la fee verte & andy paiko

When I was a teenager I had a peculiar fixation on absinthe. I wanted to get my hands on a bottle of it desperately, and I made a few attempts to find the "real stuff" on my vacations to the old country, but I never found anything that passed muster. By the time absinthe came back again a few years ago, my interest had waned significantly, but as it became popular I grew some kind of aversion to the whole thing. There will be no anise-flavored faux-sinthe for me; I mean, why bother if the thujone content is so low and every frat douchebag can (and does) get his hands on a bottle?

In spite of all that, I still have an interest in the whole elaborate ritual associated with the drink. I like the spoons and carafes and fountains, and if I was to say, come across a few slotted absinthe spoons in some Parisian flea market, I'd probably bring them home with me and find a place to display them.

Below are some spiffy fountains by Andy Paiko, who does some really spectacular glasswork. They've been featured a few times in the Douglas Little for Better Homes and Gardens spreads, which you can find at DL's website's press section. I have a serious thing for those bell jars. If only I had a mansion to display them in, and some fussy little thing to display in them. There's a picture of Paiko on his website, and he's pretty cute. Not that I've got a crush on him or anything.