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homemade coffin nails

I've taken up rolling my own cigarettes. It's part affection, part money-saver. The combination of too many Dashiell Hammet novels and a small paycheck.

As for the moneysaver, it's a big hit. A bag of tobacco big enough to put me well on the way to a hospital bed costs about as much as a pack and a half of Camels, and rolling papers are cheap enough your average pothead can buy as many as he needs.

I had a tough time getting the hang of it, and I'm still learning. I still wind up dumping tobacco all over the damn place, but I've managed to roll 'em tight enough that the devilweed dosen't fall out the end, and I can hold it between two fingers for more than five seconds without getting burned.

It's strangely unsatisfying. Undoubtedly, my unfiltered cancer sticks are getting more nicotene into my system than Camel Lights. And the tobacco is much better, sortof like a low-end cigar (trivia: cigarettes were invented by peasants picking up cigar ends their betters dropped on the ground, then shaking the leftover tabac onto papers). But for some reason, every time I get done smoking, I feel like I need another cigarette. I think I cram less tobacco into each one, but the direct injection of great black clouds of smoke should make up for it.

I think maybe the relatively crappy experience of smoking a branded cigarette is what people define as smoking. If I left the tobacco out in the sun for two days and maybe sprayed some cat piss on it, then smoked that, the experience would be much more authentic to me, because it'd taste and feel just like your average branded cigarette.

Instead, I wind up smoking twice as many cigarettes because while I'm probably up there on nicotene, because the psychological aspect of it remains unfulfilled. I always feel like I'm about due for a smoke, because I haven't had the feeling I associate with smoking a cigarette.

Then, thanks to the massive amounts of tar I've been sucking down, all of a sudden I'm getting out of breath starting my car, and still feel like I haven't had a cigarette for hours.

Posted by Francis at April 13, 2006 05:14 AM | TrackBack