UPdate

I passed the basic skills test for the police department. I've still got, background, psych evaluation, polygraph, and medical evaluation.

In other news: I have descovered some new online communities, one in particular I'm fond of is Plurk (plurk.com) Pretty fun, like twitter but I feel like its more intuitive and more fun.

I've gotten re acclimated to home now and I've been having some fun. My parents ride motorcycles so we all go out on the weekends to have a few drinks and some good food.

This past weekend I went up to Maryland International Raceway, watched some drag races, and headed up to 911.

A job, but not for money

Recently I applied for a police department. In preparation for a call back I started a new workout regiment consisting of cardio, weight training , and circuit training. All is going well so far and I can feel the extra energy the exersise is giving me. This job (working out) isn't one I'm getting paid for, but my body feels great and I fell much more healthy already :) I highly recomend the Men's health guide on getting in shape and eating more healthy.

Other then that I have also been able to write a few more tobacco/spirit reviews then usual. Not because im drinking more, but because I have more time to write. I was even thinking about sitting back down to write a few poems. The days go buy fast and I'm trying to hold on to them as long as possible :) No point in hastening my time and missing out on something new.

Path

I'm .. back. Woah it's been quite a while. Seems to be the story of my blog ;)
I've graduated believe it or not but unlike the uncertainty I was facing before graduation.. I have a new certainty that I will never find a job :) Hard stuff to find a good one let me tell you.

Lets run down my stats:
Degree: B.S in psychology
Minor: Political Science

Experience: 1 year as a research assistant
Interviews: 3
Accepted: 0
Applied: 1 billion :)
Time since graduation: nearly 2 months

Any words of wisdom?

It's been a while

In my ongoing battle against exerting energy of any kind at any level I stopped writing to this blog. But I have returned with renewed vigor as if the change of scenery from ... my lackadaisical vacation of a home in Maryland .. to the quickening pace of Chicago.. has incurred a change in me as well.

Updates:

It is my last year of college. Well of undergraduate college. I will start my crusade for graduate school this upcoming weekend. If I am unable to procure a graduate psychology program before I complete my bachelors I will be applying for a position at a few police departments. I believe my background in psychology could help me there and in time I could make enough money to go back to school for my PhD.

This will be my hardest semester. I am enrolled in biology and chemistry and both are my weakest subjects. I do however have a ray of hope.. and that is my most excellent psychology professor in psychological testing.

I have a girlfriend. Who I am very much In love with. We have our problems as do all couples but were still together and we made it through a summer apart (barring our visits to each other). I'm proud of her and I am excited that she finally decided to change her major to something she has a passion for.

Lent?

It's lent. I was looking through my old poems to get a feeling for what I would like to submit into a new contest at IIT. I found one that startled me. I had written, long before I decided to even look to god hear him or try to follow him, a poem about sin. I was shocked to find the truth in it. I thought certainly I couldn't have accurately portrayed sin without fully understanding it. .... I'll let you be the judge.. be sure to pay attention to the date...my trademark has always been to include the date and time the poem was written.

Sins
[Oct.30, 2005 |7:10pm]

In those blackest of nights
Where you stumble over your self and others
Griping at the promise of sunrise, the edge of the world

There will be no comfort there.
Because the things that haunt you
Are not those of night and day but eternity.

They can not be paid for.
They can not be sold.
They can not be lifted

No matter how long you have them, how old.

They can never catch you but
Always have their hold
Of your heart, mind, and soul.

In your final breath they float through the moisture in your lungs
Dancing on your death bed.
Jumping on your heart.

And the deep lines in your face, the memory of their chase.
The quickening of your breath, their reward.
But really, you brought them here.

You gave them shelter in your soul.
And as ungrateful tenants they tore down the walls.

On my silence

In response to a few questions I got about when I would write again:

Yes.
In due time.


One reason why:

I'm working on a new poem.

Nostalgia

I had dropped my biology class second semester of college because I needed all A's to bring my GPA up enough to remove a particular academic probation. I'm back and the stadium seating, large class size, weather, and even the smell of the room, have taken me back to my first year here. Now I have classes with 10-15 people not 100, I have circle seating not stadium, and people without their schedules written on post-its. But its somewhat nice to be back. Now, in the eve of my college career, I have the chance to go back in time, an opportunity not many get in any situation. So instead of making it a bother, I'll try to enjoy it.

Winter Series Four

Introduction

The history of the Martini is quite the tale. Slowly, over decades the cocktail that we now know as the Martini came to be. It would have many transformations, variations, names, and gain generations of loyal followers. Its creation would be widely disputed and even now there is no definitive answer. It wasn’t hard to find a history of the Martini. The problem was I found too many. There are four drinks deserving of the spot this week: The Martinez, the great grandfather of the Martini, The Martini (Classic), a drink that holds a special place in the hearts of purist, and The Martini (Contemporary), and the Vodka Martini the Martini that holds the name MARTINI now. For good or for bad these are the three lives of the Martini.

