Stock the Bar 2

There's a stock photo for almost any blog post or topical website you can dream up. Outside of those, so many random images exist that it's difficult to figure out exactly why a given website keeps them on hand. About a month ago, David Griner challenged me to choose the drinks I'd make for some of the weirdest stock photo characters he could dig up. Here's the second installment.

Oh, my! I do believe her delicate sensibilities would surely require a Mint Julep to calm her nerves if it was summertime. Since chilly weather has set in, she'll have to daintily remove her gloves to sip a Ward 8. The dratted Yankees do make such delicious cocktails.

I've probably been reading too much zombie lit, because her lab coat currently reminds me of mad scientists and CDC affiliates. However, her tight smile and suspicious orange flask can only mean one thing -- conspiracy! To take her out of the game, I'd make her a few Corpse Reviver No. 2s. As the famous Henry Craddock said, one or two of these concoctions can revive the corpse, but "four or more taken in quick succession will unrevive the corpse again."

Drinking at home may be the best way to save a few bucks, but at the bar, you have to stick to straight liquor to save money. This chap looks like a traditional bourbon guy, so he'll have a one ounce pour of W. L. Weller Special Reserve.

If Ab Man comes in for a post-fight drink, I'll serve him a Horse's Neck. Hopefully the name won't remind him of any bad experiences during his stint in Mother Russia. Since he's probably going to go back out after cementing his whereabouts at the bar, he'll probably want it in its original mocktail form -- ginger ale with the peel of a whole lemon. Bourbon can take too much of the fight out of a hero.

No red-blooded 'Merican wants the Commies to win, but the service industry is about serving customers. I'll make him a Cuba Libre, but if he's meeting up with his pals, I'll phone back in time to the House Un-American Activities Committee.

Cocktail of the Hour -- the Ward 8

Out of all the contentious drinks I've featured so far, the Ward 8 might just top them all. With at least three origin stories and hundreds of recipes, the diversity of its manifestations almost rivals the Old Fashioned's. In fact, when a New York Sun writer called for readers to submit their Ward 8 recipes in the 1940s, he received more than 500 replies.

People get territorial over their whiskey cocktails.

According to the available mishmash of cocktail history, Boston was definitely the Ward 8's birthplace. It was probably created within a decade of 1900, and is most likely named for one of the city's voting districts. The most popular backstory is that it was created to celebrate a political boss's election victory in north Boston, but this story seems to have originated in 1951. Other sources credit other bartenders who worked at the hotel where this alleged party occurred and yet others give credit to other venues.

The Ward 8 is a whiskey sour sweetened with grenadine. The use of orange juice and the amount of grenadine varies by recipe, but however it's made, it usually turns out light, spicy and slightly dry. Since so many recipes for this beverage exist, I'm not going off the reservation by saying that if my recipe doesn't suit your fancy, tweak it until it does.

Ward 8 1 tsp - .5 oz grenadine (to taste) .5 oz lemon juice .75 oz orange juice 2 oz whiskey Add all ingredients to a shaker tin. Shake vigorously for 13-17 seconds or until cooled through and strain into a chilled coupe glass.

Introducing -- Stock The Bar

Last week, David Griner challenged me to pick the drinks I'd mix for stock photo characters. After a few trial names were thrown about, Stock The Bar was born. Without further ado, here's round one!

1. Brickman obviously needs a Blood & Sand. It's sweet without being cloying and contains Scotch -- the perfect combination to loosen him up. But watch out for sales pitches. The drink's color may trigger residual brick salesmanship.

2. Silence in the library! This perturbed teacher probably loves quiet, Doctor Who and suspenders, so a Sidecar would be suitably geeky. It might be a little sweet for her taste, so I'd add a dash or two of bitters to dry it out.

3. Following the Golden Rule is paramount in life, so this yogi will drink as I drink. Does rye whiskey, lemon juice, Luxardo and green Chartreuse sound appealing? Maybe not on paper, but he'll have the Final Word.

4. If Fae Barbie wants a double vodka soda with lime, that's what she'll get. Unless she's an avowed whiskey drinker as well, there's not much I can do to change her preference.

5. This child of the corn will take a Dirt 'n' Diesel. With blackstrap rum, Fernet, demerara, Cynar and lime juice, this earthy recipe needs rebalancing but should be dark, rich and challenging.

