Addictions Anonymous

I, somewhat inadvertently, quit drinking coffee while I was in China for the Olympics.

Ideologically, I was sort of thinking I should stop because I was getting these terrible headaches and feeling really disoriented in the mornings at work and having a horrible time getting out of bed and because this New York Magazine article made me feel like I might be slowly killing myself (even though that's not really the thesis of the article at all).

Practically, though, I stopped because coffee is harder to get in China and no one makes drip coffee (though the little espresso machines, where present, were delightful) except McDonald's and Starbucks and it's embarrassing to go to either place because you're in China for God's sake and even though they drink tea with every meal it's made with things like chrysanthemums which, while tasty, are not caffeinated, or at least not sufficiently so.

Now that I've safely returned stateside, I've tried to steer clear of coffee, at least in the habitual 10:30am time, and I've generally had super-positive results, including getting up half an hour early to go to the gym before work and fewer headaches. My only real concern is that, at the gym, I've been watching season one of Gossip Girl and that may prove to be an equally potent addiction (and even more nefarious, since I'm already a quarter of the way through Season One).