I hope you flushed, or at least did the sit ups and saved it for later.

For some math is the easiest thing in the world, for others they come to a point when it stops making sense. I lasted until calculus. I looked at it, tried it, looked at it some more, tried it again, and finally came to the conclusion it was total B.S.

I hope you buckle down and get through this math problem. The choice is yours.

Carl

I think I'm gonna try to stop smoking weed again. I've tried so many times before, but everytime I stop, I get crazy and blow up at people around me. I went all day Saturday without getting high, but I was past irritated with everyone for no reason. We drove to Florida for the day on Saturday. Actually, I should say that we went to Florida for the afternoon and a good part of the evening.

Nick-

If you want to quit and are having trouble kicking it, that should tell you something.

I know exactly what you mean. When I was your age, people liked me better when I was high. I wasn't angry or sullen and I didn't fight with my parents.

There's no doubt that pot can heighten your creativity but that only works up to a point. It's a lot like booze: there is a line and once you cross it, it stops doing whatever it was that you though it was doing. The problem is that it fools you and you are often the last one to see it.

If you thought it made you popular, you find yourself having to isolate yourself more and more.

If you think it made you creative, you'll find yourself staring at a blank computer screen.

If you think it made you mellow, you'll find yourself fighting with everyone over nothing.

Pot is seductive. It's hard to see the damage that it is doing until you wake up a few years from now and see that time wasted.

As good as it is for creativity, it is just that bad for logic and reasoning. Poor performance in math is often the first sign that teachers see when one of their kids is smoking pot.

Listen to a song called Time on Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and think about it.

James

Nick

James is right, I could not have said it better.

What pot did for me in the beginning it couldn't do for me by the time I put it down. I quit smoking pot when I went in the military, when I got out I went to school for a year. Halfway through that year I started smoking again, my grades plummeted, and my friends noticed my personality change.

I saw what it was doing, I haven't touched it since. I guess I grew out of it. Your a smart guy, be smart enough to live without it.

Ex.

Yay fellow insomniacs!

If you need someone to talk to about maths, I'd be happy to help (I'm Brown University '07 with a Bachelor of Science in math). I actually (*gasp*) LIKE parabolas and quadratics and variables, and even if you'd still feel guilty getting tutored online for free, think of it as "payment" for these stories. Feel free to email me any time (and please do!) with questions or anything. My e-mail is my username here at gmail dot com. I also have AIM/gtalk/skype/yahoo messenger if you want more of a conversation instead of an explanation. I was a teaching assistant for a Computer Science course at Brown, and was responsible for responding to e-mailed questions for a while, so I have experience trying to put a clear answer into writing without the benefit of drawing or using examples.

re: quitting

Keep at it. I was in a fraternity at Brown, so I've seen many people try to quit various substances, with varying degrees of success. My one piece of advice, which may be useless if your family is clueless that you smoke, is to be open with everyone close to you about your efforts to quit and how it's going. If everyone knows why you're being irritable, it may help them have more patience and they can also try to help and support you. Good luck!