As promised, I started over today. I did well, only three cigarettes today. That's down from thirty so I'm happy with that. Surprisingly, it wasn't that bad, but it's only the first day. I'm told that it gets much worse after about a week, I may have to lock myself in a closet in order to make it.

I haven't really had any cravings of any kind today. I'm feeling very mellow, no anxiety or rage. I'm sure that'll come but I'm OK so far. Maybe that's because I really want to succeed. Maybe it's just normal and tomorrow will be hell. One big downside to this is I can't drink for a while. I know that if I drink I'll smoke, so I have a very boring road ahead of me. All for the best, I suppose.

Some of you may be wondering why I'm doing this, why cold turkey, and why I'm writing about it. The first parts fairly simple. I'd like to be healthy. Obvious enough, isn't it? I've been intending to do this for some time but while reading James Randi's Swift column I stumbled on a quote of his, "But then, I've always thought that smokers are pretty dense, anyway. They actually choose to take up a habit that's dirty, deadly dangerous, objectionable, antisocial, and provably stupid, so that they can get addicted and sick.  And die." Yeah, that about sums it up. It jarred me a bit. Skeptics don't tend to smoke, but Sylvia Browne does. I really don't want to be like her.

So, I decided it really was the right time. Since I do a radio show and blog about science, it seemed natural to quit the hard way and describe what I'm thinking and feeling during the process. I'm curious to see how this will be, and just how much it'll suck. I have a feeling this feature will go on for a while, and that I'll write things I very much regret. But that's all part of the fun.