Articles by GCurtis

For many of us, the struggle of this time of year is to maintain the momentum we had in January and keep it going all year in terms of productivity. With that in mind, I want to take a little time today to walk through ten things I try to do and think about when looking to maintain or increase my productivity.

This time around, I’m going to return to my mainstay here on the site and do a whiskey review. In particular, I’ll be looking at Quarter Horse Kentucky Rye Whiskey. As usual, I’ll start with some notes about this kind of beverage, as well as the producer. With that done, I’ll cover my tasting process in a little bit of detail to get some consistency between these reviews. Once I do that and give you my impression of the drink, I’ll move on and offer some suggestions on how I’d go about...

In this piece, I’ll be continuing my wine review series with something a little easier to get your hands on than my previous piece. As always, I’ll take a little bit to go through the drink and the brand. After that, it will be time to go through my tasting procedures so you know how I arrive at my tasting notes, which come after that. To wrap things up, I’ll finish it out with some pairing suggestions for the Winking Owl Merlot, and some thoughts on this kind of wine in general. To give a...

As the energy of new year’s resolutions starts to fade I’m sure that you, like me, are starting to get a little daunted by all of the things that you want to accomplish this year. But, rather than giving up, I think this is a good time to take a moment and come up with some strategies that will help up stay on track. Here are ten of mine, and I hope that at least some of the mare of use to you as well.

Among the many troubling things you’ve likely seen on the news lately is the developing situation in Ukraine, which sees the US and Russia having some increasingly intense conversations about the role of Ukraine in their mutual relationships. Here, I’m going to bring my skills as an academic who teaches international relations to bear in an attempt to give my take on what’s going on in Ukraine, and, potentially, why and how this conflict could escalate, though I do not think that direct...

This time around, I’m doing something a little bit different and reviewing a wine. To be clear: I am not, will not pretend to be, nor am I likely to become a sommelier. My wine tastes are simple, and usually cheap: I like dry red and white wines, and the occasional glass of bubbly when something good has happened recently. Like most of the other drink reviews here, I’ll keep it pretty short and simple. I’ll introduce the producer of the beverage as well as a little bit as far as general...

With the start of a new year, a lot of people are making their resolutions for the coming months. There are the usual ones: people want to lose weight, kick bad habits, make more money, and so on. But, there’s a lot more to getting those things done than signing up for a gym membership and making your promises to yourself. I want to take a little bit of time today to talk about how disciplined folks build and maintain that discipline over time to accomplish the things that are important to...

When it comes to maintaining discipline, for example, to keep a New Year’s Resolution, the key to doing that is both simple, and difficult to master. The key to maintaining discipline, I find, is to develop habits that you can keep consistently, and that will help you reach your broader goals. Here are ten that I think will help you become a more disciplined person.

Now that the holidays are upon us, it’s time to start planning some excellent holiday meals. The other day, I noticed that my local grocery store had standing beef rib roasts on sale, and I thought that I’d give it a try. Following some advice from my dad, who has made this before to great effect, I got the necessary tools to make it and it came out, honestly, at least as well as any restaurant steak I’ve ever had. So, to keep things simple I’ll start out listing the tools and ingredients...

Over the past few years, I’ve spent a lot of time at home, between working remotely, teaching from my home office, and, finally, wrapping up my first book-length project. Given the nature of my work, as well as long-lasting pandemics that might force us all inside for a long time, I want to take some time right now to share ten things I think you should consider improving your living space.

With the holidays coming up quickly, and birthdays being pretty constant, it can be a struggle to brainstorm what the men in your life might want for a gift. Here, I’m going to offer ten ideas that I think most men will enjoy as gifts. Generally, I like gifts that last a long time and are something that the recipient will find useful in their daily lives. Thus, a lot of the gifts here will be practical. But, with that said, I’ll also cover some ideas that are focused, purposely, on being...

Whether you got them as a gift or for yourself, a quality pair of leather shoes or boots can last a lifetime, if you take care of them. In this piece, I’ll be going through the methods that I use to keep my leather shoes and boots in the best shape that I can, even in wet and humid weather down in Florida. I can’t claim to be the expert in this, and there will be a lot of people who disagree with me. Here, all I offer is the methods that I use, and I hope you get some value from them as...

With the weather cooling down a little bit, I think it’s a good time to discuss a little heartier beer than the lagers we like to drink in the summer. This time, I’m going with a local brew, the Hollywood Brewing company Bushka Stout. As usual with these reviews, I’ll talk about the beer generally a little bit. Then, I’ll go over my tasting procedures to get the most out of it, before making some recommendations on food pairings and my overall impressions. Based in Hollywood, Florida...

With the weather in a lot of the Northern hemisphere getting cooler and wetter, now is a good time to take a look at some foods that will help shake off the chills. Here, I’m going to walk you through ten of my fall and winter favorites. Where I am in Miami, it’s been unseasonably cold and wet, and I’ve also been extremely busy with a teaching schedule. So the focus here will be on things that are fairly easy to put together as well as seriously hearty. Instead of full recipes, some of...

As an academic, I think my blood-caffeine content, most of the time, is well above what the FDA would consider being a good idea. But, all of my experience with coffee has led me to try to get to a cup of coffee that is good, cheap, gets me up in the morning, and doesn’t take too much time out of my day. Here, I want to make the case for pour-over coffee as a method that will substantially improve your morning brew, add some flexibility to your coffee choices, and save you a good bit of...

Right now, there are tens of thousands of cargo containers, filled with everything from cars to computers, sitting off of America’s coasts, and we can’t unload them fast enough to meet consumer demands. Aside from that most recent shipping debacle, the past two years have been a jarring experience for a lot of people in terms of our ability to buy the things we want and need. Store shelves are sometimes bare, and even when they’re not, we might not be able to get the things we want at...

With the recent release in No Time To Die, Daniel Craig’s last Bond film, I thought this would be a good time to think about men’s style. One of the things that most interested me about the movie from a style perspective is how many different outfits and settings we saw. The contemporary Bond doesn’t just do tuxedos, he dresses appropriately, and stylishly, for every occasion. Thus, instead of specific outfits, here are ten things I think can help you keep a consistently well-put-together...

Spoiler Alert: This review is a discussion of No Time To Die, 2021’s James Bond Film. I’ll be talking about substantial parts of the plot. If you want to see it, but haven’t, here is my one-paragraph, spoiler-free version: No Time To Die is, in my view, the best Bond film to date. It has all of the usual components: exotic locales, awesome style, and fast-paced action with gorgeous cars. More importantly, though, it’s a Bond film for today’s complicated world, and Daniel Craig’s last...

With at least parts of the world getting back to normal as COVID19 gets more under control, a lot of us are going back to the office. I recently did so, teaching on campus for the first time in over a year, and it’s been a bit of an adjustment. Here, I want to share some of my experiences as some tools and tips that I think will make the transition a little easier for you.

With the weather finally cooling down a bit, it’s a great time to start considering heartier spirits. This week at my local liquor store, the guys behind the counter recommend Einstock’s Toasted porter. As usual for my reviews, I’ll go over the maker of the spirit first. From there, I get into my tasting notes on the drink, and, finally, conclude with some notes on how I plan to enjoy it. Porters are a generally dark beer that comes in at a little higher alcohol content than, say, a Lager...