The Elephant Pie in the Room

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday September 03, 2009 · 6:35 PM PDT

2009/09/03 · 18:35

Pie fights are central to the life and history of this site. Even in my own two-year tenure here, I've weathered a few. The Primary Wars. The FISA "compromise." The Gaza invasion. I've generally held my tongue when these things go down, because I know how they always end: Badly. There are no winners and losers in these debates. There are only the losers who won and the losers who lost. It's a flesh feast. I have no desire to be on either end of that kind of exchange.

So it's ironic, I suppose, that the worst pie fight in the history of this site, i.e. the one that's in store for us this fall, is the one I'm finally manning up for.

Poll

24 votes Show Results

If the public option dies, DailyKos should...

24 votes Vote Now!

If the public option dies, DailyKos should...

...stick to our Mission Statement as laid out in the FAQ. This is a blog for electing Democrats, period. Anyone who advocates withholding support from Democratic candidates or supporting third party challengers should be troll rated.

5 votes

...choose platform over party. Candidates should earn their cred here with their support for progressive causes, not just by having a (D) after their names. No one should be troll rated for kicking a Dem to the curb if they deserve it. Save the HRs for

19 votes

GUS: Rediscovering Food

revelwoodie

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday August 04, 2009 · 5:22 AM PDT

2009/08/04 · 05:22

Gussacks, I have an announcement to make:

It has officially been one week since I quit smoking. (Update: Now on day 9!)

The negative feelings, the self pity and sense of being deprived, continue to plague me. But the positive feelings about what I’ve done for myself continue to grow, and are winning out. At the end of this momentous week, I feel like I’ve turned a corner. Quitting smoking is no longer something I did because I felt like I had to. It's now a joyful new discovery about one of the many ways I could be living a far happier life than I have been.

Many of you may have similar feelings, so this won’t seem so amazing until you get an idea of where I was before. I loved smoking, and smoked a lot. I was that person who could smoke while eating. I was that person who wouldn’t ride in a car with a nonsmoker. I was proud of it, too, and was a loud defender of my rights as a smoker. I enjoyed smoking so much that the huge place it occupied in my life wasn’t just a matter of the addiction, it was a conscious choice.

So how did I get here, just one week later? There are some specific reasons, and that’s what I’d like to share with you after the fold.

Poll

78 votes Show Results

I quit smoking using...

78 votes Vote Now!

I quit smoking using...

Stop smoking aids (the patch, nicotine gum, or a prescription like Chantix)

15 votes

Mind oriented methods (meditation, hypnosis, etc.)

2 votes

Support structures (GUS, helplines, etc.)

1 vote

#1 and #2 above

0 votes

#1 and #3 above

4 votes

#2 and #3 above

1 vote

All three!

6 votes

Nothing but sheer, balls-to-the-wall will power, like my Grandpappy lernt me

19 votes

Other (explain in comments)

5 votes

I have not yet quit smoking

15 votes

I've never been a smoker, I'm just here to cheer you on!

10 votes

Organic and Fair Trade Certified pie, mindfully prepared

0 votes

GUS: Jumping Off a Cliff

revelwoodie

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday July 28, 2009 · 5:06 AM PDT

2009/07/28 · 05:06

Yesterday I jumped off a cliff, and lived to tell the tale.

I started smoking when I was eleven years old. My only experience with quitting was when pregnant and nursing, when you have no choice. Thanks mainly to GUS, I decided to make the jump. This is a big deal for me – I like smoking. I mean I really like smoking. I knew someday I would have to stop, but I put off the decision for years.

Well, just like jumping off a cliff, I just took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and went for it! My odyssey is after the fold...
.
.
.
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GUS (Gave Up Smoking) is a community support diary for Kossacks in the midst of quitting smoking. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. If you are quitting or thinking of quitting, please -- join us! You can also click the GUS tag to view all diary posts.

Poll

51 votes Show Results

I started smoking when I was

51 votes Vote Now!

I started smoking when I was

under 12

3 votes

12-14

13 votes

15-18

23 votes

19-25

10 votes

over 25

2 votes

Al Franken Takes Center Stage (w/video)

revelwoodie

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday July 13, 2009 · 3:59 PM PDT

2009/07/13 · 15:59

At last! Senator Franken graces C-Span. Video and initial observations over the fold.

