Wed Dec 30, 2009
Humiliation, Shame and Scotch
I'm in a terrible mood. I fell off my bike late on Christmas day, landing my bare head on the iron fence down by Hubbard and Porter. On Monday I cleared tables at Slows. Afterward I saw my ex wife Anne and her new boyfriend at a party next door. He was my best friend for many years. I saved his life once. Maybe you've met him. Periodically I break into a weird sort of catatonic sobbing. Should I have been better prepared for such betrayal and humiliation? Oh well. At least I can feel something
I bought a car yesterday, a Mazda 6, 5-speed V6. In spite of this I still feel like a loser. I needed reliable transportation, and this disgusting divorce has liberated room in the garage. This new car should be adequately defended against the frequent opportunistic auto crimes on my block. No more beaters for me! I'm penniless, the house needs repairing, and I'm writing this note from behind the till in a wine shop (actually, I kind of like that last part). Whatever the test is, I am almost certainly failing it.
Would anyone care to set that to verse? Is it worth money?
I expect my days of drinking single malt scotch are mostly behind me. I think I drank all of two portions of it during 2009 (Lagavulin and Talisker, whatever is open at Slows.) Back in the glory days of the nineties and aughts I was able to form certain opinions on the subject of whisky. (Writing about it in a busy way now might just help me deal with this great gift of life):
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Fri Dec 25, 2009
"my glass is almost empty"
1 comments (197 views) | Posted by: putnam | Dec 25, 09 | 2:37 am
Thu Dec 24, 2009
Random Cognitive Goobers
Hi.
Manzanilla can taste surprisingly fresh and fruity from a warm Fantôme glass.
(Editor's note: it also tasted good with grasshoppers.)
Circumspection is the best part of being 40.
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Tue Dec 22, 2009
Can you smell the tea? 0 comments (186 views) | Posted by: putnam | Dec 22, 09 | 11:48 am
Thu Dec 17, 2009
Love for a city
... and for a guest:
After the jump, Gil Scott Heron.
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Logan
Gin Rickey (or perhaps a Lime Rickey to some.) Click image to enlarge it.
Logan. Everywhere there is a sense of measured calm. Its ribcage is an obstinate insistence on quality. Here, freshness and originality are celebrated and when necessary defended. At Logan, resourcefulness outpaces nomenclature. Whether out of chauvenism or pride, I attribute its advantage to the fact that it is an American restaurant.
And the drinks are good.
This sour/collins relative, prepared by Kevin, had a *nice* smack of ginger - to balance the equally intense smacks of lime and gin. If it were a little less sweet I'd willingly drown in it.
As it happened, I had one. An odd and right number.
Mon Dec 14, 2009
Two Questions
1) I heard Mayer Hawthorne is playing in Detroit soon. I want tickets. Where do I buy them? The internet isn't helping.
2) Was this taken in NYC, Detroit, or Hamburg?
(Person with the most right answers wins!)
Amuse
Insider and outsider debates notwithstanding, people want delicious wine that tastes like actual grapes. No matter how old the wine, its merit depends on it's faith to fresh fruit.
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Sat Dec 05, 2009
Everyday Wines
There are more pictures here:
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Calder Milk in Detroit
Many years ago I stopped drinking milk because it stopped tasting good to me. I think the reason it stopped tasting good is that the product was ever more intensively pasteurized and manipulated for stability and "safety." This was when margarine became big, and skim milk.
Lately I've been driving to Lincoln Park to buy Calder milk. Calder milk tastes good, like milk should. Presented with the usual choices - Horizon, Guernsey, Melody Farms - I'll skip the milk and drink wine instead.
Now Honeybee/La Colmena carries Calder milk - whole, 2%, and chocolate. It's expensive at $3.49 a half gallon. But when you think about it, $0.50 is too much to pay for something that has little taste and sastisfaction.