#on the plus side i am going to a local brewery with a friend today to hear a professor talk about how scientists search for planets that ->

[jcbmcdrmtt]

I’ve been feeling very down lately for life reasons, so as a pick me up I ordered some of @aredblush ‘s adorable Sterek art in sticker form (link in source). Now I normally do not buy stickers because I am forever unsure of where to put them - all of the standard destinations like my laptop or phone or water bottle will be replaced one day, which would mean losing all the stickers on them, perish the thought!! But. Stickers were the art form that I could both afford and had room for right now, so while they were in shipping I was brainstorming where to put them.

And then it hit me.

I bought 2 of Nas’ (i.e. aredblush’s) lovely art books from Lulu wayyyyyy back in 2015/2016. I treasure them, I shouldn’t ever have to replace them, and everything between the covers is well-protected. What better place to put stickers from the same artist?? It’s almost like I’m updating the books with some of her newer contributions to fandom :)

So without further ado:

(yes I know my sticker placement/alignment in the second book was atrocious, I’m working with what I’ve got here 😂)

Also, bonus! The most recent iPhone software automatically identifies objects in photos you take and lets you create digital stickers out of them to use in chat! I’ve been having a lot of fun with it the last month or two, and that has also included many art pieces from Nas 😁 (also many, many pictures of my baby nephew 😅). So far I have not sent them to anyone because I sadly do not text with other Sterek or Andreil lovers, but it’s nice to know I could if I wanted to :) Plus this way cute art is always a tap away on my phone for me ☺️

(side note, that last little guy down at the bottom right is a creation of @/magentasnail)

Nas, if you’re reading this, thank you for drawing soft, adorable portrayals of people quietly loving each other (or maybe not so quietly, in Stiles’ case haha). Multiple times now it has been a bright spot in a dark world for me.

[kayla1993-world]

Welcome to Money Diaries, where we're tackling what might be the last ban facing modern working women: money. We're asking 1980s people how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period — and we're watching every last dollar.

Attention, Canadians! We're featuring Money Diaries from across Canada on a regular basis, and we want to hear from you. Submit your Money Diary here.

Today: a policy analyst working in government who makes $72,000 per year and spends some of her money this week on a pregnancy test.

Occupation: Policy Analyst Industry: Government Age: 26 Location: Ottawa, ON Wage: $72,000 Paycheque (2x/month): $1,680–$1,870 (My take-home has been affected by the Phoenix pay system mess, which has caused paycheque errors for a lot of government workers. In my case, it means I haven't been paid correctly since January 2019, and the range listed above isn't the actual rate for my current position. Hopefully, the issue will be sorted out soon.) Status Identity: Woman

Monthly Expenses Rent: $759 (for my half of the two-bedroom apartment I share with my roommate, R.) Hydro: $20 Internet: $31 Phone: $32 Netflix: $10.99 (My mum uses it also.) The New York Times: $5.38 (student diiiiiscount) Spotify: $4.99 Car Share: $10 Tax-Free Savings Account: $300 General Savings: $200 Premium: $211 (matched by employer) Apartment Fund: $700 (I'm preparing to move in with my boyfriend, at which point my rent will nearly double.)

Once a year Expenses Gym: $450

Day One

8:30 a.m. — I like to sleep in on the weekend, but I'm having a meal with a friend from grad school who not very long ago moved back to town. I get dressed in black skinnies with a green, sleeveless blouse, a long camel cardigan, and brown riding boots. I do basic makeup (concealer, color, brownish-gray eyeshadow, mascara) and am ready just in time for her to pull up. We go to a cozy place on the other side of town, and I pay for parking. $2

12 p.m. — This place is usually packed, but we beat the rush. I get a brie, bacon, and pesto omelette with hash browns, a salad, and gluten-free toast, plus a coffee. It's so nice to catch up on each other's lives and grad-school talk! We pay separately before she drops me off at my place. $34.31

2 p.m. — Knowing I won't go out again if I settle in at home, I go straight to the grocery store. I'm planning to make a roasted butternut squash salad for this week's lunches, so I get mixed greens, a squash, pecans, cucumber, tomatoes, dried chickpeas, and hummus. I also get cheese, yogurt, bananas, and laundry detergent. $52.31

4 p.m. — After unloading my groceries, I check out two pairs of brown ankle boots that I ordered with the plan of returning one. The pair I like is more expensive, but still discounted, so I'm not too mad. I leave the other pair packaged up until I can get out to return them. I text my boyfriend, L., to confirm our plans for tonight, then clean up the apartment, and update my bullet journal for the month.

