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I quit.

One night, a little over a year ago, I decided to quit smoking. I was sitting there with my friend Derek after a long night of drinking. I had smoked since graduating high school and just like that, I snapped my last cigarette in half and haven't smoked since. Nor will I ever again. It feels great to have that kind of self control.

In the same spur of the moment type deal, last night on the way home from my parents bar I decided I am done drinking. And I mean it. Truth is I don't like the way I act about 50% of the time when I drink...Most of those times I end up hurting someone close to me, or just plain make a fool out of myself.

This doesn't mean I won't party. The whole 'get drunk to have fun' idea is a horrible misconception I carried around for years now. To have a good time and to party, drinking must be involved...WRONG! Add in the fact that some people in our family have had trouble with alcohol, it just seems pretty f-ing logical to call it quits. Besides, if you know me personally at all there is no need for alcohol to get out of line! I'm kinda out there anyways!

Recently I have been attracted to a deep and simple way of life...Thanks to Benjamin. The guy is doing a documentary on the life of Mr.Rogers, titled Mr.Rogers & Me. His mission is to spread the message of living deep and simple. At first glance I thought, are you kidding? This MTV exec. is into Mr.Rogers? Now after reading up on the man's life, and what he stood for how couldn't you be? Mr.Rogers stood up for what is good in life, not worrying about how others would perceive him or his message.

To be perfectly honest...I didn't get the whole Mr.Rogers 'neighborhood' thing until I received a response the other day from an email I had sent to Benjamin Wagner. I told him how much I enjoy his writing, and I stated that for the few minutes I am reading his blog, I feel like I am his neighbor...Just like we share coffee every morning. In his response he simply stated, "I *am* your neighbor"...And even though I have a long way to go, I am starting to get it.

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