picking poisons

I inadvertantly poisoned myself this afternoon. No ill effects that I can see now, but that only opens the door to more sinister possibilities.

I went back to San Angel this morning and went shopping at the market in the square, and the small independent boutiques through the area. If you are looking for high quality, curated, Mexican artisanal crafts and jewelry, this is the place for it. Of course, you pay a steep premium for the pleasure and convenience.

In my browsing, I picked up a pair of polished wood shot glasses for about $4. They are really quite lovely, each made from a single turned piece of heartwood, dark, with really pretty grain. They are a pleasure to hold.

I washed them out when I got home, and tested one with a shot full of mescal. The way I normally drink mescal is to sip it, so the mescal sits in the cup for a little while, maybe five or ten minutes. The flavor seemed just a hair off, and I thought, maybe the alcohol is acting as a solvent if these things are stained incorrectly. After filling it again with vodka and letting it sit for ten minutes, I poured the vodka into a clear glass to observe the color. There was a faint but definite yellow tint.

So I figure I drank a shot worth of mezcal tainted with whatever was used to varnish or stain the wood. Interestingly, the other wood shot glass passed the sitting vodka test fine.

Right now I feel fine. Actually pretty good from sipping on the mezcal (from a ceramic shot glass this time). Probably I didn't consume enough of whatever it was to do any harm. Probably the mezcal is wreaking more damage.

Anyway, tonight I cleaned the apartment a bit, ate some noodles for dinner, slowly sipped away a few shots of mezcal and practiced with a Spanish-language version of Monsters, Inc. Good movie.