In response to a letter.

The following is an email I sent some friends back in 1998…

From: Samuel Minter
Date: 30 January 1998 23:34:30 GMT+00:00
To: [Removed for their protection]
Subject: Smoking Pens

So today when I got home from work I took all the pens I could find, put them in a frying pan and put the stove on high. Unlike other times, I did not remove the ink from the pens first. Within minutes my apartment was full of highly toxic white smoke as the pens melted and the ink burst out and started burning along with the plastic.

At this point I turned off the stove and filled the frying pan with water to make it stop smoking as I tried not to breathe.

Right now I have all the windows and dorrs wide open to try to suck out the smoke. But I still feel better breathing if I stay near the floor.

I put the frying pan, now filled with a black ink and water mix, with gobs of melted plastic on the bottom, onto the balcony. I’ll leave it there until the water evaporates away and I can see what is really there.

I wish I had a big fan. It still smells really bad in here. And I’m sure these tocix fumes aren’t good for you. Oh well!

Next time I’ll do it in the oven and with no ink, the way I know works!

I have no shame about such episodes in my past, only amusement.