And so it begins, another Solar year here at IZ. Hands up, gentle readers, who among you have already stumbled on, broken, or otherwise, like yours truly, completely demolished their New Year’s Resolutions?
I’d like to think we’re in good company. Our human nature makes a perfectly fine and reasonable cause for toasting, don’t you think? Perhaps next year I’ll resolve to get over my growing sense of perfectionism (which, if you saw me typing this entry, you would understand completely. Bless you little spell checker!), but right now I truly believe it is time to let myself off the hook, and for all of you to do the same.
Every day is a good day for new beginnings. We don’t need it to be a Monday or a holiday to start a new project or change a habit. We can empower ourselves by truly stopping to consider our needs and then making desired changes according to the way we understand our minds, bodies and spirits to work. We know them best, after all.
I have had a lot of time to consider this while on the road. I spent the first part of 2010 in the desert, replete with all the silence and saguaros that I could stand, and was able to take the time to step outside of my long-held notions of self in order to find out what changes I truly wished to make, in what order and how important each truly was to my health and happiness.
It is heady stuff, and good food for thought on long hikes to the rare spots of water hidden in the mountains. Once back to the familiar and safe environs of my Silver Twinkie, though, I tend to ruminate on the lighter side of things, and perhaps have a laugh at how very human I am after all.
When I am struck by the humor of such things, and when I need to stop taking myself so very, very seriously, I have been known to put together a lovely and wonderful concoction called the Sake Martini.
In this particular martini manifestation, sake is substituted for vermouth, and being a white wine as well, brings a soothing and feminine quality to a cocktail traditionally associated with drab-suited businessmen seeing just how quickly they can ingest them before returning to the office or, more tellingly, before returning home. While I admire business savvy, I am very particular about what I consider good business savvy. Speedy consumption of good spirits is bad business, IMHO, so the only traditional element I retain in my mixing of martinis is the classic main ingredient: Gin.
[If you prefer vodka martinis I won’t hold it against you, but I’ll forever and steadfastly maintain that you aren’t drinking a martini. You’re drinking vodka in a martini glass.]
Gin is a tricky alcohol in the wide and wonderful world of mixology, and I think it’s probably safe to say that most first time gin samplings end in unmitigated disaster due to it’s very potent, as well as pungent, nature. To further complicate matters, juniper, gin’s reigning ingredient, is a fiery and masculine sort of plant, ruled by the sun. Additionally, the Brothers Grimm identified it with extreme feminine angst (most often applied liberally and vengefully) in their myriad works, so the foundation plant that allows us to have gin has enjoyed a rather confusing and powerful reputation for many generations, one that lingers on our psyches to this very day.
This is why I am particularly fond of one brand of gin amongst all the marvelous offerings out in the world today. Above all others towers the Great Shining Black Pillar that contains none other than Hendrick’s, a gin touted by its makers as both “ridiculously good” and “loved by a select few”, and with good reason, dear readers.
Hendrick’s methodology with one particular ingredient not only calms the fiery rage of sun-ruled juniper, but also makes their gin the perfect foundation alcohol with which to blend an appropriate cocktail for the turning of the Solar year AND the transition in Pisces within the first month. They have added a generous amount of the cooling and calming flavors and effect of cucumber. Being ruled by the moon and having a watery disposition, as well as being best planted during the turn of Pisces in the heavens, cucumber makes the very best partner for the vivacious juniper, and with it, Hendrick’s creates a flavor absolutely unique in the world of gin.
Your choice of sake in the matter is strictly yours. I sometimes prefer unfiltered for a sweeter drink, and it creates a lovely and wonderful snow globe in the martini glass that I’ll get lost in from time to time. Filtered is my main squeeze, though, and I mix them 2 parts gin to 1 part sake in a cocktail shaker full of ice.
Shake, strain, enjoy. It’s a simple as that.
And now, gentle readers, I believe it is time for me to get down to the business of figuring out how best to salvage 2010 from my ridiculous initial batch of resolutions and plotting something more realistic and forgiving for fostering long term change. And, since it’s strictly business, a martini is most definitely in order.
Cheers~Charon, The Most Dangerous Beauty Alive
theswordswallowers.com
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Charon Henning is one of a handful of female sword swallowers in the world today. She’s performed on carnival midways and at wine tastings, on theater stages and grassy lots.
Charon also reads tea leaves professionally, a skill she inherited from her grandmother on her mother’s side of the family. Tea-leaf reading is a wonderful and elegant form of entertainment, suitable for many time periods and venues.
Charon loves being on the road seeing new places and meeting new people. Want to catch Charon on the road for her live show? View her tour schedule here. Or, book Charon’s talent for your next event!
1) FEVER: this non-carbonated herbal fusion is infused with only 100% natural ingredients. “FEVER heightens a persons euphoric state, while also stimulating the body and providing a natural source of energy.” 
2) LOVE POTION #9: this tasty cordial bears the perfect name for that fast approaching sexiest of days. oh yes, my fave, valentine’s day. i suggest pouring this fruity, tasty, sweet, delicious liqueur all over your lover’s sweet spots. oh how will you clean up that desirable mess? of course i strongly recommend preparing a valentine’s day COCKtail with it too… i do believe that LOVE POTION #9 is a guaranteed good time no matter how you use it.
i don’t know about you, but valentine’s day is my least favorite holiday. relationship pressure, obligatory materialism, societal stigmas… the list of reasons why it sucks is endless. like taxes, it exists and must be dealt with. 
did you know that yesteryear’s christmas sugar plums were actually not plums at all? i never did, until i researched this post. apparently, sugar plums are a mish mosh of minced dried fruits mixed up in oats and brandy, and then rolled in sugar. i suppose the round ball shape gives it a resemblance to the plum. so, how cool would that be to garnish a glass of sugar plum sangria with a ready made, pre-slit sugar plum? in theory, this festive garnish should happily slide right on to the lip of the glass. so, yea, lemme know how that goes as i haven’t had a chance to test it. 
