Attention all ladies! You hold the power to free the world of smoking by exercising the power of your va jay-jay’s.

Phase 1: FEMALE ALLIANCE. Hold an international meeting of influential and beautiful women (you’re all beautiful) in which you create an agreement that states that no woman living or dead on earth shall smoke. It is also an accord which when met will trigger, “Phase 1.2″… the immediate and total suspension of sexual relations between women and men.

Phase 2: PREPARATION. Do to the nature of “Phase 3″ women worldwide are suggested to make “personal” preparations for the impending global “Sex Suspension” and possible fallout due to the boycott of all vaginal privileges and sexual favors in general.

Phase 3: OPERATION BLUE-BALLS. Once the relatively easy “Phases 1 and 2″ are complete you may enter into, “Phase 3″ in which all sexual relations are unilaterally suspended completely and totally until the male species, the economy, and daily life as we know it grinds to a quick halt. Crippling Axe body spray sales, the NFL, the sports car industry, and New Jersey.

Phase 4: PEACE. Once the male race has been cut off completely from the vagina supply, you are now free to negotiate with insurmountable leverage that any man that continues smoking shall be cut out of his vagina privileges and that any man who begins to smoke will be forced to attending a taping of Oprah with his mother. This final phase should swiftly eradicate the tobacco industry, cigarette smoking, and bad smelling clothing from the planet earth forever.

Thank you for your time and good luck ladies.

CC

Officially, last night was our 12th week and last week of the group, but since some members have missed some of their smokerlyzer readings I will continue to meet up with them until the end of the year.  As a whole though, the group is doing amazing.  Christian, Kelly, Anna, Christine, and Corey all blew into the non-smoking zone and Christian went home $40 richer for maintaining smokefree for the last 11 weeks in a row!  Phil and Brian C. were also at the group last night and although they did not blow into the non smoking zone they have reduced their smoking level by more than half of what they started the group with.

Congrats my lovelies! Keep up the good work!

As our group starts to come to an end, it is exciting to see all the wonderful progress members have been making.  Last night’s group was a bit smaller than normal, but it is always great to see the smiling faces of the group members who are able to make it.

Christine and Christian continue to be smokefree and Anna, who started out as a 10 cigarettes a day smoker, has been successfully smokefree for two weeks, which is an amazing accomplishment.  Brian C., who started out the group registering as a heavily addicted smoker with the smokerlyzer, has reduced his smoking rate down into the teens, which is also a dramatic reduction.

It will be interesting to see how member’s nicotine levels also change when their saliva samples are compared from the first group meeting to the last group meeting.

These last 11 weeks have been awesome and I can’t wait to see all the progress members continue to make.

Next Group: WEDNESDAY December 9th @ 8PM at The Bluefoot.

Last week was actually our real week ten, but our smokerlyzer seemed to be acting up and not registering correctly so we decided to end the group early and reschedule.  So, after a new calibration and a fresh plastic piece, the group was eager and ready to meet again.  This week members did great and 6 out of the 15 are currently registering in the non smoker zone, which is significantly better than when the group started.  Kelly and Anna both reduced their smoking rates and said that when they started the group they smoked about 7-10 cigarettes a day and now they are smoking about 0-1 a day.  Everyone is doing a great job with reducing their smoking rates, especially as the group starts to come to an end.  It was great to see everyone out on a Wednesday night and how interested other patrons at the bar were interested in what we were doing. One of our favorite Commune-ers,  Mikey was also hanging out with us, Peter was rockin’ the DJ booth and Ryan said he wouldn’t be in a picture unless I posed with him.  Needless to say, it was another fun night with my favorite reduced smoking rate smokers.

Next Group: WEDNESDAY November 25th @ Soda Bar for COMMUNE WEDNESDAY!

This week members participated in a “Why do you Smoke?” activity.  Each member was given some statements by people to describe what they get out of smoking.  The activity was scored and each member was shown the smoking triggers and strategies they needed to work on most.  If you are a smoker and would like to take the activity click the link below.  It’s fun, easy and gives you a little insight.  Ryan Behnahani even said he was going to stick it on his fridge.   You can take the activity at:

http://www.californiasmokershelpline.org/Information/documents/Whydoyousmoke_001.pdf

Only 3 weeks left of the smoking quit group and members are doing great!

Next Group: WEDNESDAY November 11th @ 8PM at the Bluefoot!

This week members and I met up at U-31 for Commune Wednesdays and our 8th week of the smoking quit group.  Members continue to reduce their carbon monoxide levels and come to group meetings with positive attitudes and an eagerness to quit.  Congrats to Christine for being 3 weeks smokefree and Christian for being 6 weeks smokefree.  Also, high fives to  Anna, Sean B, Ryan R, Alexis, and Peter for reducing their smoking levels.  Check out Sean (below) doing his “I reduced my smoking level dance.”

