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Post by NicoleMarie on Mar 7, 2005 22:12:38 GMT -5
Ok, I'm gonna ask folks a bunch of questions because I'm high on sugar! First, Trisha, How did you quit smoking? Did you decide for yourself or get nagged into it and just give in? Both my parents smoke like stacks and their lungs are paying the price. Any advice for me to use on the parents? Any little bit will help. Michael, exactly what is language arts? Does that mean you teach foriegn languages?
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MelTex
Detective
"I want a Jonny 7 all-in-one gun..."
Posts: 336
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Post by MelTex on Mar 7, 2005 23:28:01 GMT -5
Oh wow Michael, you teach 8th grade language arts? Wowsers, I seriously send a big "hats off" to you, because having "tried" to teach environmental education to 7th and 8th graders, I know how that age group can be. *giggle* I called them my 'squirrels'... that was my most affectionate term..lol! Do you like teaching language arts? And though I'm not a big Bush go-getter, I Am a huge LOTR fan...and I totally agree that the real world can be depressing and trying enough...so diving into a good detective or fantasy show is a nice release...
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Post by Observer2 on Mar 8, 2005 1:54:33 GMT -5
Trisha,
C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S !!!
I’m so happy for you!I used to work in a hospital... I’ve seen the lungs of smokers... But the day you stop smoking, they start recovering! I’ve never been a smoker, but I’ve had a couple of friends who’ve gone through long, frustrating struggles to quit. I know it wasn’t easy. I’m glad you made it.
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Post by Techguy on Mar 8, 2005 2:36:29 GMT -5
Trisha, let me add my congratulations to you for kicking the cigarette habit. I smoked heavily during my time in the Army, so I know what you went through trying to quit. I have been off the cigs for 10 years, so I wish you in turn many more happy and nicotine-free years in the future.
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Post by michael on Mar 8, 2005 7:12:40 GMT -5
NicoleMarie:
Language Arts is just the title we use at our middle school for reading, writing, and oral communication. (We "old schoolers" use to call it "English class".)
It is a "trying" age, but there's no middle ground there--they either love you or hate you. I've taught eighth grade for twenty-eight years, so I must like it. At least that's what I tell myself most days...
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MelTex
Detective
"I want a Jonny 7 all-in-one gun..."
Posts: 336
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Post by MelTex on Mar 8, 2005 10:27:41 GMT -5
Hey cool fireworks Observer!
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Post by domenicaflor on Mar 8, 2005 11:42:50 GMT -5
I have to add my voice to the chorus: Go Trisha! WOO WOO WOO WOOYou conquered the cigs and won. I'm sure your family is happy and thanks you, and now I'm here to say that your internet buddy thanks you. (Great fireworks, Observer!) D.
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Post by NikkiGreen on Mar 8, 2005 13:57:16 GMT -5
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Post by trisha on Mar 8, 2005 17:08:03 GMT -5
Ah, thanks everyone, and congrats to you, too, Techguy NicoleMarie, like I said in my earlier post, until I had other and more effective ways of dealing with stress, I had a hard time quitting successfully. Each person will have to find what works best for them. Of coarse, encouragement from loved ones is always helpful Just remember that most people smoke to relieve stress, so if you nag and send negative vibes, you will make it harder for them to quit. Try telling them that you love them, and your afraid of losing them so young in both your life, and theirs. There are also a lot of free help guides online. Here are a few I found on a quick search: www.cdc.gov/tobacco/how2quit.htmwww.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_10_13X_Quitting_Smoking.aspwww.surgeongeneral.gov/tobacco/consquits.htm
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Post by NikkiGreen on Mar 8, 2005 18:36:07 GMT -5
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Post by janetcatbird on Mar 9, 2005 14:23:42 GMT -5
As to the laundry, $1 to wash, .25 to dry. Trick is that you have to make sure you have enough money on your ID (our student ID acts as mini debit card for machines, meal plan, etc.), so even if you have a buttload of quarters if you don't have the money on your card you're out of luck. And that's assuming you don't have to wait for a machine, I figured out to do it in the weekday afternoons.
Congrats to all those who stopped smoking, and if anybody out there is going through the process, know we're rooting for you. I had a grandfather die of lung cancer after smoking like a chimney from age 15-70--my parents informed me that if they even caught me smoking I wouldn't have to worry about cancer cause they'd kill me right then and there. I don't care if I am on a scholarship that draws on tobacco money--this is North Carolina-- I just think it's nasty (I'm also allergic).
Never read the Lord of the Rings--which sends people into fits, somehow I never got around to it. (I also have not seen the movies because I wanted to read the books first.) I was really into Narnia, still am. I think it cool how J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis were big buddies at whatever school they taught at, they both had a really deep interest in mythology. (And for those who are interested in thsi sort of bio info, Tolkien was one of the friends who helped C.S. Lewis work to the point where he could re-accept Christianity; in Lewis' Space trilogy the character of Elwin Ransom is modeled after Tolkien.) But neither of them thought terribly much of the other's children's books! I make a reccommendation of "Letters from Father Christmas", that were left for Tolkien's children. There is a gorgeous edition, complete with pictures and watercolors that were left with the stockings, I highly reccomend it and I haven't read anything of his besides "The Hobbit".
