As a fact checker at Rolling Stone, I have an enviable position — nothing gets printed unless I say it's okay! As you can imagine, fact checking is a high-stress job. If Ashlee Simpson's name is misspelled in the magazine, it's my head that's on the chopping block (not unlike Ashlee's nose was in 2007. No wait, 2006. Yes, I'm sure of it.). Up until recently, I dealt with the pressure in part by sucking down cigarettes. This meant frequent trips outside, which meant less time at my desk checking facts. Not good. (I missed out on the days when those in the journalistic profession could smoke at their desks — a blessing and a curse.)

But this year I resolved to quit smoking. After a few false starts, spread out over a few months, I've been able to remain cigarette-free for thirty days. Hooray for me. How did I do it? Two things got me to where I need to be: Allen Carr's The Easy Way To Quit Smoking and Wolfgang's Vault.

Wolfgang's Vault, for those of you who don't know, is the online home of concerts that were recorded for the Bill Graham Archives, The King Biscuit Flower Hour and The Record Plant, among others. It's also got concert posters, rock photography, and vintage t-shirts, if that's your thing. I remember visiting the site when I first read about it in the pages of Rolling Stone, but it seemed more difficult to use then, and I was less computer savvy than I am now. Luckily, savviness isn't an issue, because now all you have to do is create a name and password, and you have instant access to their concert archives.

What does this have to do with kicking the habit? Instead of getting up from my desk as I was used to, I now had no good reason to leave. So I took out my headphones, plugged them into my computer, and allowed myself to be distracted and sucked in to the world of Crosby, Stills and Nash, Van Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Traffic, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Bob Marley and more. I was able to replace an oral habit with an aural one.

Every concert I've listened to on the site has been insanely enjoyable. I've reconnected with high school heroes like Richie Havens and Aztec Two-Step, marveled at the prowess of rock gods like Derek and the Dominos and Lynyrd Skynyrd and investigated the works of Maria Muldaur and 1980s Journey (not for me). The sound quality is top-notch, and the artist roster is impressively wide. And it's free, baby. Absolutely free, just like love used to be.

So if you're an old-timer or somebody who just enjoys classic rock, do yourself a favor and get on over to Wolfgang's Vault. And don't smoke — that's disgusting, yo.