I'm not terribly enthusiastic about drinking news this week. Not only am I still worn out from the holidays (goodness, it's taking a long time to rebound), but I'm about as inclined to indulge myself right now as an anorexic is inclined to eat a steak.
I read all sorts of articles about heavy drinking days: Thanksgiving Eve is now "Black Wednesday" and the biggest drinking night of the year. New Year's Eve is obviously a pretty big drinking night (though I've noticed that many party-types stay home that night). Halloween has gotten a party reputation, and of course the Big 3 Summer holidays (Memorial, Labor, and The Fourth) are known for beer drinking around the grill.
But what are the light drinking days? Every Tuesday, yes, but when is weekend drinking light? I have to believe the first weekend after New Years has to be awfully light. I'm guessing Easter weekend is light, too, though it's often punctuated with college breaks and the NCAA Final Four games. If any of you have worked in a bar or party store, put your nominees in the combox. I'm curious.
__________
Beer is again gaining in relative popularity. Spirits had been narrowing the gap between it and beer's popularity, but that apparently stopped this year: spirit sales slowed and beer stayed the same. The article credits craft beer and a growing desire to imbibe at home for keeping beer sales stable.
I'd credit a hangover I got last February. I drank one glass of wine and had a nasty hangover the next day. And no, it wasn't a gadget glass that holds 40 ounces. It was a mere 7 ounces or so. After that, I switched back to beer and haven't tasted wine again. I keep meaning to try it again, but I'm still a bit gun shy, plus I have a large stock of high-quality beer that makes me salivate every time I open my basement closet door. I realize wine isn't a spirit, but the episode bolstered beer sales in my house, and I never drink liquor (occasionally, a shot of Schnapps or a dessert liqueur, but never real liquor).
__________
A funny letter to the editor (not the best-written piece, but funny):
I recently returned to the glorious world of fine drinking after a year of liquor hiatus (guys do the dumbest things for a woman), and as I walked into a local watering hole for the first time, what did I see but a sea of bar patrons drinking Miller High Life. I see this phenomenon everywhere I go now.
Did I miss something during my year off? Did Buckaroo Banzai send me beyond the 8th dimension?
After all, the last time I saw someone drinking this sweat-sock juice, burnt popcorn-flavored beer in the past 20 years was my basement-dwelling neighbor who spent his days sniffing glue and watching reruns of “Petticoat Junction.”
__________
Which candidate would you like to drink with? Cast your vote here. I wouldn't want to drink with any of them, not even the guy I'm rooting for, Ron Paul. I picked Fred Thompson by default.
It hasn't always been that way. I think Bill Clinton would've been fun to have a drink with, as would a twenty-something George W. Bush. Reagan? Maybe. George H. and Nixon? Never. Ford? If he's buying. LBJ and Kennedy? Yes.
My choice of drinking partners obvious doesn't match the people I'd vote for. It's not that unusual. I hang out with some people with questionable morals, but it doesn't bother me. We're just drinking a couple of beers, and they're fun guys. I wouldn't want them hanging around my wife, but for me to lift a few with them? It's good.
__________