Cocktail of the hour -- the French 75

Since it's my birthday week, I thought that an easy, bubbly cocktail would be perfect for the Cocktail of the Hour re-inauguration. The French 75 is just gin, citrus, sugar and champagne (or prosecco, if you're partial). Despite its simplicity, the drink packs a kick much like its namesake -- an accurate and quick-firing field gun used in World War I. Per cocktail lore, this lovely libation was most likely named by a Parisian bartender around 1915ish, but its roots go back much further. In the 19th century, upper class folks on both sides of the pond drank a mixture of bubbly, citrus, sugar and ice. Dump in a little bit of readily available gin and voila, the French 75.

Other stories indicate that the French 75 was also, in some circles, a brandy drink. The shift away from brandy may have been caused by the wine shortage that also changed the Sazerac's base liquor. Personally, I prefer gin to brandy here -- gin makes the cocktail herbaceous while brandy slightly spices and sweetens it. If I can get my hands on a bottle of Pierre Ferrand 1840, I'll try it again and report back.

It's also possible that a bartender subbed champagne for soda in a Tom Collins as some early versions of the recipe specify that the drink is served over ice. In this version of the French 75's origin story, it's not clear if the substitution was intentional. Regardless, the result was delicious.

Like the daiquiri and gimlet, this cocktail probably existed for decades before it was named, so history buffs and cocktail nerds alike can savor its qualities.

Recipe: 1 oz gin .5 oz lemon juice .5 oz simple syrup

Combine all ingredients in a shaker tin. Shake for 12-18 seconds or until chilled through. Strain into a champagne flute or coupe glass and top with 1 - 2 ounces of champagne.

2014

2013 was full of more love, triumph and running than any other year before it. At the beginning of the year, I was about to leave my first (and probably last) ever corporate job to start working at a local hospital. After only a few months, I left that job to bartend and freelance.

As a beginning bartender, the hours and fluctuating pay have been challenging, but knowing I don't have to keep office hours can be its own reward. Technique-wise, it's been so fun to begin mastering the basics and working towards a deeper understanding of the foundations and science that underpin it. However, the combined time constraints of Adam's and my work often mean that we can go days without seeing each other for more than five minutes. During this upcoming year, I will set my priorities and honor them as such.

I also began treating my writing like a business and building it accordingly. This approach has expanded my market significantly and given me a bit of financial wiggle room. Connections within my network have afforded an online column for mental_floss, pieces for a gorgeous wedding magazine and a continued relationship with my first freelance client. In 2014, I'll build my market and marketable (writing) skill set even further.

This year also marked the start of my journey to become a runner. It hasn't been easy or extremely consistent, but it's consistently demonstrated the necessity of exercise. I haven't been blogging much about writing or running recently because I had too much material. Once that had passed, I didn't have enough so I stayed away. That changes in 2014. Instead of trying to continue a breakneck pace of personal blogging, I'm cutting back.

Each week, I will be posting twice: one Cocktail of the Week post and one running or writing post. Two posts each week will provide a stable schedule (hopefully) without giving me an excuse to skip runs. 2014 looks different than any previous year, but it looks pretty nice from here. Bring it on, 2014. Bring it on.

Adequate beyond measure

One of my biggest struggles is with adequacy. Deadlines put me into an almost perpetual spin of balancing talent I know I have and a fear of not being enough. When I didn't finish the Blog Like Crazy challenge, I threw a pretty epic pity party. Despite the nastiness, I managed and rocked ten deadlines in sixteen days. My blog and running fell by the wayside. As a result, my mood fluctuated a lot and I started spacing out at work.

Through it all, Adam was amazing. His support and reassurance kept what's left of my sanity intact, even as he himself was going through finals. Without him, I would probably have been curled up in a little ball before cranking out a last minute second draft. His encouragement (and cooking) have provided the backup and strength I needed to knock everything out.

Every time I began getting a handle on myself, something came up. First, it was applying for healthcare. Though my income is far below the cutoff for subsidies, I only qualified for $9 per month. The increase will most likely supersede setting up a Roth IRA. On the bright side, it's spurred me into self-incorporating -- once that's done, healthcare costs become a tax-deductible expense.

On Christmas day, I went running for the first time in more weeks than I'm willing to admit. It was a short run, made shorter still by Guntersville's hills, but it felt so good. Today I'll be working out my hips and legs, and tomorrow I'll be going back out. Starting almost from scratch isn't fun, but getting back into the swing of it will be good.

