Pipeology - The Fine Art of Pipe Smoking and Thought

  Women have won the right to vote for only a hundred years.  And my writing about men's clubs yesterday got me thinking.  At the one pipe shop I frequented back in the day, there were women who smoked both pipes and cigars.  In fact, the women's movement included women who felt they had a right to smoke as men did.  And they flaunted that right.  It has not just been men who smoked pipes and cigars. I may have written about the pipe above before, and if I have, I apologize.   It's called Gingers Favorite by Savinelli and sells for about $130 on Smoking Pipes with a retail shop selling it for about $170.  I'll give credit to Smoking Pipes for the photo above. The Parker pen company used to sell a ball-point pen just for women, but these days a pen is a pen.  Ginger's Favorite is for a woman's smaller hands, but women can smoke anything they wish these days.  However, a woman generally might prefer a smaller cigar or a smaller pipe....

 Mark Twain often visited a club in New Haven, Connecticut, where he gathered with distinguished gentlemen the world over.  These clubs were called Gentlemen's clubs for a reason.  Distinguished gentlemen would gather as such clubs for drinks and polite conversations of topics of interest.  I wondered if his club in New Haven still existed.  But today, such a name is given to strip joints.   New Haven has a lot of strip joints as I now understand, but such gentlemen's clubs are now cigar bars or the local place where cigars are smoked without restrictions.  But evidently the old style gentlemen's clubs no longer exist.  I find that rather sad, but things have certainly changed over the years.  Such conversations today are held in strip joints, which might explain a lot with clubs banning women no longer existing.   Such clubs today might be an exclusive country club where wealthy women are just as accepted.  But gentlemen'...

 I always close each post with a few words about my pipe and tobacco.  I'm not an evangelist for smoking pipes.  I don't write to influence anyone to smoke a pipe.  It's that I am almost always smoking a pipe when writing.  But why?  First of all, I happen to own a lot of pipes, but a pipe, secondly, and foremost, is my "thinking" tool.  I think best smoking a pipe.  Is there a reason for this?  Does a pipe have magical writing powers?   No.  Many famous writers have smoked pipes, although not so common among writers today.  But that is more about the society we live in today.  There simply are so relatively few of us who smoke a pipe.  I've watched several vids made by preachers who will smoke a pipe and make videos about this hobby Sunday afternoons.  It's still done, but not as openly as before.  A pipe smoker simply loves to relax with a pipe.   I am no exception.  I'm more relaxed wi...

 If I could live my life over again, would I want to?  There short answer is that it is what it is.  No.  I'm fascinated by the concept of time travel, but dreaming of another time removes us from the right now.  In my own Spirituality, the present moment is really all that matters, because it's all we really have.  I can wish for some things to be different, but wishing takes us to a dream world which does not exist.   I find it difficult at times to remain focused on the right now, for everyone has those nagging "what if" questions.  And if we could go back with knowledge of our future, we might come back and wish for something different.  It's like the movie Ground Hog Day.  If we do it enough times we'll get it right.  Thinking about the future causes anxieties and focusing too much on the past causes depression.  Focusing on the right now is balance.  The past teaches us so we can apply our knowledge to the futur...

 I have readers of this blog who aren't in the least bit religious, or as I say I am about myself, Spiritual.  But you see, I believe in Angels.  There is no way I can deny this as a fact.  So, for me, Angels just might be my obsession.  I am obsessed by Angels.  I can't deny this because this is a fact in my life.  I KNOW Angels exist.  I've tried to avoid anything religious in this blog, but Angels are a part of that which defines me as the person I am today.  They are a part of my Spirituality.  Angels always leave with Peace left behind.  I'm always connecting with that Peace in all things. I won't apologize for this, but although I always believed, it took more than belief that I needed as proof.  That proof came to me in the form of Angels, who at that time occupied a human body, but their presence left me do doubt they were Angels.  This is mostly why I am the person I am today.  My Angels define who I am....

