when i started smoking i had the same problem. many people had tried to teach me, but i seemed doomed to using bowls for the rest of my life. after several years of being completely incapable of rolling a joint, i sat down on a friday night with several packs of papers and a quarter pound of cheap columbian and just started rolling. i'd roll a joint and smoke it, roll a joint and smoke it, roll a joint and smoke it. even though my pitiful attempts would usually start to disintegrate after a few hits, i forced myself to keep on with my seemingly endless task.

by saturday afternoon my technique had markedly improved and, being stoned out of my gourd, i hardly even noticed the cramped fingers and burned nose hairs. people were coming and going through the apartment all weekend and by saturday night i noticed that fewer and fewer of them were bitching about my shoddy rolling abilities, by sunday morning there were even a few folks complimenting me and about mid-day, exhausted and so high i could barely lift the munchies to my mouth, i finally managed to roll the perfect joint.

no matter how many times you see something done, it takes practice to become proficient at any craft and rolling is no exception. i hardly noticed the party that waxed and waned around me over the course of that weekend, i concentrated on little more than rolling and smoking for most of that forty eight hours. when i was finally done, i was left with a huge pile of stems and seeds and the ability to roll a joint no matter how lousy the weed or how stoned i may be.