26 Comments
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Henny Hiemenz's avatar

Your version of the selfie is definitely not creepy. Really it’s great.

(maybe he won’t kill me now) 🤣

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Daniel Puzzo's avatar

What?! No, that's not the effect I was going for!

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Margaret Bennett's avatar

I’m very pleased you got to drink it. Also the headlines of those articles drive me round the bend. Why?

I think this was a much better read.

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Daniel Puzzo's avatar

Thank you, that means a lot. I also think this was a much better read (haha).

I did actually read some of the other articles. I can't say they were uninteresting, but...they were very technical about the whisky/whiskey itself. I thought my little adventure-spin was more interesting, but alas, they disagreed (jerks! 😂)

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RAM Transcreation Services LTD's avatar

Yes. 👏 I enjoyed your introduction to your book. 📕 like a screenplay. Thanks 🤩

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Lewis Holmes's avatar

When chaos strikes, we latch onto something tangible that we can control. If that's a decent bottle of scotch then so be it. I'm so glad you got to see it away.

People think I 'know' whisky but I'm actually a total barbarian. I mainly like lowlands stuff; bring me something peaty from the islands and I shrivel up and die inside. My palate is nowhere near refined. I actually prefer bourbon.

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Daniel Puzzo's avatar

I love the peaty stuff but it was accidental. I never used to but one year when my parents were travelling to see me and I asked them to grab me a bottle in duty free they were in a rush and picked up the first thing they saw - a heavily peated Ardbeg and I loved it. So you never know.

I don’t mind a bourbon now and again, mainly in the summer. Otherwise, I limit it to cocktails - an old-fashioned, of course.

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Maggie Jon's avatar

Initially I thought the name 'Raasay' was a joke, like a weird way of saying Russia 😅 I can't imagine what it must have been like, leaving your country like that. It must have been devastating.

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Daniel Puzzo's avatar

I'm sure the headline confused a few people! If anyone found this one confusing, just wait until my next post - the headline isn't even in English.

Yeah, it wasn't easy to leave and all the uncertainty doesn't help. But at least we're safe and my daughter is well and that's what keep's me going.

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Maggie Jon's avatar

Absolutely, that's the most important thing 🫂

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Alja Brunova's avatar

That last selfie with the grin goes well with the title. A political statement. A bestseller cover. A menace, a threat.

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Jayne Marshall's avatar

Another great read ❤️

It makes a lot of sense how and why that bottle of whisky would come to hold a wider significance. Just thinking of that new home, that still barely furnished flat and the life you thought and planned to have there, versus what happened so suddenly and terribly. It's.. wow… it's huge and a lot to process to say the least. I really hope you enjoyed that glass of Raasay on finishing this post. You more than deserve it.

On a very different note - that Note... I don't understand people sometimes. Did she unsub to you? Cus, as you say, there is nothing about your life story thus far that feels generic!

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Daniel Puzzo's avatar

That Note really is something else, huh?

So funnily, we actually collaborated on a post a couple of months ago and we both love Oliver Burkeman, so we were going back and forth talking about him. She subscribed to me, I subscribed to her. She was supposed to be doing some Burkeman stuff but either I missed it or it’s behind a paywall. Anyway, I haven’t even read any of her posts, they don’t really grab me.

And then that note popped up the other day, and I think she’d unsubscribed just before that! The cheek!

So just to prove how mature I am, I didn’t unsubscribe from her…

…at first. But then I did yesterday 🤣

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Jayne Marshall's avatar

Isn’t delayed gratification meant to be a sign of maturity? I’m impressed you didn’t unsub immediately! It makes even less sense now that you said about the collab and everything. Did you know there is some app or something where you can see how many people have blocked you on Substack? @Kay Stratton tried it out and it’s mad what people get up to behind their screens. Anyway, getting of the main topic of your post now, which I really enjoyed.

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Daniel Puzzo's avatar

I'd be curious to find out who's blocked me, but I haven't said anything inflammatory or offensive, as far as I know, so anyone who has blocked me must get easily offended. 'Oh no, he's written about Ukraine again? BLOCK! Another post where he's talking collocations? BLOCK! I can't take any more awful puns! BLOCK!'

I'll have a look for this app.

Funnily enough, in my early Substacking days, I mixed up the block/mute functions, and so I blocked a few people when I only meant to mute them! Oops. Maybe it's them blocking me in retaliation.

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Jayne Marshall's avatar

😂😂😂

It was surprising when Kay did it how many there were, but I think maybe some of it is people confusing Block and Mute…

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Kay Stratton's avatar

Oh yeah. I should try that again now! I bet there’s tons.

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Jayne Marshall's avatar

Tons of people with no taste!

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Lee Bacon's avatar

I have the same sophisticated technique for describing wine. “Mmm. It’s… earthy and … um, bold. With notes of raspberry and … macadamia nut?” Then you pray the other person is clueless enough to go with it.

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Daniel Puzzo's avatar

Intriguing. Haven't come across any wines with notes of macadamia nut. I'll keep an eye out for some.

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Francis F's avatar

Love a whiskey now and again! I need to be careful if I have a bottle in my house I can drain it quite quickly ! 😆 love a Dalmore ! Yum !

I have no idea why those types of selfies are taken, yours is much better 😆😆. But on a serious note , I honestly don’t know what I’d do if I had to leave my house behind and all its belongings! I’d think I’d cry and worry for the little things , like my kids mini gold Chinese zodiac signs (they are half Chinese) my little china cat, to big things like all my dads art work hanging on the walls. If I have alcohol in the house in doesn’t usually last long , so no worries there !

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Daniel Puzzo's avatar

Yeah, the alcohol does go quickly, that's for sure.

Believe me, there are so many little things I fret over. When we went back last summer, there were bags of my daughter's never worn clothes that were too small, and some cute stuff my mother or my wife's grandmother had made. (nothing was wasted, all donated of course).

What really gets me is my book collection and wondering when (or if?) I'll ever have my own place where I can put all of my books on display. I've got them spread out everywhere - loads of them with my parents in the US, some with my sister in the UK, a handful year, but the bulk of them are now boxed up in Kyiv (we're renting our flat, so had to tidy it all away).

I also have a lovely painting or two sitting in some room, all alone 😭

Oh well, such is life. At least we're all fortunate to be where we are, could be worse, right? (and whisky is sold everywhere, so there's that 😉)

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Francis F's avatar

I can’t imagine it ! I hope you get to go back soon , but sounds like you’d need to sell your flat and buy a house with a very large spare room that you could turn into your library 😁 wouldn’t that be great !!

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Abhcán's avatar

Good job on securing the Raasay!

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JoAnna Puzzo's avatar

I bought that bottle of Raasay not Fartley! I’d like an apology.

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Daniel Puzzo's avatar

From what I can tell you, you haven't clicked on the little heart indicating you liked this post, so...too bad, so sad, no apology for you!

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