The group not only continues to lower their smoking levels, but also continues to have a great time doing it. So far, 2 members have quit and about 4 more are in the non smoking green zone.  There are 4 weeks left of the group and I am excited to see how many members become and continue to be smokefree.

Next Group: WEDNESDAY November 4th @ 8PM at the Bluefoot!

Last night was another successful night for my favorite smokers and newly non smokers. All seven members who were able to meet up last night reduced or maintained their smoking levels. Christian has now been 5 weeks smokefree and Christine hit her 2 week smokefree mark and went home $20 richer.

The group shared their stories about how they have cut back and how they have been able to reduce their smoking levels.  Pat has only been smoking about one cigarette a day, Anna and Kelly are still tearing their cigs in half, and both Ryans said they have cut back dramatically since their last testing.  Members admitted that next group will be be a challenge since it will be at Commune and it will be in a more party/social setting. It will be interesting to see how the group maintains their lower smoking levels, but I am very confident that they will!

Funny quote of the night: “Smoke less, you choke less” – Christian

Next Group: WEDNESDAY October 28th at U -31 for Commune Wednesdays!

Last night was another fun night at the foot. Our meeting was moved from Wednesday to Thursday because many of our members were in and/or attending the Love Street Vintage Fashion Show. Love Street is one of Commune’s favorite vintage lines so the members and I decided to postpone our meeting.

The night started out with just the boys and me and I was stoked to see the enthusiasm and confidence that they had about lowering their smoking levels.  Christian once again maintained his non-smoking level and has been smokefree for 4 weeks now.  Congratulations to Christine, Pat, Alexis and Sean for also registering in the non-smoking zone!  This means 33% of members are registering smokefree!

Although not all members lowered their levels they are definitely striving to do so next week. I asked the group for any cool stories or quotes they had about trying to quit. Corey offered me this, “Smoking is such a turn off.” Haha so, with that said the group was done and ½ way complete! Only 6 weeks left and I am excited to continue to see the progress each member makes.

Next Group: THURSDAY October 22nd @ Bluefoot at 8PM.

Last night I met up with my favorite group of future non-smokers at the Bluefoot to test their carbon monoxide levels and see the progress they have made in reducing their smoking rates.  Eleven out of our 15 members were able to meet up, and 7 of those 11 reduced their smoking rates.   So, congrats to Brian R., Anna, Kelly, Christine, Patrick, Christian and Ryan Behbahani for lowering their carbon monoxide levels.  Very special congratulations to Christian who is our fist member to consecutively blow into the non-smoker zone two weeks in a row and register a 0 on the saliva nicotine test strip.  Christian walked away $20 richer and has been smokefree for 3 weeks!

I talked with the group to see what changes they were making to cut back on their smoking.  Kelly and Anna told me they have been tearing their cigarettes in half and have designated “non smoking days” where they don’t smoke on certain days.  Christine told me that she has only been smoking one cigarette a day and Ryan Behbahani said he hadn’t smoked in 2 days.  Sean, who barely blew above the non-smoker zone this week, said that he noticed he was developing a cough and was wondering where that was coming from since he had significantly decreased his smoking.  I thought it would be interesting to share what was causing that cough:

“Your bronchial tubes are lined with millions of microscopic hairs (cilia). Normally, these hairs sweep irritants and germs out of your airways. But tobacco smoke temporarily paralyzes the cilia. When you quit smoking, the cilia start to regenerate and repair themselves, which results in coughing.

Coughing may last a couple of weeks or months — until the cilia are fully recovered. To relieve coughing, try sipping water or sucking on cough drops.”

Overall, it was another fun night at the Bluefoot where members we able to share stories, learn about microscopic hairs in their bronchial tubes and go home with some extra cash in their pockets.  Kelly even demonstrated her impression of what smoking does to you. See below, pictured on the right.

Thanks also to Leah and Sarah, two Commune Wednesdays regulars, for rooting on the group and Dom for being smokefree and wearing a matching wolf tee with me.

Next Group: THURSDAY October 15th @ Bluefoot at 8PM.

Last night was Commune Wednesdays so the group and I met up at the Whistlestop instead of our normal meeting place, The Bluefoot.  Although our normal meetings are at a bar, this was the groups first real test to see how they responded to not smoking and reducing their rates in a super social setting.  Congratulations to Brian, Sean, and Corey for reducing their carbon monoxide levels and a very big congrats to Sean for entering the non smoker zone!

Even though it was a bit more hectic having the group at Commune,  it was interesting to see how many other people were interested in what we were doing.

Highlights of the Night

Enjoying local art, music and fashion

Exposing new people to our group

Sean entering the non smoker zone!

Next Group: Wednesday 10/7  at 8PM @ the Bluefoot!