First Things First

Aqua vitae
n. Strong distilled alcohol, especially a strong liquor such as whiskey or brandy. [Medieval Latin: water of life]

Hello, Ian here. The first steps into anything tend to be rather intimidating, and I'm slowly discovering that first blog posts are no exception (especially when you already have something like a ten year plan for the blog - oy vey!). But after much hemming and hawing Christine has convinced me that getting something down is the important thing, journey of a thousand miles etc. etc. so here we are.

To distract myself from the beginning of this voyage, why don't we concentrate on the eventual goal for a moment? After all our various preparations and diversions are completed, it is our hope to be able to open a nonprofit bar that benefits humanitarian organizations. The guiding theory behind this is that improving other people's lives should be as easy and accessible as possible. I believe that there is a vast and largely untapped demographic in America of people who would be happy to contribute to worthy causes if they were presented the opportunity in the course of their everyday lives. People who might get behind the idea of the profits of their happy hour cocktails being used to produce clean water halfway across the world. And for the people who make a lifestyle out of charity already, this is just one more avenue for them to contribute. Not only is there the direct monetary donation, there is also the added bonus of gathering local humanitarian minded people in one place - and plying them with alcohol! Who knows what corollary consequences could result from that kind of community!

In future posts I'll share more particulars and a bit of the history, but for the time being I humbly submit to you the premise of Aqua Vitae, a Humanitarian Bar. Here's hoping.

Thanks for being here with us (or reading through the archives if that's the case :D) for our first steps towards this goal.

-Ian