7 p.m. — I meet L. at a video game bar. It's busy, and he's put our names down for a TV and table, so we go to a local factory in the same building while we wait. I have celiac, but this brewery makes beers in a way that removes most of the gluten, so I can drink them without getting sick! Since I never got into beers, I'm enjoying learning. I get a flight and like the sour and the unfiltered beer the best. $13.50

8:30 p.m. — Our TV is ready, and we head upstairs to play Mario Kart and Donkey Kong. We split an order of tandoori nachos, get a sangria each, and have a blast kicking each other's butts (we're both competitive). We pay separately before heading back to my place for the night. $36.50

11:30 p.m. — We watch an episode of Queer Eye In Japan (cute!) before falling asleep.

Daily Total: $138.62

[bojk87]

Day 4 - Romantic beach walks

Another morning, and another nine plus hours of sleep. I think that being on holidays definitely agrees with me, though after all of the drinking yesterday, both of us are a little slower to rise this morning. Which was a shame really, given that by the time we got to the breakfast buffet, most of the good stuff was gone and we had to wait for everything to be restocked in island time.

Demolishing a few pastries and some toast while we waited for the bacon and eggs to get done was a worthwhile food investment. We tried to make a bit of conversation, but were too hungry to speak for any real length of time. With breakfast out of the way, it was time for the usual ritual of malaria tablets and figuring out what to do for the day. We were incredibly excited at the prospect of seeing some sunshine poke through the clouds and promptly decided that a nice and long romantic walk on the beach would be a great way to pass the time and certainly go a long way to help get rid of all the excess calories consumed at breakfast.

Being the responsible travellers that we are, we lathered ourselves in sunscreen then went to town on deet, our mosquito repellent friend. Hat, sunglasses and no thongs for me were the order of the day as we would be walking along the stunning beaches of Vanuatu.

We got onto the sand at our resort and saw our friends perched on the beach chairs with a drink in hand waving us goodbye and wishing us good luck. The sand felt extremely soft and nice to walk on, and I was told that this is very good for my feet. It was only about fifty meters up the beach that our first challenge came through where the beach changed from soft sand to being hard gravel.

Gritting my teeth and moving at the speed of a ninety year old man, we walked past what seemed like an old and abandoned resort. We took some nice photos and continued the painful experience of walking on gravel with the view of getting close to the second beach where soft sand would once again welcome us. After what seemed like an eternity of fifteen minutes of walking barefoot on gravel, we finally got to the second beach that had the soft sand. Problem at this stage was that it looked like an old abandoned ship wreck where there were old boats there, glass along the beach and remains of several old bonfires.

We both realised that this entire experience was very far removed from the usual romantic beach walks that you see in all the movies and imagine yourself doing, so we decided to head back along the main street to our resort. Feeling like a true local as I walked along the road barefoot, it wasn’t long before we were back at our resort desperately craving a drink. We went back to our cottage and cracked open the last two Coronas that we had and proceeded to relax on our balcony while reading and having a cold beer in hand.

Unlike yesterday where I was able to crack open the Coronas with no issues, these ones did not want to play ball and ended up cutting my knuckles when trying to pop the lids. While only tiny, the cuts are right on the joint which means that I feel them every time I open or close my hands. Michelle being the super planner and packer that she is, packed a full first aid kit, and was smiling with glee at the fact that she got to use it, but not so much at the fact that she had to put her beer down for a few minutes and help me to apply antiseptic cream, because you know, we are safe travellers and a little cut can go a long way. Finally then, it was time to sit back down and enjoy a few hours reading on the balcony with a mildly warm beer in hand.

That is how we spent the afternoon, until we decided it was time to have some food, and we headed out to town. Getting on a bus proved to be a harder experience today as two of the drivers had no idea where we wanted to go, or they just pretended not to speak English. Either way, the third guy seemed to understand that we wanted to go to the centre of the city, and off we were on our merry way.

We pulled up at the Brewery, ordered the nice chicken wings that we had yesterday and a few beers to help wash it all down with. We spent a few hours like this, chatting away and watching the traffic go past, absolutely stunned and confused by the fact that there was no locals or tourists drinking at one of the few bars in Port Villa. On our travels yesterday, a barkeep at the Warhorse told us that they host karaoke nights on a Thursday, so we figured we would go there, because if singing badly in front of other people while drunk doesn’t pull a crowd, we didn’t know what would.

We got some bottled water and some beer for later, and this time a bus was easy to get, so before we knew it we were entering through the doors of the Warhorse.

