Somewhere in the distance Daveed Diggs asks, “Can we get back to proper drinks?” and I am with him, wholeheartedly. But, I’m tired. The time changed last night and even though it’s only early evening, it feels like midnight. So let’s make something with a little pep to get us through till bedtime. Won’t you please join me now as we stand and make the Morning Dew.
Continue readingTag: fernet branca (Page 3 of 3)
It is another bartenders handshake. So if you haven’t embraced the bitter, this one is not for you. Hell, it has got Campari, so it may not be for me, but that is not going to stop us from making it. I’ll probably ramble on a bit about having to take the bitter with the sweet, maybe compare some films, who knows? I certainly don’t. Doesn’t really matter though, this is the drink we are making, these are the words I am writing and while I hope that you enjoy both, it is really out of my hands at this point. So won’t you join me now as we stand and make The Last Man Standing.
Continue readingOk, I won’t make a variation in The Last Word today, but I’m still on that bitter liqueur kick. I guess it is a good thing, I have acquired this taste, since we have had many bitter pills to swallow recently. I’ve been at work since 5 this morning, I need a shower, I was also the lunch lady and bathroom monitor for our in office one room schoolhouse and I have to drive an hour and a half roundtrip to pick up ramen takeout for dinner because that’s how we are gonna get our t-shirt at the end of Otaku Ramen’s Kaiju Summer; so what do you say we cut the prologue short today? Cool. Then I ask you to please join me once again as we stand and make, the Fernet Sour.
Continue readingDriving home today, I learned we have passed the grim threshold of 150,000 people dead from this virus. For my local folks, that’s the population of Murfreesboro. Imagine that. No, seriously, take a moment to imagine the entire population of the city just gone. What kind of a hole that leaves in the lives of those who have lost loved ones. Think about it hard and then post some insensitive crap about hoaxes and masks, show us all how much you care about your fellow humans, since this hasn’t touched your life directly. But I didn’t come here today to talk about avoidable deaths or skyrocketing case numbers, I came to talk about leadership. It’s a pretty simple thing, on the surface. To get things done, someone needs to take charge. There are all kinds of ways to do this, but at its core, it is all about getting the job done, or at least it should be. We get confused sometimes and mistake titles for leadership. It happens all the time, there are a lot of people in charge who have never been leaders and who don’t even want to be. B.B. King got it wrong when he sang about “Paying the Cost to Be the Boss”, it takes more than bringing home the bacon for folks to fall in line behind you. Leading is about responsibility. About taking care of people. Making sure that their best interests come first. They may not agree with you, or want to hear your message, but making tough calls to protect your people, especially when it is unpopular, that is the true cost of being the boss. It also means being adaptable and changing as you learn more. Way back in early June, I asked you to join me in a classic Grasshopper Cocktail. It was really lovely and gave me a great opportunity to talk about prejudices and how not recognizing them makes us miss out on the good things in life. I felt pretty good about that and enjoyed the drink. I did the best I could with the information I had at the time. Well, I know more now and since I try to practice what I preach, I’ll ask you to join me once again as we stand and make the Improved Grasshopper 2.0.
Continue readingI made this “not even a cocktail” earlier today but then I got busy with the important business of life and completely forgot to post it. So, here we are with a nightcap, of sorts. I’ll try to keep it short and sweet, but we will have see how that turns out, brevity being the soul of wit and all. Join me now as we stand and make, the Hard Start.
Continue reading