Organizational Methods
So, in the time that I’ve been MIA, I got engaged, which has sparked the Great Household Combination of 2011. Neither my fiance (whoa) nor I are especially young, nor are our lifestyles particularly spartan. We’ve accumulated a lot of stuff over the past umpteen years. The fact that we both lived alone in fairly large places has only aggravated matters. Since he’s aided and abetted my interest in mixology, our stuff includes a not insignificant library of liquors.
When I was studying for comprehensive exams — called, ever titillatingly, “orals” in the vernacular of my particular graduate program — I amassed a lot of books. At some point in that process, I realized I had purchased a book I already owned. Finding this kind of thing exasperating, I fought back by labeling and filing all of my academic and nonfiction books (roughly 600 or so to date) by Library of Congress Number. This is not because I’m organized — it’s because I’m inherently disorganized, and if things do not have a precise place, I’ll put them just about anywhere. See also: why there is a screwdriver in my purse.
A few weeks ago, as I was testing out an idea I had for a warm grapefruit punch (which is still in development, but which I hope to present later this week), I bought a bottle of Goslings Black Seal Rum. I brought it home, cracked it open, and got to work. My fiance returned home a few hours later, and pointed out I had purchased a duplicate of a near-pristine bottle already sitting in the bar. So, we’re back to the books.
And, so I pose this question to you, dear readers: What rationale do you use in organizing your home bar? How do you keep track of what you have in stock? Is there, pray tell, a Library of Congress for liquor?