 My son's neighbor lost what he called a boat in hurricane Ian.  Evidently he settled with his insurance company and has now replaced what he called a boat.  We woke the other morning with a watercraft next to his house, and my wife just called it this "huge thing."  Yes, he got his boat replaced.  But looking at it, I thought to myself that this huge thing isn't a boat.  So, I decided to Google what defines a yacht and decided his boat, as he called it isn't a boat. That "huge thing" is a damn yacht!  But what exactly is a yacht?  A yacht is typically a cabin cruiser.  So, if he had a boat, he now has a yacht!  It seemed to be more than nine meters and he can sit people on the front deck.  My wife and I have had a discussion as to whether our neighbors watercraft is a boat.   If it isn't a yacht, it's close to being one.   A yacht has a cabin and generally a changing room and might have a head.  This looks ...

 I almost always catch my mistakes before publishing, but yesterday, well, I didn't catch me error in the title of yesterday's post.  My wife told me about it, and I just thought I'd leave it for now.  I'm my own editor, and maybe that isn't always best, however, it is what it is.  She did like what I had written for yesterday.  She usually likes my posts, but once in awhile they are different and unusual in her words.   I don't always write something that I think is funny, but try to find things to write about that are a bit unusual and different.  I write for the love of writing and my thinking is that most any error is at least forgivable if not humorous.  I looked at yesterday's title as I published it and thought it actually a bit humorous.  My thinking is that at least most of you know what most any typo means.   I write on my phone and not on my computer.  My computer will catch grammatical errors my phone won't cat...

 Today is George Washington's Birthday.  I could mention he probably smoked pipes in the pubs of early America, as it would have been a custom carried over from England.  This past Tuesday was International Pipe Smoking Day, and I could kill two birds with one stone, so to speak, by writing about pipe smoking and George Washington.  But George Washington isn't known for having smoked anything, so, I'll mention it in passing and simply move on.  Happy Burthday George, wherever you are in the cosmic universe!   Pipe Smoking Day is over and I didn't smoke my pipe Tuesday, as we were staying at a place that simply didn't allow for it.  I had packed my Angel pipe as we left Monday afternoon and I could have smoked my pipe, but it was against the home owner's rules if I had.  So, I chose not to.  In past years I always knew when the day was as I celebrated that day with pipe smokers the world over by smoking a pipe.   But I did have ...

 My wife asked me an interesting question the other day.  If I could time travel to any time period, which would it be?  I thought about different periods in the history of the world.  I thought maybe meeting Jesus would be interesting.  But then I thought about the future.  How far forward would I want to go?  My brother-in-law said he'd like to visit about 30 years into the future.  I don't know if I want to visit the future.  History we kind of know, but the future might be a very strange place. Think of how much our world has changed in just 25 years.  I can live in the past in some ways, but then it might be interesting to see how much our world changes in just another 25 years especially in the fields of robotics and AI.  How much will these change?  I'm not sure I am emotionally prepared for the changes that are coming.  And I'm not sure as to how much wars will change the political landscape.  I'm like so many...

 A lot of retired guys AND gals golf or do something they've long wanted to do.  Actually, my computer was a hobby as I enjoyed tinkering with a computer.  But these days, it's used mostly for entertainment purposes and the ocassional Zoom metting.  I've enjoyed tinkering with cars and many other things.  I have my DB5 I work on once in awhile, but I can't, or maybe don't smoke my pipe indoors.  My wife suggested I bring it out and work on it here on the patio, but then I'd have to put it all away every evening. But really, it seems I'm always working on my blog.  I do a lot of reading and watch YouTube vids, just to keep my mind active.  And really, my wife asks me to do things around the house, so I'm pretty busy.  It seems I'm always doing something.  I just don't sit here and smoke my pipe.  I actually have a lot going on to stay busy.  There is much more to do here at my son's house than there was at the condo where we sta...

 Years ago, early in my working career, I worked with a guy who at the time was ten years older than I was in his late 20's.  He asked me then what love was.  He said the dictionary said it was a strong feelings and attachment to another person.  I thought about writing this for Valentine's week, but decided to save it for later.  February is the love month.  We often think of love in a romantic sense, but it's more than this.   Love is time spent on others and is not really romantic.  Some people in our lives are worth our time and some aren't.  I know most of you who read this blog.  I spend time writing each post and at least you click on my posts and whether you take time to read each one only you know.  But love can simply be someone with whom you want to spend time.  That defines love.  One can love anything in life, but love simply requires time.   Reading requires time.  Talking requires time....

