Well, after my brief relapse yesterday, I think I'm coming to my senses and going caffeine free, cold turkey. Combine that with my latent jet lag and I should be a peach to be around today. Heh. Ed asked a reasonable question about my-so-called addiction. Yeah, one or two cups of coffee a day really isn't much. Especially going half-caff. But that's not really it, see? It's all in the eye of the consumer. Blame it on my upbringing in Puritanical New England. I dunno. I just don't like feeling dependent on or controlled by some substance. Call me crazy, whatev. Must be that New Hampshire Libertarian-thing coming through again. I mean, don't get me wrong. I'm a coffee fiend. I love the stuff. I'd drink it all day if I could and I almost usually do. If I had a country, the national past time would be coffee consumption in all it's glorious varieties. Oh wait. Hrm. But yeah, it's back to tea and Superfood for now. And yes, it really does make a difference in keeping me from biting my nails. Heh, what a perfectly imperfect specimen I am.

💬 Comments from the original post

Jeff Clavier · 2005-12-13 13:57:27

Dude, go for it the French way: 3 to 5 expresso per day and you will be fine!

FactoryJoe · 2005-12-13 15:53:41

Ah, brilliant! I knew those French were good for something!

Tara 'Miss Rogue' Hunt · 2005-12-13 17:37:40

Egad, Joe! Now...you have got to know that if the two of us are to hang together, you have to have at least a couple of nasty vices kicking around. There is nothing more annoying than dating a perfect man. Blech. Besides, I thought you were in training to become the ultimate badass muthaeffer...hmmm? You know how that makes the girls squirm. ;) Rogue

Lloyd D Budd · 2005-12-13 19:22:46

The Robert De Niro Taxi Driver image is a little over the top. I used to be coffee free, but Flock is a caffeine rich environment. My guess is a cup of coffee a day will result in physical withdrawl symptoms. I can't figure out the causes of many of my headaches and stomach aches. Alcohol, meat, and processed sugars are all more concerning substances to me.

Andy Kaufman · 2005-12-13 23:37:55

I hear you on the coffee thing. I'm down to one large Peets a day. I pop out of bed, throw on the iPod with yesterday's Jim Rome show and walk down to Peet's while planning my day in my head. Then it's green tea & water the rest of the day at work.

Josh McHugh · 2006-10-24 22:20:34

Chris - how has the coffee-quitting been going for you? The connection between the caffeine and nail-biting (the ends of my fingers are bulging over the sawed-off nubs of my former nails as I type) is cortisol, produced by the adrenal cortex either simultaneously with adrenaline from the adrenal medulla triggered by caffeine or, more logically, is produced subsequent to the release of said adrenaline, in order to tamp it down, as it were. Anyway, nervous habits and elevated cortisol levels go together like euphoria and elevated serotonin levels. [This message brought to you by an evening wave of anxiety about nail-biting, that wave having been brought to me by a 6 pm cup of joe at Crepes on Cole.]

Chris Messina · 2006-10-25 19:40:58

Heh. Well, Blue Bottle did me in. And the nails have suffered significantly. Tara and I got a membership at the gym though, so perhaps that'll incent me not only to lay off the Joe, but to avoid chewing fingers that have been on commonly used gym equipment. ;)

Killing the addiction. Stab! Stab!