Listening: Listening to I Saw Her Again by The Mamas and the Papas. I know its old but its been a favorite of mine since college. Wait - Together by Earl Lee Grace just came on. I guess its an evening for songs of not-right love.

Reading (perhaps quality): God's Middle Finger - Into the Lawless Heart of the Sierra Madre by Richard Grant.

Reading (definitely pulp): Nothing right now

Drinking: Iced Tea, baby.

July 28, 2008
6:50 pm

Going through past e-mails and my favorite from the last several months was the following:

To:
The gang invited to SS the SS's and my first specific-liquor themed cocktail party

Message:
We just tested the cocktails and wanted to issue an advisory: please take metro. Please, please, do not expect to drive home.

Really. We've just tried them. We know whereof we speak.

I've been tired of ordering the same gin-and-tonic, blueberry-vodka-and-soda, and occasional sidecar and have wanted to try something new. Enter, the book my brother and sister in law gave me for Christmas which is a collection of great classic and new-classic cocktail recipes.

So I proposed to SS the SS that we throw a series of cocktail parties, focusing on two kinds of booze at a time, and offer interesting drinks and a few snacks. We picked Whiskey and Calvados, got two cocktails of each (one involved flaming orange rinds!), added our usual suspects, and stirred.

The first night we made them we tried about half a drink of each and almost passed out from the sheer strength of them. Night of the party we set up all the drinks, let people modify and mix, and offered extra instruction on the match/twist/orange-rind move. The party was a ridiculous success. I say ridiculous because we all managed to show up at the party looking very respectable (fancy dress for the women, suits for the guys) and yet I think almost everyone managed to forget something crucial at the house (keys, phone, camera, will-to-live).

At our next party (vodka! and tequila!) we toned things down quite a bit, and besides I think folks were better prepared. Or at least better watered and fed. Plans are for a bourbon party in October, which should be interesting...

Doing (life and related tasks): Still avoiding cleaning my apartment.

Doing (crafty stuff): Alas have remained anything but craft-tas-tic lately.

Wanting: Money for a house down payment to materialize in a legal fashion.

Anticipating: Heading out to San Diego for the ESRI Conference and some family time.