 I get a lot of YouTube vids promoting positive energy.  I wondered whether I could do a whole post on positive energy, but then thinking I can't isn't positive.  Preachers make fortunes from promoting positive thinking, first credited to Norman Vincent Peale.  Frankly I've never given much credit to those preachers, because it seems these days it's more materialisttic and less theologically oriented. Too much positive thinking is more wealth oriented and less about well-being.  Positive energy isn't focused on the personal, but the material.  It's just that negative thinking leads to the darker side of life, and wealth doesn't always bring happiness.  Positive energy is what makes us look on the bright side of life and not the dark side of life.   I've tried lately to find what I think are interesting and sometimes humorous news stories, but lately there hasn't been much I can find.  Maybe I'm not searching the right places, but it seem...

 This is the end of Love Week and both my wife and I had check-ups with our physician.  Sometimes I think of myself as an old Spiritual guy with most of what I have in life IS my Spirituality and my health, apart from family, of course.    I got a check-up the other day and basically I am doing fine.  The fact is that my wife needs me to be around and I need to remain healthy. I wonder what I'd be saying if I wasnt fine?  We simply cannot ignore our health.  I thought about this while polishing our car the other day, thinking about the various specialists I need to keep this old body operating and my mind thinking clearly.  We get enough exercise and we're both working on keeping our general health good.   Spiritual people tend to be in general good health.  My pipe hasn't hurt me none.   And since my Spiritual life began a little over 30 years ago, I have been what I would say is pretty healthy mentally.  I'm into ta...

 I mentioned my tobacco order the other day and I received it Wednesday.  I can't say I have a lot of English tobacco left, but my wife likes the room note of Captain Black Original.  It has a kind of Vanilla room note that reminds many of us older pipe smokers of days gone by.  It has been the best selling pipe tobacco for decades.  It came out in 1956 and is now considered by most pipe tobacco smokers to be an old timers tobacco. I have enjoyed a few old timers' blends, but today there simply is too much to choose from.  I thought I might try some Apricots and Cream as it too is one of Smoking Pipes top 100 tobaccos.  As I mentioned the other day, my first pouch of tobacco was an Apple flavored Aromatic, that I recall my wife liked at the time.  Back then I'd smoke my pipe in my car with my then wife beside me. But those days are long gone now, and I have seldom smoked my pipe anywhere but on a patio or the deck of our house in NY.  But I'm...

 My wife gave me a suggestion about something to write about.  I put together a bed frame the other day.  Every time I assemble a piece of furniture, I say to her that I am NOT going to do it again.  But it seems I've said this about every six months of our married life.  Hardly anything arrives pre-assembled.  Once in a great while we'll buy something the store assembles.  But I have assembled everything from bicycles to grills to furniture and bedframes. Once we bought a computer cabinet that required two days to assemble.  And after that I swore I'd never assemble anything again.  But guess what?  I have said the same thing many times over.  It never fails that after some project I say I'll never do it again.  But six months later I'll do another.  I have said so many times, "I'll never do it again!"  Only to find out that I have to.  It never fails. I asssembled that bed frame which required no tools for asse...

 I wrote this several days ago and finished it up this morning thinking about today being Valintune's Day.  After today, I'll move on to other topics. Divorce is a strange subject for today, but this is more than about one topic.  I won't get into the statistics right now, but those getting married have about a 50% chance for divorce.  In second marriages the divorce rate is about 60-75% with the number one reason for divorce being the lack of commitment.  It's a strange topic for today.  It's not always infidelity, but two people have to work together to keep a marriage together.  It's not one person to blame for divorce, but almost always both are at fault.  Divorce is always messy, which is why second marriages have a high failure rate.   Marriages survive infidelity, but it still takes both to make it work.  And some marriages allow for infilelity and still work.  It just depends.  Two people who by their very nature w...

My wife had to think about as to whose name I didnt want to mentiion yesterday, then she realized who I was writing about.  I could have used her initials or something.  She has Swifties as followers.  My wife first thought it was herself.  But I didnt want hits just by mentiining her.  Maybe I should have mentioned her by name to just clear the air. I'm not sure I have much else to say about love I haven't already said.  Writung is my outlet and I've given thought to writing a book, which I work on from time to time.  I thought about getting seriously into writing, but the only deadline I have for myself is this blog, and I wouldn't do it if I didn't love doing this.  One might say I dabble in writing.  And as art is a hobby for some, writung for me is the same.  It's simply a hobby. Hemingway was often criticized for his simplistic writung style, but he simply told stories so well.  Mark Twain was a humorist, but again he was such...

