The Shanghai Gesture*

One characteristic of manic depressives is a tendency to become obsessed with people, subjects or things.  Have learned about a variety of subjects because of my disorder: from Robbie Williams to Akitas and from Michael Ballack to the Icelandic horse.  These obsessions can become expensive, and tend to last for the duration of a hypomanic period (four to five months) and then fade away.

Right now, the flavour of the month (see what I did there) is Ginuary and gin cocktails.  Trudge round the supermarket with Mum this morning, sourcing angostura bitters, vermouth, grenadine, more gin and various mixers: ginger ale, slimline tonic, pink lemonade, bitter lemon.  You can see my purchases in the attached photo.  Also, now have a cocktail-making set which is sitting at the front of the photo, and even some martini glasses.

Actually, only make it round a fifth of the supermarket and then rest in the cafe whilst Mum does most of the food shopping alone.  Arm is hurting a lot at the moment and the antibiotics am taking for the infection are making me feel tired and unwell.

Tonight’s gin cocktail is from Cocktails and Mixed Drinks by Eddie Tirado published in 1972 and is a “Gin Sling”:

Ice, gin, lemon juice, grenadine, soda water, slice of lemon and 1 maraschino cherry (which we’ll have to do without).  

“Why don’t you make a cocktail for your father?” Mum says, so will be subjecting Dad to it too.

Pulling a clean sheet on my bed, suddenly there’s a thud as a muddy-pawed orange person lands in the middle of it.  So sheets are clean but have paw prints all over them.  Here is that person at lunchtime:

  
Happy Saturday everyone!
*1941.  Film noir directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring Gene Tierney, Walter Huston and Victor Mature.  Set in a casino in Shanghai owned by Mother Gin Sling.

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