From here, I have a couple weeks to re-establish myself (and my blog and running and writing) until my next deadline. This mini-break will give me a chance to de-stress, catch up on fun and enjoy bowl season. During this time I'll also be able to pitch new article ideas and maybe even give myself a pedicure. It's been a while.

Today's title is modified from a quote by Marianne Williamson. "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure."

Not-so-needful things

It's come to my attention that I'm hard to shop for. Personally, I think my interests are pretty straightforward, but if I need something, I'm not going to wait for a holiday. If I can afford it, I'm likely to buy it immediately. So, here's a list of the nonessentials I've got my eye on right now by category of interest:

• For running, I'm looking out for deals on GPS watches and extra pairs of running tights and headbands. Though I haven't been the best at keeping up with running during the deadline crunch, it'd be good to stock up for the cooler months to come.
• Writing-wise, I need to update my business casual wardrobe. Some of the pieces in it were purchased when I was a completely different shape. Since I'm cheap and hate shopping, it'll probably be a while before this need is met.
• Though I get a lot of practice bartending while I'm on shift, I should probably stock my home bar. After purchasing a mixing spoon and shaker tins of my own, I'm getting closer, but I need to also stock vermouth, fruit, syrups, strainers, bitters and rum. My wishlist is also full of bartending books: Gary Regan's The Joy of Mixology, David Wondrich's Punch! and Imbibe!, David Embury's The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks, to name a few.

Let's be honest: I'm probably not going to leave my couch today. I don't like the concept or execution of Black Friday and therefore will not be participating if I can avoid it. I hope your Black Friday is similarly relaxing!

Thankful things

Thanksgiving has been one of my favorite holidays for quite some time. Since I began trying to live mindfully of the people I love and things I do, I've found that gratitude for all parts of my life puts everything else in perspective. Suddenly, things that seem overwhelming or frightening become opportunities for growth and development. In that vein, here are some things I'm thankful for:

• Work. I have three jobs I love. They are immensely fulfilling and amazingly fun, pay my rent and allow me to live a rich and full life.
• Deadlines. Though writing challenges me to learn constantly, it also provides me with a solid alternate source of income. Though I have six deadlines coming up within the next week, they are proof that I've made an amazing amount of progress in my career. I can't wait for the stress of this spell of deadlines to be over, but I'm more excited to see the results of this intense spell of writing.
• Friends. My friends are my support system. I'm doubly lucky that I count my coworkers as friends, so I'm able to spend time with my loved ones even when I'm at work. They're amazing.
• Cooking. The Crockpot is my best friend. I'm able to make large batches of relatively healthy food...while I'm writing or bartending or elsewhere. Sharing food is a beautiful way to show love, and large quantities help with that tremendously.
• Family. Outside of my blood relatives, I have developed an amazingly loving family that accepts me totally and completely. Not only that, I have a kind and handsome man to share my life. I am deeply lucky to spend even the tiniest corners of time with my Adam, and can't wait to see what the next years will bring.

What are you grateful for?

Life's high notes

I can't live without music. Since I was little, I've listened to or played music every day. But each day is different, so its playlist follows its structure, not some proscribed outline. The songs I choose are picked based on my rules, which are eerily similar to those for playing music in a public place.

1. Gauge the mood. No one wants to hear hyper Latin pop if they're just hanging out. Likewise, the same music has its place during runs and workouts, but not many other places.
2. Be mindful. If you're by yourself, pay attention to how the music affects you. Listen to the music that sets the tone for the rest of your day. After all, you don't want to be the only spacy emo kid at the disco or that twitchy overcaffeinated jock at the symphony. Don't be that guy.
3. Make dedicated playlists. Appropriating specific songs for specific occasions heightens their significance to that activity. Assign songs to activities and don't let them cross over.
4. Being sad is OK. Happiness is a constant choice, but the world can be overwhelming. Choose happiness, but take time to experience your other emotions. If you need a musical boost to lift or deepen your mood, pick your songs accordingly.
5. Do it and dig it. Trashy rap aficionado? Get your daily dose of humor at Snacks n Shit. Classical junkie? Rock out with your Bach out. Time is too precious to listen to music you dislike. There's no reason to make yourself unhappy.

