Addictions

What do You need? Why? Is is truly a need, or just a craving? What positive and negative effects does this have on your life? These questions have been occupying my thoughts lately. I think their ramifications hold amazing importance for the average, or even the above average, person.
My most visible addiction has to be for nicotine. What can I say? I LOVE smoking. Perhaps my favorite quote regarding smoking was spoken by Jena Elfman in "Keeping the Faith." Someone had suggested that giving up their own temptation was similar to smoking and that "for a year, it was annoying, but after that, it was OK." Jena replied, "I quit smoking two years ago, and every time I see someone light up I want to French kiss them and suck the smoke out of their lungs." I have these feelings.
Since arriving in Boston three weeks ago, I've fallen into smoking again. In my defense, it's quite a bit less than my regular habit. I know, however, that a big change in life is a great time to quit smoking. I don't want to begin associating smoking with my new friends and environments. My excuse has been that I was living, during this time, with a smoker. Now, I'm living with non-smokers. This should help me with the smoking, but what about the other things that I need?
Despite the fact that I have, to some extent, embraced traveling alone and spending time with myself, I still need the company of my friends. To me, friends are like a drug. Some are like schwag, and give you little bang for your buck. When you can't spend any time with this kind of friend, you might feel a bit of a pang, but it's easily dismissed. Others are like Kind Bud, filling you with so much excitement that it will carry you over until you see them again. Of course you'd rather see them more often, so you think about them a lot, but you can ride the wave of your time with them for awhile.
This latter type of friend is exactly what my mates Kimberly, Rebekah, and Bryan are. They came in to Myrtle Beach from Alabama to ensure that I would have the best birthday ever. A delicious dinner started us off. We ate at Blue Water Bistro, and I highly recommend it. Try the fried green tomatoes with goat cheese! They met and welcomed my friend Susan, and it was truly a magical evening.
Meeting my family and niece, walking on the beach, and dinner at Divine Fish House (very good, but definitely Skip the Sushi) took up much of the rest of our weekend, but while these events were fun, they can't touch the fun of shopping for a "Topsy-tail," discovering that they make size 6XL T-shirts, racing at the "Slide Track," and, my personal favorite, Dance Dance Revolution Extreme. In fact, one addiction, my friends, lead me to another addiction, DDRX, more commonly, I was to find out, called DDR.
We had a blast shaking our booties on the game. Everyone did a great job, but I must say that my boy, Bryan, and I cut a serious rug. I have now made the resolution that, when I purchase a house, before I buy any other furniture, I will buy a DDR machine for one room. It's that much fun folks. Try it.
Check out the pics from our weekend while I prepare Addictions II for next time...