'Twas not her garb that caught the gazers eye-
Tho' strange, 'twas rich, and, after it's fashion, good-
But the wild granduer of her mien-erect and high.
Before the English Queen she dauntless stood,
And none her bearing there could scorn as rude;
She seemes as one well used to power- one that hath
Dominion over men of savage mood,
And dared the tempest in its midnight wrath,
And thro' opposing billows cleft her fearless path.

And courteous greeting Elizabeth then pays,
And bids her welcome to her English land
And humble hall. Each looked with curious gaze
Upon the other's face, and felt they stand
Before a spirit like thier own. Her hand
The stranger raised-and pointing where all pale,
Thro' the high casement, came the sunlight bland,
Gilding the scene and group with rich avail;
Thus, to the English Sov'reign, spoke proud 'Grana Wale'.

Queen of the Saxons! From the distant west
I come; from Achill steep and Island Clare,.
Where the wild eagle builds 'mid clouds, his nest,
And Ocean flings its billows in the air.",
I come to greet you in your dwelling fair.
Led by your fame-lone sitting in my cave.
In sea- beat Doona-it hath reached me there,
Theme of the minstrel's song; and then I gave
My galley to the wind, and crossed the dark green wave.

'Health to thee, ladye!' -let your answers be
Health to our Irish land; for evil men
Do vex her sorely, and have buklar'd thee
Abettor of their deeds; lyeing train. 
That cheat their mistress for the love of gain,
And wrong their trust- aught else I little reck,
Alike to me, the mountain and the glen-
The castle's rampart or the galley's deck;
But thou my country spare- your foot is on my neck.

Thus brief and bold, outspake that ladye stem,
And all stood silent thro' that crowded hall;
While proudly glared each proud and manly kern
Attendant on their mistress. Then courtly all
Elizabeth replies, and soothing fall
Her words, and pleasing to the Irish ear-
Fair promises- that she would soon recall
Her evil servants. Were these words sincere?
That promise kept? Let Erin answer with a tear!

~O'Hart: Irish Pedigrees, vol. II

So, I was all excited that I could finally try it....until I read this and a few other articles that read the same....

"There is a chemical in traditional absinthe called Thujone, this chemical is banned in food products by the FDA. This one chemical is what makes absinthe illegal to sell. Generally Thujone comes from an herb called wormwood that is used in the production process of absinthe.

Companies and the liquor industry have found that by filtering out this chemical they can legally sell their brand of absinthe in the USA.

Seeing dollar signs many distillers and companies are now on a public relations campaign to downplay the role of Thujone and gain acceptance of this form absinthe by the American public. Many are writing articles or launching sites that promote this new view of absinthe in an effort to gain acceptance. Some make statements such as that of Lucid one of the leading brands to enter the us market states "Prohibition is finally over" giving consumers the perception that laws have changed. They are eager to promote the fact they use Grand Wormwood but downplay the removal of Thujone. It all makes for good marketing and others like Kubler and Absinte seem to be following."

So, I suppose I’m still going to have to find my way to the Czech Republic to try real absinthe....Bah!

The spirit of this law is shared with Murphy's law in it's implementation: if something good happens, something equally bad will compensate it.

About three weeks ago, for my birthday, I got the right side of my lip pierced as a present.

Now considering my past  experience with lip piercings I thought this little bugger would be infected and out of my lip already. But surprisingly it's been doing quite well - barely any lymph discharge, hardly any swelling, minimal tenderness. Fucking great, right?


So three days ago I woke up in a crazy 'I need a body part pierced' mood (this mood comes and goes) and I went and got the left side of my lip pierced before work. It was awesome, it was lovely, and I found a piercer that I totally like (he's the kind of piercer that totally deserves those tips in the tip jar )and will now be getting pierced by him until I die because he was so awesome. Anyways, after Chris pierced me, he told me that he'd re-do the middle of my lip basically for free because the hole was basically still open. All I had to pay for was the nice shiny jewelry....Unfortunately all I had money for was the one piercing and for my friend to get her beauty mark downsized. I however told him when I got paid I'd be back....

So later that night somehow, someway my friend talked me into letting her re-pierce the middle of my lip herself. "Do you know how many piercings I've done," she says. "I'm so good at piercing I should be paid for it," she says. "Fine. Ok," I say after listening to her yammer on for near 45 minutes. 

Boy was that a bad idea.

Not only does the girl not know how to pierce straight, but also SHE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO PIERCE! You wanna know what she tried to pierce me with? A dull labret stud! Yeah. A dull labret stud! Are you as horrified as I was? 

So after I realize what she's doing, I pull the fuckin' thing outta my lip (it got stuck) and  presented her with a safety pin....And guess what? The safety pin goes in like butter. Smooth, fast, and simple. Now it's time to get the stud in there....she tries and tries;pokes and prods - she still cannot get it in.I turn to look in the mirror and watch the blood welling in a little pool in my mouth. 

I've been pierced in different parts so many times and never have I once bleed like I did at that moment. False or not I called something wrong and quite.

So the moral of the story here kids is: Don't belive your friends when they say they can pierce unless you want to add on a couple more days of evil swolleness.