Strange Ending

The Strange Dreams of Nobody in Particular closed this weeked. It was a great run, and thanks to the many talented people who worked very hard on it, we pulled off a final marathon that I'm very proud of. Now all that remains is our encore performance in Millenium Park, and then my baby goes off on its own for a while. I'll miss this show. More than I think I realized.

Belle Epoch...
Last Saturday, I woke up, went to the store for some milk, and when I came back, noticed that my mail had come. In it was a package containing a small bottle of hausgemacht (that's German for Home made) absinthe. It was sent to me by an acquaintance on one of the absinthe forums I'm a member of. He had received a bottle of it and wanted to share his good fortune. There's really nothing quite like receiving unexpected presents of absinthe in the mail. It made my morning.

As recently as a decade ago, the only place anyone could get absinthe was the Czech Republic, which sold mixtures of cheap essential oils in poorly rectified alcohol to American tourists for far too much money. Today, there are several online suppliers, of varying reputation, that you can go to for your absinthe fix, but what really impresses me the most are the HGers, the people who make absinthe at home. There's a surprising number of peope in the U.S. alone who make absinthe. They come from diverse walks of life--IT people, military men, theatre folk--and they're united simply by a love of this drink, its complex history, the desire and ingenuity to pull off a culinary challenge.

This is what I love about absinthe. Beyond its history, beyond the mythology and romance of the drink, I love the ingenuity that it inspires in people. Even people who aren't making the drink make accoutrements for it, from spoons and grilles made by artists like Kirk Burkett, to a slew of homemade fountains, some merely functional, others unique works of art unto themselves. I have to admire the cleverness of these people. Anyone can buy the accessories to go along with a drink, but it's this ingenuity and creativity that makes it a hobby. I'm happy to raise a glass to that.