Yeah, I would tell each of them when they start bringing the subject up that it is between them and it is something they need to settle between themselves. And be prepared to repeat it over and over until it sinks in.

Aims you're not weak or stupid or horrible and you can do this.

Zenkitty, what a nasty situation. I agree to try to say as uninvolved as possible.

Home. We both have milkshakes and I have a hamburger. I should have gotten 3. So hungry.

ION: Finally caved to friends' pressure and put up a profile on an online dating site. We shall see. It's a site "by geeks, for geeks". Will advise of further developments.

Zen, I agree with the wisdom that has come before me - do your damnedest to stay out of it. Not your fight. Unless you're longing to mediate, rise above (or duck, whichever works).

{{Aims}}

Skipped a bunch. ~ma to all who need it.

Today was not my greatest day. Just barely managed to fend off a panic attack.

Whoa! Today needs to BACK THE FUCK UP OFF MY BITCHES!

GC, I am good at putting my foot in people's asses (and not in a good way), so if you or DW needs any backup, please let me know. I also enjoy writing angry letters, so please feel free to make me happy by having me write one or several.

Aims, shit happens. One cigarette doesnt make you a bad person. Sometimes we backslide, but we have to keep moving forward. If you do it again, I'll spank you (wait, is that a punishment or a reward? ;)

Hil, good for you for fending it off. Deep breaths and calm thoughts your way, and we're here if you want to talk.

Zen, family can suck, but they're both adults. Tell them to grow the fuck up and leave you out of it. If they want to act like they're 2 and 6 instead of 22 and 26, then they can do it on their own time.

and Tino, if you do anything else today I WILL CUT YOU.

Zenkitty, that really sucks. I'm sorry you have to deal with it.

{{{Aims}}} I'm sorry you are having a rough time of it, too.

{{{sj}}} I'm glad you've got food, finally. And no, forgetting your wallet somewhere doesn't equal fail at adulthood. If it did, the clerks at the grocery store wouldn't be so smooth about setting a cart full of un-paid for, rung-up groceries aside so that a person can run all over town looking for their wallet then come back to get their purchase.

Today was not my greatest day. Just barely managed to fend off a panic attack.

Hil, you fended off a panic attack! I know the skin of the teeth by which you did it feels awfully thin, but.. you won!

I had an appointment with my psychiatrist today. He's up in Friendship Heights. On the bus (about 40 minutes), there was a woman who absolutely reeked of alcohol holding a conversation with herself. Then she started telling everybody on the bus that god loves them. I apparently didn't react in the right way to this (I was, at the time, just trying to make it through the bus trip without panicking or crying), and she started shaking her finger in my face and telling me, "God bless you! Even if you don't hear it, God hears it!"

I told my psychiatrist that I've been really stressed out, and why. He told me that I've got to take control and make my advisor do the stuff he's supposed to do, and that I should get on top of things because time is running out for writing my dissertation. And that was when I started crying.

My plan for after the appointment was to take the Metro to Dupont Circle and try out the new vegan chicken burrito that they're test-marketing at that Chipotle, but I couldn't deal with either the metro or ordering in a place that requires that much explaining what I want, so I came home, and I think I had potato chips for dinner. Or, at any rate, I had potato chips. I also have some frozen burritos that I might microwave.

::aims Vortex at Hil's adviser, waits for thermonuclear explosion::

That can't possibly equal a fail at adulthood. There wasn't even an emergency room involved.

Aims, you're dealing with what some experts think is the most addictive substance known to man. If nicotine was an illegal drug, there'd be thousands of rehab centers devoted to it.

Why does gravity hate me? Why yes, I did fall down again. Thanks to karate, I seem to be much better at rolling, but falling correctly is much less effective when you fall backwards onto two concrete blocks. I haven't even tried to do the contortions it would take to see what my back looks like; I just downed ibuprofen with a beer and lay on an ice thing for a while.