Speaking of sobriety...............

 If you have a bad habit, replace it with a good habit. Do not try to suppress it entirely. This astute observation echoes a point made by Aristotle himself, more than two millennia ago. It was valid then; it is valid now.

-Stuart Schneiderman, from this post

confine........................

 

Maria.   Ay, but you must confine* yourself within the modest limits of order.

Toby.    Confine?  I'll confine myself no finer that I am.  These clothes are good enough to drink in, and so be these boots too.  And they be not, let them hang themselves by their own straps.

-William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, or, What You Will:  Act 1, Scene III

*i.e., clothe

image via

It was the kind of night...............

 

...........................for which hotel mini-bars were made.

-Eugene Robinson

Never let book-learning.............

 

.................................get in the way of your education.

Checking in with Will.......................

 

Toby.  Approach, Sir Andrew.  Not to be abed after midnight is to be up betimes; and "Deliculo surgere," thou know'st.*

Andrew.  Nay, by my troth, I know not, but I know to be up late is to be up late,

Toby.  A false conclusion; I hate it as an unfilled can.  To be up after midnight, and to go to bed then, is early; so that to go to bed after midnight is to go to bed betimes.  Does not our lives consist of the four elements?

Andrew.  Faith, so they say; but I think it rather consists of eating and drinking.

Toby.  Th' art a scholar!  Let us therefore eat and drink.  Marian I say, a stoup of wine!

-William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night,  Act II, Scene III

*Ed. Note:  Those of Shakespeare's time would have recognized Diluculo surgere saluberrimum est as "it is most beautiful to rise early.

Truth.............(until the third one)

 

Me thinks....................

 ............................DRY has many meanings.

One of those mornings..........................?

              via

Truth is elusive, although alcohol helps..........

The basic question that a lot of us have is why capitalism is such a boo-word among young people and why socialism is such a yeah-word. Young people sympathetic to socialism seem determined to believe that when they observe things they don’t like, capitalism is at fault; when they observe things that they do like, socialism deserves the credit. Yet the book drives home the point that the truth is the opposite.

-Arnold S. Kling, as he reviews this just-now-available book

Moderation in all things.......................

..............................including moderation:

"Logic, like whiskey, loses its beneficial effect when taken in too large quantities."


-Lord Dunsany


Thanks Tom

A second term..............

Despite conspicuous blunders in his first term, notably cronyism and the misbegotten Santo Domingo treaty, Grant chalked up significant triumphs in suppressing the Klan, reducing debt, trying to clean up Indian trading posts, experimenting with civil service reform, and settling the Alabama claims peacefully.  He has appointed a prodigious number of blacks, Jews, Native Americans, and women and delivered on his promise to give the country peace and prosperity.
     Like many adversaries in Grant's past, Greeley supporters resuscitated old drinking rumors, which haunted the president even after the reality had largely vanished.  The abolitionist Anna Dickenson claimed Grant had "a greater fondness for the smoke of a cigar and the aroma of a wine glass" than for running the country.  So many New York newspapers harped on Grant's putative drinking that George Templeton Strong erupted in indignation:  "If it be true that a beastly drunkard, without a sense of decency, can successfully conduct great campaigns, can win great battles, and can raise himself from insignificance to be a lieutenant-general and President, what is the use of all this fuss about sobriety?" . . .

The morning papers yielded astounding news:  Grant had overwhelmingly won the electoral vote, and had garnered the largest popular majority of the century.

-Ron Chernow,  Grant

Not sure how I missed it..................

………….but yesterday marked the 85th anniversary of the end of Prohibition.  We have deferred our celebration until tomorrow night.

Failsafe..............................

     via

Reasons why I like living in.........

..........................................Newark and Licking County: 

Reason #37:   The Granville Turkey Trot

So my Sweetie has been a part of the organizing committee for the Granville Turkey Trot.  Held annually (for 13 years now) on Thanksgiving morn, this 5K run/walk raises funds (over $625,000 so far) for the Food Pantry Network of Licking County.   It is a tremendously fun family event with over 2,500 participants of all ages.

Three Tigers Brewing is helping out this year with their creation of  Tater Trot, a sweet potato brown ale.  A bit of every glass sold will be donated to the Turkey Trot.  I suspect much fun was had in both brewing the Tater Trot and making this video.  Bottoms up!

On ending a cruel captivity................

"He handed me the box as he gently worked to remove the cork, allowing the contents to breathe for the first time in almost half a century."


-full story here

On matters of principle...............

...........................................and the refusal to compromise.

Important things to know.........

"To be a bourbon, in America you have to be using 51% or more corn, [and] the rest of the mash bill is traditionally rye and malted barley," he said.

"To be a rye whiskey, you have to use 51% or more rye, and then the rest is usually corn and malted barley."

-more on the differences between scotch, bourbon, and rye may be found here

via

image via

It's a process...............................

Traffic...................................................John Barleycorn Must Die



There were three men came out of the west, their fortunes for to try
And these three men made a solemn vow
John Barleycorn must die
They've plowed, they've sown, they've harrowed him in
Threw clods upon his head
And these three men made a solemn vow
John Barleycorn was dead

They've let him lie for a very long time, 'til the rains from heaven did fall
And little Sir John sprung up his head and so amazed them all
They've let him stand 'til Midsummer's Day 'til he looked both pale and wan
And little Sir John's grown a long long beard and so become a man
They've hired men with their scythes so sharp to cut him off at the knee
They've rolled him and tied him by the way, serving him most barbarously
They've hired men with their sharp pitchforks who've pricked him to the heart
And the loader he has served him worse than that
For he's bound him to the cart

They've wheeled him around and around a field 'til they came onto a pond
And there they made a solemn oath on poor John Barleycorn
They've hired men with their crabtree sticks to cut him skin from bone
And the miller he has served him worse than that
For he's ground him between two stones

And little Sir John and the nut brown bowl and his brandy in the glass
And little Sir John and the nut brown bowl proved the strongest man at last
The huntsman he can't hunt the fox nor so loudly to blow his horn
And the tinker he can't mend kettle or pots without a little barleycorn

The perfect gift................

.................................................for the person who has everything?

     via

Seriously..........................................?

..........................................It's National Margarita Day?