Before we were 21 we stole some hooch or had someone buy it for us and
drank in secret, marginal spaces, like behind my friend's mom's garage,
and it was thrilling. But that was long ago.

I love sipping a double IPA late at night while reading modernist
poetry, maybe coupled with a taste of cannabis and Coltrane or Bach in
the cd player. I make desultory notes. There are other scenarios, but
this one's perennial and never gets old. I'm at times all too aware
most of the other 6+billion can't even dream of this luxury, and I'm
puzzled as to why I'm so lucky.

Of course, being in any bar or pub and talking to an attractive and
intelligent woman really works well too; it's just that it doesn't
happen with enough reliability.

More common and a blast: at a friend's house, after dinner. Inevitably
red wine's flowing and five to eight of us go on and on for hours, just
talking about whatever comes up, usually politics, religion, sex, a
panoply of neurotic behavior, movies, and books.

Sips of wine after sex (AKA ****ing) always make the wine taste better
than it "really is." Weird: some really spicy, jammy zinfandel seems
perfectly suited for drinking in bed, while beer - any beer - does not.
But no doubt that's probably just me.

I used to like to go into bars I've never been in, by myself, and
eavesdrop on people. Not for info on them - they're strangers I'll
probably never see again - but just to listen to how people talk, how
they enunciate, the types of chat about people and events (rarely
ideas), and the types of cons people are laying down truly fascinate
me. The best places were bars with at least two pool tables and Stevie
Ray Vaughan blasting out of the juke. Lots of colorful speech in those.

On a few occasions I've found myself staying at a ritzy hotel near the
ocean, and there were very ornate swimming pools equipped with
"swim-up" bars. Not a bad place to sip well drinks: margaritas, pina
coladas, mojitos, etc. But that's about the ONLY place I'll drink those
drinks. Think about it: the thing is built so people will be drinking
while physically IN A SWIMMING POOL. If you don't see the beauty in
that...