I am super-proud of myself for quitting smoking this year.
About 10 years ago I was teaching English at a Lithuanian Teachers University. My students were all studying to be English teachers.
One day I showed up to class and they pulled out a newspaper. There I was right on the front page, above the fold, a big ugly picture of me smoking.
It was considered unseemly and improper for women to be smoking on the street. Women smoked, but it was appropriate for them to smoke in a park, in a restaurant or coffee house or at home. 
Of course, I smoked on the street all …read more

A week ago I started taking a new smoking cessation pill called Chantix. I had heard of quite a few people who have actually quit smoking by using this new wonder drug. I had also heard it causes night terrors, but that seems a small price to pay considering that if I do not stop my life might end with the nightmarish reality of dragging an oxygen tank around everywhere I go.
My true motivation is that someone told my daughter that I will die if I smoke. While true, I think this was totally inappropriate and I feel a little bit of …read more