You're a professional Writer. Lots of people write a bunch of word and then back off ten paces and fire a shotgun loaded with punctuation and fire both barrels at the paper. Makes reading interesting.
@mfresa Thanks for the kind words. I have to wait a bit before I can write a new blog, as I'm busy with NaNoWriMo at the moment. But I have a few ideas simmering in the pot.
I like Twain's idea of letting his pouch fill his pipe. Sadly, I don't think I could carry a mason jar in my pocket and do the same...
...... there's still a terrific interest in the author even 107 years after his death, especially in regard to his attitudes about smoking. He is a rich silver mine of smoking ore that is unlikely to be depleted......
While traveling in Italy, Twain wrote about his dissatisfaction with a locally available cigar called the Virginia:
"It looks like a rattail file, but smokes better, some think. It has a straw through it; you pull this out, and it leaves a flue, otherwise there would be no draught, not even as much as there is to a nail. Some prefer a nail at first."
He also describes the best pipe tobacco he was able to find while in Italy:
"It is loose and dry and black, and looks like teagrounds. When the fire is applied it expands, and climbs up and towers above the pipe, and presently tumbles off inside one's vest. The tobacco itself is cheap, but it raises insurance."
As he aged, Twain found it irresistible to offer advice on attaining such an august stage of life:
"As an example to others, and not that I care for moderation myself, it has always been my rule never to smoke when asleep, and never to refrain when awake."
Smoking was an integral part of Mark Twain's life, so it only makes sense that he would return to the subject many times in his work. It makes entertaining reading for everyone, but especially for those of us who share his passion for tobacco.
@Bloodhound61, not many Americans know of Robert Service, but I read a lot of his poems before going to Alaska. I couldn't imagine living in the rough conditions that were endured during the gold rush up there.
My wife likes to watch the Johnny Carson reruns on "Antenna TV," and last night's episode had as one of the guests, Gregory Peck carrying a MacArthur pipe with him the night before the opening of that very movie MacArthur.
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Makes reading interesting.
I like Twain's idea of letting his pouch fill his pipe. Sadly, I don't think I could carry a mason jar in my pocket and do the same...