A Lady of Persuasion

I was digging through some old papers today and came across an email exchange that I'd printed out because I was quite proud of my part in it. Thought I'd share it with you to let you form your own opinion. The short of it: two of the undergrad professors I'd asked for letters of recommendation for grad school said no at first, so I gave them some time to think about it and tried again. One of these professors taught Shakespeare, the other Austen. Let the record show that I sent nearly identical emails to both professors, and only Professor B was a new father. Oops.

From: Sione
To: Professor A
Subject: Renewal of Petition
Sent: Dec. 2001

Dear [Professor A],
Now that the fall semester is over, and that the holidays are coming to an end, I hope that you are feeling less overwhelmed by your responsibilities, despite being a new father.

It is with this hope in mind that I hereby undertake to renew my humble solicitation for the kind of favor of writing an academic recommendation for me. I have many reasons for choosing you and, for your convenience, have divided them into categories so that you may scroll down to look at those reasons you think might best convince you that you are genuinely needed. The categories are: Just the Facts, Flattery, Guilt Trip, Empty Threats, and Begging and Pleading.

Octsoberfest Week 4

Summary: 0 cigarettes smoked, 0 alcohol units drunk, 0 doses anti-smoking drugs taken, 5 cups Gypsy Cold Care tea drunk in two days, possibly back to Eating All the Things.

A very, very, VERY long time ago.

These last four weeks have stretched out for an eternity. And it's still not over yet. Who the hell gave October permission to last more than four weeks?!?

I've had two very important realizations this week.

Octsoberfest Week 3

Summary: 7 cigarettes smoked, 4 alcohol units drunk, 0 doses anti-smoking drugs taken, have stopped Eating All the Things.

Madrid, 2007. Photo by S. H. Aeschliman.

Can we focus for a moment on the fact that I was mostly really good this week? I mean, aren't cigarette cravings supposed to go away after 14 days? But they did not. And yet every day I continued to say "no," even though I really wanted to say yes sometimes. Even though, if the world really does end on December 21, 2012, I will be really pissed off that I went through all this effort to make decisions that were in the best interest of my long-term health at the expense of immediate gratification. The one good thing about this week was that my appetite seemed to go back to normal. I stopped Eating All the Things and even lost a couple pounds.

Octsoberfest Week 2

Summary: 0 cigs smoked, 0 alcohol units drunk, 1 dose anti-smoking drugs taken, many cups of tea drunk, many walks & deep breaths taken, 2 romance novels read.

Photo by David Aeschliman

Okay. So, um, you know how when you've had a cold for a week or more and you can't breathe out your nose and you're really uncomfortable, but at the same time you've become resigned to the discomfort because you don't remember what it felt like to be able to breathe freely? Well, the beginning of the second week of Octsoberfest was like that. Despairing acceptance of the near-constant craving for cigs. I couldn't remember what it felt like not to crave.

Octsoberfest Week 1 in Review

Summary: 0 cigarettes smoked, 0 alcohol units drunk, 3 doses anti-smoking drugs taken, lots & lots of food and tea consumed, no one murdered (yet). 

Madrid, Sept. 2010. Photo by S. H. Aeschliman.

Day 1: "Quitting smoking, no drinking for a month. Let the battle begin."
Surprised that most cravings were assuaged by reminding self that I'm a non-smoker now. First day easier than expected, despite extreme irritability. Part of brain thinks this is just temporary and is waiting until The Time for Being Good is over. Drank tea, water and coffee all day long; ate more than I needed (e.g. most of a frozen pizza for lunch, quarter package Cheese-Its for a snack, etc.), especially as felt low-energy and did not get much exercise.

Day 2: "Woke up thinking about cigarettes. Is gonna be a toughie." 
Cravings stronger today. Not very irritable, mostly just feel desperate. Can feel willpower waning; starting to try to justify smoking "just one" or promising self a cig at end of the month as reward for not smoking all month...which kind of defeats the purpose. Suppose it is the bargaining stage of grief. Yesterday was denial. Resorted to drugs: took the lobelia inflata for cigarette craving. Tasted sweet & dissolved slowly, which gave mouth something to do. Took the edge off. Having sad thoughts though & feel like crying. On plus side, have more energy: took two walks instead of one. On down side: eating everything (e.g. finished box of Cheese-Its). Turns out the irritability pills (nux vomica) are also supposed to help with the desire to Eat All the Things, so will try those tomorrow.

To fluoridate or not to fluoridate? 'Tis not the question

In September, Portland's City Council voted unanimously to fluoridate the city's drinking water, despite the protests of a vocal segment of the population in opposition to fluoridation.

The first I'd heard of the issue at all was a lunchtime conversation, prior to the council's vote, with a co-worker who is strongly opposed to the idea. She said that the fluoride put in drinking water was a toxic by-product of the aluminum manufacturing process, that the companies who make aluminum (and therefore fluoride) had found a clever way to sell their toxic by-product to cities rather than having to deal with safe disposal of hazardous material, and that putting fluoride into the city's water supply for dental health reasons is extremely inefficient, since we use city water for far more than just drinking or cooking. "What do my plants need fluoride for?" she asked rhetorically. Furthermore, she said it will cost $500 billion dollars to get the city set up for water fluoridation, not to mention the cost of annual maintenance. (Note: she may have said fertilizer rather than aluminum; I may be misremembering that part.)