Fumbling Toward Culinary Talent: Disappointed Man Cocktail

I just made this cocktail, and I kind of like it. 

I'm going to name it what I am, a disappointed man. 

Ingredients

2 oz. of bourbon--I used Evan Williams, but I would prefer something stronger like Wild Turkey 101, Old Forester 100, Evan Williams Bonded, or Benchmark Bonded, et al. 

Ginger ale

Healthy dashes of bitters

Process

In a Collins glass, put in four ice cubes. Add the bourbon, refrigerated ginger ale, and few healthy dashes of bitters. 

Drink and feel your anxiety. 

Random Notes from a Crank

 Of the stemware that's out there, the martini glass has to be the most stupid one. The glass is designed almost on purpose to be easy to spill, especially for the cocktail it contains, the high-alcohol martini. When I drink martinis at home, I use a stemless wine glass.  

The other night I watched Jim Gaffigan's Amazon stand-up The Pale Tourist. There's only two episodes - one for Canada and the other for Spain. Both are solid, but I really enjoyed the one about Canada. It's hilarious. 

I'm reading The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think by Jennifer Ackerman. It's a good book. I liked The Genius of Birds better. Regardless, in a couple of chapters when she's describing the behavior of raven and keas, she cites the concept of "emotional contagion" among those species.  

So now I'm thinking of how that concept plays out with humans. 

And here's something from Psychology Today to chew on: "Protect Yourself from Emotional Contagion." 

A month ago, the Nasty family got a membership to Costco, which in the long run is going to save us a good bit of money. One of the grocery items we have consistently bought when we go there is Kirkland basil pesto. 

But I wonder at the terms. By nature, traditional pesto is made with basil, so why the need to use basil as an adjective? 

Random Notes from a Crank

 Lately I've been thinking about the concept of "staircase wit," also notably described by the French as "L'esprit de l'escalier." It's when you think of something you should have later. 

The funniest version of it comes from this episode of Seinfeld. 

One could also call it the jerk-store paradox. 

This year I discovered a cocktail I should have had imbibed years ago. It's the Caesar. It originated in Canada, and it's basically a Bloody Mary but with Clamato instead of tomato juice. 

Why is it called the Caesar though? I know a lot of factoids about Roman history, but I don't recall Julius Caesar known for liking clams. I guess it's possible. But come to find out, it's full name is Bloody Caesar. So that's why - the whole stabbing on the Ides of March.