Meanwhile, in my living room

Today, I didn't want to write. I want to curl up in a blanket and stare at my bedroom's ceiling tiles, not confront all of the deadlines looming right after Thanksgiving. Despite the funk, I'm up and about.

Days like this are the reason that I exercise. Even just 15 minutes of yoga or running or lifting weights has the almost magical ability to get me back to emotionally level within a few hours. This week, my schedule is riddled with deadlines and bartending shifts. Between the seven remaining deadlines and quite a few hours behind the bar, I'm seeking out all the things I can do instead of knocking out deadlines early.

The problem is that fitness won't wait. If I put it off, my mood suffers, but if I commit to it, I'm diverting precious energy with the knowledge my energy levels will eventually increase exponentially. It may sound like lip service to the proven research on science, but it's true. Though I want to melt into the couch, I won't.

In my years on this planet, I've experienced the ups and downs that come with living fully. The sadness and joy and love and craziness that accompany it are natural parts. These emotions are vital to being human. They're also so powerful that they can control the path of life, but exercise can help to regulate them.

Even if a short yoga session only serves as a quick mental break, the time spent will be well worth it. As a science, tech and writing nerd, my brain is usually stuck in high gear, and running or lifting slow my thoughts just enough to keep me sane. So, if you need me, I'm unplugging for the next 45 minutes before I go in to Octane.

Marvel-ous Blondes

As a kid, I adored Marvel comics. I had a compendium of The X-Men Universe, watched cartoons and read graphic novels. Though there were lots of women in strong, empowering roles, none of them looked quite like me. Except the villains. As a tiny towheaded super nerd, the only women blonde women I encountered were bimbos or plotting to kill Dr. X.

Admittedly, I didn't make the connection until I was researching possible cosplay options, but the conflict was there. In spending an hour or two (or three) looking through the X-Men Wikia, I found a few random, inconsequential characters who appeared occasionally to round out a shoot in the X-Men movies.

I hear you shouting "Emma Frost! What about Emma Frost?!" Yes, there were a few storylines where she was totally and entirely good from the start, but she's a villain at some point in most of them. As I looked into the matter further, I became more and more frustrated with the Universe that used to be my escape.

After a while, I searched Reddit. Talk about a rabbit hole -- I ended up spending 30 minutes looking at pictures of dogs dressed up as superheroes, but didn't find anything that addressed the lack of blondes. Once I got back on track, I found several threads debating the hottest character, but it didn't seem like Redditors cared about much above the neckline.

Though we female nerds have been speaking out more and more, there's still a lot of bias to overcome within certain fandoms. I understand that the target audience for these comics is adolescent and pre-adolescent boys, but a good number of girls and women read them as well. So where'd the blondes go?!

Have any theories? Leave them in the comments.

Confessions: Food Edition

As a runner, writer, bartender, tutor and friend, time and mental space are constantly in short supply. Though I try to eat well and exercise often, I don't have a lot of time to cook. With Adam in the middle of finals, working shifts at the restaurant and still holding down his day job, neither does he.

The past couple weeks have witnessed a lot of takeout and eating at odd hours. I've managed to throw together a few Crockpot staples and some baked oatmeal for breakfast on the weekdays, but there are a lot more styrofoam containers in the fridge than usual. Don't worry -- I don't like wasting food, so I'll be eating a lot of leftovers during the next few days.

I know it zaps my energy, kills my endurance and wrecks my dreams of fitness, but I work six nights every week. During the day, I'm usually either writing or exercising. Naturally, cooking and cleaning both fall by the wayside.

Adam has helped me learn proper technique for cooking, and I can honestly say that I've gotten absolutely spoiled on food in the last two years. We're the poster kids for time crunches, but he and I take care of each other by cooking, cleaning and leaving notes. Before I met him, I bought and prepared foods that were low or lacking fat. After starting to eat a healthy amount of fat, I (unintentionally) lost weight during a period of little to no exercise.

As Hippocrates said, "Let thy food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food." When I'm eating right, I have energy. I want to exercise, to write, run, bartend and live well. I can do all these things and enjoy the prep time that goes into every meal -- well, almost every meal. With seven deadlines fast approaching and five shifts in between now and then, I'll probably be still eating takeout for another ten days.

We will get back to eating well, to fixing almost every meal from scratch and making better fitness decisions, but that time must wait until after my writing load calms down. Until then, I'm going to enjoy my noodle bowls from Surin and takeout barbecue.

