I replied privately to JQM with what I want in a game design document.
Things I'm giving up include overeating, caffeine overuse, and posting on Slashdot, among other things that I'll describe later on
my microblog. Some of these fasts will be tapered, where I ease myself into the fast over the course of Lent. I had planned to give up posting here on NESdev BBS as a stunt related to a
planned username change. But then a couple people saw "I'm giving up..." in an avatar that I had up for about a day, missed this thread, and assumed the worst. So let me be clear: I'm
not giving up on life.
I'm not Catholic. I'm using Lent as a cultural excuse to experiment with giving things up in my life, just as people who aren't Christian use Christmas as an excuse to exchange gifts, and people who aren't Irish use Saint Patrick's Day as an excuse to drink. You can do any crazy $#!+ as long as you can justify it as giving something up.
I'm not Muslim either, but I recognize that my habit of wearing long shirts (inspired in part by John from
Peter Pan and Alvin, Simon, and Theodore from
Alvin and the Chipmunks) could occasionally cause me to be confused with them. So I do give this up during Ramadan each year out of respect for Muslims.