To our surprise and delight, there were all of five other people seated there drinking, all who looked like expats, and we were incredibly happy to see someone else at a bar apart from us. We sat down, ordered a jug of the local beer and a kilo of beef ribs, with beef being the speciality around this part of town, and sat down to see how the vibe of this place would build.

Sure enough, by about 6:30pm there were a few families that had made their way down, as well as a few tourists, and the place started to get busy and have that buzz of conversation and clinking glasses that one comes to expect from a pub. We played a few games of pool quite badly, with both of us blaming the bad pool queues and the lack of chalk, especially when two out of the three games one of us had sunk the black 8 ball within two shots of starting the game. We had fun though, and finished off our jug just as the karaoke was about to start. On our way out the door we ran into our newly found resort friends who persuaded us to stay a while longer and listen to the local singing talent.

This meant ordering a few more drinks and claiming a spot at the bar, before the most over the top, stereotypical American cowboy grabbed the microphone and got the proceedings under way. White long sleeved, collared shirt, wide brimmed cowboy hat, old jeans, and white cowboy boots with red flames all over them is what he was wearing, all whilst holding a cigarette and beer in one hand with a microphone in the other. It was truly a stereotypical masterpiece of Americana.

So, the party got started. First up was a young girl who was probably no older than fourteen and she was determined to rock the stage. If I had my eyes closed I would have imagined that it was a voice of a rough and tumble thirty year old lumberjack who was keen to let loose for the night, but no, it was a fourteen year old white girl dressed in a local island dress that was up on stage. The assault on the ears thankfully finished, but our interest was piqued when we were told it was her brother up next. Looking slightly like an island cross between Eminem and Post Malone, her brother then continued the assault on our ears with what can only be described as a consistent pitch with absolutely no variation. It was like listening to radio static that was out of tune and out of time, and it would just not stop.

Thankfully, the next five or so songs were sung by enthusiastic expats who were barely average, but it felt like I was listening to the opera compared to what had come before. Not to be outdone in terms of effort, the brother and sister duo each had three more goes, just in case we had forgotten how badly they had sounded the first time. It was through one of the performances that I noticed that they were both wearing a cochlear implant, which made me feel like a right old twat for about a millisecond. I am all up for inclusion and good on them for having fun, but it made me realise that having tough conversations with your children is something that needs to be done at a very early age.

It was somewhere at this stage that my darling angel Michelle decided to take the stage with a Whitney Houston classic of I Want To Dance with Somebody. She was fired up and took to the mic and the stage with the gusto and zeal of a true performer. The first few verses she was a bit behind on, but that’s ok because she was doing her best to imitate Pink on stage and get the crowd involved. Walking up and down the stage and throwing her arms around everywhere unfortunately did nothing to get the crowd on her side, and after our post show debrief, we concluded that this was what made the microphones go dodgy and not allow her to do her best performance. The crowds and I were certainly well entertained, and I am glad that she proof reads these blogs before I post them up otherwise I could end up in a lot of trouble.

With that done, we decided it was time to head home, and it was probably the first time on our trip that we had to wait for about five minutes to get a bus. We arrived home safe, and feeling tired from the day’s exploits, we headed straight to bed. Tomorrow is our last full day of our holiday, so let’s see if sunshine rears it’s head through the clouds to give us the impression that we have been on a tropical island holiday. Until tomorrow, wishing you plenty of drinks and karaoke from the islands of Vanuatu.

Your performers,

Boj and Michelle

[morrisbrokaw]

It’s Okay Not to Have Your Career Figured Out Right Away

The best part of adulthood is the small talk, hands down. Meeting new people, sharing that perfectly firm and definitely-never-clammy-on-either-end handshake, exchanging pleasantries on all the most exhilarating of topics. Never gets old!!

Within the wide realm of questions brought up most frequently in these generally uncomfortable little back-and-forths, the favorite seems to be the following: “What do you do?” Ingrained in this one tiny question are, of course, a million other inquiries: “Do you like your job?” “How much money do you make?” “Where do you rank on the wholly subjective career hierarchy I have in my head?” and (no pressure or anything!!) “Is what you do your passion?”

Ah yes, that last one, the biggest kicker of them all—is what you do your passion? I, millennial that I am, cannot say whether previous generations felt this so strongly, the pressure to do what you love. But it seems that, given the across the board delay of other milestones that once signaled success among twenty and thirtysomethings—home ownership, marriage, having children—the generation in which I’m firmly planted has saddled itself with new definitions of success: the places you’ve traveled, your selfie-taking proficiency, and your career success, to name a few.

