Rhoyle
Well-known
Actually, I think that this is an interesting thread. It used to be (a good 30+ years ago) that ALL photographers smoked. Growing up, I never saw a person with a camera who wasn't smoking. In addition, my father, an avid and quite good amateur photographer smoked for many years, until his first heart attack. My brother, who did jump in and become a pro smoked. I smoked until 8 years ago, when my son was born. I wonder if it had anything with the bohemian artistic lifestyle, or just a sign of the times when so many people smoked...
dmr
Registered Abuser
BillBlackwell said:
I posted it because I saw it on another board (not related to photography) I frequent and I was curious as to how the answers here would compare.
I will bring up a photo angle, which is kind of a peeve of mine, and that is photos that glamorise the smoking habit. It's not nearly as bad as it was years ago, but still there. The Hollywood style portraits featuring the well-known iconic smokers, and even runway shoots featuring the cigarette as a fashion accessory, usually along with model features which emphasize smoking. >>GAG<< If you can get Vogue Italia, it seems to be currently the worst of the bunch. Fortunately most of the fan/gossip rags (not that I regularly read them)
seemed to simultaneously knock it off a few years ago.There is a very well known locally-based musician who has now become one of those iconic smokers, and it just makes me sick to think that some are actually trying to make smoking way-cool again.
MelanieC
Well-known
I asked a friend to teach me how to smoke when I was 16, because I was such a goody-goody and wanted to do at least one thing that was bad.
I have never in my life craved a cigarette, and I don't enjoy the smell or the taste, and if no one around me is smoking it does not even occur to me to have a cigarette, which means I can go days, weeks, or months without having one. But I am a social smoker, which means that in the right circumstances (i.e., out at a bar with friends who smoke -- not that there are all that many bars anymore that allow smoking) I can put away an entire pack in one sitting. Then I walk away and don't have another cigarette for months, until the next time I go out with the same smoking friends to the same smoky bar. People who smoke habitually don't consider me a smoker. People who never smoke do. When I tell my doctors how much (or how little) I smoke they always comment that smoking so little doesn't matter, although I think the evidence is beginning to suggest differently.
Since I moved to San Francisco I've basically stopped smoking altogether because not only does no one smoke here, people look at you like you're Satan if you do. I used to smoke sometimes if stressed out (OK, I smoked a LOT while finishing my dissertation), or if I was driving and getting drowsy, but I don't anymore because usually the taste and smell gross me out and it feels like a waste of time.
That said, while I was working on an archaeological excavation in Morocco earlier this month I smoked like a chimney because everyone around me was smoking. Some of us were Europeans and some of us were social smokers and basically we were all feeding off each other so we were all smoking our asses off (I can't explain dig life, really, but I think it's a lot like being at summer camp, you spend practically 24 hours a day with a small group of people). But since I've gotten back I haven't had a cigarette and gave away the ones that were still in my purse. I was supposed to be gone for a month and had to come back early because my favorite dog almost died. He's pretty much recovered now, and saved my lungs from three more weeks of cigarette smoke.
I have never in my life craved a cigarette, and I don't enjoy the smell or the taste, and if no one around me is smoking it does not even occur to me to have a cigarette, which means I can go days, weeks, or months without having one. But I am a social smoker, which means that in the right circumstances (i.e., out at a bar with friends who smoke -- not that there are all that many bars anymore that allow smoking) I can put away an entire pack in one sitting. Then I walk away and don't have another cigarette for months, until the next time I go out with the same smoking friends to the same smoky bar. People who smoke habitually don't consider me a smoker. People who never smoke do. When I tell my doctors how much (or how little) I smoke they always comment that smoking so little doesn't matter, although I think the evidence is beginning to suggest differently.
Since I moved to San Francisco I've basically stopped smoking altogether because not only does no one smoke here, people look at you like you're Satan if you do. I used to smoke sometimes if stressed out (OK, I smoked a LOT while finishing my dissertation), or if I was driving and getting drowsy, but I don't anymore because usually the taste and smell gross me out and it feels like a waste of time.
That said, while I was working on an archaeological excavation in Morocco earlier this month I smoked like a chimney because everyone around me was smoking. Some of us were Europeans and some of us were social smokers and basically we were all feeding off each other so we were all smoking our asses off (I can't explain dig life, really, but I think it's a lot like being at summer camp, you spend practically 24 hours a day with a small group of people). But since I've gotten back I haven't had a cigarette and gave away the ones that were still in my purse. I was supposed to be gone for a month and had to come back early because my favorite dog almost died. He's pretty much recovered now, and saved my lungs from three more weeks of cigarette smoke.
nikon_sam
Shooter of Film...
