This weekend I said to Lauren, “I used to have a lot more confidence when I was drinking. I felt more attractive.” She gave me a wry look and said, “Uh, yes?” Duh. It’s not just me. It is one of the primary reasons people drink – to give themselves a confidence or courage boost. It is […]
Category Archives: Sobriety
A baby sting ray in a tide pool I tormented for a while yesterday… In Florida, it is an unwritten rule (actually it is written) that you are not supposed to “molest” manatees, or sea turtle hatchlings, or alligators or any of God’s creatures. In other words, you are to leave them alone and you […]
God’s finger… I was taking my Happy Hour jog on the beach last evening and it was opulent. Perfect, white clouds stood in neat, straight lines like school girls on field trips. Mollusks and asteria punched their way out of the sand to bask in a late-day sun: starfish, olives, whelks, pastel coquinas… Gangly seabirds pecked at hyacinth tide-pools. […]
My Happy Hour – 4 o’clock, low tide, solo Guana walk… The term “Happy Hour” comes from American Naval slang in the 1920s following the First World War. According to Mental Floss Magazine, it was an allotted period of time on a ship where sailors engaged in various forms of entertainment to relieve the monotonies of the seafaring […]
Gentle Reader: No one should socialize with tabletop bullies, neither the kind of bullies who try to force people to eat more than they want, nor the even worse ones who try to force others to drink. That is the social error, no matter how it seems to be disguised with conviviality and hospitality. The […]
It was World Whiskey Day on Saturday. So naturally I thought of Scotland. I spent a lot of time in the Highlands near Inverness, and although I never drank much Scotch, I hung out with a number of American dudes, living-like-lairds, with Holland &Holland flasks of Glefiddich in their knickers pockets (so their hands were free to tote loaded, […]
That is not an oxymoron for some. I have people write to me all the time, who ask about the “rules” of drinking responsibly (as if I would know). They say “I’m going to a wedding – help :)” or “I am 26 and if I don’t drink I’m a social pariah :)” or […]
I was going through some old photographs yesterday and I found this one of Lauren, Faye and my goddaughter Phoebe. They are obviously mimicking their mothers’ fondness for plonk. I actually remember where we were – a churrascaria we loved near our villa in Portugal one summer. The food was great, the owner genial and as is […]
Ye Ole Wine Seller in Ponte Vedra… Isn’t the English language awesome? Such opportunity for miscommunication and inaccuracy. I was driving down the street from my old house yesterday, and I passed my favorite, erstwhile wine seller. I’m assuming he’s still in there – his name is Pom and he does lunges with handles of whiskey […]
I feel silly today. I also woke to a large, interesting statistic on my Jetpack (that’s WordPress speak for obsessively checking how many people are reading the blog): the most people ever looked at yesterday’s blog post on Sober People Smoking Cannabis, after midnight. Hum. All those stoners up late, eating Cracker Jacks, playing with the surprise in the […]