I have been agonizing over how to write this first post for a very long time. Since 2016. I meant to start this in 2017. And here we are, in 2018, several drinks in on a night when I should be working on a graduate school assignment and finally inspired to write.

I have been fascinated by alcohol since I could drink (which was forever), and I have been learning since before I could legally drink (which was about six years ago). I’ve had a solid relationship with liquor while my personal relationships flourished or decayed. And through it all, I have seen what alcohol can do to people and what it does to me.

I could tell you why I’m determined to start this quest of righting the wrongs of alcohol and educating people on how to drink in the name of a healthier attitude. But I think you would be more interested in learning why I suddenly found the gumption to declare that I’m here.

One thing that happened was me finally starting to watch Sex and the City. There’s something about hearing a main character write …. basically a blog … that is vaguely inspiring. I can only hope that one day my group of friend gals and I will congregate in my apartment to drink and talk about our lives. But unfortunately, as you’ll probably learn eventually, my closest friends are scattered across the country.

But the other thing that happened was #BeersforBrett. A hashtag that gained traction after the most recent Supreme Court nominee was recently confirmed; an effort in celebration that was sour, ill-informed, and tone deaf. That was kind of the last straw for me. People were using alcohol, which was one of the most problematic parts of the whole Kavanaugh case, to celebrate the successful confirmation of a man who showed very poor judgment under the influence. It was frustrating. Nowadays a quick scan through the Beers 4 Brett hashtag on Twitter shows most people condemning it but at the time, it was baffling to watch. 

I want Symposiia to be able to accomplish so much, and it will be a lot of things: it will be personal, fun, adventurous, educational, enlightening, and delicious. I hope to be interesting to everyone who’s interested in learning about drinking, whether they partake or not. I hope you’re of legal drinking age. I’m so excited for you to join me. Thanks for listening.