Straight edge (sometimes abbreviated sXe or signified by XXX or X) is a subculture of hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco and other recreational drugs, in reaction to the excesses of punk subculture mainstream culture, particularly the culture around popular rock music (ed). For some, this extends to refraining from engaging in promiscuous sex, to following a vegetarian or vegan diet, and to not using caffeine or prescription drugs.

- alcohol? i drink when i'm at concerts, partly to help the bars stay open. i have drank socially for short periods in the past, but i haven't, generally. i've consumed no alcohol since march, but it's just because there aren't any shows. i expect normal alcohol consumption to resume when the shows start back up. there's a good chance that i may abstain entirely until then, however long it takes

- tobacco? i am no fan of tobacco, and have been trying to cut it out entirely for years. i have succeeded, with the caveats of various functions around marijuana, which i'm about to flip over. i could be completely tobacco-free, again, within a few weeks.

- marijuana? this year has been weird, but i generally buy once to twice a year and smoke through it in a haze. i will routinely go weeks or months without it, and i insist on it. i'd like to move to edibles, and restrict it to special occasions. i'm going to need to experiment a bit to figure out dosages, but this has mostly been a christmas thing for me for years and it's not likely to change.

- other recreational drugs? i don't touch them, anymore. at all. i'm too old for mushrooms.

- promiscuous sex? ive been straight-up celibate for years.

- vegan/vegetarian? i've been ovo-vegetarian for long periods, but i learned i need to eat a small amount of meat for iron absorption. i didn't evolve myself, it's not my fault. that said, i'm an advocate of replacing livestock production with insect production, or even test-tube meat. i'd rather get my protein from something that doesn't have a brain; i'd jump at the opportunity to switch. as it is, i mostly eat salami, partly because it doesn't seem like actual meat. i do have a no-raw rule in effect in the house; no uncooked meat is allowed in my living spaces.

- caffeine? lol. i drink a lot of caffeine, and do not want to stop.

- prescription drugs? well, i take hormones, but that's a different kind of thing. it's otherwise very, very hard to get me to take anything a dr prescribes to me. i will rarely even take aspirin, and i get vicious migraines with auras; i will suffer through them, i won't medicate.

so, as you can see, it's an ideological thing....i may not be technically straight-edge, and i wouldn't claim i am, but i am ideologically in agreement with the straight-edge mentality, and i'm about as close to it as you can get, on multiple fronts, without actually being it.

i feel i'm getting more straight-edge as i age, not less.