This is a t-shirt design that I am working on for Threadless.com. There are two versions of the shirt so far. There isn’t a real set message, though the first could be soon more protest oriented while the second one more genuinely patriotic. The designs are intended to be more abstract than anything really. Tell me what you think.

It has started to sink in now. It is now more common for me to think of my parents as two separate individuals rather than two people joined as one. Christmas Eve dinner was awkward at best. My Mom pretty much ignored my Dad the entire night. And for the first time in my life I heard my mother introduce him as “This is David” rather than “My husband, David”. They aren’t officially divorced yet, but as far as everyone is concerned, it is only in the legal sense.

My Uncle Terry, my Dad’s brother in Law, came over before the dinner to talk to my Dad about the whole legal side of things. My Uncle used to be a lawyer. Even though My Uncle is only related to my Dad through my Dad’s “marriage” to my mother, he still seems to be pulling for my father in many respects. They are buddies and such. So he came over to give my Dad some advice which my Dad didn’t really want to hear but needed to. He is going to try and pursue the divorce through a paralegal instead of getting lawyers. I don’t blame him, seems less messy. But my uncle advised against it. Seeing as how my Mom has nothing to lose and everything to gain. He felt it would be better to get a lawyer and have my Mom served. I don’t think my Dad could bear to do that though. He doesn’t want my Mom back, but he still loves her and I know it pains him to do all this.

As for me I am still rather stoic about all of this, at least I appear to be. I know deep down I care about it all, but the feelings only manifest themselves in the form of artwork that I have yet to actually make. Other than the occasional artistic inspiration or the sporadic epiphany that everything I once knew is now changing, I have yet to feel anything real about all of this. Only God knows how long it will last though.

I think it is probably safe to say now that I have quit smoking. It has been over two months since my last cigarette. I was never that heavy to begin with, maybe one a day on average. And there were many times when I went weeks without. But this time it was more a conscious decision.

I know you are all thinking that I must feel incredibly healthier now. That my breathing and stamina are much better then they were. Sorry to disappoint you, but it’s not true. I feel exactly the same. Like I said, I never smoked that much and I don’t think I ever had enough to really make a difference in my lungs. Moderation was my philosophy when it came to smoking, as it is with just about anything I do. Because of this I think that I was able to smoke and not suffer much of the consequences. I really do believe that it’s the people who smoke two packs a day and have family history that get cancer, or heart disease. I’m not saying that smoking is ok for your health, far from it. But I do think we give it to much credit for the damages we’ve seen.

But smoking is addictive, and that is the main reason I quit. I wasn’t addicted to cigarettes anymore than I’m addicted to country fried steak. I just really enjoyed them. Unfortunately, addictions seem high on my moms side of the family. My grandpa was a life long smoker and a bit of a alcoholic for a while as well. My mom has pretty much gone down the same road, and I know of other members that did too. I didn’t really want to take the chance, so I cut my self off while the cutting was good.

Will I ever smoke again? Probably. I will probably have one every now and then with friends, and I still smoke my hookah a few times a month. I also enjoy cigars as a tradition when we all go camping. But I can say with full confidence that I am not addicted to any substance, other then maybe sausage gravy on my chicken fried steak.