cigars,scotch,vices,vice,pleasure,nanny state,puritanism,tobacco,alcohol
Every man (and woman) should have a vice or two. Mind you, the vice shouldn’t be illegal, only harmless to others. The good vices are merely simple pleasures that make life far more enjoyable. It is a way to escape the puritanical nannyism of the modern welfare/warfare state. My two vices are the most vilified of recent years: tobacco and alcohol. I smoke fine, hand-rolled, premium cigars and I drink aged single-malt scotch. I also occasionally smoke a beautiful briar pipe and drink fine wine, beer, brandy, conganc, vodka and other tantilizing spirits. My consumption of said products are moderate. I smoke three-four cigars a week and have roughly one drink a day.
The health-Nazis may be ready to arrest me at this very moment, but there is nothing more relaxing than smoking a cigar and sipping a dram of whisky. It is a form of meditation and opens up the creative process. Hell, about 70% of my book was written over a cigar and scotch. It is simple and satisfying, as a vice should be.
Enjoy your vices for their simplicity and pleasure, and while they are still legal.
I received a copy of Mac OS X Leopard late Friday morning. Instantly, I upgraded my laptop and everything went smooth. I was using it all day Friday and early Saturday morning. Then, I decided to plug in my M-Audio Oxygen 8 keyboard controller so I can finish a song I was working on in Logic Studio. I launch Logic and proceed to play the keyboard, but there’s no sound. I check and recheck my connections; restart the Oxygen 8; re-install the drivers and relaunch Logic. Still no sound. Oh yeah, I forgot I upgraded to Leopard. I checked M-Audio’s web site for driver information and, sure enough, they’re working on Leopard drivers for all their products. They say my product may or may not work and I’ll have to wait until new drivers are released. So when are they going to release new drivers? They can’t say for sure, as usual. Well, I can’t finish this song until the drivers are released.
The upside to all of this is now I can spend a good deal of time practicing the guitar. It’s one instrument I’ve always wanted to play (I play drums and keyboards) so now I can sit down and really learn how to play. I won’t have to worry about dealing with the complexities of recording software, new operating systems, and incompatible drivers. It’s just me and my guitar.
