brandy

ASTROLIQUOR for June 15-21—What the stars say you should drink!

My Fellow Inebriates,

Here’s your booze horoscope:

Aries, be prepared for professional events this week; you may well have to give a talk or address a boardroom. In the past you’ve done this with a drunken swagger, but maybe it’s time to get serious. This is your career, and you need more than liquid confidence—you need your reflexes when responding to executives’ rapid-fire questions. This makes vodka a liability. If you really want to succeed, add some Red Bull to it.

Taurus, your computer may give you grief this week, and you’ll search fruitlessly for the problem. It’s not an aging hard drive or a bad sector—it’s all the porn you’ve downloaded. Either it’s clogging up the works or it’s introduced a virus. Poor Taurus, you don’t even remember watching that porn. You were too wrecked on peach vodka. Go outside and find some fresh air.

Friends may call you pedantic, Gemini, the way you’ve been overanalyzing and lecturing. The more information you receive, the more confused you get, leaving you mired in dilemmas that are ultimately trivial. Could it be you’re too sober? Break out some Kahlua and peppermint schnapps, plus a splash of soda and a dollop of whipped cream. You need a whimsical drink to tame that rational mind and let your intuition play.

Cancer, you’re paying unusual attention to a Capricorn colleague—weirding this person out, in fact. Don’t become obsessive. Try to empathize… How would you like it if some rum-soaked lush kept lurching at you? Okay, well, you might like it. But it’s not good at work. Coworkers are starting to find you erratic. Back off on the Captain Morgan (and the stalking) until September.

Leo, you’ll get an inflammatory message from an old friend this week. Ignore the urge to send an immediate retort; a negative response could kill the relationship. Exercising restraint is hard when you’re perpetually gooned, but do try; if you can wait just a few days, you might decide not to respond at all, thereby preserving your friendship. You need a soothing libation: two parts Irish cream to one part raspberry liqueur. Mix it up with milk to dilute the alcohol and keep yourself from drunken emailing.

The phone is ringing, Virgo, in a good way. You’ll get a job offer from an old colleague. It’ll be good to get off the couch, you think. But then you wonder, Can I do better? This is exactly the thought pattern produced by a steady drip of gin and creme de menthe and punctuated by daytime talk shows. Sadly, you can’t do better, Virgo. Take the job so you can afford to keep buying gin.

Libra, you need to harness your determination; you have a strange week ahead. It’ll start out either very busy or very slow, then it will switch mid-week to the opposite. This will wreak havoc with your plans, especially if your level of activity is tied to finance. You’ll blunder through it by maintaining a watermelon vodka buzz.

Scorpio, I was too drunk to make sense of your chart, but I think you’ll be traveling to a destination with water. Maybe you’ll go to the seaside, or maybe there’ll just be potable water available. Wherever you end up, you’ll be offered a lucrative position leading to even more travel. Have you ever combined vodka with Coca-Cola and raspberry cordial? The stars say do it.

Sagittarius, you have a birthday present to buy this week, and no idea what to choose. Possible gifts are everywhere, but you hesitate, worrying that your choice won’t be bang-on. Fretting obsessively is always a bad sign—of sobriety. Fix it with a Blue Curacao bender, then go shopping hammered. You’ll buy all sorts of things, and something will work out.

Your stress level skyrockets over the next month, Capricorn. By August you’ll either crash and burn or find yourself on a successful path. But you won’t feel certain of anything until 2013. And really, none of us will. With the Mayan End of Days coming, there might not even be a 2013, in which case the remainder of your life is f#cked. Poor Capricorn, this calls for vodka and Blue Curacao, with Red Bull to prod you back to consciousness for bathroom trips.

