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thenewgreen · 4517 days ago · link · · parent · post: What are the little things in life that make you happy?

1. wringing sweat out from my shirt after a run

2. Making music with friends

3. Hearing my new name spoken, "Daddy"

4. stepping outside to smoke a cigarette (a now dormant "happy activity")

markup tips · 0

ecib · 4516 days ago · link ·

If you're strong enough, you might allow yourself to only engage in "epic" cigarettes. You may only smoke one in the wake of some great life trial or triumph, or life-scene that would be worthy of being captured in cinema and talked about years later.

The danger is that and hour later you take a piss, step outside, and light another one.

+discuss+discuss

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thenewgreen · 4516 days ago · link ·

I have a friend, we will call him cW, that I engage in "epic" cigarettes with. We watched the entire Twin Peaks series and would drink coffee, eat pie and smoke cigarettes while watching. That became problematic because we watched them so frequently that I essentially was a "smoker". I actually wrote this song about my old smoking habit around that time.

I once had an epic cigarette with cW and mk while up in a tree out front of a mansion in Depot Town, Ypsilanti MI. -Or did I just dream that? Nope, it actually happened.

+discuss+discuss

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cW · 4516 days ago · link ·

I'm not sure I've done anything epic enough ever to qualify me for an epic cigarette. And if ever I have, I've probably been unable to focus on anything else, probably because I am not cool enough, in the mythic sense of the term. What demonstrates one's unflappability better than, "yeah, just averted a catastrophe, whatever. I'm going to breathe some fire to wind down a bit." For me, my infrequent cigarettes are themselves pretty intense experiences. I smoke infrequently enough, and potent enough smokes when I do, that the nicotine rush is actually pretty intense. There's the light-headedness, and the acceleration in the thoughtstream, and the need to sit down. But then, the next day, there's that cotton-lined throat feel that convinces me not to have another one for a long while, which works well for me also.

The twin peaks smokes were pretty special. A nice break from the intensity of the show, the excuse to step out side into the expanse and breathe in the fresh air (among other things), and to reflect. This is actually my favorite thing about hanging out with smokers. They have a built in reminder to go outside every couple of hours or so. And when you're outside, smoking or just standing with the smokers, you have no choice but wait, watch, and listen for whatever there will be, for whatever will happen. And in my experience, if you're paying attention, something remarkable always happens.