Saturday, December 30, 2006

A Social Beverage

The Satin Sally. Don't ask for it by name, the bartenders will have no clue.

Since I moved to Boston to attend my graduate program I have made many wonderful friends at church, my internship, my courses, and other outside activities. Besides the church folk, when social events occur drinking is common. Considering the fact that i do not indulge in alcohol consumption, these events are still fun (i do attend) however I can only drink so much water and soda (tonic as it's called by some in New England). I have discovered a whole new world of seltzer water and different blends which make for fun, attractive, tasty, alcohol-free social beverages! Isn't this exciting!!

So the story behind the Satin Sally. One thing that I will often order is seltzer water, cranberry juice and lime. I really like it and it's kind of pretty. Not long ago I was at my internship's holiday party drinking said beverage. One of my fellow workers asked if I was drinking a Bloody Mary. I wish that I could remember what she said following that but I can't. (I think that if I knew anything about Bloody Mary's or the social stigma attached to it, the situation would have made more sense to me and i could have remembered what she said.) It was something like she would have found it interesting if I was drinking a Bloody Mary but that I probably could have pulled it off and made it look good...yada, yada, yada.

?

So when I went home I was talking to a good friend of mine who knows a lot about alcohol and all these little drinks. I explained what happened and I wanted to know what this woman was saying. Was she making fun of me? What does it all mean Basil? My friend wasn't exactly sure but speculated that it could be that the drink is rather youthful, so maybe that had something to do with it. (?) I hate not knowing what people are talking about and not even being able to explain it now. Often I will just fake like I get it and surprisingly many believe me. Only you will learn how truly naive I am regarding this.

This conversation with my friend, let's call her Jenni (with an i--it's more youthful), led into our discussing this drink I had ordered. We decided it needed a name. Many names were brought to the table, but the Satin Sally it was. I like it. But it really only works among friends who know about this situation, so like I said, don't ask for it by name.

I did however look it up to see if there was an official name (it's not uncommon). My hunt led me to a darling little site http://www.triangle.org/resources/riskmanagement/bartending/ which shares a lot of alcohol free drinks to have at parties. Check out the Bubbletart but I still like Satin Sally more. The site also gave me permission to make up my own names (bless them). So it's okay! This site is also leading me to plan my next social gathering! An alcohol free mixer! WaHoo!!

Friday, December 29, 2006

Numero Uno

Move it or lose it. (name the movie?)

Sometimes movie lines flow through me. I'm not even sure where they come from or if they go together, but flow they will. It stems from a road trip I took with my father, my brother, David, and my sister, Sarah. I'm not sure when this trip occured but I do recall that my father and David were the drivers. I also recall David not having a valid drivers license, but in fact, a learners permit. He was probably a senior in high school (he was too busy with his fun and exciting life to make getting a valid drivers license a priority) which means that I was a junior. This would place us around 1995 (the summer before my junior year). I remember getting a little nervous every time it was David's turn to drive, not because I felt he was dangerous...okay, maybe it was. It made me VERY nervous that my brother was being allowed to drive across the United States with out a drivers license. I was certain that the laws of learners permits were probably limited to the state in which it was issued, nevertheless I said nothing. I had neglected to get my own learners permit and was, therefore, unable to participate in the rotation of drivers. Perhaps it was just jealously? Perhaps. It could also have stemmed from my own recognition that it would indeed be hazardous for me to be behind the wheel of our Oldsmobile Cutlass Sierra, trusting me with the lives of the passengers. Hmm, it is gradually becoming clear to me...

I digress. I was saying that we quote movies. Sarah started this game somewhere between Ohio and Missouri (who knows what direction we took). All of a sudden Sarah exclaimed, "What movie's this from." She then proceeded to toss out movie lines that were so familiar yet hard to place. Our favorite family game was born. Sometimes they are quite obvious and it's just a fun past time to incorporate others' lines into our vocabulary, but the seriousness of the game occurs when others are stumped. This is, in fact, the goal. Come up with a line that leaves someone staring, mouth open, eyes searching wildly because they KNOW this line. The title will not come. Sometimes an additional pity line is offered to help. A winning line will leave the person finally stammering, "I don't know! What is it?" The line offerer will then smile, pleased with his or her creativeness and movie knowledge. This game continues on today. We must stand ready at all times, ready to assist our family members in distress.

and in the background one can hear my father, "if you all knew the scriptures the way you know movies..."