# Three Martinis



## aubie84 (Nov 11, 2007)

Tonight, I drank three martinis.

And I probably thought a little much. 

Something began to make perfect sense to me. Something that will likely get lost in drunken translation. 

But, damn it, I shall try.

Tonight, while drinking martinis, I realized how much a night of drinking martinis is like a bad relationship. It begins before even the first sip. You know you have the gin, vermouth and olives. Everything is in order. You are alive — tingling, even — with anticipation.

You make the first drink. It’s clean, potent, stylish in its glass. You let the first sip linger, resonate like the first tasty kiss from a lover. Your senses are alive. You’re stimulated and, soon, you’re buzzed. All is well with the world. All is especially well with you.

You make the second drink. Oh, you’re still intoxicated, but the crispness of that first taste is a bit dulled. There’s an element of enjoyment still there, but everything seems much more plain, routine, flat. You tell yourself that you can get that resonance back, but you’re senses have been irreversibly dulled. Still, you plug along. All the while you tell yourself, “It’s worth it.”

You make the third drink. At this point, the effort is about nothing but getting plowed. There’s no real enjoyment. An entire sea of martinis made from the finest gins, vermouths and olives could never bring back what was there at the start. You know it and the alcohol knows it. You sip, sip, sip. Then, finally fed up, you turn up the glass and get it over with. The aftertaste makes you shudder, and you know that, when the morning comes, you'll pay.

It’ll be awhile before the next martini. Maybe you’ll never even have another. Or so you tell yourself. 

So I’m sitting here, three martinis in me, thinking how a three-martini night is like a bad relationship. And I’ve found the answer. 

Next time I drink martinis, I’m stopping at one.

Well, maybe if it’s better gin ...


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## terrib (Nov 11, 2007)

Aubie, I am laughing. That is soooo cute. And true I must say.


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## Truth-Teller (Nov 11, 2007)

Are you an alcoholic?

Your writing has truth; but I am more concerned about your health.


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## aubie84 (Nov 12, 2007)

Truth-Teller said:


> Are you an alcoholic?
> 
> Your writing has truth; but I am more concerned about your health.



TT,

Not an alcoholic at all, though I do enjoy the occasional social cocktail. This is just an account of an epiphany I had one three-martini night. And even single-martini nights are very rare for me.

aubie84


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## ImissyouNettieMoore (Nov 12, 2007)

*Or*

Perhaps you should have four. Maybe its an odd number curse.


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## SevenWritez (Nov 12, 2007)

Holy God damn. That's some nice writing, especially that clean-cut style. For reason I can't understand I kept imaging the smell of cologne (I don't know, either). 

But yeah, anyways, this is one hell of an epiphany.


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## Truth-Teller (Nov 12, 2007)

Sevenwritez is a funny fellow; he thinks everything is a masterpiece.

Be honest with how you were with my piece--for I do the same. Tell the truth.

Whenever I review someone's work (whatever his/her age is) I compare it with Stephen King's best work, and I critique from there.


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## surfacetoday (Nov 13, 2007)

Truth-Teller said:


> Are you an alcoholic?
> 
> Your writing has truth; but I am more concerned about your health.


 
truthy, buddy.
three martinis is not alcoholism, believe me.

Aubie, I liked this much better than your poetry. You have a wonderful command of language.


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## SevenWritez (Nov 13, 2007)

Truth-Teller said:


> Sevenwritez is a funny fellow; he thinks everything is a masterpiece.



Considering I've read most of the pieces in both non-fiction and fiction and only commented on a few, I'd say I reserve praise for pieces needing praise.




Truth-Teller said:


> Be honest with how you were with my piece--for I do the same. Tell the truth.



You mean the one you posted then took down when everyone said it sucked? I read it to be polite, but it wasn't enjoyable; it felt like a wanna-be ripoff of Stephen King's style. That's the truth. This writing style was clear and crisp--that's the truth. 



Truth-Teller said:


> Whenever I review someone's work (whatever his/her age is) I compare it with Stephen King's best work, and I critique from there.



I suggest reading more than Stephen King. I've abandoned him (for the time being at least), to read authors who can actually formulate a plot without using a dues-ex-machina to resolve everything. I remember you stating that in blah years you would be writing better than Stephen King. I'm not saying that's a bad goal to aim for, but maybe you should...I don't know, find your own voice? The whole "compare with Stephen King's best work," makes me think you haven't read much outside him, and that ain't too good, considering that he reminds me more and more of J.K. Rowling as I devour more and more books. He can tell a good tale, but his writing is nothing I'd want to mimic. Not like I used to.


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