Three years ago I posted a video entitled "How To Smoke A Pipe". I was starting a YouTube channel for my bookstore, and figured doing a couple of "how to" videos would be a great way to get a few subscribers. I tossed a few random videos on to the channel. "How To Smoke A Pipe" was actually my second video. The first was a reading of Thomas Merton's poem "Night Train". I would never have guessed that my pipe video would have 100,000 hits three years later.
Huzzah for the round number milestone!
It's true, I'm a pretty big deal on the internet. Still, let's not lose perspective. After all, videos of babies and cats rack up millions of views in a matter of days; it took three years for this video to reach the milestone it did. But I am pretty proud. If you google "how to smoke a pipe" odds are you'll see my face smiling back at you on the first page, and that makes me feel good.
The video ushered me into a whole "community" of pipe and tobacco video-makers on YouTube. Only after I made the video did I begin to approach the "expert" status I project in the video, thanks to what I started learning from les autres. Fake it 'til you make it, that's my motto.
A few months ago a new family showed up at church. The man overheard me talking to another gentleman who makes and repairs pipes. So he joined in on the conversation, said he was interested in picking pipe smoking up. We all talked about pipe smoking for a while then said goodbye.
The next Sunday the guy comes up to me and says, "Dude. I googled 'how to smoke a pipe' this week!"
I felt like a rock star.
Huzzah for the round number milestone!
It's true, I'm a pretty big deal on the internet. Still, let's not lose perspective. After all, videos of babies and cats rack up millions of views in a matter of days; it took three years for this video to reach the milestone it did. But I am pretty proud. If you google "how to smoke a pipe" odds are you'll see my face smiling back at you on the first page, and that makes me feel good.
The video ushered me into a whole "community" of pipe and tobacco video-makers on YouTube. Only after I made the video did I begin to approach the "expert" status I project in the video, thanks to what I started learning from les autres. Fake it 'til you make it, that's my motto.
A few months ago a new family showed up at church. The man overheard me talking to another gentleman who makes and repairs pipes. So he joined in on the conversation, said he was interested in picking pipe smoking up. We all talked about pipe smoking for a while then said goodbye.
The next Sunday the guy comes up to me and says, "Dude. I googled 'how to smoke a pipe' this week!"
I felt like a rock star.
Hi Joffre
ReplyDeleteThree years already, well I recently gifted away my last two pipes. My beloved pair of Tao's went to good homes along with remains of my baccy cellar. Was done since I couldn't keep them around without smoking them and heart failure is to the point that it was just time to bid them farewell.
Cheers
Brian
The sad passing of a season.
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