Cocktail(s)

Martinez

2oz sweet vermouth

1oz Old Tom gin (a sweetened variant)

two dashes maraschino cherry liquid

one dash bitters


Shake with ice, strain, and serve with a twist of lemon

Martini (Classic)

1 ½ oz gin

½ oz dry vermouth

Stir with ice cubes, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with an olive or a twist of lemon.

Martini (Contemporary)

1 2/3 oz gin
1/3 oz dry vermouth
1 olive

Stir gin and vermouth with ice in a mixing glass. Strain into a cocktail glass, add the olive, and serve.

Vodka Martini

1 1/2 oz vodka
3/4 oz dry vermouth

Shake vodka and vermouth together with several ice cubes in a shaker. Strain into a cocktail glass, garnish with an olive and serve.

History

It is rumored that it all started with the Martinez. The Martinez is an older sweeter cocktail most likely invented in Martinez, California. A commemoration to the Martini is found there at the corner of Alhambra and Masonic. It was said that Jerry Tomas, also known as the “professor”, created the drink for a buddy of his to keep him warm on his daily trip from the hotel Occidental to Martinez, the old state capitol of California. It is believed that the classic martini sprang from this drink and contrary to popular belief actually had a slice of lemon in it, not an olive. The popularity of the olive that is found in most Martinis today is still unexplained. In time the Martini raised the gin content and lowered the vermouth to obtain a dryer drink. The contemporary Martini is much dryer then its father the Martini and no where near as sweet as his great grandfather, the Martinez. This is probably because the classic Martini was big in the time of prohibition because bathtub gin was considerably easier to make then whiskey which took time to age and a bigger facility to create. When prohibition ended gin could be made in a higher quality and so vermouth’s role was diminished as the sweetener of the drink. The hipster crowd of today would not be satisfied by the change though and recently The Vodka Martini has become the premier Martini. The Vodka Martini is what most people think of when they order a Martini from a bar. The taste is smoother and considered sweeter. Martini enthusiasts don’t believe a Vodka Martini should be a Martini at all. They claim that a Martini must have Gin. Perhaps the Martini of the old days will rule once again in a backlash against the current hipster society. One thing is for certain though. The Martini has transcended time and changed with society. It will always hold a special place in the history of the United States. H.L Mencken once called the Martini “the only American invention as perfect as the sonnet”.

Updates

My goals for this Christmas break:

Read (Catechism, Manga)
Study (DSM 4 text revision)
Research (alcohol related history and cocktail recipes)
Exercise (dear God just anything)

My completed Goals this Christmas Break:




Yes, None.

I decided to start the catechism over from the beginning and so I am only on page 53. I haven't been able to memorized the creed yet. I have only read one book of one manga. It wasn't even the one on my list, it was called the explosive delivery man I believe. Its about this guy who will deliver mail through any situation. Those Japanese come up with the most unique ideas. The story is set in the past.. probably dark ages. I have only just cracked the DSM 4 and I barely remember anything I read. My research into alcohol was going well but I took a break around the 25th. Three drinks worth of information is hardly research no mater how much time it took. When it comes to exercise, I have worked out all but two days. I would say thats good but I have also eaten more due to the holidays.

So with all my goals half assedly done. I am left to wonder what one goal if any I will accomplish during break. I really see my self as someone who likes to read and become educated but I feel as though I'm slacking in everything by trying to do everything. It is a frustrating ordeal.

I'm currently researching my next cocktail and I hope it will be a surprise to everyone. Look forward to it !

-Chris Jones

Winter Series Three

Introduction

The margarita is a popular drink with a Mexican flair. I can still remember our family trip to Florida four years ago it was the first major vacation that my dad went on with us. We didn't get to do much down there because of the storms. I loved that my dad was there but I was sad that maybe the only vacation he would go on with us would be botched. When we were there he let me try a margarita. The bittersweet taste was the picture perfect image of our situation;

Cocktail(s)

The Margarita:

Tequila
Triple Sec
Fresh Lime Juice

Common ratios:
2:1:1
3:2:1
3:1:1

Mix in a shaker with ice. Strain into a salt-rimmed cocktail glass, and garnish with a lime or lemon slice.

History

The history of The Margarita is widely disputed. There are literally to many stories to count. The story I would rather tell though is the one of love, loss, and the bittersweet memories similar to the one I think of when I drink it. John Durlesser presented his drink The Margarita at the 1949 All American Cocktail Contest. He named it after his girlfriend who he had lost twenty three years prior in a hunting accident during a expedition he had suggested. His regret gave birth to the cocktail. She was from Mexico where tequila was a very popular drink and the most popular way to drink it was to take a shot, lick salt from your hand, and bite a lime. He managed to emulate this in one drink by mixing lime juice, orange liqueur, and tequila together in a glass and garnishing the rim of the glass with salt.