Slow burning

At age 24, I've already burned out on two jobs. The two side jobs that I kept and resulting lack of sleep probably didn't help, but the side work kept my sense of fulfillment intact. That said, I was so unhappy during this time that I came close to just giving up, work-wise. Here's a list of things I did to break that funk:

• Lists. What's making you miserable at work? Is it the work, your attitude or your coworkers? Does your job offer you anything positive? Taking time to appraise your situation can tell you a lot about the job's worth within your life. If there's nothing positive left, it might be time to look elsewhere.
• Find what makes you happy. Find it, focus on it, and start working towards doing it more often. Even if you can only practice it for 15 minutes a day, put in the time to do what makes you happy.
• Exercise. No matter how busy you think you are, you are the only one who can choose to exercise or not. Get up and move on your coffee breaks or Google ten minute workouts to do when you get home. You'll work off excess energy that can prevent you from sleeping and undo some of the effects of working at a desk all day.
• Take your vacation days. America is one of the only places in the world where workers don't actively plan to take all of their vacation days every year. Even taking a small, tech-free staycation can go a long way towards fostering a sense of rest and relaxation.
• Pamper yourself. You don't have to spend $100 or more to pamper yourself. Get a massage through a local massage school or take a yoga class at your local gym or see if you can find ways to barter for these services privately.

Ask a writer: Cecilia Dominic

Today's prompt for Blog Like Crazy is to do a Q & A with someone I admired. Cecilia Dominic is that person; as a clinical psychologist by day and fiction writer by night, she has committed to her passion by writing every day. This year, her first book was released by Samhain Publication. Called The Mountain's Shadow, this novel features Joanie Fisher, a research scientist who studies an amped up version of ADHD titled Chronic Lycanthropy Syndrome. When her grandfather disappears and his will is read, she inherits the family's manor. The house and sprawling grounds come with a catch: the nearby town's children disappear during every full moon...and her butler turns into a werewolf. After a months' long hiatus from reading fiction, I tore through The Mountain's Shadow in a few hours. Its smart writing and thoughtful dialogue are complimented by Dominic's scientifically precise descriptions. When I spoke with her, she was between sessions with patients at work. Her book is available through all major e-book retailers.

Clair McLafferty for See Clair Write: How did you get started writing?

CD: Apparently I wrote my first story when I was two. I dictated it to my mother, and apparently it was about a bunny. Speaking of, I need to ask her to dig it out because reading it now would be hilarious. After that, I wrote little stories on and off during school. I only got serious about it during graduate school when I needed something to keep me sane.

SCW: What made you choose to write fantasy?

CD: That’s just kind of how it happened. I love to read fantasy, and I really love urban fantasy. I think I always wanted the world to be more interesting than it is.

SCW: How did you connect with your publisher?

CD: It was a slush pile submission. One of the representatives from a publication house, Samhain Publishing, had come to talk to the Georgia Romance Writers. I sent in my sub about six months later, and it ended up on my editor, Holly Adkinson’s, desk. We went from there.

SCW: When did you start blogging?

CD: I started blogging almost six years ago in 2008. In 2007, we had gone through cancer treatments with one of our cats that were intense and eventually unsuccessful. They lasted from March to December, after that whole ordeal was over, I was feeling the need to take care of something. We could either get a dog, have a baby or start a wine blog. We decided that the wine blog would be the most feasible.

SCW: What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

CD: I would say that once you write your first book and are sending it out, don’t wait to write your second book until that one is published. Just keep writing. With every book, you’ll learn something that you can take back and use to revise earlier drafts.

There are things I wouldn’t do again. By the time my first book had gotten accepted, I had written three more. It was great because I thought that made the manuscript better, and when the publisher said that they wanted another one within six momnths, I had the process down. It saved me a lot of stress to know that I could do it.

SCW: Anything I missed or that you’d like to add?

 CD: I am still in search of the perfect writing cocktail.

Have a cocktail for Cecilia? Leave it in the comments!

Manifesting a manifesto

Outside of blogging personally, I maintain a laser focus on my goals. I'm pretty damn good at managing my time and resources and forming connections with interesting, diverse people. On here, though, I've held on to the idea that I could write whatever I wanted whenever I wanted and use this website as a personal portfolio.

