There are more than just bananas in there...
I am not much of a fan of change for change’s sake, but there are times when a little new blood is a good thing. We need to experiment, to evolve, to change the status quo and make improvements when we can. As Maya Angelou said, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” So with a nod toward good intentions and the roads they pave, won’t you join me now as we stand and make the Californian Margarita.
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This is an unusual one. I did not decide to make this drink. Sure, that’s my kitchen, my glass, my alcohol, but not my handiwork. Some of you may have noticed that I have taken more and more days off from writing lately. I knew it was going to happen as the world has opened up. What can I say, I have been busier. That, and, well, sometimes it is hard to find the words or something valuable to say. That is where family comes in. Noticing that I had not been up to my usual hijinks, they stepped in and made a drink for me. A complicated classic that I had avoided, so, won’t you join us now as we stand and make, the Brandy Crusta.
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We reinvent ourselves all the time. Not intentionally, necessarily, it just happens as we grow. Growing up. Growing older. Growing wiser, hopefully. Growth is the driver for who we will become. We mostly don’t notice it, but when you look back over your life it is easy to see the people we were, the lives we have discarded when they no longer fit, as we have grown into something more. This is usually a good thing, but every once in a while, we lose a piece of ourselves in the transition and we wish we could have that part back, if just for a moment. That’s how nostalgia works. So, with a nod to those shadows on the cave wall of who we were, won’t you join me now as we stand and make the Cadaver Reviver.
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We all say we hate lies, but then we live with them. I’d say that most of the problems we face stem from dishonesty. The kind of stuff that we all know is not true, or not quite true, but we perpetuate it by not calling it out. I am not sure why we do this, maybe we don’t want to cause trouble and rock the boat or maybe it is because we secretly want those lies to be true. Perhaps, Colonel Jessup was right and we can’t handle the truth, so we choose the lie. I do know this. There are some lies so egregious that we must stand up and speak truth to power whenever they are uttered within earshot and that is why I must say, C.S. Lewis lied to us, Turkish Delight is not at all delightful and certainly not worth betraying your family over. With that universal truth acknowledged, won’t you please join me now as we stand and make the White Witch.
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In olden times, heroes walked the earth. These pioneers helped map the digital horizon, measuring the bandheight as they defended Pandora’s Letterbox against the forces of the L33t H4x0rz. Though their exploits are well-documented in the early annals of the vodcast, precious few tangible relics remain. Glasses signifying membership in the Royal League of Bunnies are found from time to time, purple and green Charooba mugs are spoken of in hushed whispers and some say they have actually seen RobotBox shooters and the Drinkbot decanter, but those claims are suspect, at best. So, in the spirit of the ones who came before, won’t you join me now as we stand and make Tiki Bar TV’s “Love in the South Pacific”.
Continue readingNew Year’s Eve 2020
I’d like to say we made it, but there are still a few hours of 2020 left and if I have learned nothing else this year, it is to take nothing for granted. So, I am not gonna make any assumptions, but do hope that we will all make it till midnight and to see the sun rise on a new day. I have had a lot of thoughts about how to end this year and begin the next. It makes sense to look back on what was and celebrate the wins, mourn the losses, but I am not sure I can even remember who we were when this interminable year began. I am just gonna make a drink and see where that takes us. So, won’t you please join me now as we stand and make an old Uncle Monkey original, the Dumpster Fire.
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You play a lot of roles every day, with varying success. Some days you nail the business stuff, but let a friend down. Other days you are a decent husband but drop the ball as a father. Every once in a while you mail it all in and take a zero day. It’s rare that you get it all right. The good news is, it is equally rare that you get it all wrong. Lots of little wins and little losses, hoping that it all balances out in the end and that you get more wins in the things that matter and take your losses in the superfluous stuff. I won some today and lost some and that makes me tired. So, won’t you please join me as we stand and make Between the Sheets.
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You ever notice just how many references there are to ghosts in Christmas lore? Scrooge is nothing but one ghost story after another, each with a lesson to impart. “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” rattles off “scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmas long, long ago” as if those were staples of the season. The Trans-Siberian Orchestra would love nothing more than to sing to you once again of “The Ghosts of Christmas Past” in an attempt to pay off that over the top stage show. But if I am honest, unless you take a tenuous link to the Holy Ghost, I don’t really think of any spirits outside of those in my glass as part of my yuletide celebration. So, why am I thinking of them tonight? Well, I cried my way through the final episode of Supernatural yesterday and it left me a bit gutted. The Winchester’s have moved on, leaving us with their stories and a not so subtle reminder that things are not always what they seem, so in that spirit, please join me as we make The White Lady.
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“When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” Well, mostly. My early forays into drinking were far from sophisticated. There are some drinks from those days that I have not revisited, many with good reason, but maybe it is time, being National Iced Tea Day, and all. I guess it is only fitting that we make a Long Island Iced Tea.
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I can admit it, I make mistakes all the time. I make assumptions from incomplete datasets. I fall victim to confirmation bias. It happens, but I’m trying to be better. I have hated on this drink for many a year, for no real reason. When I was considering cocktails I kinda scoffed as I skipped over this one. But, it is a classic and when I thought about it, I didn’t know why I hated it, I just did. Probably, from it’s 90’s reputation as the go to drink for fashionable ladies about town, I never was a fan of Sex in the City. Today, in the interest of open mindedness I am tossing out my preconceptions and making a Cosmopolitan.
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