This here blog is moving over to Livejournal, where apparently all the cool kids blog.
The new URL is http://www.livejournal.com/users/herbivorous/. Please update your links, or synchronize your watches, or whatever the hell you gotta do to stay with the times.
I might post here occasionally, but it's mostly gonna be livejournal from here on out. Don't worry; there's comments and forumy-thingummies there, too, so it'll be much the same as here, except far easier for yours truly.
And, as I said, all the cool kids are there.
Thursday, August 14, 2003
I'm asked about absinthe on a fairly regular basis. I'm tired of it. So when a friend emailed me and asked about it, I finally just dug up as much information as I could in the scant half-hour that I had to dedicate to it, and here is the result:
The original absinthe, as *I* understand it (and I never did do any hardcore research into this as it never really interested me all that much) was a distilled spirit that contained wormwood (Artemisia absinthum) as well as other herbs. It was apparently enjoyed by sipping it thru a sugar cube, which would make sense if it had a lot of wormwood in it, because wormwood is ungodly bitter. The liquer Pernod is Absinthe without the wormwood. Three or four times a year somebody tells me that they had home-brew Absinthe like it was the coolest thing since Van Gogh cut his ear off, and three or four times a year I say "That's nice" and go on with my life.
The kick to absinthe--what made it different from other concentratedly alcoholic liqueurs--was due to the presence of the essential oils found in Wormwood, which apparently gave you a really trippy high.
Before we get everyone all scared about Wormwood, keep in mind that it is the *essential oil*, not the *plant* that is so dangerous. THIS IS AN IMPORTANT DIFFERENCE. Essential oils exist in plants at a fraction of a percent. The negative components of essential oils are a further fraction of that fraction of a percent. So using Wormwood in a tea, or in an alcoholic extract, isn't horribly dangerous--just profoundly nasty tasting. It's not an herb I'd use with pregnant women or young children, or super long-term, but it's reasonably safe as a whole herb. Likewise, essential oil of Hyssop is somewhat touchy, but Hyssop herb is an extremely safe herb that I would not hesitate to use in a children's cough syrup.
But with Absinthe, you're not dealing with the whole herb, you're dealing with a distilled spirit. Distillation is how you obtain essential oils from plants, so the process of creating Absinthe, depending on how they did it, could have contained a VERY high level of essential oil of wormwood. Again, I have no information on just how concentrated it was, but apparently it was enough to make people trip out.
The effects of Wormwood essential oil, combined with alcohol, were probably due to the presence of neurotoxic components in the oil.
Let's say that again, kids: NEURO. TOXIC.
That's about where I stopped researching Absinthe, because Momma told me to play with things less likely to cause permanent brain damage.
Anyway, the addictive/harmful nature of Absinthe caused it to be made illegal in France., but I wouldn't really take the actions of a government as a reputable source of whether or not a plant substance is actually *harmful*. However, my book on essential oil safety (published by Robt. Tisserand of the Tisserand Institute, pretty much as good of a scientific source as you're gonna get), says this about Artemisia absinthum (wormwood) essential oil:
"Do not use." (oral LD50 in rats less than 1.0 g/kg)
According to this book (Essential Oil Safety, Robt. Tisserand and Tony Balacs, Churchill Livingstone, 1995), it can have up to 70% thujone in the essential oil, which is indicated as a convulsant. (Ick.)
This book also has this to say about it: "In 1915, France banned the production of absinthe containing wormwood oil. It was claimed, with some justification, that the oil acted as a narcotic in higher doses, and was habit-forming. It was, and still is, believed that the thujone in wormwood oil was largely or solely responsible for these effects. Oral thujone is lethal, convulsive, and psychotropic in mice at 0.25g/kg. It has been suggested that thujone and delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the most active ingredient in cannabis, interact with a common receptor in the CNS and so have similar psychotropic effects."
Of wormwood oil: "Chronic administration leads to fatty degeneration of the liver." Not so good, combined with alcohol....
About the "absinthe" yer friends are raving about: There are several possibilities. One-somebody's distilling something that they're calling "Absinthe". Whether it is from the original French recipe, we don't know. So maybe it has wormwood EO in high enough amounts to make you trip with a large dose, maybe not.
