Tonight I had mojitos on Sauces’ patio with my friend AL (those are her first and middle initials, which is the reason they’re both in caps).\u00a0 Conversation with her produced many new blog ideas.<\/p>\n
AL has been on a health kick since I first met her in February.\u00a0 She told me that she had an acai berry smoothie at Bluff City Coffee<\/a> on South Main earlier.\u00a0 The acai berry<\/a> is apparently even higher in antioxidants than the blueberry.\u00a0 She told me she wants to try the goji berry<\/a> which is even higher in antioxidants still, but goji berries are something like 20 bucks a pound.<\/p>\n Then AL tried to get me on a health kick.\u00a0 She asked me to describe what I eat and drink on a typical Monday.\u00a0 “Well, I get up about 8, and head to work,” I told her.\u00a0 “I check my e-mail, and if there are no major crises, I head to Jack’s and buy a liter bottle of Mountain Dew.”\u00a0 AL frowned and told me Mountain Dew is full of high fructose corn syrup, which is apparently bad to drink.\u00a0 She asked if I ate breakfast before work, and I told her typically no.<\/p>\n “Paul!” she said.\u00a0 “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.\u00a0 It has the most affect on your metabolism.”\u00a0 She proceeded to tell me what she eats for breakfast, including a bunch of foreign-sounding stuff (I think “kashi” was mentioned) and berries.<\/p>\n “Well, I do eat breakfast sometimes<\/em>.\u00a0 If it’s a slow day at work, I’ll walk over to Elliott’s after I bring my Mountain Dew back, and get a Tribute to Bill Saba breakfast sandwich.\u00a0 It’s bacon, sausage, ham, egg, and cheese on toast.”<\/p>\n AL frowned again and then said, “Well, okay, at least you’re getting your protein.\u00a0 And the toast isn’t so bad if it’s whole wheat.\u00a0 Do they use white or wheat toast?”<\/p>\n “I don’t know, I don’t bother to stop and check what kind of toast it is,” I told her.\u00a0 “But I know they cover it with butter.”\u00a0 AL frowned again.<\/p>\n I continued, “For lunch I usually eat out.\u00a0 Today I went to Big Foot because I have a friend working there.”<\/p>\n “Your BFF,” said AL, who reads my blog daily.\u00a0 More on her later.<\/p>\n “Today I got the Asian egg roll salad, just to be different,” I said.\u00a0 “But usually I get something like the Four Cheese Burger, add mushrooms.\u00a0 Or sometimes bacon.\u00a0 And fries.”\u00a0 At least AL and I found something to agree upon as we discussed burgers.\u00a0 We both hate ketchup.\u00a0 Mustard is our condiment of choice.<\/p>\n “So after lunch I get back to the office, fill up the water bottle, and add one of those one-serving Wyler Light (imitation Crystal Light) packets they sell at Walgreens.”<\/p>\n AL lit up.\u00a0 “Paul!\u00a0 That’s great!” she complimented me.\u00a0 “Go on.”<\/p>\n “And then about 2:45,” I continued, “I decide the Wyler Light is kind of boring, and go get another Mountain Dew.”\u00a0 AL frowned again.\u00a0 “But I only get the 20-ounce bottle in the afternoon.\u00a0 Unless I’m having a really stressful day, in which case I get the liter again.”<\/p>\n That took me through the end of the work day.\u00a0 “I get home from work about 5:00,” I told her, “and on a typical Monday I’m back out the door at 5:01 to head to Pint Nite at the Saucer to drink some beer.\u00a0 My all-time record on a Pint Nite is 14 beers, but that’s atypical.\u00a0 On a normal Monday I only drink somewhere between 8 and 13, with 10 being about average.”\u00a0 AL frowned yet again.\u00a0 “After I leave, half the time I’m so tired I just wander home.\u00a0 The other half the time I stop at either Big Foot or Huey’s for Paul’s Drunkass Food.\u00a0 If it’s Huey’s I usually get the nachos.”<\/p>\n AL told me, “I’m going to make you a health food basket of foods you should eat.”\u00a0 She mentioned some type of oatmeal I had never heard of before, as well as turkey-flavored tofu lunchmeat (YUKKKK!!!!!!) that she eats on sandwiches, berries, and some other stuff that sounds no fun at all to eat.\u00a0 Then she said she’s going to throw in a package of Boca burgers too.\u00a0 “They taste just like real burgers,” she said.\u00a0 I have a feeling I will never make fun of Krystal again after eating a Boca burger.<\/p>\n Conversation then turned back to my BFF.\u00a0 AL asked what was the birthday present that I got for my BFF, and I told her.\u00a0 “Paul!” she replied.\u00a0 “That’s a really thoughtful present.\u00a0 Maybe I should be your BFF.”\u00a0 Hmmm.\u00a0 Let’s examine that idea for a moment.\u00a0 AL spent most of the two hours on the patio coming up with ways for me to improve my health (even if they do involve some weird foods), she picked up the tab for our drinks, and gave me a hug as we parted ways.\u00a0 My current BFF on the other hand, never pays for any of my drinks, regularly asks me to buy her drinks, flips me off all the time, insults me, refuses to hug me two-thirds of the time… why is this girl my BFF again?<\/p>\n AL then had another idea.\u00a0 “I know what you could do,” she said.