Maybe I’m projecting. Maybe I’m flinging my own ingrained insecurities and self-doubt onto you. If it feels like I am, you are more than entitled to yell, in my general direction, “Woah, Jackie! Settle down! Have you considered that not everyone feels the way you do??” And in that case, thank you for calling me out! No, really, thank you. If you are one of those people who has always known what you wanted to do, since you were a youth; who mapped out a path and followed it and are genuinely happy with where you’re at in your career. Well. Hot damn. I am genuinely happy for you. Keep on killing it, okay?

The words I’m writing today, however, are for the other folks. These are for the people who had one million different interests in high school, who had a bunch more in college, who were never quite able to distill all of those singular activities into their *one true path*. They’re for the people who did find out what they wanted to do, but feel like they found it too late, and without a linear career trajectory plus 18 perfectly aligned internships under their belt, they feel like they can’t quite catch up. They’re for the people who sometimes feel like they’re merely drifting along through their careers, directionless, discontented or stuck.

Maybe that’s you. Maybe you feel behind. Maybe you’re in your twenties or your thirties or your forties or your fifties and maybe you feel lost. Maybe you dread being at a party and meeting new people and being asked that one seemingly innocuous question: “What do you do?” Allow me to say, firstly, THAT IS OKAY. I am saying it in all-caps because I mean it!! It is okay to feel behind. It is okay to feel lost. It is okay to dread small talk at parties. It is all okay.

Allow me to say, secondly, that I am right there with you, friend. At the ripe old age of 28, I am still figuring it out as I go. I am still a work in progress. I am still learning what interests me and, as I do, I am learning not to be so damn afraid to pursue those interests.

My personal career trajectory has been windy and disjointed, a road weaved together out of both passion and obligation. I entered college as an interior design major, and pursued that path for the impressive length of an entire few days, before switching my major to architecture. I loved a lot about the program, but toward the end of my four years, I decided that pursuing architecture as a career wasn’t for me. My heart wasn’t in it, and I think another part of me didn’t believe I was good enough at it (a fun, reoccurring theme in my life!).

I left college with a degree, yes, but also with hardly an ounce of direction. I didn’t have a job lined up. I didn’t have a clear career path to dive into. Yet, with the naiveté and occasionally blinding optimism that seems synonymous with being in your early twenties, I went after the opportunities that felt right to me then. I applied for countless jobs; sent countless cold emails to people I admired; pursued a graphic design internship with a website I loved. I took an internship at a nonprofit, a field I’d always considered entering, if only for a long-held, deeply ingrained desire to help people. At the end of the summer, I was offered a full-time job with that same nonprofit and, simultaneously, after 3 months of persistence, I landed the graphic design internship, too.

That was my life for a good, long while: I worked full-time during the day and spent many late nights and weekends working on the ol’ side hustle. The graphic design internship turned into a graphic designer role, which then turned into an editorial role. I loved what I did, in many ways, but a lot of my time was also spent exhausted—both physically and mentally—and, after two and a half years, I decided to let that side hustle go. A few years later, I still work at the same nonprofit, and while it’s an amazing organization, there is an ever-growing part of me that knows I have other interests to pursue.

Most of my twenties have been spent in a deep, dark cave of ennui—never knowing, assuredly, which path to take. I’m learning, ever so slowly, not to fight so hard against the unknown. I’m learning it’s okay not to have everything figured out. I’m learning that we’re all making it up as we go.

I promise that if you feel lost, I believe in you to find your way. You don’t have to figure it out right now. You don’t have to figure it out tomorrow. You don’t even have to figure it out next week. Unless you’re a person of the clairvoyant variety, you can’t know ahead of time which of your decisions will be fruitful, or which precise course of action will propel you toward your ideal career. All you can do is take one step at a time; all you can do is keep moving in a direction that feels right.

Maybe open up a word doc or a fresh, crisp notebook, and write down one thing (tiny or otherwise) you’re doing each day to move your career in a different direction. Maybe make a commitment to connect with one person each week who works in a field that piques your interest, whether it be face-to-face or via e-mail or through social media. Maybe take that course you’ve been meaning to take. Maybe apply for that job you’d so hastily convinced yourself you weren’t qualified for. Whatever it is you do, just don’t stop trying. Don’t get lost on the well-worn path of believing you’re not good enough. Don’t give up on yourself, okay?

I recognize that I am not an expert in, I don’t know, ANY area of life?? But I know what being lost feels like. I know what being behind feels like. I know other people feel this way sometimes, too. And I know it can be nice to have a reminder that you’re not wading through the occasionally murky waters of life alone.

