This Thanksgiving, Slapping is Optimal, I mean Optional

Guess what I'm doing! Go ahead, guess, my horde de lecteurs.

Ok, fine, I am sitting in my living room smoking. With my new hookah. My new PINK hookah. That Jody got me for my birthday :)

We are smoking cherry shisha. It smells very good and doesn't hurt when the smoke gets in my eyes. Which is a good thing cuz my eyes already burn today for some stupid strange reason.

In any case, Gerry, Linda and Zap, if you are reading this, I HAVE A HOOKAH! So, after we eat our way through six pounds of Prime Rib, 20 pounds of turkey, 8 pounds of honey-baked ham, 32 pounds of mashed, roasted and baked potatoes, 2 kinds of green beans, caramelized carrots, candied yams, bacon-wrapped asparagus, AND 13 kinds of pie, we can smoke hookah. And then we can eat the stuffing we forgot to eat when eating all that other stuff :)

Hookah goes by other names as well - Arghile, Narghile, Shisha and, my favorite, hubbly bubbly. According to tradition (aka WIKIPEDIA), when the smoker is finished, the hose is handed from one user to the next, folded back on itself so that the mouthpiece does not point at the person receiving it. While taking the pipe, the receiver taps or slaps the giver on the back of the hand as a sign of respect or friendship. Slapping, of course, is a sign of other pleasant emotions, but that is something that comes later, after the hookah pipe is set aside and another pipe is brought into play. It is important to remember that, with both types of pipes, the tip of one's tongue should be wet to enhance the experience.

Holy smokes rings, I just blew four in a row! Rings that is.

Puff, puff, pass....slapping optional.