Two--Same as number one, but the company making it is doing something to remove the thujone. Which would make it something that is most distinctly not really Absinthe, since the thujone is what made it so trippy--and dangerous.
Three--See one, except they're using something other than Artemisia absinthum as "wormwood". Let's put it this way: When somebody asks me for "Wormwood", I ask for the Latin name of the plant they want without even thinking about it. It's become a spinal-cord level reflex. There are about eight zillion Artemisia species, half of which are used medicinally, and half of THOSE are often called "Wormwood". So about 60% of the time the stuff they're looking for that they're calling "Wormwood" is NOT Artemisia absinthum.
The moral of the story? Your friends *might* have had real, honest-to-goodness "absinthe"....but probably not. Would I try absinthe? Probably not, and definitely not enough to cause the famous "absinthe high". At least not until I was sure I wasn't going to want to get pregnant someday. Maybe far in the future, when I'm old and have descendants who HAVE to take care of me in my dotage.
This is an interesting article, and another on absinthe.
The original absinthe, as *I* understand it (and I never did do any hardcore research into this as it never really interested me all that much) was a distilled spirit that contained wormwood (Artemisia absinthum) as well as other herbs. It was apparently enjoyed by sipping it thru a sugar cube, which would make sense if it had a lot of wormwood in it, because wormwood is ungodly bitter. The liquer Pernod is Absinthe without the wormwood. Three or four times a year somebody tells me that they had home-brew Absinthe like it was the coolest thing since Van Gogh cut his ear off, and three or four times a year I say "That's nice" and go on with my life.
The kick to absinthe--what made it different from other concentratedly alcoholic liqueurs--was due to the presence of the essential oils found in Wormwood, which apparently gave you a really trippy high.
Before we get everyone all scared about Wormwood, keep in mind that it is the *essential oil*, not the *plant* that is so dangerous. THIS IS AN IMPORTANT DIFFERENCE. Essential oils exist in plants at a fraction of a percent. The negative components of essential oils are a further fraction of that fraction of a percent. So using Wormwood in a tea, or in an alcoholic extract, isn't horribly dangerous--just profoundly nasty tasting. It's not an herb I'd use with pregnant women or young children, or super long-term, but it's reasonably safe as a whole herb. Likewise, essential oil of Hyssop is somewhat touchy, but Hyssop herb is an extremely safe herb that I would not hesitate to use in a children's cough syrup.
But with Absinthe, you're not dealing with the whole herb, you're dealing with a distilled spirit. Distillation is how you obtain essential oils from plants, so the process of creating Absinthe, depending on how they did it, could have contained a VERY high level of essential oil of wormwood. Again, I have no information on just how concentrated it was, but apparently it was enough to make people trip out.
The effects of Wormwood essential oil, combined with alcohol, were probably due to the presence of neurotoxic components in the oil.
Let's say that again, kids: NEURO. TOXIC.
That's about where I stopped researching Absinthe, because Momma told me to play with things less likely to cause permanent brain damage.
Anyway, the addictive/harmful nature of Absinthe caused it to be made illegal in France., but I wouldn't really take the actions of a government as a reputable source of whether or not a plant substance is actually *harmful*. However, my book on essential oil safety (published by Robt. Tisserand of the Tisserand Institute, pretty much as good of a scientific source as you're gonna get), says this about Artemisia absinthum (wormwood) essential oil:
"Do not use." (oral LD50 in rats less than 1.0 g/kg)
According to this book (Essential Oil Safety, Robt. Tisserand and Tony Balacs, Churchill Livingstone, 1995), it can have up to 70% thujone in the essential oil, which is indicated as a convulsant. (Ick.)
This book also has this to say about it: "In 1915, France banned the production of absinthe containing wormwood oil. It was claimed, with some justification, that the oil acted as a narcotic in higher doses, and was habit-forming. It was, and still is, believed that the thujone in wormwood oil was largely or solely responsible for these effects. Oral thujone is lethal, convulsive, and psychotropic in mice at 0.25g/kg. It has been suggested that thujone and delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the most active ingredient in cannabis, interact with a common receptor in the CNS and so have similar psychotropic effects."