So if we ever see each other at a party (I just go to SO MANY PARTIES, you know??), please come say hello. I promise I’ll ask you what your hobbies are, what you like to do for fun, and if you have any pets. I promise I’ll do my best to find that one conversation topic that lights you up. I promise I won’t start by asking what you do.

Images via: 1 / 2

Jackie Saffert is a human person who lives in Minneapolis. In her spare time, you can find her running along the river road, loitering in the vicinity of the nearest puppy at a local brewery, or recharging her soul (?!) in her tiny sanctuary of an apartment. She likes to write; she thinks you are very kind for reading the words above.

The post It’s Okay Not to Have Your Career Figured Out Right Away appeared first on Wit & Delight.

It’s Okay Not to Have Your Career Figured Out Right Away published first on https://workbootsandshoes.tumblr.com/

[whiskeyandwing-blog]

How to Drink Like the Founding Fathers this 4th of July

It should be well-known that the Founding Fathers, as well as most early Americans, were fond of a drink.  It wasn’t uncommon for citizens to start their day with a quart of hard cider and Benjamin Franklin himself noted some of his employees would take a pint in between each meal.  He would later record more than 200 synonyms for “drunk.”  Judging from the bar tab for a 1787 farewell party held for George Washington, those synonyms were used frequently.  Adjusted for inflation and converted to US dollars, the party cost roughly $15,400, which is a shit-ton of money to spend on alcohol. With that, here’s how to drink just like the Founding Fathers this Fourth of July: Beer Currently, we’re in the middle of what feels like a craft beer renaissance, with breweries popping up on both coasts of the country and everywhere in between.  But what seems like uncharted territory is really just us returning to the 18th century and, in some respects, even earlier.  We think we like beer now, but consider this.  It’s currently illegal to stop a road trip and pick up more beer because you drank it all on the drive.  In 1620, that’s why the Pilgrims didn’t make it to Virginia.  The Mayflower was packed with more beer than water and it still wasn’t enough.  It may have been the single greatest booze cruise in the history of man and the Pilgrims, of all people, were so hardcore they founded a colony just to resupply for the trip back to England. Not that long after, beer was produced locally almost down to the household.  Families in rural America brewed their own beer in small amounts for home consumption while larger breweries supplied individual cities, rarely expanding.  It was, along with cider, served to everyone eating breakfast, including children.  And if you were traveling, tradition dictated you stop in for a drink at each tavern you passed, making every trip a bar crawl. George Washington produced beer for the common people as well.  In a notebook he kept during the French and Indian War, George Washington included a recipe for small beer, a lower-quality, low-alcohol brew.  It’s not a complicated recipe and was meant for paid servants and possibly soldiers in the British Army.  The notebook includes details about Washington’s daily life in the Virginia militia, suggesting brewing was as commonplace to the guy on the one-dollar bill as a one-dollar bill is to us. There was a tasting of a limited run of Washington’s brew done in midtown Manhattan this time last year.  Pete Taylor helped decipher the recipe and actually brewed the beer, which apparently turned out well and leaned toward the sweet side.  If you’re looking to get some for your July 4th, your best bet might be brewing your own, but Yards Brewing does make General Washington’s Tavern Porter, which was inspired by the writings of the General. Thomas Jefferson was even more active in the brewing life.  Jefferson and his wife, as newly-weds, brewed fifteen-gallon batches of small beer every two weeks.  Eventually, Jefferson expanded his brewing and by 1814 there was a brewhouse in Monticello and Jefferson was malting his own grain.  Not long after, friends and neighbors were asking for Jefferson’s recipe and sending servants to train in his methods, so something right was happening at the Virginia estate.  If you want to sample something similar, Yards makes Thomas Jefferson’s Tavern Ale, based on when they worked with City Tavern in Philadelphia to recreate Jefferson’s recipe.  City Tavern’s been around in one form or another since before the Revolution and they’ve staked their reputation on being authentic to the time, so they’re a safe bet for drinking like a revolutionary. If you’re indecisive or can’t pick a favorite president, Yards offers an Ales of the Revolution 12-pack.  You get the porter, the ale, and Poor Richard’s Tavern Spruce, based on Benjamin Franklin’s recipe.  Each beer has been around for a little while, with Poor Richard’s being the most recent addition in 2005, but it’s always worth calling attention to a good bit of alcoholic historical preservation. Whiskey Jefferson may have dominated the Founding Father beer market at Monticello, but Mount Vernon was the whiskey juggernaut.  In February of 1797, Washington’s first eighty gallons were produced and by June he was expanding.  Though, surprisingly, the man behind the success of the whiskey wasn’t Washington.  It was the Scotch-Irish John Anderson.  His recipe first called for only wheat, but eventually he moved to a mixture of rye, corn, and a little barley. In fact, Anderson was so successful Washington trusted him to run the distillery, saying “Distillery is a business I am entirely unacquainted with,” and that it was Anderson’s confidence that even convinced Washington to go into the business in the first place.  Good thing he did too, because what started as a small batch distillation turned into the most successful commercial distillery in Virginia. Mount Vernon is still distilling.  