There is something about a Martini,
A tingle remarkably pleasant;
A yellow, a mellow Martini;
I wish I had one at present.
There is something about a Martini,
Ere the dining and dancing begin,
And to tell you the truth,
It is not the vermouth--
I think that perhaps it's the gin.

Ogden Nash


What did the world do before the martini? Oh yeah, I think it was called absinthe. Regardless, soldiering on…...

Welcome back, gentle, devoted readers (all three of you)! Before we move forward with all the posts I’ve been keeping in storage during our little down time, I need to address this weekend’s activities, why I’ve temporarily retired Lauren Bacall as my online representative, and made the small change in my signature. Do please, please click on this link. After that I promise to give you one doozy of a cocktail recipe (highly challenging, not for amateurs), and when next we meet I promise it will...

This morning, while getting ready for work, I was watching/recording, “The Astonished Heart,” a rarely seen film featuring the rarely seen on film Noel Coward. I don’t usually watch films before heading to the office in the morning and, as I say, I was recording this for later viewing, but…well, it was Noel Coward Dammit, so I put on my face, as we ladies say, at the living room mirror listening to that remarkable voice and catching glimpses of that slicked-backed hair, those arching eyebrows,...

So I was chatting with Still and she mentioned E. Allen Poe, and I pondered, “I wonder if he had a favorite watering hole?” Turns out, he did, and it is called The Horse You Came In On and it’s in Baltimore. You can’t make this stuff up. I love learning these little tidbits. Also, it was fortuitous, because I happened to be working on this piece at the time and that little anecdote makes a great segue…

Part of what makes a writer who they are, part of how they develop as writers...

Friday morning, the little television panel in the elevator going up to the office, the one normally tuned into CNBC, was tuned to Sesame Street. It made me laugh. Since things are not greatly improved from Thursday, may as well carry on in the same vein...



Maybe I’m challenging my inner drag queen again, but I say when life gets you down, throw on some extra sequins and another feather boa. PG Wodehouse agreed with me. In “The Code of the Woosters” when Bertie...