I have maybe smoked about 1/3 of a cigarette and that was over 35 years ago when as a kid I tried smoking with some friends...
I do like the aroma of a pipe and once while in Spain the guys were smoking a short cigar after lunch and it really smelled good...
Other than that I don't like the smell of tobacco...or coffee...
I do like the aroma of a pipe and once while in Spain the guys were smoking a short cigar after lunch and it really smelled good...
Other than that I don't like the smell of tobacco...or coffee...
daaris
Established
I smoked for six regretful years and quite cold one day. A lot of restraunts in Virginia are either going non-smoking or offering nice non-smoling areas.
arbib
Well-known
Can't Vote either
Can't Vote either
NO Option for:
I did a long time ago, But never again
Can't Vote either
NO Option for:
I did a long time ago, But never again
erikhaugsby
killer of threads
MelanieC said:
Man's best friend. Glad that he's better now, too.
greyhoundman
Well-known
What about the long term folks who have quit?
40+ plus years and cold turkey. Now if Scotch were so easy. LOL
40+ plus years and cold turkey. Now if Scotch were so easy. LOL
arbib
Well-known
Keith said:Doctor to patient ... "Do you or your partner ever smoke after you make love?"
Patient ... "Possibly ... but I've never looked!"
Very Funny, and thanks again for your wit.
Would that be a smoking gun ??
Covich
Member
Cigarettes or marijuana?
SDK
Exposing since 1969.
In college, I roomed with a group including several smokers, and once in a blue moon I would have a cigarette, but I never liked them. While living with the guys who smoked, I had frequent bouts of bronchitis and asthma. I can't blame it all on them as I did some non-tobacco smoking in those days. My first boyfriend smoked, and my lung problems occasionally resurfaced. For the past 16 years I am fortunate to live with a nonsmoking boyfriend and am healthy as an ox (except for tree pollen allergies). Secondhand smoke of any sort totally grosses me out now, and I have to speed past smoking pedestrians to get away from them.
One funny anecdote:
When my brother and I were in kindergarden, we found out that cigarettes were bad for people's health. Our father and mother both smoked a pack a day, so we intervened. Every time one of them put down a cigarette in an ash tray, even if just lit, whoosh we swooped in and stubbed them out (with extreme prejudice). I think I was five years old then. Our campaign was very quickly successful, and our parents both quit within a very short time.
Shortly thereafter, I went to work with mom one day, at the family photo, record and music supply store. There I saw a lady cashier smoking behind the counter, I think her name was Edna. You can probably guess what I did when Edna turned away from the cigarette to help a customer. She was irate at the destruction of her personal property, and I learned that you can't help acquaintances out of their addictions in the same way you manage your parent's health vices. Fortunately, Edna understood that I meant well, after I explained it to her. She died a couple years later, and was replaced with a non-smoking, although dimwitted, cashier named Esta, who pronounced German composer Richard Wagner's name as if Wagner were from midwestern America. Well, nobody's perfect.
One funny anecdote:
When my brother and I were in kindergarden, we found out that cigarettes were bad for people's health. Our father and mother both smoked a pack a day, so we intervened. Every time one of them put down a cigarette in an ash tray, even if just lit, whoosh we swooped in and stubbed them out (with extreme prejudice). I think I was five years old then. Our campaign was very quickly successful, and our parents both quit within a very short time.
Shortly thereafter, I went to work with mom one day, at the family photo, record and music supply store. There I saw a lady cashier smoking behind the counter, I think her name was Edna. You can probably guess what I did when Edna turned away from the cigarette to help a customer. She was irate at the destruction of her personal property, and I learned that you can't help acquaintances out of their addictions in the same way you manage your parent's health vices. Fortunately, Edna understood that I meant well, after I explained it to her. She died a couple years later, and was replaced with a non-smoking, although dimwitted, cashier named Esta, who pronounced German composer Richard Wagner's name as if Wagner were from midwestern America. Well, nobody's perfect.
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SteveM(PA)
Poser
Hey George, what happened to your pipes?
I was never a true Goth teen, but they came to the clubs I used to play at, and they all smoked cloves. Occasionally I light one up, and it takes me right back. I also tend to keep a pack of Dunhill milds in the kitchen cabinet, just for the fact that they're divided into halves. It will last me about 2 months.
