Picture of a pleasant evening.

[tslex]

Wonderful moment to present........the last thing I would spoil it with is some electronic gadget.

@taoist: Not exactly like I was playing Xbox -- but, chacun a son gout and all that.
Like I've said, the question is whether you like books or reading and how you read. I've typically got one history/biography, one military history, one commentary/philosophy and one piece of pleasurable trash (i.e., Lee Child or Robert Parker) going all at the same time. The ability to have them all with me at once is wonderful. Plus there's this: see an interview with someone on the news, talking about a new book, or read a review, then within a minute have a sample of the book - or the entire book -- in your hands, and for less than half the cost at the bookstore.
I have a couple of author friends and they get the same $$$ off an e-sale as a regular sale, so that's good.
And we still hit the bookstore so I can peruse/buy periodicals and my little one can get kids books and my wife can browse/buy design stuff and my older son can get school stuff and we can all have a coffee.
Not trying to sell anyone a Kindle or other e-reader. But it fits perfectly well my pipes and a coffee or a Jameson's.

 

[jankomatic]

Silverfish is a bug that eats paper/paper products.
Check out this picture:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bruce_Chatwin%27s_Songlines_1987.jpg

 

[portascat]

TSLEX, i once spent a half day at the range, mid July or so, documenting the various patterns and terminal end results of various handguns, a shotgun, and an AR-15.
Took everything from about 15 feet (other than the shotgun and the rifle) and shot 3 rounds in a combat stance, point shooting, and worked it all back to 100 feet, and then 50 and 100 yards fort he rifle and shotgun.
Learned a lot about the limitations of each weapon, and even more about my own limitations in shooting an AR with iron sites and sweat pouring into my eyes.
Still got the pictures on the computer somewhere, of each target and the markings on them indicating all the relevant hits and data. It was interesting, and purely individualistic, work.

 

[jayh]

Anyone else think (even with a well used stem) that this is one hell of a basket pipe?
Oval Shank, saddle bit, nice bend, rounded top rather than flat machined rim...looks like a nice "old" Stanwell at the eye test.

 

[pipetrucker]

That is one great basket pipe. I have a couple of them that are favorite smokers.
I am also an avid reader, and although I do love the tactile experience of a book I am more concerned with it's content. These days I do nearly all of my reading on my iPad. Love it. It's the words, not the medium, that counts to me.

 

[tslex]

Thanks for the pipe compliments!
It is a nifty pipe -- only one I own with an oval shank.
The stem is indeed "well used." I do try not to chew on them, but this one more than many wants to be held onto. After 15 years or so . . . Suppose I should restore the poor thing.

 

[taoist]

I wanted to be the guy that disagreed about the Kindle.....everybody beat me to it....I've been a systems consultant since 1988 so it's not that I don't know or appreciate the electronic age...it's just that books deserve the tactile aspect while you are enjoying them. There is a damn difference there...a big one...an aesthetic that I believe enhances the experience in a big way.
Of course I shave with a straight razor and use a fountain pen as well....oh yeah...and I smoke a pipe.