Text 15137, 86 rader
Skriven 2007-05-07 19:48:00 av JOAN MACDIARMID (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av MICHAEL LOO
Ärende: The Great Wasteland 416
===============================
 Hi, Michael,

 JM> I haven't tasted the raw herb, nor have I smoked it,

 ML> I've done both, the first both legally and illegally, the
 ML> second only illegally. The unburned taste is not offensive,
 ML> but the effects did not impress me unduly. The burned taste
 ML> is somewhat unpleasant, as are the effects.

 If first-hand taste is similar to the stenchy second-hand
 smell, I am surprised it ever became a trend, but then,
 I always felt the same way  about tobacco.

 ML> I used to specialize in contests as a kid, and for one
 ML> (a chemistry one!), my school's team won on the strength

 I got to do something like that with a math team. We didn't
 win anything, though. I don't even remember how I placed,
 for that matter.

 ML> of individual 3rd, 5th, and 7th place I think finishes
 ML> (this being for southeast Texas, a hotbed of chemistry,
 ML> especially petrochemistry). The night before several of
 ML> us had gone to an, er, party, and at this party I had
 ML> my first encounter with the dreaded drug. I attributed
 ML> my 5th place finish to having stayed up all night and
 ML> having partaken of the noxious weed

 ML> I didn't
 ML> particularly mind, to tell the truth. We took the purse
 ML> for the team prize and went to dinner and an Astros game
 ML> with it, the surplus going to pay for some lab equipment
 ML> for the school. The top prizes were enough cash for a
 ML> year's, semester's, or a couple month's university tuition.
 ML> As my year was paid for by the NMSQT, I didn't care.

 Good for you! Your parents must have been more savvy than
 mine about structuring their assets to qualify for student
 assistance. I was a NMSQT finalist, but was told I couldn't
 qualify for any scholarship because my parents had been
 saving for years to ensure we could all go to college,
 and those savings counted against me.

 JM> but the stench of it in burnt form I have experienced

 ML> One pretty much has to have lived under a rock not to
 ML> have encountered that. I've smelled it in the most unlikely
 ML> places.

 You have met me...don't I suggest someone who had
 spent a good deal of time under rocks?

 JM> The hemp part of the plant might not have much
 JM> digestible nutrition, just fiber. I guess he
 JM> wanted non-poisonous volume to fill his belly
 JM> while he starved himself.

 ML> So why not use Kleenex, it's cheaper. Speaking of which,
 ML> I once covered a rising loaf of bread with paper towels,
 ML> which were then eaten by the dough. After baking, there
 ML> was no trace of the towels, and I figured people just got
 ML> a little extra fiber in their bread.

 Ewww! I never heard of that sort of thing happening.
 What sort of evil bread were you making?!

 JM> I don't think he considered scientific evaluations of
 JM> his food in the same context as he considered his
 JM> lab work. Different mental compartments!

 ML> There's a bit of a mistake in mappining one's thinking
 ML> this way. He might have been a decent chemist, but no
 ML> really great things have come from thinking within the
 ML> box, as they say.

 He didn't strike me as a bright light, really, though
 his grades were good enough to get into the Masters
 program. I presume he wanted the pay boost of the
 advanced degree, but  didn't seem to be "into" the
 field for its own sake.

 Joan MacDiarmid

___ Blue Wave/386 v2.30 [NR]
--- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
 * Origin: Doc's Place BBS Fido Since 1991 docsplace.tzo.com (1:123/140)