Photo courtesy of Break Media Network


'No Stank You,' 'Don't be a Butt Head,' 'Be a Quitter'

Yes, it is The Great American Smokeout Day.

Did you know that the typical smoker spends about $700 a year on cigarettes? As many as one-third of the nation's 46 million smokers could be taking the day off today from smoking; taking one day to see what kicking the habit feels like and perhaps quitting for good and saving money, and their health, in the process.

The Great American Smokeout originated in Minnesota when Lynn Smith, publisher of the Monticello Times of Minnesota, announced the first observance and called it "D Day." The idea caught on in state after state until in 1977, it went nationwide under the sponsorship of the American Cancer Society. Check out the American Cancer Society's Great Smoke Out site.
 
To participate, you simply quit smoking for the 24 hours of the Smokeout. Participants will enjoy emotional support and the solidarity of numbers.

From the Quit Smoking .com website:

Joining the Fun

Each year during the Great American Smokeout, the American Cancer Society promotes local and nationwide activities that focus in a light-hearted way on the benefits of not smoking. Here are some previous years' activities:

• A national sandwich shop company gave out free "cold turkey" sandwiches and cookies to smokers who turned in at least a half pack of cigarettes.
• Newborn babies at Washington's Columbia Hospital received T-shirts that said "I'm a Born Nonsmoker."
• "Don't Let Smoking Be an Obstacle" was the slogan for a Houston activity in which smokers ran an obstacle course consisting of oversized cigarette packs, matches and ashtrays.
• Preschoolers in Texas played "Gonesmoke, a Tale of the New West," wearing red bandannas and Smokeout deputy badges.
• Other events include public appearances by celebrities who have quit, parades, rallies, athletic events and ceremonial cigarette burials and bonfires.

Making It Work

Behind the festivities of the Great American Smokeout are the serious efforts of thousands of hard-working American Cancer Society volunteers who visit schools, malls and workplaces to publicize the events and distribute information about quitting. They also enlist nonsmokers to "adopt" smokers for the day, supporting them with advice and snacks. The support continues for those who decide not to return to smoking after the Great American Smokeout is over.

Read the entire article here.

And here's a great site for kids: NoStankYou

Photo courtesy of Associated Media


tobacco, to beloved
Annette Marie Hyder

i love you
too much to let you go

i have traced myself
in lines around your mouth
(think of those lines
 as a lingering sign of my kiss)
tattooed your fingertips and nails
with the henna of my golden color

dug deep into your voice
wreaked it and left it husky and low
come-hitherish sounding
above the coughing

i am possessive
have left my marks of ownership
for all to see
my signature
is on your clothes, your sheets, your hair

i have insinuated myself
into your moments
curled smokily into your embrace after
food, love, laughter
wreathed you in my adoration

and i have dug a place inside you for myself
a place for me to be with you forever
beloved
some may find my making of myself a part of you
invasive
sinister
cancerous even

but they just don't understand
the burning desire i have, we have
to be together