Poll

325 votes Show Results

Senatot Franken is...

325 votes Vote Now!

Senatot Franken is...

The most exciting thing to happen to the Senate in my lifetime.

31 votes

Just the kick in the teeth that the "lying liars" needed.

195 votes

My new politico-crush.

24 votes

Totally awesome!

75 votes

NJ Kossacks Meet-Up: Trenton

revelwoodie

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday June 10, 2009 · 6:39 PM PDT

2009/06/10 · 18:39

I've often read diaries about meet-ups for Kossacks around the country, and have always bemoaned the fact that they were so far away. Why were there no events in the Garden State? We are, after all, the smartest, sexiest, most all-around awesome folks in the USA. As everyone knows.

After close consultation with my husband, I've decided to organize an event where we can come together and bask in each other's magnificence.

revelwoodie

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday March 08, 2009 · 11:25 AM PDT

2009/03/08 · 11:25

The anti-NWO diary currently on the rec list is extremely disturbing. Not because it's some crazy conspiracy theorist diatribe, as many of its critics are suggesting. I'm not going to make any jokes about black helicopters here.

It's disturbing because the conspiracy is real. And the anti-NWO people are unwittingly supporting it.

revelwoodie

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday October 16, 2008 · 6:53 PM PDT

2008/10/16 · 18:53

This will be an emotional diary. It will take me some time to write, because I am crying as I write it. There will be no links or supporting data. No breaking news. I am hurting now, and I just need to get this out. Maybe I will get some support, constructive advice, or at least some sympathy. If nothing else, at least I will have had a chance to get some of this out of my heart and onto the page.

Warning to trolls: I am a mother with a gaping hole in my chest where my heart used to be. Stay out of this thread or prepare to be eviscerated.

revelwoodie

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday August 26, 2008 · 10:57 AM PDT

2008/08/26 · 10:57

I apologize if this has already been diaried. If so, let me know and I'll delete.

Not that I'm really diarying it now, of course! Just wanted to get this out there for everyone like me, who's crying in their coffee because we can't be there!

revelwoodie

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday June 28, 2008 · 6:29 PM PDT

2008/06/28 · 18:29

Sam Brownback on Thursday morning's McCain campaign conference call:

"I think that the biggest thing really I've seen from Barack Obama is that willingness, an aggressiveness, to talk bipartisan and yet to vote and be hard left." (emphasis mine)

Ok...what does this really mean?

revelwoodie

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday June 25, 2008 · 6:45 AM PDT

2008/06/25 · 06:45

While we've been very busy here arguing election politics, a fascist billionaire has seized dictatorial powers in Italy. Sivio Berlusconi's "Iron Fist" legislation has passed the Italian Senate.

I guess Mussolini has been dead too long.

revelwoodie

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday June 11, 2008 · 5:08 AM PDT

2008/06/11 · 05:08

We're all doing everything we can to get Barack elected in November, of course. But I'm especially proud of my local group, Mercer County for Obama -- we made the national blog on Obama's website!

Poll

14 votes Show Results

Are you registering new voters for Obama?

14 votes Vote Now!

Are you registering new voters for Obama?

Yes! I've done many events.

1 vote

Just a few -- mainly people I know.

2 votes

Not yet, but I will now!

5 votes

No way. I'm not into that whole "working" thing

3 votes

I've registered my pie, does that count?

3 votes

Working For Barack (Updated)

revelwoodie

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday June 09, 2008 · 7:52 PM PDT

2008/06/09 · 19:52

Now that the primary season is over, we're all turning our attention to the general election and talking about how we're going to win in November. Hooray! A Democrat in the White House and bigger majorities in the House and Senate. Most of you reading this are probably doing your best to help make that happen.

Here's how one group of people did their part last weekend.

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Older

RSS

The Elephant Pie in the Room

GUS: Rediscovering Food

GUS: Jumping Off a Cliff

Al Franken Takes Center Stage (w/video)

NJ Kossacks Meet-Up: Trenton

The Conspiracy.

I lost my daughter today. (Updates 3 & 4 with great news)

Video from the Big Tent

Beware, Kossacks! McCain is coming after US now. (Updated)

Welcome back, Generalissimo! (Updated)

The World's Shortest Diary

Working For Barack (Updated)