The Sport of Flirting | Cabinet of Curiosities
The history of flirting is a long and seductive tale, stretching back to the first stolen glance across a primitive cave lit by fire. Long before language was conceived, we were flirting. It has been employed as a social tool since the dawn of creation, from insects to fish to birds and all mammals. Now, let us step back in time to the Victorian and Edwardian eras when the sport of flirting was given its own instructional manuals. Valentine postcard, postmarked in 1916. ACHM Collection There’s something in my eye … The first step in flirting is most often establishing eye contact, and it can include a wink or a […]
The Ripple Effect of Love
This is a love story that feels like a movie script set in the 1950s. A tall, handsome stranger walks into a Michigan pharmacy with a prescription for his mother. He spies a woman behind the back counter, the most beautiful redhead he has ever seen. The woman is Virginia “Ginny” Hersz. She graduated from college in 1955 with a degree in pharmacy. At the time, less than 5% of the nation’s pharmacists were female, but Ginny was fearless and ready to take on any challenge. When she sees the handsome stranger, she is definitely intrigued. The man is Gary Albrecht. He was drafted into the United States Army at […]
Don’t Get It Twisted | Untwist the Love
Let’s not get it twisted. When it comes to matters of the heart, one word tells the story — that word is love. If you are living in this world you have experienced acts of kindness and compassion, butterflies in your tummy, tears in your eyes, and maybe something that feels like a massive heart attack, but not entirely — these characteristics can be feelings associated with love. Some people say, “I had love in my life” or “I am too young to know what love is” or “I was in love once.” Guess what? Love doesn’t have an age limit! Love never leaves us! Love never dies! Love lasts […]
For the Love of Your Dog
It surprised me when I realized I haven’t put a lot of thought into how my dog’s collar and leash fit him. It makes me wonder what else I take for granted… I have a 12-year-old Maltese named Pip (PIP – Pretty Important Puppy). He was supposed to be my daughter’s dog, but ended up mine, and I totally love the little guy. He is usually pretty content to stay right beside me when we walk. He never pulled on the leash, but as he has gotten older, the collar and leash seem a little more challenging. I was introduced to UDogU last month, and I have fallen in love […]
Romance in the Rural South
Humor is everywhere — you just have to keep your eyes and ears open. As I have always said, you can’t make this stuff up. I was speaking in a small town outside of Winchester, Virginia, around Valentine’s Day, and I mentioned to the audience that it warms a wife’s heart to be given fancy lingerie. After the program, a sweet young woman approached me and said how glad she was I had made that suggestion. “My husband only buys me the Hanes Her Way drawers that come up real high. They are nice drawers, but I sure would like some of them fancy high-cut drawers. The only thing I […]
Scraps of Love
It is a rather small scrap of simple cotton cloth. It is faded cream in color with a pattern of soft blue leaves printed across it. And it is fastened onto a large page of paper, along with half-a-dozen other small lengths of different bits of cloth and folds of ribbon. The page is one of many pages, bound into a very large, very old, book. And there are rows and rows of books just like it. And they are shelved and preserved within the Foundling Museum in London, England. England in the 1700s was constantly wet, slicked and grimed, bone-deep cold, with steel-colored skies and frozen rivers, struggling through […]
An Interview with Trip Buchanan: February’s Mr. Bella
Name: Robert Lee Buchanan III (Third – Triple – Trip) Occupation: Dentist First Job: Construction in the summer in High School Worst Job: I had a construction Job in downtown Charleston when I was in dental school. They were gutting an old building facing King Street. My roommate and I came home the first day and all you could see was our eyes and teeth. We were coughing up black stuff. We quit after 2 days. Greatest career challenge: Running a business where you are managing a staff and trying to get everyone on the same page. Role model: My dad. Happiest when: My wife and kids are happy. What […]
Beer, Bella: The Adventure Begins
Nostalgia is a powerful thing. Sights and smells and tastes can literally snap you back to a point in time — memory instant replay, no matter how much you might have suppressed it or thought it had faded away. Sometimes it is faint, like the aroma of peaches as you walk through a peach orchard that remind you of the smell of peach cobbler coming from your grandmother’s oven. Or the flavor of strawberry in a clear beverage unexpectedly reminding you of how delightful strawberry jello was in your childhood. One of the most classic examples, and a perfect visual to the experience, is in the Disney movie Ratatouille, when […]
NOLA Cocktails | Lux Libations
It’s difficult to think about the month of February without summoning romantic memories or without perhaps considering the awkwardly introspective question, “Are we serious enough to go out on a date for Valentine’s Day?” Thankfully, I’ve been happily paired up for over a decade and am past the over-the-top Valentine’s Days and early relationship oddities. Not that we aren’t romantic — we just choose to wait until Valentine’s to show it. Or at least that is what we tell ourselves. Regardless, the holiday I tend to think of when February rolls around is Mardi Gras! Yes, I know sometimes it arrives in March, but not this year. This year it […]
Jalapeño and Ham Grits
From the Kitchen of… Fuse Aiken: Jalapeño and Ham Grits An Interview and recipe with Chris Najmola Ingredients 1 cup stone-ground yellow grits, Anson Mills preferred 1 cup heavy whipping cream 3 cups water (pro move: use chicken stock instead) 1 jalapeño 3 oz Benton’s Country Ham, sliced thin 1 tbsp salt black pepper to taste Tools: 2 gallon stock pot wooden spoon whisk tasting spoons Gather all your ingredients and tools before you begin. Hold the jalapeño at the stem. Cut the bottom half of the jalapeño off for mild flavor. Cut higher up and closer to the stem for increasing heat. Slice the desired area of jalapeño as […]