Aquarius, this is a terrific week for creative endeavors and redecorating. Your sense of aesthetics is highly tuned; your self-confidence is high. Get to the paint store and look at swatches. Bid on a Dan Lacey painting to make your decor unique. Speak your mind, even when people don’t want to hear it. Make sure you do this via email or phone so you don’t start a barfight. You are destined for one, but busying yourself with a recipe might help:

  • 4 oz vodka
  • 4 oz peach schnapps
  • 1 oz amaretto
  • 1 oz Midori melon liqueur
  • 1 tbsp sweet-and-sour mix
  • Juice to taste (I’m having “none”)

Pisces, the stars are favorable for romance; you could have a real relationship this week and not have to leave money on the dresser. This fills you with giddiness. Go with it—hollow out some coconuts and pour in brandy and banana liqueur. Your new partner will love the way you do whatever you want. But look out! A jealous third party will try to undermine this romantic picture. Share that booze so you can keep some of your wits about you.

ASTROLIQUOR for April 27–May 3—What the stars say you should drink!

My Fellow Inebriates,

Here’s your booze horoscope:

You realize you’ve spent the last two months in hell, Aries. Take heart; things are getting better, but you still have to work to avoid a bar fight. This week features new friendships—in particular, a new bond with someone eerily like yourself, which you think is awesome. In psychology circles we call this narcissism. The condition is further fueled by some work success. Your big danger right now is hubris and the associated bar brawl that typifies an Aries weekend. Stay home and teach yourself how to make an Irish coffee.

Taurus, that anxiety you’ve been feeling eases off this week. Now that you’re not afraid of getting reamed out at work, you speak freely—ahhh! A long-absent sense of personal sovereignty returns, and so does your inner hedonist. Do only things you really want to do! Indulge your creative side by messing around with some paint. Or, if you don’t feel like venturing into Walmart to buy paint, make yourself an Absolut Zero: two parts each of vodka, Kahlua, and cream to one part peppermint schnapps. Lovely! Your inner hedonist wants you to have ten of them.

It’s a comfort week, Gemini. You’re all about staying warm, cozy, and non-serious—and you’re on a mission to minimize work. With no patience for deep thought or conversation, you’ll be actively trivial for the foreseeable future. Jettison any tasks that matter and break out the Bacardi 151. Add equal parts brandy and peppermint schnapps, then light the whole thing on fire.

An Aquarian colleague is interested in you, Cancer. Even though this person is creepy, you feel drawn to explore the possibilities. It’s happened to you plenty of times—sheer horniness conquers logic and you end up humping in a closet. This isn’t the only arena where bad judgment will figure this week. You really ought not to drive at all, with all these rutting hormones confusing left from right for you. Oh yeah, and you’ll buy a lot of Hypnotiq for strangers at the pub.

Leo, don’t stew about your recent bad luck. Instead, find the idiots who brought it on you (Libra, Aquarius, or Leo) and let them have it. At least one of these people is a masochist who won’t mind an abusive tirade. After spending the week being an asshole, you’ll find love on Saturday. I see a lot of sherry and tequila involved.

You’ll meet new people this week, Virgo, which is a relief, because you’ve worn out your existing friends. So novel are these newcomers that you’ll feel free to be yourself. Careful! Forcing new friends to read your languishing screenplay is a sure-fire way to drive them off. Why not mix up some Southern Comfort with triple sec and listen to their stories? Just sayin’.

Libra, an industrious urge comes over you, leading you to volunteer every which way. Be careful! If you take on too much, you’ll end up as everybody’s bitch. There’s nothing wrong with the initial impulse, but you do have some douchey friends who’ll take advantage if you let them. In fact, douchey friends are going to come out of the woodwork soon. That’s because you’re finally going to complete your dream bar. It’ll have everything……rum, amaretto, Jager… But how will you pay for it? That’s easy. You’re going to win the lottery on Monday.

Not everyone gets your sense of humor, Scorpio. An acquaintance will try to one-up you this week in the prank department and be totally out of your league. Nothing is out of bounds for you; you’re fully capable of preparing an earthworm sandwich and watching your pal eat it. But there is a hazard to you. In your quest to win, you’ll overspend, leaving only enough cash for paint-thinner gin instead of Bombay Sapphire.

