Word of my new love spreads as closet aficionados come forth and admit to their own sinful passion

No sooner had I posted my affection for the martini and suddenly my narrow world of wines and kir royals appears sheltered and small. I find that there is a bigger planet where gin and vermouth lovers mix and mingle. Only they never talk about it. Until this week.

Now that I am one of them, the door has opened and I feel included. This week I found myself a guest of a skilled martini mixer. Noting this in a blog post caught the attention of a friend, who thus far had talked only of an occasional indulgence into the world of wine. Suddenly he and his wife are issuing invitations to their (secret?) happy hour. The featured drink? A classic martini. I hadn’t heard from them for months and here I am, at once someone to include on a post-work gin and vermouth fest.

My own cabinet remains woefully inadequate for the preparation of anything that require something more than a corkscrew. Still, I am enjoying the discovery of this other world of cone-shaped glasses and submerged olives. In a month such as February, these are heavenly adventures indeed.

[Forgive the somewhat air-born tone of this post. I am currently onboard a flight out west.]

California, work your magic!

I am glad that I am flying west tonight.

What a week. After a totally humiliating Friday morning, a sad Sunday afternoon, a sadder Monday afternoon, a stressful Tuesday, an even more stressful Wednesday, I come home to this:

great, I'm being sued for being absent-minded

Yes, law profs can get sued! Yes it was my fault! (Did I know that those envelopes from said business had contained a bill? No I did not. I threw them away thinking they were yet again trying to solicit my business. Is that a good defense? No it is not. )

I sat by the clock this morning waiting until the magic hour appeared on its face (8:00 am) so that I could call said business, complete the payment that very second, expunge this horror from my kitchen counter and attempt to regain my internal sense of Being In Control Of Things.

Still, the weeks have got to improve! Honestly, I am not usually so in need of comfort foods and martinis late in the evening. But it's nice to know they're there. For the days that sometimes just appear too turbulent to be real.

Local talent recognized among bloggers in academe (and beyond)

Because we are one day after a big-time dog show and a few days short of the Oscars, I thought I’d sneak in my own little awards ceremony. Here’s to you, guys:

Best blogger residence where you can simultaneously 1. blog 2. eat 3. watch DVDs 4. doze off and no one will notice: Althouse, hands down. Others may come close on 1, 2 and 4, but the entire package belongs to her.

Best martini with almond-stuffed olives server, and best betting bandit in town: Bozzo (why bandit? he ran off with my chance at a Trotter dinner! read about it here)

yum 

Best advice giver, in the style of the now defunct Dear Abbey: Brito (paraphrased: if there is going to be an uneven exchange in gift giving, he should be the one paying the larger sum; unfair? who cares! Since I am, for once, on the benefiting side of the gender dichotomy, I’m fully in support of this advice.)

Best self-promotion effort: Freese (I’m not even going to post photos of the billboards around town that have gone up, seemingly overnight)

...almost wrecked my own car trying to take this photo while driving behind... 

Best alias retention by a “pretend-anonymous” blogger, long after everyone in the world knows who he is: "Oscar"

Best stick-to-the-law blogger, also reporter on topics I cannot possibly fathom given my miniscule knowledge of corporate law (prize awarded in spite of his effort to appease me with a post on cheese today): Smith