Mardi Gras and meandrous musings

The following is an excerpt from the book "Life is a Cabaret of Chum- a Memoir" by Le Cornichon:

Anxiously going through a stack of old letters and photographs, I was slowly piecing together the memories of a relationship that at one time seemed to be green and fresh like the first lilacs of the year, yet in retrospect was more like a carnivorous sarracenia plant, with my will -and desire to live- left to slowly drown in her beauty. I stared at one photo for a long time, studying her pale, perfectly line-less face, "As they pulled you out of the oxygen tent, you asked for the latest party..." I muttered to myself.

Suddenly feeling like an acerbic old bunter from Hamburg's Reeperbaugh, I let the photos drop out of my hands, those the silent witnesses of my utter destruction, and turned to open the window to let the ocean mist consume me, and hopefully, to clear my mind of the Kodachrome phantoms that smiled and mocked my torment.

It was on the occasion of my being on a small tropical island in the South Seas, that a young-ish man named Chi Chai Monchan who lives on the island told me about a pair of glamorous twins he knew in London, that were quite the toast of several continents, yet it was in Manchester, years ago, where I first saw her. I stumbled into the downstairs cocktail bar called 'The Gay Traitor,' at the Haçienda on a rainy Saturday night, frustrated with the damp that seemed to soak me right to the fibre of my soul. As I shook off the residue of the night air, coming through the doors the emotional humidity draining onto the floor was replaced by an odd predatory self awareness, that "paranoid/critical" mindset -so coined by Salvador Dali- that was especially intense on a night like this, something, a kind of electric charge was in the air, a portent of an event that would change my life forever.

I watched as an almost countless parade of would-be courtiers came and went. She seemed radiant and ethereal, with a cool, almost sphinx like expression on her alabaster colored face, her signature bow in her hair spoke of afternoons spent filled with golden laughter and daddy's soft kiss on her forehead.
That evening was spent in stealth, as did other nights when I saw her, one night she was with Isabella Blow at the Blitz, on another at Les Bains Douches in Paris with a group consisting of foppish young counts and creaking princeppas, or at Nell's in New York City surrounded by wanna-be's and art school types, girls, boys and girly-boys. I spent the evening quietly gazing in fascination, like one does observing the Darya-ye Noor Diamond, the largest pink diamond in the world, or a fresco by Giotto for the first time.
It was years later, at Pacha, the only major Ibiza nightclub which doesn't close its doors during the winter season, that I finally gathered my nerve, ambling up while eavesdropping, I overheard her complaining to some triple processed American girl about the destruction of the English language by those 'damned Paki's' -"Nice diphthong..." I quipped. Turning toward me quickly as if stick by a hatpin, she laughed "Wha? Is it showin'?" her English west country accent betraying the stories of her being born and bred in London, "May I buy you ladies a drink?" I asked. She smiled and turning to the bartender shouted "Oi! A couple of '42 Mules' over 'ere!" supposing that it was a drink and not some kind of code for security, I continued, "Are you Mimmy or Kitty?" "Kitty..." she answered, her eyes lowered to check my shoes for possible social compatibility. With what I am sure was a stupid sheepish grin on my face I said, "Oh, well. Hello Kitty..."

The holidays are over and now the carnival season is about to begin, MARDI GRAS DATES
When you're ready for the big experience, you'll need to know when it will be.

You'll find the big day can fall on any Tuesday between February 3 and March 9. Carnival celebration starts on January 6, the Twelfth Night (feast of Epiphany); and picks up speed until Midnight on Mardi Gras, the day before Ash Wednesday.
How will you know which Tuesday it will be? Ash Wednesday is always 40 days before Easter (not including Sundays) and Fat Tuesday is always the day before Ash Wednesday. Easter can fall on any Sunday from March 23 to April 25 with the exact date to coincide with the first Sunday after the full moon following a Spring Equinox! There you have it! Voila!
If you're still confused, get out that calendar with the printed holidays on it--it's the day before Ash Wednesday.
Upcoming Mardi Gras Dates:
2009 February 24

2010 February 16
2011 March 8
2012 February 21
2013 February 12

2014 March 4

2015 February 17
2016 February 9
2017 February 28
2018 February 13
2019 March 5
2020 February 25
2021 February 16
2022 March 1

Cheers!

42 Mules

1 oz 42 Below® vodka

1 oz sake rice wine

1 dash lemon juice

4 oz ginger beer
1/2 lime

1 sliced cayenne pepper

Slice the half lime into 4 separate wedges. Muddle the wedges and chili with a dash of lemon juice, and transfer to a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice cubes. Add the vodka and sake, and shake well. Pour the contents, including ice, into a highball glass. Top with ginger beer, to taste, and serve.