Once I formulated a set editorial schedule, I started working past my mental blocks and got in a blogging routine. It didn't evolve how I thought it would, but it evolved into my writing about topics I care about deeply and talk about often. With that in mind, I've put together a kind of manifesto of my intentions for this blog:

This blog is a record of my journey as a writer, runner and bartender. It will be an honest accounting of my life, even when the truth is uncomfortable. It's my place to show kindness and love for others, to strive to be a better person and to learn everything I can that will add value to my life. It will also accurately showcase my talents as a writer -- even when I'm so busy I want to get off my schedule. Lastly, it will continue to serve as a point of connection with other amazingly talented writers in the community.

As I keep saying, I can't wait to see what other connections writing will add to my life. After two years of wonderful things, it can only get better from here.

Coffee and cocktails

As some of you may know, I work in a coffee shop that serves alcohol. That said, you won't find Kahlua or Bailey's on our shelves. We're not trained to make hundreds and hundreds of shots that will get you white girl wasted. But we are nerds. Any of the denizens of coffee world can talk your ear off about our espresso beverages and coffee beans, and any of us bartenders comes with a huge repository of product and classic cocktail knowledge.

Despite my description, Octane doesn't employ a cadre of fully functional (and well-coiffed) coffee- and booze-savvy robots. In the words of one of my coworkers, "We're the nerds who finally get to be cool because we're into coffee and cocktails." We geek out on this stuff because it's cool to us, not because of its newly christened place in popular culture. As a writer with a column on cocktail chemistry, I'm constantly looking to study parts of the drink making process that I haven't examined before. Personally, as a perfectionist who studied under one of the best (thanks, Angel!), my technique can always use a little work.

It's not perfect or truly glamorous work. In the past six months, I've lost weight from running around...and taken more time to recover from late nights. I might be young, but I don't bounce back as quickly from sleep deprivation as I used to. On average, I drink less than I used to, mainly because my palate has evolved so that I can't tolerate things I used to like a lot.

Over the past six months, I've learned a lot about how I like to live and work. After almost nine months of jobs I tolerated to pay the bills, not dreading waking up has been an amazingly positive change. It's also made a huge difference to know that I want to learn more about everything I'm doing when I go home. My cocktail book collection is growing at a very steady pace and doesn't appear to be stopping any time soon, and my home bar is getting stocked very slowly.

It's been amazing to see what a change of work environment has done in six months. Needless to say, I'm really excited to see where it will take me next. Until then, I'll be meeting the plethora of deadlines I have looming over the next two weeks.

Cocktail of the Hour -- the Corn 'n Oil

Though today's Blog Like Crazy topic is to tackle a controversial subject, I'm not going that far...yet. This cocktail's name may be provocative given the current "debate" over farm subsidies and fossil fuels, but it's named for neither of these things. With origins rumored to be in Barbados, the earliest recipe is a three ingredient highball.

Interestingly, none of the three ingredients resembled corn or oil. Some speculate that the oil part of the name comes from the thick black Black Strap rum, but the earliest iterations of the recipe call for aged rum, not its darker counterpart. This substitution was made rather recently by Murray Stinson of Seattle's Zig Zag Cafe -- the man responsible for bringing the Last Word back.

Stinson also changed the proportions of the ingredients. According to the label on John D. Taylor Velvet Falernum bottles, the drink is traditionally 3:1 Falernum to rum, but Stinson's version calls for the opposite. Each recipe creates a very different flavor profile: the bottle's recipe is a light, sweet summertime drink that would take the edge off a tropical summer. Stinson's drink, on the other hand, is a spicy, rich, deep concoction that brings out a different type of complexity in the cocktail. Others have riffed on this recipe, adding Coke and other ingredients for completely different ends.

As with most other drinks, the most important part is that it's to your taste. I've included both recipes so you can try both and draw your own conclusions.

Recipes:

Modern Corn n Oil

2-3 dashes Angostura bitters .5 oz lime juice or two lime wedges .5 oz John D. Taylor Velvet Falernum 2 oz Cruzan Black Strap

Fill a glass with ice. Add Falernum, top with rum and squeeze the lime juice on top. Add bitters and stir ingredients in the glass until chilled and fully combined.

Old School Corn n Oil

2 dashes Angostura bitters .5 oz lime juice or two lime wedges .5 oz rum from Barbados 1.5 oz John D. Taylor Velvet Falernum

Fill a glass with ice. Add Falernum, top with rum and squeeze the lime juice on top. Add bitters and stir ingredients in the glass until chilled and fully combined.