Every morning after my wife serves me breakfast, I read the news, smoke my pipe, meditate, and write.  I have many sources to find things to wrote about.  I won't mention HER name again.  I promise.  I tried not to.  I had to go back to February 3 of last year to find a post that had more hits than yesterday's post.  Probably because I mentioned HER.  My wife really liked yesterday's post. I began writing this yesterday and this morning I went back over this one and did some more editing.  I could comment on the SB commercials this morning, but yesterday is over, and I'm sighing a sigh of relief.  A missed extra point made all the difference in the game.  My wife and I enjoyed watching the whole thing together.  Wednesday is Valentine's Day and I'm expecting a tobacco order order to arrive sometime between now and then. But I'll stay with the same theme this morning and then simply move on.  I wasn't sure I could write about th...

 Because of THE game today, I've worked harder on this post than nost any post I have written.  I made several attempts yesterday to write for today and I deleted them all.  I thought about keeping the theme of love for Valentine's Day this week, but while it seems everyone loves a great romance story, romance is short-lived for a long-term relationship.  But some people love romance and when it's gone they simply move on to the next romance in their lives.  Love is for the long haul in a relationship, but it's not romance.  Some might say romance is only for the young or the young at heart. I wrote about the game today and deleted that.  Then I wrote about my pipe order I placed yesterday and deleted that.  I wrote about my smoking a pipe and deleted that.   I wrote about THE game and deleted that.   There have been a few posts I've posted and later wished no one read them.  I deleted Thurdmsday's post, as I have a few po...

 I was going to publish this yesterday, but I had to get rid of yesterday's post from my que.  My wife and I were discussing the Super Bowl while out shopping yesterday afternoon.  Then I remembered an article I read about the costs of all the expenses for the Super Bowl, just in case any of you thought about going, which I'm betting is none, although a record some 37.5 million people are betting on the game itself.  I'm not sure where to begin, but let's say you go for two nights and decide to fly there.  If flying from San Francisco, your fare starts at $338, which isn't too bad.  If you drive there it is about an eight hour trip by car.  If you decide to fly from Kansas City, that fare starts at $666.  I believe these might be round trip tickets, but of that I'm not sure.  If you drive from KC to Vegas allow about 19 hours.  Okay, that's just to get there.   If you drive to Vegas, don't forget about parking fees that can be ...

 Other than my post yesterday, which my wife called "interesting and different," I write mostly fluff.  There was a time when I had all this anger in me.  But no longer.   I just prefer to keep things light.   I've had this post ready since this past Monday, and I'm just now getting round to posting it. This is not about editorializing, but more of a personal commentary on observations.  I do this while smoking my pipe.  I have written a lot of stuff over the years, but it has not been published.  I have this blog, which keeps my mind busy as I read articles and news clippings and comment on things as I observe them.   This is not hard-hitting news or editorializing, but I do this while smoking my pipe, which helps me to meditate and think.  Obviously, I have an interest in Angeology, but I've decided that is too personal for me and pretty much relates to myself and not really much to any of you, except for my wife.  ...

 The most sinful states in the country are California, Nevada, Louisiana, and then Florida.  Wallethub released it's data for 2024 that studied illicit and immoral behavior among residents of all 50 states, gleenung most of their information from public records and related incidents of arrests to the population.  Anger and hatred topped the list, followed by excessive vices, greed, jealousy, and lust.  Topping the list were alcohol abuse and gambling.  Whew! Maybe it's  Florida that contributes to these, but at least three states were worse.  I might understand California and Nevada, and Louisiana has always been a state with a fair amount of corruption.  Of course, here in Florida we have a lot of Florida men and women and our fair share of Karen's.  But apart from alcoholism, we pretty much rate high in the seven deadly sins except for maybe gluttony, because everyone goes to the beaches here.  But that pretty much covers it. Florida s...

