Dodging a Bullet

"More than 60 percent of all cancer deaths could be prevented if Americans stopped smoking, exercised more, ate healthier food and got recommended cancer screenings, the American Cancer Society reported on Thursday." - CNN

So there it is, the reason I don't smoke, don't really drink, and am vegetarian. Pretty straight-forward. I've watched my mother battle cancer and my father die from it. I don't need any more clues to know I am at risk. So I've made healthy life choices to hopefully counteract that risk. How about you?

The reason I take such offense at tobacco is it propigates avoidable death and hardship. Have you ever lost a family member or friend to cancer? What if it could have been avoided? People who smoke usually talk about quality of life, "I want to enjoy my time while I am here", but at what cost? Coughing up lung butter every morning, intolerable cravings, a leathery face, terrible breath, or how about facing a much higher risk of early death much to the dismay of you and those you love? Isn't another 5-10 years with your family, with your children, with your spouse worth more than another cigarette?

I Saw it on the Interweb

Random Thoughts:

• When did Interweb become a hip/cool/funny synonym for Internet? I first saw it when Moby made a joke reference to how confused people may goof up their references. "Hey, I am going to go surf my email." "Wow, have you checked out that Interweb lately?" Shit like that.
• Since starting to update my website with some regularity, I am getting far more hits. About a quarter are search engine bots though, which leads me to believe that search engines are horribly inefficient. Think about a human-based analogy: I want to see what everyone I know in the world is up to, so I call each person at least every other day. Wanting to save on cell phone charges (hah!), I only talk to them for ~2 seconds each. Rinse, repeat. Wackiness.
• Before blogs it was personal websites. I met my wife through one. Seven years ago it was a neat thing to have. It showed you were part of the techno-literati. Now, it's blogs, and it has been simplified so more people can participate, for better or for worse (which I am sure you are nodding now, wondering why am I reading this drivel?) My prediction for five years from now? plogs, or photo logs. We'll all post pictures regularly to share with friends and family that picture we took of the guy on the train eating the full stack of pancakes. Oh I can't wait.
• Required Reading: Society is dead, we have retreated into the iWorld. Oddly prophetic.

Dodging a Bullet

"More than 60 percent of all cancer deaths could be prevented if Americans stopped smoking, exercised more, ate healthier food and got recommended cancer screenings, the American Cancer Society reported on Thursday." - CNN

So there it is, the reason I don't smoke, don't really drink, and am vegetarian. Pretty straight-forward. I've watched my mother battle cancer and my father die from it. I don't need any more clues to know I am at risk. So I've made healthy life choices to hopefully counteract that risk. How about you?

The reason I take such offense at tobacco is it propigates avoidable death and hardship. Have you ever lost a family member or friend to cancer? What if it could have been avoided? People who smoke usually talk about quality of life, "I want to enjoy my time while I am here", but at what cost? Coughing up lung butter every morning, intolerable cravings, a leathery face, terrible breath, or how about facing a much higher risk of early death much to the dismay of you and those you love? Isn't another 5-10 years with your family, with your children, with your spouse worth more than another cigarette?

I Saw it on the Interweb

Random Thoughts:

• When did Interweb become a hip/cool/funny synonym for Internet? I first saw it when Moby made a joke reference to how confused people may goof up their references. "Hey, I am going to go surf my email." "Wow, have you checked out that Interweb lately?" Shit like that.
• Since starting to update my website with some regularity, I am getting far more hits. About a quarter are search engine bots though, which leads me to believe that search engines are horribly inefficient. Think about a human-based analogy: I want to see what everyone I know in the world is up to, so I call each person at least every other day. Wanting to save on cell phone charges (hah!), I only talk to them for ~2 seconds each. Rinse, repeat. Wackiness.
• Before blogs it was personal websites. I met my wife through one. Seven years ago it was a neat thing to have. It showed you were part of the techno-literati. Now, it's blogs, and it has been simplified so more people can participate, for better or for worse (which I am sure you are nodding now, wondering why am I reading this drivel?) My prediction for five years from now? plogs, or photo logs. We'll all post pictures regularly to share with friends and family that picture we took of the guy on the train eating the full stack of pancakes. Oh I can't wait.
• Required Reading: Society is dead, we have retreated into the iWorld. Oddly prophetic.