Next week we’ll be publishing our monthly installment of Of Recent Note; and just like last month, we’re inviting you to participate. Here’s this month’s assignment: “Things We’re Denying Ourselves” What have you been holding back on, holding out on, holding yourself up to? Ideals of health, beauty, personal will, and self-control lead us to deny ourselves simple pleasures, favorite vices, and all the rest: So what have you been denying yourself lately? Give us those things you’re not letting yourself have, and provide a reason as to why. (Example: cigarettes, for the obvious health reasons but also because you’ve lately found yourself buying your grandmother’s brand.) Send us your denied items, and the reasons why (and why not): 75-150 words, to [email protected] by 6 p.m. E.D.T. on Wednesday, April 23. And please include a link to your personal site or wherever you’d people to go when they click on your name.. Thank you to everyone who sent in items!