Drink of the week: Dirty Shirley

From the short story “Too Smart” by Emily Chenoweth, published in Tin House issue 19 (“Lies!”), Spring 2004: It is clear to me when I arrive at the hotel that I should have chosen something else to wear. That’s because the theme tonight–why didn’t I look at my calendar?–is the Equatorial Rain Forest (do they …

Special delivery

This afternoon, UPS delivered a package to me. (Two posters from the Bonny Doon Vineyard, of wine labels designed by Ralph Steadman. Quite cool. The company also offers fun t-shirts and other goodies, and lots of wine that cannot be delivered by mail within the borders of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.) Because the package was …

Drink of the week: Death in the Afternoon

Absinthe may become available again. But not for a while. In the meantime, we must console ourselves with Pernod. Here’s a promising-sounding cocktail with a Hemingway theme: DEATH IN THE AFTERNOON Creator: N/A Ingredients: 1 Champagne 1.5 oz. Pernod Glassware: Champagne Flute Directions: Pour Pernod into a chilled glass and fill up with champagne. (Alameda …

The soothing chirp of a room full of pagers

Tomorrow night will not be a good night to have a computer or network problem in the Pittsburgh area, as it’s the first Thursday of an even-numbered month, which means it’s Geek Night. The Church Brew Works will be overrun by application developers, network administrators, tech support staffers, and the recruiters who love them. I …

In a New York state of mind

Tremble has been on a roll lately. Of course, last night he did a reading at the “Giant Tuesday Night of Amazing Inventions” so we shouldn’t expect anything new today or perhaps tomorrow. But there’s much to enjoy with the recent posts. I had the good fortune to be in NYC in September on a …