My dad and uncles have always smoked pipes, and I can't believe how totally anachronistic that has become...seems like it's totally died, no matter how much Esquire tries to bring it back every couple years. I have an old $9 CVS pipe, but feel like I need a whole outfit to go with it...eye patch, parrot...argh!
When I go out with Dad to flea markets and such, people tend to follow us around and comment on how much they enjoy the smell (um...of the pipe ).
I was never a true Goth teen, but they came to the clubs I used to play at, and they all smoked cloves. Occasionally I light one up, and it takes me right back. I also tend to keep a pack of Dunhill milds in the kitchen cabinet, just for the fact that they're divided into halves. It will last me about 2 months.
My dad and uncles have always smoked pipes, and I can't believe how totally anachronistic that has become...seems like it's totally died, no matter how much Esquire tries to bring it back every couple years. I have an old $9 CVS pipe, but feel like I need a whole outfit to go with it...eye patch, parrot...argh!
When I go out with Dad to flea markets and such, people tend to follow us around and comment on how much they enjoy the smell (um...of the pipe
).Nando
Well-known
I smoked in when I was a teenager. I quit when I went to university where it was very unfashionable with my friends and I just could not afford to spend money on them. I do not enjoy the taste nor the smell anymore so I don't even want to try them again. But I do enjoy a good cigar now and again. When the rare occasion I think I might find myself smoking socially, I buy a pack of good cigarillos as they are smoked like cigars but it takes much less time to go through one and that frees me up to do other things. I usually give most of the cigarillos to my friends anyway as they always want to try them. Always run into the situation of teaching someone how to smoke it properly without inhaling.
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dostacos
Dan
used to smoke a pipe and cigars quit the habit too much money
telenous
Well-known
I smoke Partagas and St Bruno flake. Not much. About a couple of cigars and 50 gr. of pipe tobacco per week. I used to smoke cigarettes for many years too but I just don't any more.
Nico, I love Toscanos, but I learned about them in one of the many times I 've driven from the UK, through Italy, to Greece (and vc. vs.). I now see them on sale in all proper tobacco shops in both the UK and Greece, so somebody must be smoking them apart from me. They are rough, strong but they are also a terrific smoke.
Nico, I love Toscanos, but I learned about them in one of the many times I 've driven from the UK, through Italy, to Greece (and vc. vs.). I now see them on sale in all proper tobacco shops in both the UK and Greece, so somebody must be smoking them apart from me. They are rough, strong but they are also a terrific smoke.
Ducky
Well-known
With coffee on the outside patio at Starbucks or my favorite cafe. Sometimes in the swing on our patio. Never just to have a smoke, it's usually associated with relaxing. I usually end up throwing away a third of a pack of stale cigs. Oh, and always with a Zippo. No Zippo, no smoke.
JimG
dogzen
"A pack of smokers" That's good George.
Any time I want a smoke I picture myself wheeling around an oxygen tank with a mask. Not a sexy look.
Any time I want a smoke I picture myself wheeling around an oxygen tank with a mask. Not a sexy look.
David Murphy
Mentor
I smoked many years ago. As much as I liked it, I figured it was not part of a recipe for a long life so I gave it up! Knowing a few people that were killed by smoking further motivated me.
mich8261
Well-known
aren't the first two choices the same?
aren't the first two choices the same?
and shouldn't one of the them be simply "Never"?
aren't the first two choices the same?
and shouldn't one of the them be simply "Never"?
DannL
Member
I quit cold turkey (no substitutes) on September 2005 after 25 years of smoking like a chimney. Smoking was the stupidest thing I ever did. I wish I had never started. But hey! After a year and a half, I have never felt better in my life. At this point I could probably run to the top of Mount Everest and still have energy to cut the lawn when I got back.
If you want to quit, just do it. It's easier than it sounds. Anybody that says it's an addiction is on crack. It's not a physical addiction . . . it's a habit. It's not the chemicals . . . it's the comfort of the ritual. Break the ritual and do something different. Don't forget to reward yourself each time you fail to smoke.
Oh BTW . . . I have absolutely no cravings to smoke, even when around smokers. I now think it smells like burning buffalo dung.
If you want to quit, just do it. It's easier than it sounds. Anybody that says it's an addiction is on crack. It's not a physical addiction . . . it's a habit. It's not the chemicals . . . it's the comfort of the ritual. Break the ritual and do something different. Don't forget to reward yourself each time you fail to smoke.
Oh BTW . . . I have absolutely no cravings to smoke, even when around smokers. I now think it smells like burning buffalo dung.
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