Of wormwood oil: "Chronic administration leads to fatty degeneration of the liver." Not so good, combined with alcohol....
About the "absinthe" yer friends are raving about: There are several possibilities. One-somebody's distilling something that they're calling "Absinthe". Whether it is from the original French recipe, we don't know. So maybe it has wormwood EO in high enough amounts to make you trip with a large dose, maybe not.
Two--Same as number one, but the company making it is doing something to remove the thujone. Which would make it something that is most distinctly not really Absinthe, since the thujone is what made it so trippy--and dangerous.
Three--See one, except they're using something other than Artemisia absinthum as "wormwood". Let's put it this way: When somebody asks me for "Wormwood", I ask for the Latin name of the plant they want without even thinking about it. It's become a spinal-cord level reflex. There are about eight zillion Artemisia species, half of which are used medicinally, and half of THOSE are often called "Wormwood". So about 60% of the time the stuff they're looking for that they're calling "Wormwood" is NOT Artemisia absinthum.
The moral of the story? Your friends *might* have had real, honest-to-goodness "absinthe"....but probably not. Would I try absinthe? Probably not, and definitely not enough to cause the famous "absinthe high". At least not until I was sure I wasn't going to want to get pregnant someday. Maybe far in the future, when I'm old and have descendants who HAVE to take care of me in my dotage.
This is an interesting article, and another on absinthe.
Tuesday, August 12, 2003
Tuesday, August 05, 2003
Went to the coast on Sunday. It was incredibly beautiful, very reminiscent of the Lord of the Rings scenery or something out of your better woodland-set fantasy epic. Moss, dappled sunlight through huge monolithic conifers, the unutterable beauty of nature, etc. etc. I went berry picking--salal berries, which are a bit like fuzzy blueberries--and had quite a wonderful time.
However, I had one of the most ridiculous moments of my entire life thus far:
Due to an extremely regrettable combination of drinking Thursday and Friday nights, pizza, and Taco Bell, halfway up a fairly good-sized hill I realized that I was about to have an extreme Intestinal Experience. It was the kind of Intestinal Experience which causes you to be incredibly aware, deep in the forest, that there are NO restroom facilities for at least a good mile and a half around, and there is no way in hell that you are going to make it there, unless, of course, you prefer your Intestinal Experiences in your pants. If you know what I mean.
And so, after a few moments of desperately trying to convince myself that I could at least make it down to the nearby meadow to look for mullein (which is Nature's Charmin--really--big, fuzzy, nonpoisonous leaves that are a major reason that I devoutly believe that Nature is basically good to us), I told my companion to go on ahead, as I was going to need some privacy.
I scuttled back a few feet to a place off the trail which had a large, mossy opening, shuffled behind a tree, dropped trou, and did my business.
Now, the tree that I chose was entirely surrounded by a deep layer of moss, and the trail itself was very soft and spongy, so I was making almost no sound whatsoever before I got behind the tree. You really couldn't hear footfalls. Which is why I apparently REALLY upset the denizen of said tree--an extremely small (and extremely pissed) squirrel.
So there I am, in possibly the most undignified posture I've ever been in, and this tiny little squirrel no bigger than a good-sized danish pastry is squealing and chittering at me in a manner strongly reminiscent of my seventh-grade english teacher, Mrs. Wormwood. I assume that I either woke it up or surprised it, but still. I outsized it by about a factor of 150, and there it is, flicking its little fluffy tail back and forth and making Extremely Upset Squirrel Squeaks.
"Shut UP!" I said. "I'm not a predator, goddammit!"
The squirrel didn't care, and continued to screech and fuss. All the while, I'm having an extremely uncomfortable experience, and I DON'T need the help of this mighty mite to make me feel any sillier than I already do.
The good news, is, as an herbalist, I was able to identify nonpoisonous plants near the tree, and didn't wipe any tender areas with poison oak.
However, I had one of the most ridiculous moments of my entire life thus far:
Due to an extremely regrettable combination of drinking Thursday and Friday nights, pizza, and Taco Bell, halfway up a fairly good-sized hill I realized that I was about to have an extreme Intestinal Experience. It was the kind of Intestinal Experience which causes you to be incredibly aware, deep in the forest, that there are NO restroom facilities for at least a good mile and a half around, and there is no way in hell that you are going to make it there, unless, of course, you prefer your Intestinal Experiences in your pants. If you know what I mean.
