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Coffee and Cigarettes by thefinn
This weekend Michele and I would like to present you with the new addition to the staff that works here so tirelessly at FTTW. This place has gotten so busy lately, we decided on adding a new member to the team. This is someone who has both made us laugh and respect him from his stories in our comments. Sometimes they have been better then ours. Sometimes not. It works that way. So we both talked and decided. Let's give him a weekend slot. If he makes us laugh and stay interested, two of the blackest souls around, then he will surely make you laugh and stay interested. Everyone please welcome thefinn. We both think the story is great. Ready? Cause here we go! The standby... The old familiar.... Breakfast of champions... I've been smoking for as long as I can remember and drinking coffee almost as long.... I've been doing both for such a long time, that, when I met my wife, she told me I always smell like two things... The coffee must, without a doubt, be black. And I'm not talking about any old black. Midnight black, jet black, black black black. And strong. You have to smell it coming strong. I'm not a coffee snob. I don't require beans that have been slightly roasted by small albino virgins in a faraway country. I don't need a fancy cup. I just need it to be brackish and muddy and smell enough like coffee that it'll burn through my crap sinuses and tell the brain that it's time to start fucking moving..... Cigarettes should be harsh, vulgar little things that stink like the French on a hot day and provide no pleasure whatsoever. Kings, preferably…. Firebomb the back of the throat, lay waste to the sinuses and take no prisoners when it comes to the lungs….. I want to see a twelve year old in coughing spasms if he tries one, maybe a little vomit as well… Light up, sit back, inhale the coffee smell and exhale..... Smoke curling with the steam from the joe.... It almost sounds like a solitary little ritual.... Smoke, cuppa, a little peace and quiet to start the day... I've never really viewed it that way... I've had all kinds of good times while looking for (or enjoying) a good cup of the black and a Camel.... There was the redheaded girl in the Avignon cafe that I was trying desperately to hit on with my horrible French, the Vietnamese cat who worked at 7-11 and was always reading Soldier of Fortune when I came in at 3 a.m., trudging through the piss hot rain on an August morning to buy a cup and running into an old friend I hadn't seen in years..... The people may come and go, but the coffee and smokes.... and the memories remain..... --thefinn
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Coffee and cigarettes and beer and cigarettes.... But the beer is a story for another day.....
Ahhhh, yes.... If this it what it means to be alive, this isn't a bad way to start the day.....
Stumble It!
Comments
There was a time in my life - not too many years ago - when I lived on coffee and cigarettes.
Nicotine and caffeine. All I needed to get by.
I quit smoking over a year ago but I can still almost taste the cigarette smoke every time I have a cup of coffee.
Thanks and welcome, thefinn!
Posted by: Michele | August 6, 2006 10:49 AM
I switched to cigars and bad sodas. Everytime I light one, I want a diet grape soda. Maybe some nachos too, but we can talk about that later.
Times have changed, indeed.
And a big thank you to thefinn for the story.
Posted by: turtle | August 6, 2006 10:53 AM
My wife's been on me now for a while to quit smoking.... Now that the boy is old enough to start emulating most of my behavior, I don't think it's a bad idea.....
Thanks for the kind words and the shot guys.... I won't let you down....
Posted by: thefinn | August 6, 2006 1:41 PM
Ahh yes, the two things I still hold dear to my heart and will never let go of. I may quit drinking someday... and possibly quit the prescription drugs but coffee and cigs -always. Excellent writing bro.
Posted by: tesco | August 6, 2006 3:38 PM
the cigarettes. believe it or not i really started talking to michele after i got out of the hospital and was quiting smokes. i was the funny guy on some other site and she was little miss wisdom. after 3 or four days of not sleeping and eating she still stuck around with me. If there was no hospital, there would be no FTTW
Great job thefinn You will do great here
and yes i still smoke cigars but i dont inhale dammit.
Posted by: the turtle | August 6, 2006 5:27 PM
You know what I like about this? It's not so much a story as it is a state.
Who among us has resisted both forever?
I probably still do more things than I should, but the legals are the hardest of all to give up. Cancerous air just feels too damn good and erratic heartbeats feel too regular.
Nice one thefinn, looking forward to more.
Posted by: Dan | August 6, 2006 5:39 PM
Quitting cigarettes was worse than anything i ever had to quit in my life.
I've quit pot and drinking and a host of other drugs. I went off paxil and wellbutrin cold turkey.
Nothing compares to nicotine detox.
Posted by: Michele | August 6, 2006 5:49 PM
jeez
and i was trying to go without a cigar tonight.
welp, that idea is gone. everytime i read this story i reach for a big mexicano delexo and light it up
Posted by: the turtle | August 6, 2006 5:50 PM
Quitting cigarettes was worse than anything i ever had to quit in my life.
Amen. I've been through basic training. Several NTC and JRTC rotations. A deployment to Afghanistan. I had to sit through each of my children going into Newborn ICU at birth because they couldn't breathe well enough on their own.
And quitting smoking was harder than any of them. Put together.
Welcome aboard, thefinn. I guess if you ever decide to quit, there are plenty of people here to help you along.
Posted by: Cullen | August 7, 2006 6:10 AM
just because i'm bratty and contrary i'm gonna say that quitting smoking was NOT hard. the first three days sucked and even still i want a cigarette sometimes, but i don't want to be a smoker anymore.
just sayin'. i've quit worse.
nice job thefinn.
Posted by: kali | August 7, 2006 8:29 AM