Smoking

This is great news. We ex cigarette smokers know that it's the coolest, dirtiest, most evil aspect of culture and health in the last hundred years.

However.

In the absence of family and friends, and without the lonely man's crutch of alcohol, I've gotten into shisha tobacco big time the last few months. I was worried about addiction. When in Libya, around 9pm, I really enjoy rinsing out the water bottle, filling out the bowl (kursi in Libyan-Arabic, literally "seat"), lighting the self-igniting carbon. And waiting a few minutes for it to get going and then puffing away as I surf the internet, watch The Sopranos, or read a book.

Sometimes, at weekends, I'll have another pipe in the late afternoon, prior to a siesta.

And this week, bored and stressed, well... I've some days been having one in the late morning. It's getting out of hand.

I've got two really good pipes. I'm taking at least one of them back with me, and the two of them space permitting. I just hope I don't get twitchy. I don't know where on earth I could smoke one at my new job, which is probably in the middle of a smoke-free campus.

It's a funny thing though, I've never even thought of them during the two one-week breaks at home I've had - though I do spark up the minute I get back to the house in Libya.

So maybe this is just a habit, unlike the full-blown addiction to cigarettes I used to have. Why's that then? I have a theory, that tobacco is fairly addictive, but that additives in cigarettes make it highly addictive.

Incidentally, the above photo looks really cac-ca in terms of tonal quality - as do all of my my d50's b&w conversions, now. I'll maybe take another few with the FED2 tonight afore I pack the camera and tripod.

Comments

  1. AnonymousSun Jun 29, 02:03:00 pm BST

    Why do I get this feeling you'll be back? And you know Libya is awash in booze... you've just not figured out how to get hold of it.

    I like the smell of the sweetened tobacco for some reason - but cigarettes just plain stink.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Garry NixonSun Jun 29, 02:41:00 pm BST

    You're right, I probably WILL be back - otherwise I wouldn't be waiting for the formalities of the exit visa. But if I do, I'll take a lot of care about who I work for. No more carpet-baggers.

    I actually enjoy NOT boozing, when I'm here. I like a drink in a proper context - for me that's a British pub.

    ReplyDelete

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