And so, after a few moments of desperately trying to convince myself that I could at least make it down to the nearby meadow to look for mullein (which is Nature's Charmin--really--big, fuzzy, nonpoisonous leaves that are a major reason that I devoutly believe that Nature is basically good to us), I told my companion to go on ahead, as I was going to need some privacy.
I scuttled back a few feet to a place off the trail which had a large, mossy opening, shuffled behind a tree, dropped trou, and did my business.
Now, the tree that I chose was entirely surrounded by a deep layer of moss, and the trail itself was very soft and spongy, so I was making almost no sound whatsoever before I got behind the tree. You really couldn't hear footfalls. Which is why I apparently REALLY upset the denizen of said tree--an extremely small (and extremely pissed) squirrel.
So there I am, in possibly the most undignified posture I've ever been in, and this tiny little squirrel no bigger than a good-sized danish pastry is squealing and chittering at me in a manner strongly reminiscent of my seventh-grade english teacher, Mrs. Wormwood. I assume that I either woke it up or surprised it, but still. I outsized it by about a factor of 150, and there it is, flicking its little fluffy tail back and forth and making Extremely Upset Squirrel Squeaks.
"Shut UP!" I said. "I'm not a predator, goddammit!"
The squirrel didn't care, and continued to screech and fuss. All the while, I'm having an extremely uncomfortable experience, and I DON'T need the help of this mighty mite to make me feel any sillier than I already do.
The good news, is, as an herbalist, I was able to identify nonpoisonous plants near the tree, and didn't wipe any tender areas with poison oak.
Friday, August 01, 2003
For years the only song that I really knew with my name in it was that really really really really obnoxious song that went,
"Sarah
SARAH
Storms are brewin' in your eyes..."
I HATE it, always have, and every drunken moron in the tri-state area thinks they're being clever when they sing it at me. Off-key. With the lyrics wrong.
Besides, I think they spell it "Sara", not "Sarah", which makes it WORSE.
But a good friend of mine just clued me in to the fact that ween has a "Sarah" song that I really, really like.
So that's good.
"Sarah"
When I find you in your sleep, Sarah
I will tell you what you mean to me, Sarah
I know this big world ain't always what it seems, Sarah
Forever may I love you, and forever may you dream, Sarah
When I find you in your sleep, Sarah
I will tell you what you mean to me, Sarah
--ween.
That's better. Much, much better. And they spelled my name right.
"Sarah
SARAH
Storms are brewin' in your eyes..."
I HATE it, always have, and every drunken moron in the tri-state area thinks they're being clever when they sing it at me. Off-key. With the lyrics wrong.
Besides, I think they spell it "Sara", not "Sarah", which makes it WORSE.
But a good friend of mine just clued me in to the fact that ween has a "Sarah" song that I really, really like.
So that's good.
"Sarah"
When I find you in your sleep, Sarah
I will tell you what you mean to me, Sarah
I know this big world ain't always what it seems, Sarah
Forever may I love you, and forever may you dream, Sarah
When I find you in your sleep, Sarah
I will tell you what you mean to me, Sarah
--ween.
That's better. Much, much better. And they spelled my name right.
I wrote this in response to a post Sam had on his blog about religion:
I think this little mini-essay of yours touches on one of the things I find most puzzling about human beings, which is to say our incredibly ridiculous arrogance.
The concept of "faith" pretty much sums it up, but what I've noticed is that religion is one of the only areas where it's openly discussed--nay, it's a PRIME COMPONENT of (most) religion(s).
But people divorce themselves from thought on a *daily basis* via much the same process. The immense hubris I've noticed is the unending ability of humans to believe that they have the answers, that they couldn't possibly be wrong, and to swiftly denigrate anyone trying to say otherwise.
Which, when you consider how much scientific knowledge, "common" knowledge, cultural idealogies, and political beliefs that we now consider to be dangerous, incomplete, or just plain wrong, is kind of a ridiculous stance.
