Ah that's just drunk talk, sweet beautiful drunk talk.

Alcohol... There are few things closer to my heart, and none closer to my liver. Come to think of it, there are few things closer to my heart than my liver. They say to write about what you know. Not sure who "they" are, but I'm certain I was drunk when I heard it. (The entire opening of this blog should be read as though spoken by Groucho Marx.)

                          

I'd like to preface the remainder of this blog by saying:

1. I don't have a problem.
2. I can quit any time.
3. I learned it from watching you, okay!

I can't remember when I had my first taste of alcohol. My dad used to let me have a sip of beer if I brought him one from the fridge. (No need to alert Jeff Foxworthy. I know what I might be.) I've been drinking for the joy of it since High School, but I don't think I came to a mature approach to drinking until my late twenties. Before then it was always about getting drunk, usually for social reasons. These days I'm more of an anti-social drinker, and only occasionally drunk.

My favorite drink is wine. I prefer a Chiraz or Cabernet. This is a great cheap way to get woozy, and one of the only ways I can get a buzz without getting full. As cocktails go, I like Jack and Coke or Pineapple Rum and Coke. I drink my Jack and Coke from a special cup used only for that purpose. The Rum and Coke I drink from a 44 ounce glass filled over halfway with rum. I also enjoy a sweet salty Margarita. That taste of tequila triggers a puke memory in most of us, right? Of course beer is universal. It goes with everything from Monday night football to Saturday night baseball. (Don't let that sentence fool you into thinking I take Sundays off.) I hate it when I get to that first Budweiser commercial and there's no beer in the house. I will pause a game and go buy beer if that happens.

Most nights I have a drink when I get home. Usually it's just a glass of wine, but at the end of a difficult day it may be far more serious. I have no qualms about drinking alone. I don't know where that social hang up came from, but "drinking" and "alone" go together quite nicely. Sometimes they like to invite "in the dark" and "in my underwear" to the party. 

One night I got tired of getting up to refill my wine glass, so I brought the bottle back to the living room with me. Lisa saw me refilling from the couch and said, "You don't have to use a glass on my account. You know you want to drink from the bottle." I considered it, but decided that's a line I don't need to cross. Not yet, at least.