Sagittarius, this week it occurs to you that there are two people in the bed: the other person and you. When you ask your partner how you’re doing, you get an earful—oh, snap! That’s what comes of trying to perform after half a dozen bourbons. The good news is you’re talking about it. The bad news is you might need to modify your lifestyle a little. When it comes right down to it, life’s pretty good—someone offers you money this week for very little work. Yeah!

You get an uncomfortable surprise this week, Capricorn. In fact, everything that happens is a surprise because you’ll be spending 100% of the week hammered. The culprit is (typically) Captain Morgan. When you start drinking that shit on the bus to work, you might as well not show up. Your colleagues think you’re a total space cadet, but you can get away with it for a few days.

Aquarius, good things come in threes, so start counting. First, you’ll meet someone nice—either totally new or someone from your past. Second, work will go smoothly; you won’t even need to take a flask. Third, you’ll go liquor shopping and spend your whole paycheque. How awesome! Start with Jack Daniel’s and fill a shopping cart.

Pisces, you are charmingly oblivious to how offensive you are. That’s a real gift. It enables you to behave in a vacuum, unencumbered by considerations of others. What a perfect state of mind when you’re solo. But it gets better! You’ll meet someone who mirrors these tendencies exactly—perhaps even someone from your old cell block. So immediately connected are you that you almost read each other’s thoughts. When one of you thinks vodka and the other thinks gin, you combine the two.

Dear Santa…

Open letter to Santa Claus:

Dear Santa,

I know you are very busy making dreams come true for westernized children all over the world, stimulating the economy and driving stressed-out parents to drink. That’s cool. I just wanted you to know that there are very few things in my liquor cabinet right now. The cupboard is bare, Santa, and I’m hoping you will come through for me.

Here’s my current inventory, if you haven’t been following me:

  • Bacardi Big Apple Rum—8 oz or so
  • Malibu—maybe 3 oz
  • Cusano Rojo Mezcal—2 oz, worm definitely dead
  • El Senorio Mezcal—4 oz, never opened, worm still hanging out in there
  • Appleton Estate Rum—2 oz

So that’s not very good, right? How can I mix myself a Green Man or a Snowglobe or a Naughty Monkey without some core ingredients? I know you understand because you have a very red nose—the kind that’s bursting with blood vessels from years of imbibing excess. You feel me, right? You get my needs?

Okay, Santa, so here’s what I’d like:

  • Bacardi white rum
  • Bacardi 151
  • Blackberry brandy
  • Strawberry liqueur
  • Banana liqueur
  • Hypnotiq (or more Malibu if you can’t find Hypnotiq)

That will take care of Christmas morning. In the afternoon I’d like (please):

  • Pernod
  • Champagne
  • Melon liqueur
  • Bailey’s
  • Crown Royal
  • Amaretto liqueur

Okay. That covers most of Christmas day. Then there’ll be a big song-and-dance about making dinner and I’ll disappear for a while for a nap. I might skulk to the table if there’s wine (would you bring some chardonnay and pinot gris please?) but won’t really need anything until later, and then…

  • Peppermint schnapps
  • Goldschlager – yeah!!!

I realize this doesn’t really stock a liquor cabinet; a lot of these are specialty items that don’t figure in everyone’s everyday drinking. But I think it’s a travesty that my parents won’t keep these things on hand. Sure, they can be relied upon to buy a bottle of wine or a six-pack of beer once in a while, but they are hopeless about setting up a bar. So maybe you can come through for me, Santa, and bring a few bottles. That is, if you are not too laden down with toys for the kids here (and really, they don’t need anything much, and what you do bring them could be very small and space-efficient, if you get my drift).

Also, if you wanted to bring these things early, for Hanukkah rather than Christmas, that would be great. That way you’d have lots of room in your sleigh and you could get some driving practice before Christmas Eve, so it would be very win-win for us. I celebrate every holiday to excess and believe that liquor has a place at each and every one.

I always believed in you Santa—don’t forget, okay?