A hundred years ago they thought they pretty much had the whole physics thing figured out, except for a couple of pesky things about light.
Slavery was considered the norm a millennia ago--hey, read the Bible for further instructions on the proper treatment of slaves.
"Common" knowledge a century ago held that hemp was a valuable crop for rope and other fibers. (Um....)
You'd think, looking at all the odd things humans have chosen to hold as "knowledge", that we might be able to look around and say, "Ya know, I bet a good 45-60% of the stuff I think I know is absolute fucking crap. So it would behoove me to be awfully goddamn open-minded when confronted with alternate ways of viewing my world." In other words, THINK CRITICALLY.
People identify with certain groups, and often, shut off their brains as a result. I read an interesting little vignette written by a guy who'd actually MET someone that thought Bush was doing a stand-up job. After questioning the dude, he finally just asked, "Why????"
The answer?
"I'm a Republican".
In other words, I have faith in the group in which I have chosen to self-identify, therefore I am not questioning or thinking analytically anymore. I have faith in the Republican Party!
Happens a lot in the sciences, too. Which is a shame, as science is a tool that humans have created that, when applied properly, really does a bang-up job of removing some of the bias we have towards what we think we "know" in favor of formulating new ideas on the way the world works based upon rigorous examination of carefully collected data. In theory, we should have a constantly shifting body of knowledge that reflects research. In practice, there's a helluvalotta dogma that tends to slow the process down considerably--people who have faith in their theories, in the way things "ought to be" depending on their (horribly subjective) ideas/perceptions of the world.
And, of course, there's the political arena....If you think that towelheads are gonna bomb the local Wal-Mart, then you've put a lot of creedence into extraordinary silly ideas. But a lot of people *have*, including the jokers in power at the moment.
I think this little mini-essay of yours touches on one of the things I find most puzzling about human beings, which is to say our incredibly ridiculous arrogance.
The concept of "faith" pretty much sums it up, but what I've noticed is that religion is one of the only areas where it's openly discussed--nay, it's a PRIME COMPONENT of (most) religion(s).
But people divorce themselves from thought on a *daily basis* via much the same process. The immense hubris I've noticed is the unending ability of humans to believe that they have the answers, that they couldn't possibly be wrong, and to swiftly denigrate anyone trying to say otherwise.
Which, when you consider how much scientific knowledge, "common" knowledge, cultural idealogies, and political beliefs that we now consider to be dangerous, incomplete, or just plain wrong, is kind of a ridiculous stance.
A hundred years ago they thought they pretty much had the whole physics thing figured out, except for a couple of pesky things about light.
Slavery was considered the norm a millennia ago--hey, read the Bible for further instructions on the proper treatment of slaves.
"Common" knowledge a century ago held that hemp was a valuable crop for rope and other fibers. (Um....)
You'd think, looking at all the odd things humans have chosen to hold as "knowledge", that we might be able to look around and say, "Ya know, I bet a good 45-60% of the stuff I think I know is absolute fucking crap. So it would behoove me to be awfully goddamn open-minded when confronted with alternate ways of viewing my world." In other words, THINK CRITICALLY.
People identify with certain groups, and often, shut off their brains as a result. I read an interesting little vignette written by a guy who'd actually MET someone that thought Bush was doing a stand-up job. After questioning the dude, he finally just asked, "Why????"
The answer?
"I'm a Republican".
In other words, I have faith in the group in which I have chosen to self-identify, therefore I am not questioning or thinking analytically anymore. I have faith in the Republican Party!
Happens a lot in the sciences, too. Which is a shame, as science is a tool that humans have created that, when applied properly, really does a bang-up job of removing some of the bias we have towards what we think we "know" in favor of formulating new ideas on the way the world works based upon rigorous examination of carefully collected data. In theory, we should have a constantly shifting body of knowledge that reflects research. In practice, there's a helluvalotta dogma that tends to slow the process down considerably--people who have faith in their theories, in the way things "ought to be" depending on their (horribly subjective) ideas/perceptions of the world.
And, of course, there's the political arena....If you think that towelheads are gonna bomb the local Wal-Mart, then you've put a lot of creedence into extraordinary silly ideas. But a lot of people *have*, including the jokers in power at the moment.
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