The Heartbreak of Broken YouTube Links

It would appear the winter in purgatory Dim Age Diary^TM was subjected to resulted from all the YouTube videos I inserted throughout the posts.

Oops.

All the videos are no longer working. I'll be working valiantly to repair them. Especially the one in the post about the death of my best friend. It's to a live rendition of "Last Stop: This Town" by Eels. Catch it if you can.

Cocktail of the week #19: Mint Julep

This is a drink I keep wanting to enjoy, but never find enjoyment.

The mint julep brings to mind hot days in the Antebellum South. Educated Southern Gentlement in their autumn years sitting on their front porches in clean white suits discussing politics and philosophy and savoring a tall, cold mint julep.

On the page, the recipe reads like something tasty. In application, I have yet to enjoy it. The bourbon tends to overpower the mint, leaving one with the impression of sweetened whiskey plus lawn clippings over crushed ice.

Maybe I need to find a better recipe. Or maybe I need to find someone who really knows how to whip up a batch. The fact remains, however, that this is not my first mint julep. I also doubt it will be my last… but this one is nonetheless a miss.

Scoreboard.
Hits: 12
Misses: 12

Cocktail of the week #18: Bloody Mary

Ah, yes! The classic hangover drink!

Flavor to suit and you can't go wrong. Mix it up a little and make your own variation! It's like a salad in a glass... with vodka!

Scoreboard.

Hits: 12

Misses: 10

Cocktail of the week #17: Joker

Trite but true: sometimes you need to take it easy.

And yes, I had one.

Scoreboard.

Hits: 11

Misses: 10

Cocktail of the week #16: Shady Lady

So let's kick things off in terms of catching up.

We'll start with the "Shady Lady." For me, it invokes ultimate lounge images: bad suits, quirky music and ladies out and about lookin' for a good time!

I had high hopes for this drink because my wife likes tequila. She wasn't so sure, based on the deck's track record thus far. We were also a bit concerned we were faced with another potential cure for scurvy.

Verdict? A hit.

A lovely green color is what you get using this particular recipe. What's more, the use of melon liqueur balances the acidity of the grapefruit juice. The end result is sweet, slightly tart and distinctly yummy.

Mrs. Wit also feels this drink is best on a hot summer day, but is easily enjoyed any day of the year.

Scoreboard.

Hits: 10

Misses: 10

Burying a Best Friend

This past Tuesday I performed the difficult task of burying one of my best friends of the last 22 years. It's even more difficult because not only was she my age, she was exactly two weeks older than me. Exactly.

I met her my junior year of high school. We were both outsiders. I transferred in from another school (my third high school in two years) and she belonged to the punk crowd. We bonded quickly and remained very close throughout the years, remaining in constant contact through phone calls, e-mails and letters as she journeyed from throughout the midwest and the plains until finally landing for the last time in Madison, Wisconsin.

It still hurts to have lost her, especially after having lost my maternal grandfather this past Easter. Two such important people in my life gone in short order is a bit difficult for me to accept, and reaffirms my atheist convictions (something she always had issues with: she was a staunch Lutheran who started leaning towards Fundamentalism in her later years, but we kept that out of the mix whenever possible).

I miss her terribly, and I'm going to let one of my favorite bands express my feelings for me.

Back from the Dungeons!

Miss me?

I still don't have an answer as to why, but the good people at Blogger saw fit to shut down this blog temporarily for violation of terms of use.

I'm trying to think who could be behind this...

The manufacturers of the deck of cards used for Cocktail of the Week?

The Church of $cientology? Wouldn't surprise me.

Who knows? Who cares? All that matters is I am back in business.

There will be some changes, however. I'm no longer going to force myself to post daily. I will only post when I actually have something worth saying and (hopefully) worth reading. This is more or less to give me a break when the busy season hits at work or Mrs. Wit and I go on vacation.

I am keeping Cocktail of the Week... and boy, do I have a backlog of drinks to work through. You are going to see a lot of "catching up" posts to get up to our current point... you have been warned.

It's good to be back, everyone. I hope to have something interesting for you, soon. But not too soon. I have another post to make, and it will be somber in nature.