veto of his presidency.
Behind the scenes, Vice President Dick Cheney is trying to roll back the ban, arguing that it should not apply to the CIA.


Supporters of the ban on torture argue that the mistreatment doesn't just hurt the prisoner, it also hurts the United States' reputation.
Chuck Hagel is a senior Republican.
CHUCK HAGEL: I think the administration's making a terrible mistake in opposing John McCain's amendment on detainees and torture. Why in the world they're doing that I don't know. From abc.net.au

Despite the fact that the second argument relies heavily on 'protecting the USA from international brow furrowing' I must find it the more compelling argument. Torturing people is torrorising people. But they are bad guys! I hear people say. Well, how can you be so sure? Would people have been tortured to find where Saddam's WMD was? (to save lives from an Iarq attack on the USA).
I don't want the USA to go down the tubes, it would be bad for the world. Please, if you have an ounce of Christian value, write to George Bush and give him your opinion.

Tried Blingo yet?

Blingo is not a new search engine as such, as it's powered by Google, but it does have a couple of differences. The one that I like the most is the "search within these results" button, which doesn't really need explaining. This makes narrowing down searches much easier, as you can keep going until you get a results list that's small enough to look through. What initially got me onto the site was that it gives away prizes at random for searches, one each to both the person searching and that person's referrer. You can win stuff like PSPs, portable DVD players and ofcourse some less cool stuff like movie tickets etc. A prize would be nice, but I use it because it's acually an improvement on Google. Try it here.

The Question must be Asked...

The only problem is, of course: what is the question? (itself a question). The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy suggests that the answer is 46 (or 42, I always forget), but also fails to work out what the actual question is. One question that could be asked is: why am I still smoking? Yes, that's right, my attemps at quitting have, so far, been futile. The answer is ... well ... I suppose the answer is that I'm soft as jelly.

If a picture tells a thousand words, then surely here's a few words with a big question mark after them.

(ANS: 42 [or 46])

Makybe Diva! 3 in a row!

The Australian Melbourne Cup has been run and won by Makybe Diva for the third time in a row. It is the most amazing thing. Millions of dollars prize money.
There was a guy who put $1Million on Makybe Diva at 3:1 !
What a great horse. It is the biggest horse race in Australia and it's been won by the same horse three years in a row. Phenomenal! What a champion!

quitting smokes again again

Tomorrow I quit again, again. This time I'm gunna do it. I'm pumped, I'm confident; it will happen. Cigarettes are so bad! They stink!

Back to basics, but not to school

I havn't put a posting on here for a while. There's a few reaons for that, but the main one is that I've started smoking again. It began with one or two a day, and then I thought stuff it, and here I am typing away with a cigarette in my right hand. I'm annoyed with myself, and intend to give it another go on Monday. I think trying to quit on Friday/Saturday is just sadistic.

I've gotta move out in a month or two. I've got a biach of a decision to make. I don't want to have to move in with my folks for a few weeks, but I havn't decided where I want to move to. I need to find work somewhere before I get a place but I'm such a slack ass that I've only applied for a couple of jobs. Ah well, I s'pose I should be thankful that I've got my parents to fall back on but I really don't want to do that. Not only is it embarrassing, but they're about to retire and they deserve their own time.

With a bit of luck I'll get a good job before the crunch time and it won't matter. Either way giving up the

stink sticks

will mean a handy pay rise. catchyal8r!

4th day

Philip Morris is a dick!

The fourth day started OK. I went about my business, walking past cigarette weilding bastards that seemed to jump out of nowhere saying (sssmmmmoooookke meeeee).

This is a satellite photo slice of the East Coast of my home. In summer it's awesome. I love the beach. Anyway, I digress and must confess:

I was waiting for a bus and decided to get a beer (like yestertay, but at a different bus stop) but the damn pub was shut! On my way back to the bus stop I got a pk of 20s S#$T! and a lighter. I sat there for a bit before I sparked one up.

I went through the rest of the day with 19 cigs in my pocket, whispering sssmmmmoooookke meeeee, but I held off and held off until just now.

So, I've had two cigarettes today! What a f%&k up! I plan on keeping up the fight. The problem is that tommorrow is Friday, then Saturday, then Sunday, how the hell am I going to do it with 18 cigarettes constantly whispering sssmmmmoooookke meeeee ... sssmmmmoooookke meeeee.

Philip Morris is a dick!

Third day of Non-Smoking!

