Executives Who Inhale

New York Business ^ | July 25, 2005 | Matthew Flamm

[CJ Wolf]

good advice, except for that exercise part. Everyone knows exercise is bad for you.

[toddlintown]

"Alcohol at least doesn't stink."

Since when?

[Dark Skies]

Heh heh...breathe deep!

[Dinsdale]

Shakespeare was no puritan. Have you read much shakespeare? He was filthy (which is what I like about him).

Melville and Dickens? I'll take your word they were puritans. Never liked the writing. Which brings up the question: What would constitute a 'great writer' of non-fiction? I've never read a text book written by a 'great writer'.

You realise you indirectly called the Bible fiction?

You assume the authors of the bible were 'hole in the sheets' type orthidox jews? Most jews I know have a healthy non-puritan attitude.

[kellynch]

There's a guy in my office building (in Midtown Manhattan) who smokes dope regularly. He comes to our floor from his (I have no clue which floor he works on) and goes into one of the fire escape stairwells to smoke. The stench is, to put it mildly, overpowering, and it lasts quite a while. Yet I've never walked into a cocktail party seeing a cloud of alcohol fumes overhead and wanting to urp.

Perhaps it's just me...

[Vigilanteman]

Alcohol at least doesn't stink.

But the vomit it induces sure does.

[kellynch]

LOL!

[dbehsman]

"I have no doubt that this will not convince the anal-retentives on this thread of anything, but I am sure that the riders of the purple gage are laughing their asses off at you santimonious saps."

Yikes, I really touched a nerve with you potheads! By the way, the website only labels Shakespeare as a POSSIBLE pothead. Of course, that is something that only us "santimonious saps" would notice. The website in it's infinite wisdom, has reported that some clay pipe fragments found at Shakespeare's home contained residue amounts cocaine and myristic acid. It does not give the age of the pipes themselves nor does it specifically state where the pipe fragments were found. Even if it did give the age of the pipes, it cannot give the identity of the owner. Perhaps the village idiot was passing by Shakespeare's house. If you were going to build a legal case out of this, in order to prosecute Shakespeare, it would fall flat on it's face. As far as the sonnet goes, I suppose you could read anything out of a sonnet if you were looking for it specifically.

By the way, the website also lists George Washington as a possible pothead. The evidence? Because, "Washington's diary reports that he separated males from females in his hemp garden, "rather too late." Much speculation has ensued about whether or not Washington's reason for sexing his plants was to make a more smokable product." I like this, "Much speculation has ensued...". Much speculation from who? How do they know that Washington's goal was to produce "a more smokable product"? Did it ever occur to the potheads that perhaps Washington was simply experimenting to get greater yields from his crops?

The website also states about Richard Feynman, "His 1988 obituary in the Los Angeles Times stated that Feynman admitted to smoking pot during his lifetime." Do he only try it once? Did he smoke dope every week? Did he have his own special water bong with Feynman diagrams decorating it? I do not know enough about Richard Feynamn to rightfully conclude whether or not he was a pothead. Trying pot once does not necessarily make a person a pothead.

[dbehsman]

"You realise you indirectly called the Bible fiction?"

At first we were discussing authors in general. It was not specified whether the "authors" in question were fiction or nonfiction. I added "The authors of the books of the Bible" to the list after I completed typing up the post. I should have been more specific.

[Servant of the 9]

You can still grow old gracefully and still maintain a youthful attitude.

I have already grown old, and there isn't a damned thing graceful about it.

What does it mean to be 60?
It means I'm 3/4 dead already.

Whatever your age, you gotta grab everything you can handle while you can.

Graceful is for when you can't get outta the wheelchair.

So9

[cubreporter]

wow...that kind of thinking will MAKE you old before your time.

[Trailerpark Badass]

When you grow up and see how middle age feels, you won't need to ask.

LOL! So true...

[Trailerpark Badass]

Trying pot once does not necessarily make a person a pothead.

Nope, it sure doesn't. Neither does using it occasionally, in my opinion...any more than drinking occasionally makes one an alcoholic.

[Wolfie]

ping

[Hemingway's Ghost]

If you think being high is good, you won't believe how great sobriety is.

Sobriety's way over-rated.

[Hemingway's Ghost]

No puritans come to mind.

John Winthrop, though he was more of a diarist than an author. Nathaniel Hawthorne was descended from Puritans, but for all we know, he might have been an opium eater.

[Hemingway's Ghost]

What would constitute a 'great writer' of non-fiction?

May I suggest you give David Hackett Fischer a try, if you haven't already? He may show you what you're looking for in a great non-fiction writer.

[Dark Skies]

Sobriety's way over-rated.

Either you don't know addiction or it's still your best friend.

[Hemingway's Ghost]

Either you don't know addiction or it's still your best friend.

It was a joke, my friend.