 I had another post ready for this morning.  I liked it yesterday when I wrote it, but read it this morning and decided not to post it and wrote this one instead.  I think this is the better of the two. Love makes two choices.  It either grows or it doesn't.  There is only one factor that enters into it.  That one factor is determination, but it's only when two people are determined to make it work.  One person can be more determined and can influence the other, but that makes it even more difficultt for the one.   But determination is the key to long-lasting love.  In the post I deleted I didn't feel comfortable getting too personal, which it was.  I'll be more general here and not focus solely on myself.  We've been married for nearly fiftyy years and that one word is the key to any kind of relationship.  Even friendship has the same key.  It's valuing another person enough to keep them in your life.   I c...

 The rock group Boston had a good title for their song by the same subject for today.  It's a good song performed so well.  It's not a favorite of mine, but I like listening to it.  Love IS more than a feeling.  Falling in love is like a drug high, although I don't know a drug high.  Most people fall in love more than once, but such feelings do lead to marriage, but love is more than a feeling.  One works to keep those feelings from dying.  But as I said yesterday those feelings begin to evolve. Most of the time I smoke a pipe when I am writing and I let my mind think and I share my thoughts here.  I'm not necessarily a student, but more of a free-thinker.  What I have is what is in my head.  Sometimes I'll Google a question or look up words, or maybe I'll read something and share it here.  But I AM more of an observer and not really a participant.  I have my own thoughts and feelings, but generally I try to separate my fe...

 Ii's ten days to Valentine's Day and I'm not sure I can spend that much time writung about the subject of love.  I am not sure I can answer this questiin, as poets, philosophers and mote recently movie-makers have tried, only with a modicum of success.  I have to admit that spending the next ten days writung about Valentine's Day and the topic of "love," might be a stretch.  I could write about Christmas all through December and even before.  But to spend all this time on Valentine's Day might be a bit much.  But we'll see how I do. While women are more sociable, older men especially, think of their wives as their best friends.  Can lovers just become friends or can friends become lovers?  It works both ways, but more often friendships evolve while lovers tend to break up and can't be just friends.  I'm not 100% sure about my wife and I, but I would say we're best friends, more than lovers.  But this is how most marriages evolve.  ...

 I've been reading lately about stereotypes of generations, which are often labeled as a generation being of between 15 and 18 years.  However, the Pew Research center says that much of the stereotyping is nothing more than click-bait.  They say there are differences within generations and thar there needs to be a more broad approach to generational studies, particularly in the realm of politics as it relates to the millinials.  And I think they are right. Not all Boomers fall into a neat category as not any other generation does.  Sociologists need to focus on the whole of society and not divide it into such stereotypes.  I have to admit that my wife and I are from the same generation, but we differ.  And not all Boomers are stereotypically Boomers, which we both are.  She might be more stereotypically Boomer than I am.  I never really felt I fit neatly into a grouping, while she might more than I do.   And the Pew Research Center ...

 I could make reference to Bill Murray's movie "Ground Hog's Day," which was a pretty good romantic movie with Andie McDowell.  But I'll save romance for Valentine's Day coming up.  How accurate is Punxutawny Phil, you might ask.  He has a 40% probability of being right.  And there are other ground hogs that are almost as famous, most notably Buckeye Chuck.  His record isn't better.  According to the good folks in Punxutawny, PA, there has only been one Phil since 1886, because the ground hog drinks from the "Elixer of Life" which is what gives him his longevity.  Besides which no one discusses a famous ground Hog only living some 5-10 years in captivity. Ground Hog Day goes back to the Pre-Christian era where burrowing animals emerged from the ground giving them a sign of when Spring planting could begin.  And no, Phil did not see his shadow this morning, indicating we will have an early Spring.  Now after this winter this is good news,...

  I have a pocket Angel.  My wife got it for me while living in NY.  There was a movie from 1969 with the same name.  I don't try to make anyone into my own self as I consider myself pretty much alone in my own kind of Spirituality.  This Angel I have comes in her own leather pouch and I would set her near me as I smoke my pipe.  I was going through my stuff I have for all my pipe paraphernalia the other day, and I happened to find her and decided to get her out and she keeps me company as I sit here on the patio and smoke my pipe. Why is this significant to me right now?  I'm not really sure as I forgot she was in my stuff.  I say "she" because in fact it could be genderless.  But I'll call her a "she" because to me that what she is.  She stands about two inches tall and is made from marble.  She is supposed to be like a worry stone that one rubs when one is tense.  The fact is I didn't know she was there in my box as I had fo...