Well, the title is a bit misleading because I have been smoking the odd cone here and there, with no spin in it though, so no nicotine. This bushitler gif is from blogfart which is a cool site, you should check it out (unless you're her mum/mom in which case you should stay away.
I've run out of chewy stuff to chew on and can't find anyone who deserves me getting mad at them. If there's anyone out there who desperately needs an abusive e-mail, drop me a line at TheNewNormal@hotmail.com with a subject line asking for abuse
I've stopped smoking longer than 3 days before and then started up again, so I've got to keep my guard up. I sat at a bus stop today (my weakest, need a cig time) but I didn't have one. I actually went to the pub accross the road for a beer and waited for the bus in there and still didn't have a smoke. I took a 'stress ball' into town with me (yes, I am a d!(k-head) but I didn't use it because I felt like a d!{k head.
It's already Thursday, so I'd probably better get to bed. If you want to comment, tell me that I'm a whinging little baby who should thank f$@k for the chance to choose, tell me I'm cool, very cool, The Fonz Cool, whatever, go for it.

Day 2

Well, I'm well into my seconed day of non-smoking now. It's the strangest thing.
It's very hard
&
It's very easy.
I want to break s#%t and stuff but I'm keeping it all under control pretty well. I havn't punched anything/anyone. Having a bit of weed without any spin has helped. I'm doing push-ups to get rid of my frustrations. I havn't got a girlfriend at the moment, but I'm not sure whether that's helping me quit or not. I'm making a lasagne for the first time tonite too, so wish me luck (ha ha).

I think that if I can last a week or two, then it should get easier. I can already notice my sense of smell is changing. When a mate walked in with a cigarette today it smelt like s*&t and I told him to get out. I think I can taste things differently too, the tomatoes from the lasagne taste very strong. I think having a girlfriend would help; damn I need some sex. S&$t, I think the mince & tomatoes are burning, catchyal8r!

Day 2 Contd.

Yeah, I did burn the mince & tomatoes. Ah well, it just gives it a slight charcol flavour, which I associate with lasagne anyway, I don't know why. Cigarettes suck! They stink! They will respect my

authority!

Quitting Smoking

---

Today I stopped smoking. Someone said once that quitting smoking is easy, I've done it hundreds of times.That's pretty much where I'm at, I've tried to quit many times before and always failed. This time, however, will be the last time I quit. I will do it. I'm only at 21 Hours but I think I can do it this time. Any hints?

---

Here we go again

Well, here I am agin. This time it's high noon (almost) and I'm still browsing and blogging rather than doing what I should be doing (sound familiar to anyone?). While I'm here I s'pose I may as well do something useful, so...

Have a look at this band, they are amazing:

Karnivool

Karnivool is an Australian band whose new album Themata is simply amazing (check out the title track [No. 2]). Check their site at www.karnivool.com.au
(No I don't get a commission, I just want to spread the goose bumps, I want everyone in the world to feel that spine tingle.

Procrastination Nation (with benefits)

Well, here I am again. 3 O'Clock in the morning, wanting to type my assignment but instead just piss farting around. n e way ...

Here's a reward for anyone who actually reads this:

This Aussie band is very cool
COG
Check 'em out at www.cog.com.au
They got "Silvia Massey" (I'm sure I fcuked up the spelling, but it's something like that) to help record their new album (The New Normal), she's worked with Tool.

What am I doing?

I've got a massive assignment to do that's due tonite, and what am I doing? I'm sitting here typing a blog about the fact that I shouldn't be typing it.

Truth be told, even if I wasn't typing this I still wouldn't be doing my assignment: I'm a chronic procratinator (i can't help fcuking around [in a non sexual way {usually}]).

Ah well, I s'pose I should get back to it. If anyone has a small SQL database I can borrow, it'd save me a lot of time (lol) mail to thenewnormal@hotmail.com

Only joking, I think I'd better do it myself, just in case. Although, any hints and tips on integrating a simple Front End GUI would be recieved with gratitude (as would a click on the Google Ads at the top of the page). n e way, catchyal8r!

Check this picture:

This photo is someone's copyright so don't steal it (like I did).

The dramas of today

Today I woke up (no s%$t eh?) and had to walk into town to get my mobile phone. Halfway down these long steps (197 I think) my back went TWANG! I thought: "ah well, it'll come right" so I walked gingerly down the rest of the staris. I didn't get far before realising that I wasn't going to make it into town, let alone back again, so I had to walk back up the 197 stairs, what a BIACH! If anyone actually reads this, can I ask you a question? Answers to thenewnormal@hotmail.com
EDIT