As you can see, I got back (despite the ice and snow and four hour delay coming back from Newark last night). The concert was AWESOME, to sing in Carnegie Hall with those accoustics, holy moly. Be grateful you didn't have to deal with me on that adrenaline kick. "Song of Democracy" was so cool with the full orchestra, but I think "Choose Something Like a Star" was my favorite piece in our collection. The high school group was very good too. Beth, I stayed at the Hilton on Avenue of the Americas between 53rd and 54th, if that means anything. We did the whole Times Square thing--rode one of those 7-person party bikes, which was great fun--, saw "Beauty and the Beast", tour of Radio CIty Music Hall, and then of course we had to hit the Carnegie Museuma nd Gift Shop. Also lots of general walking around. Restaurants stopped at were the Astro Diner (corner of Avenue Americas and 55th I believe), Planet Hollywood, some little streetside restaurant, and lots of the kiosks, love those gyros.
Sorry, I'm still hyper over the concert, made more intense by being tired. Going to go collapse on the couch now, thank God I'm home. (And I didn't have to see my roommate at all at the dorm last night! Yippee!) Later all, take care.
Catbird
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Post by Patcat on Mar 9, 2005 16:29:00 GMT -5
Trish--Big congrats on the smoking thing. I saw both my parents struggle to quit--which they did, giving both longer and better lives--so I know something of your fight.
Catbird--glad your New York trip went so well. It is a great city, isn't it?
Patcat
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Post by trisha on Mar 9, 2005 17:10:48 GMT -5
Catbird, congrats on the performance I'm glad you had a good time. And though the Lord of the Rings books were great, The Hobbit is by far my favorite Tolkien story
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Post by Observer2 on Mar 9, 2005 17:58:45 GMT -5
Trisha, Great post about quitting, and what does and doesn’t help. With one exception, everyone I’ve known or worked with who successfully quit did it at least partly through finding healthier ways to deal with stress. The one exception was my father, who in his late sixties had a massive nose bleed one night for no apparent reason. We’re talking amounts of blood that made the place look like a crime scene and would have sent any normal person to the ER. He called the doctor the next day. Come to find out, the combination of high blood pressure and smoking had made his arteries so brittle that one had ruptured. It was an artery that runs through the back of the nose, then passes through the skull into the brain. If it had ruptured a little further along its length... Somehow, coming literally within inches of a massive stroke motivated him as nothing else ever had. He walked out of the doctor’s office a non-smoker, after nearly 50 years of heavy smoking. He never touched another cigarette. Even after having smoked for so long – since his late teens – he got a lot of return of lung function and energy, so much that he took up square dancing – a very aerobic form of dance that he had enjoyed as a young man – and danced well into his eighties. Techguy, Congratulations to you, too!! Catbird, Your concert sounds wonderful, and it sounds like you had a fun trip in general. I haven’t been to New York City (except to drive through part of it once, to pick someone up on the way to a science fiction convention) since they had the World’s Fair there, when I was a little kid; but with all the TV shows that film there, and some research I did on it for something a while back, it has come to feel like a familiar place to me, and I could kind of follow along with your description. Now, what I really wish is that I could have heard the singing! What a pleasure it must have been to be in the middle of it! C.S. Lewis is also one of my favorite authors. I still read the Narnia books, from time to time; and while I’ve never gone back and re-read the Perelandra trilogy, some of the images and concepts have stayed with me – and I read them decades ago. Have you read any of his other works? The Screwtape Letters, for instance, is a very insightful piece of writing, and often funny, in a sharp, pointed way. But I think the Narnia books may be his most important work, because of the ways they combine deep religious values with open-mindedness – a sadly rare combination, these days – and present that combination to children in ways that are both emotionally moving and ring true, making it likely that the images will stay with the readers. His perspectives on women weren’t as far beyond the culture of the time as I would have preferred... but he more than made up for it by ways that he transcended his culture altogether. Nikki, Thanks for the compliment on the fireworks... And to everyone else who complimented me on the fireworks, the kudos go to Nikki! I just cribbed off of a post she did in the Semi-Detached thread when I asked her to illustrate the fact that I was expecting fireworks in one of the disagreements between me and Metella. Nikki came up with quite a selection of fireworks... including an apparent portrait of me and Metella, turning various vivid shades of color, with fireworks coming out of our... well, Nikki said they were coming out of our heads, but you can judge for yourselves... So anyway, Nikki is our resident genius for coming up with icons and illustrations to fit any occasion! It would have taken me a week on Google to find that... except I never use Google for such things. I just go to old threads where Nikki has been, and pick out what I want.
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Post by Metella on Mar 9, 2005 18:57:14 GMT -5
;D at least we were both animated with equal manners (or lack thereof)
Nice story about your dad, unless you object, I will use that anecdote if/when appropriate. May have given him literally 30 extra years of life!
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