While the spirits aren’t cheap, they’re not the most expensive whiskies we’ve ever seen either.  If that’s not an option, American whiskey is a well-established practice by now, despite the interruption of the Temperance Movement.  Everyone has their favorites and the best practice for celebrating an American spirit is finding a batch that fits your tastes.  Luckily, we have a few articles to help you out there. Cider Cider’s going to be a hard one to nail down, especially if we’re adhering to what was available to the Founding Fathers.  This means toss out that Woodchuck and Angry Orchard, because the ciders available to, and often made by, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington were dry, fruity ciders rather than the fizzing sugar-fests mass-produced today. There are a few reasons for the difficulty in finding an authentic cider.  Even though its popularity has exploded lately, cider’s still not as popular as beer and, like we said before, a lot of the most popular ciders are super-sweet and don’t hold true to those early, dry ciders.  A lot of availability depends on region.  So if you’re reading this in California, it’s probably going to be harder for you to find a faithful bottle than, say, a guy in New England. Plus, a lot of the apple varieties and methods used by colonists and early patriots were lost, killed by German immigration and Prohibition. It’s only just starting to re-emerge, although not always in pure strains and verbatim recipes.  Cross-breeding and reinterpretation are common, as well as the experimentation craft brewers are so fond of, so cider’s recovery is less like a recovery and more like a rebirth. It also seems like a good rule of thumb, and this is just us making an educated guess, but more traditional ciders are packaged like wine, in big 750 mL bottles, instead of six packs. All that being said, it’s not impossible to find an authentic American cider, or at least an homage to it.  Ablemarle Cider Works have a cider called the Royal Pippin, made from Jefferson’s favorite apple, the Ablemarle Pippin.  They also have the 1817, based on a recipe found in A View of the Cultivation of Fruit Trees and the Management of Orchards and Cider by William Coxe, published in 1817.  It looks like it’s sold out for this year, but it’s worth mentioning, as it’s the most authentic variety we’ve been able to find. Wine It says something about the United States when, at a party thrown only days before the framers signed off on the Constitution, everyone drank two bottles of wine and that wasn’t the end of the night.  John Adams was so enthusiastic about wine he once attempted to smuggle 500 bottles of French Bordeaux into the country so he didn’t have to pay import taxes.  When he failed, he made Thomas Jefferson do it for him.  By God, John Adams was going to do two things.  He was going to break off from the tyranny of England and then was going to get blitzed out of his mind. The Adamses once shocked a French dignitary by hosting a dinner where everyone drank so much they, by the sounds of it, puked in night tables and vases for the sole purpose of being able to “hold a greater amount of liquor.”  There’s a puke-and-rally joke to be made here, but we’re too preoccupied by the image of patriot-vomit-filled end tables to think of a good one. Luckily, wine similar to what they drank in the 18th century might be the easiest thing on this list to find.  Madeira and claret wines are still being made in the same regions they were back then, so finding a good bottle is going to be as simple as heading to your local liquor store.  Although, for added authenticity, you could always pull a John Adams. Alcoholic Punch This one is hard to make more specific.  The tab doesn’t go deeper into detail, so all we can do is guess at what they drank.  We have a few punch recipes and from the looks of them when the Founding Fathers asked for punch, really what they meant was “all that stuff you’ve got on the middle shelf, plus a couples lemons or whatever.” Our first punch is Philadelphia Fish House Punch, first made by rebellious colonists in the Schuylkill Fishing Company of Pennsylvania.  They may have taken the spirit of the Revolution a little far and declared the organization itself a sovereign state, which may or may not be treason, we have to check.  Although, the reason they haven’t been tried for treason may be that the punch decimates anyone’s desire to do anything other than lay down face first on 18th century floorboards. Stone Fence is another that sounds promising and summery.  We haven’t talked too much about rum, but rest assured, the colonists, especially Ethan Allen, leader of The Green Mountain Boys, loved it.  Stories about Allen being carted away after nights of hard drinking are common.  It’s a simple drink, taking two ounces of rum and topping it off with hard cider.  It also heavily suggests The Green Mountain Boys were thoroughly stitched for their climb up to Fort Ticonderoga. Our last one has been destroying livers presumably since people have had access to rum, porter, and the idea of mixing.  The ominously but strangely encouragingly named Rattle-Skull hits a lot of the autumnal tastes the mid-September party would have wanted, but we don’t like to think of skull-rattling as a seasonal activity.  More of a patriotic one.  In this drink in particular, measurements vary, so feel free to play with the amount of rum and brandy you want to include. Obviously, we have a lot to live up to when it comes to the signers of the Declaration but we can take some direction from this John Adams quote: “If the ancients drank as our people drink rum and cider, it is no wonder we hear of so many possessed with devils.”  In other words, “Greeks and Romans were either satanic or drunk, and I’m going with drunk.”  So, this Fourth of July, get out there and make your forefathers proud. Read the full article