\u00a0 “BFF of the Month.\u00a0 Every month, you could pick a new BFF.”\u00a0 Hmmm, that’s not a bad suggestion at all.\u00a0 Maybe I’ll select a new BFF on May 1.<\/p>\n Then AL followed it up with another suggestion.\u00a0 “You could do a blog post called the BFF Commandments.\u00a0 The rules of being a good BFF.”\u00a0 I LIKE IT.<\/p>\n More good blog ideas followed.\u00a0 “You could do a hotspot of the month,” she said.\u00a0 “Every month you could pick one place Downtown, and spend the entire month writing about different items on the menu, its atmosphere, the crowd.”<\/p>\n “I kind of already do that,” I told her.\u00a0 “It’s just that the Flying Saucer has been the Hotspot of the Month for the past 30 months.”<\/p>\n AL asked why I drink Mountain Dew rather than coffee, and I told her I hate coffee.\u00a0 “What do you drink at Starbucks, then?” she asked.<\/p>\n “Strawberries and cream Frappucino,” I told her.<\/p>\n “Paul!\u00a0 That’s a girl drink!” she laughed.\u00a0 I pointed out that most drinks on Starbucks’ menu are girl drinks.\u00a0 Then she came up with another idea.\u00a0 “Everyone has a favorite drink at Starbucks,” she said.\u00a0 “You could ask famous locals what their favorite Starbucks drink is.\u00a0 You could ask Mayor Herenton.”<\/p>\n “I don’t think Mayor Herenton will be accepting my phone calls, after all the bashing I’ve given him on my blog,” I replied.<\/p>\n “Okay, then, what about people at Downtown restaurants?” she suggested.\u00a0 Owners, managers, chefs.\u00a0 Their favorite Starbucks drink.\u00a0 You know, that’s a really good idea.\u00a0 I know enough restaurant people to actually make that one work.<\/p>\n Then she came up with yet another one.\u00a0 “We could do ‘eat this, not that’ restaurant reviews.\u00a0 We could pick a particular restaurant, and then each of us look at the menu and say what menu items we’d be most likely to eat, and what menu items we’d be most likely to avoid.”\u00a0 That could work really well, since we have totally different perspectives – she likes healthy food, and I like good food.\u00a0 We tried it out using some crappy restaurants as test cases – we did it for McDonald’s and Burger King – and it seemed to work.\u00a0 Don’t worry, we’ll pick better restaurants for the actual blog posts.<\/p>\n So AL gave me lots of health advice and blog ideas.\u00a0 Don’t think the conversation was one-sided by any means though.\u00a0 I gave her my ideas too.\u00a0 She told me she occasionally eats red meat, and when she does she likes steak.\u00a0 I told her she should bypass all the steakhouses Downtown and go straight to the place that cooks the best steaks down here – Majestic Grille.\u00a0 She’s trying to plan a cool, funky fundraiser for a non-profit, and while I couldn’t come up with specifics I gave her a “meta” idea for how I’d figure out how to figure it out.<\/p>\n I made fun of her for having never eaten at Rio Loco, but then she pointed out that I’ve never eaten at Happy Mexican.\u00a0 We agreed to try Happy Mexican sometime soon.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, we were drinking on Sauces’ patio.\u00a0 Sauces has one of the best happy hours Downtown:\u00a0 $1.50 domestics including Coors Light, Much Ultra, Bud, and Bud Light (John D:\u00a0 “Wha… wha happened?\u00a0 Paul, can you give me directions to Sauces?”); $2.50 wells including rum, bourbon, gin, and vodka, and $3.00 house merlot, cabernet, and chardonnay.\u00a0 So what did I do?\u00a0 Completely forgot there was a happy hour and ordered a $9.00 mojito.\u00a0 Oops.<\/p>\n I had the Fried Mozzarella Caprese appetizer, consisting of fried mozzarella, Roma tomatoes and basil with a balsamic reduction.\u00a0 Very good.<\/p>\n This getting to be a long post… but that’s okay.\u00a0 Thought my readers might enjoy reading something different than “I went to the Saucer and got drunk.”<\/p>\n We finished our food and a second drink, paid up, and AL gave me a hug goodbye.\u00a0 She walked home, and I went to the Saucer and got drunk.<\/p>\n And that’s about it… the only news item I have is that Itta Bena is starting a new happy hour, “Sundays with Sam.”\u00a0 Oh goodness.\u00a0 I can’t even imagine what he has in mind.\u00a0 I heard about it from someone else so I don’t know.\u00a0 I’ll have to get in there this week and find out what his plans are.\u00a0 Darn it, that means I’ll have to pick between Sunday nights at Itta Bena with Sam and Sunday nights at Calhoun’s with Lauren.\u00a0 Both of whom, now that I think of it, would be possible candidates for BFF of the Month if I decide to pull the trigger on that idea.<\/p>\n Time for bed.\u00a0 Perhaps in the morning I’ll forego the Mountain Dew and have an acai berry smoothie instead.<\/p>\n But don’t count on it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tonight I had mojitos on Sauces’ patio with my friend AL (those are her first and middle initials, which is the reason they’re both in caps).\u00a0 Conversation with her produced many new blog ideas. 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