My obsession with seltzer

I was a huge sugar addict when I was a kid.  Passing around sugar packets at school, and drinking tons of juice, soda, and powdered sugary drinks were quite normal.

I continued this behavior through school and once I got to college it caught up to me.  Cavities and weight gain acted like bouncers to a sugar club.  I soon started having acid reflux issues after college and I knew I needed to cut back.

My wife got me into Poland springs seltzer and as an adult I loved it.  I specifically loved the taste of the water used from the Maine based seltzer company compared to say Polar seltzer.  I visited the old facilities during a trip to Maine a few years ago to pay my respects.

Unfortunately, Poland Spring is now owned by Nestle.  I associate Nestle with chocolate and chocolate water sounds wrong on several levels.  Not to mention the fact that a huge corporation "sitting on the mountain" of what I used to enjoy.

A few years ago, we wanted to reduce the amount of plastic we were recycling and we bought a Soda Stream.  It has been a wonderful experience reusing the same container I had when I first bought the machine making seltzer on demand.

Last year I made a major effort to remove sugar from my diet while adhering to the Tim Ferriss Slow Carb diet.  That meant half Trader Joes mango juice half seltzer drinks got the kibosh, but Tim recommended squeezing the juice from a lemon slice into a glass of water before each meal.  I squeezed my lemons into seltzer and fell in love.

It was the natural taste of lemons in a refreshing carbonated drink that really won me over.  The most natural soda a guy can get.  As this week has warmed up and I've seltzerfied myself, I can say I'm ready for the warm weather.

Here's a new series graphics inspired by my history with seltzer.  These are all available now via Society6.com.

Watercolors

I've goofed around with watercolors over the past year and I've done a couple sessions with my son.  This weekend, I decided to make these after remembering Saturday's seafood lunch.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/107297934/crab-claw-no-2-watercolor-7-x-10

https://www.etsy.com/listing/107297828/crab-claw-no-1-watercolor-7-x-10

I originally made 2 and showed them to my wife.  She remarked on the traits she liked best and I used that to do a few versions.  Laying down colors, smearing them together, then returning to add finishing touches was a fun process!  After screwing up a couple pieces while making the dots, I learned to release most of the paint on a nearby cardboard surface.  All dots afterwards came consistently and only required a dab from the tip of the brush.

The experience was quite pleasing and has me curious about how others before me have approached the same medium.