[grapsandclaps]

ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK!!

Hello again everyone!! Welcome to the story of show 63 of the #100showyear taking me on an international journey of sorts to the Valleys of Wales and to be precise - Cardiff for my first taste of ATTACK Pro Wrestling who have built a good reputation amongst twitter glitterati for being an all in all fun night of wrestling and I for one wasnt dissappointed at the end of the night with it. So where do I start? Well with a 650am journey to Manchester for a meet up with @clinay (Chris) @rawcass (Sean) and the self proclaimed @theboozerweight (Chris Duffy) all of whom are decent lads and are worth a follow on Twitter. Meeting place which possibly must have been voted somewhere as one of the top 5 worst Wetherspoons - The Piccadilly Gardens Spoons which is usually infiltrated with Spice addicts and the occasional morning drunkard that frequent that certain area on a weekday. I went for a Large Breakfast and a large latte which come to at least a quid dearer than any other spoons, as the waitress turned up to table 14 she presented me with the wrong breakfast - a large vegetarian breakfast but still with my 2 pieces of black pudding in contact, i would recommend this type of breakfast apart from the bland taste of the Quorn Sausages. Breakfast done it was on our way on the long and arduos journey to Cardiff - all 3 hrs and 48 minutes picking up a few more characters, Our Geoff, Golazo Dan and Phil from Creeeeeeeewwwwwwweeeee to add to the mornings entertainment. So with a selection of energy drinks, Old Mout Cider, IPAs and water laid across the table seats it was time to chew the fat over Mad Japanese Wrestling, Who is everyones favourite Parker? and the night before's NXT and the upcoming festivities of WWE Summerslam - All interesting topics of conversation were had. 115pm was the time we arrived in Cardiff to meet up with other Twitter luminaries (The Noncebusters) and it was off to explore the bright lights of Cardiff till the show doors opened up at 645pm for a 730pm start. First port of call was Tiny Rebel Cardiff Brewery Tap next to the gigantic once rumored venue for a WrestleMania - The Millenium Stadium. Now this pub had a wide selection of craft ales with many from the rebel range and other breweries from across the British Isles, I settled for the Summer Fruit Stout (4.5%) at a cost of £3.50 and it was a good start to the day's drinking. Next stop was one amongst many a Brains Brewery pub in the City Centre - The Duke of Wellington which produced a really nice keg pint of Black Stout at a cost of £3.80. Very much recommend one of their pubs if visiting Cardiff, at least 4/5 to go around. It was time to go and reconvene with the rest of the group in the Great Western Wetherspoons near the station. Probably the only downpoint of the day was this pub with its poor selection of real ales (even though they were in the £2.50 marker), we somehow stopped in here for over 2 hours or so till moving on to pastures new of The Cambrian Tap which was another Brains pub with around 10 ales on tap plus a special offer of 2 pork pies topped with a cranberry sauce with a side of mustard grain for £3.50 complimented with another ale costing £3.70. Now as in previous issues of Graps and Claps you will know of the ongoing britwres fans Pool Championship currently held by our Geoff. Well the long search for a pool table in Cardiff took us to the Queen Vaults which is a pub down a side street offering Sky Sports, 8 real ales, a carvery and more importantly 3 pool tables. Results in this session of pool included myself losing 4-1 to Geoff and the title rematch between Geoff and former champion Chris Linay in a thrilling tussle with Chris missing the final black leaving Geoff open to clear the remaining 3 yellows and the all important black ball to retain his title to send Big Chris to the back of the contenders line. Rumours of a match with britwres oracle Alan Boon look set for Wolverhampton in 2 weeks on the King of Trios weekender - Stay Tuned. 