I get by with a little help from my friends

Last year, one of my favorite posts for Blog Like Crazy was about the power of female friendship. Though the majority of 2013 has been better than 2012, it's been friends of both genders who have made sure I stayed as sane as possible. They have shown me what love can add to even the fullest life and have embraced me and all my flaws.

The people I call friends have been amazingly supportive during my transition out of 9-to-5s that I hated. They were encouraging and loving, but if I was miserable and wouldn't admit it, they were more than willing to give me the kick in the ass that I desperately needed. It's been this strength and high set of standards that's lead me to demand more for myself and my life.

Bartending is a largely male-dominated field, and here in the South that can mean that women in the industry are held to a different standard. It's not easy, but it's satisfying and surprisingly intellectual work that adds layers and layers of complexity to what would appear to be a straightforward basic skill set. At Octane, I was the first woman to successfully complete the barbacking process at Octane, and am one of only a handful of female craft bartenders in the city.

My female friends especially have been my biggest cheerleaders in starting to bartend, so it's been amazingly refreshing to be able to pass along that support. Jack Wyrick, one of my incredibly talented photog/blogging/creative/handy friends (if you don't know her work, check out this and this), started at Octane this past Saturday. Seeing her focused on learning and joking around with people made me proud and excited for the future of the food industry and, more importantly, my friends here in Birmingham.

Y'all, it's important to earn money, but it's just as important to make a life instead of a living. My friends have pushed me even when it wasn't comfortable financially or psychologically to work towards what would make me happy, not what would provide benefits or a set 401K. Their support in hard times has gotten me through any and all obstacles in my way. They enrich my life with their stories and their advice, and I can't really and truly can't thank them enough.

Who wears what?

I may work in what I consider stylish or cool fields, but my personal style tends to be anything but. Most of the pieces in my wardrobe were under $50, and most of them are several years old. I take care of my clothing as best I can, but changing shapes a few times from running has rendered even the most form-fitting dresses unflattering. When I find shirts that fit, I buy the same one in several different colors. As a result, my outfits don't vary much from day to day. With the craziness of bartending and writing, I haven't had time to tailor them back into well fitted wardrobe pieces, so much of what I wear is a little baggy.

I'm also cheap. Shopping and spending money are two of my least favorite things, so I stay away from malls and shopping sites as much as possible. When considered along with my height -- I'm 6'1" -- shopping becomes a nightmare. As a result, I've gotten creative with outfit choices.

To be perfectly frank, most of these outfits are held together by fashion-oriented apathy. Call it a bad attitude, but it's what makes my outfits work. That, and buying clothing that fits my body type. Though it often takes days or weeks to find just a few shirts or a pair of pants, anything I buy fits well when I try it on in the store.

Other than that, I don't buy clothes (outside of running duds. You can't let those shoes get too old). In the near future, I'll be replacing some of my dressy black flats that are three years old and falling apart at the seams, but otherwise you won't find me out at the mall. Really though, I need to step up my game -- and my wardrobe. Though it pains me, I should really go shopping sometime soon. Anyone up for taking on a fashion mentee?

A love letter to my quadriceps

Dear Quads, As I've started running, you've become extremely helpful in powering through every single run. Through this process, you've endured inconsistent exercise, worn out shoes and long days to keep me upright. When I first saw that you'd become defined, I thought I'd worn a dent in my legs from leaning against wells while bartending.

You were my first proof that running has changed my body, and that I'm stronger than I've ever been. Don't get jealous that I've resumed weight training -- I'd like for the rest of my body to match your strength and definition. As I keep running, it will help prevent injury and also relax the rest of me.

Please continue to be nice when I break out the foam roller. Unlike some of your comrades (cough cough IT band), you don't regularly cause me agonizing pain on the torture wheel. It's a relatively new development, I know, but it'll be good for the both of us, OK?

Unless you develop to a freakish size, I'm really looking forward to showing you off next Spring. I've got several pairs of shorts that will flaunt your angled beauty, so don't get too crazy, mmkay? My clothing budget's currently nonexistent and I can't really spring for much of anything. While you're at it, tell the rest of your comrades the same thing. I'm already tiring of baggy winter clothing, and I don't want to find the same thing when it warms up.

Love,

Clair

Today's #bloglikecrazy topic was to celebrate a part of my body. I chose my quads -- that's not too weird, right?