645pm hit and it was time to hit the Walkabout venue for ATTACK Pro Wrestling Winterslam 2. A packed crowd of 350/400 surrounded the lower and balcony levels of the building to see the red hot action that was about to be produced, so lets see what went down in the matches that took place. Eddie Dennis vs Sarge Travis Banks was first up and it was great to see Banks Comedy side which is far away from the strong style kiwi buzzsaw character we are more accustomed to on these shores. This went a good 15 minutes going back and forth with Eddie Dennis proving he can hang with one of the scenes best, hitting Banks in one spot with a Razors edge type manaeuver whilst Banks was waving atop saying goodbye, some great facials from Travis here. The end came when Dennis reversed a move into the Next Stop Driver for the big 1-2-3 win fantastic opener to get the crowd going and a pleasure as ever to see Banks in a different role that works. Next up was a scramble with Drew Parker vs Goldschlager vs Beano (a bubblegum type character) vs Charlie Sterling vs Bronco Brendan vs Charli Evans in what you can expect with a Scramble match with lots of high impact moves, dives, shenanigans and tower of doom spots. Very good to see Charlie Sterling again after not seeing him for a while, not sure what his gimmick is supposed to be but he was getting a lot of Aaaaaaarrrrrrgggghhhhing from our section. Charli Evans who has just come over from down under to follow in her compatriots footsteps of trying to make a name for herself over here like TK Cooper, Travis Banks and Aussie Open impressed in her first outing in front of my eyes and i would certainly like to see a bit of in the coming months. Evans picked up the win with a very popular pop up powerbomb to Drew Parker to get the win. Next up following a turn from hostage victim Split Mcpins on his partner Fat Cat Lloyd Kat joined forces with the Brothers of Obstruction to face Kat and The Aussie Open in a very fun 6 man match that has some great stuff in it with Mark Davis showing off his considerable power to Piledriver The Obstructors. Finish came after much shenanigans with Splits turning on his new allies (Batista style) and joining his Kat friend to defeat the bad guys with Davis hitting The Awful Waffle to a huge pop and a popular win. Next is a topic of huge conversation today on Twitter with Bird & Boar vs Chris Brookes and Ryan Smile in what i thought was a decent tag match but was infiltrated with The Local Village Idiots antagonising Smile over comments Young Ryan made on the old Twitter machine about LGBT. Whilst some of the comments Ryan made were not welcome, no one deserves being told to "kill themselves" as said previous this spoilt a decent match by people with an agenda. Boar picked up the win for his team here with a package piledriver. Next up was Elijah vs the ever popular Omari in a short 8 minute match with Elijah i think picking up the surprise victory here over young Omari. This was alright whilst it lasted and two wrestlers with a bright future on the UK Scene. Main event time with Career vs Title as Flash Morgan Webster faced Champion NO FUNNNNAAAAHHH Damien Dunne in a fantastic 25 minute main event which went Walkabout around the Walkabout spilling to the merch table, many a run in from varipus rosters members including Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher pulled this awesome facial reaction when he got dived on - search it out on Alan Boons Twitter for the picture, I was rolling in stitches at this. Eddie Dennis hit a razors edge on the giant Los Federales Jr to a huge pop, Former ATTACK 24/7 Champion Warren speared Purser as well this was mental stuff. Despite skullduggery from crooked official Shay Purser, Morgan Webster picked up the victory thanks to dissension between Damien Dunne and Travis Banks (Banks hit the Slice of Heaven to Dunne, Webster only picked up a nearfall from this but reveresed it into a strangke to get the win and the ATTACK title to send the masses dancing to their booths for Summerslam later on. I only ended up stopping at the Walkabout till midnight as i was flagging abit, so decamped to The Marriott Hotel across the road (£62 for the night) and a fantastic hotel. Beer and food at the Walkabout included £2 a pint for Fosters, £2.60 for a pint of coke 😔. Food i can only go off what our Geoff had which was basically chilli con carne and 3 potato wedges in a baked bean tin for £4.75 (ripoff tory britain strikes again). As i type i am now on the way home from Cardiff having spent the morning sampling the Spoons Breakfast (£1 cheaper than yesterdays effort) and also trying out a couple more pubs charging under £2.50 for a pint. Overall a fun trip meeting as ever some good people and a chance to see a fantastic promotion like ATTACK who dont take themselves too seriously but provide great entertainment, but despite the 4 hour journey down from Manchester I would recommend anyone to go down and experience them live you will not be disappointed by them. Next review is WCPW Leeds which takes place tomorrow at the 02 Academy and looks a fantastic card including Banks vs Kushida, Mysterio vs Ricochet and Scurll vs Ospreay. Also it is my 33rd Birthday tomorrow so its a nice thing to actually see graps on my birthday, till then #grapsandclaps