Less is More In Action / Cheap Drunk Revisited

April 3, 2009: Over the past three weeks I have followed my "Less is More" philosophy, which consists of having one drink and stopping there to enjoy being inebriated.

After the previous "Cheap Drunk Episode", my decision has been to follow that philosophy closely, mainly due to the fact that I hate being blitzed out of my mind after a couple beers.

This is all the result of the December 6 Christmas party, where bits and pieces of what went on then were related to me by my girlfriend. Because of my sensitivity to large amounts of alcohol, and not wishing to experience an alcoholic blackout and the resulting disassociative state of mind again, it's my endeavour to get blitzed on one and only one drink!

Tonight, I have again achieved a satori-like experience after sobering up from one drink. This time it consisted of feeling rather happy and cheerful, and it's reassuring to me that I can maintain my sobriety within 2-3 hours after one and only one drink.

For the goal throughout this "Less is More" campaign was to achieve a brief period of drunkenness without any drama and with the civility and politeness of a near teetotaler, so as to show what can be achieved in the name of social drinking even following my "Less is More" philosophy.

Do I want another drink after I am under the influence of one drink?

Heck no!

Why would I ruin the inebriation with another drink which might put me over the limit and ruin the campaign by getting drunk for the sheer pleasure of it?

Since the sobering up period resulted in a positive benefit (cheerfulness and joy), I doubt that more drinks would do anything but delay the good cheer after sobering up.

Indeed, the one drink that I drink is a symbol of the "Less is More" philosophy in that I drank much less than I did on December 6, 2008 and had much more fun in the process of experiencing drunkenness including acting appropriately and behaving maturely.

It was easy to perform simple tasks such as minding the girlfriend's grandchildren, including reading Dr. Seuss to the eldest and other mundane child-minding tasks. Had I been more inebriated, this would not have been possible. For the ensuing sobriety I now am experiencing does not have any disassociative memory losses.

Given that research has shown that 1-3 drinks a week is healthy and safe, this level of drinking will be maintained because less problems have occurred from it.

So I plan to carry on my one-drink, "Less is More" campaign and live this philosophy to the fullest.

Cheap Drunk Episode

Anyway, a recap of this week's events as of Thursday 19 March 2009:

My introspective drunkenness after one 500 mL glass of ale was a buzz, alright.

During and after ONE GLASS of ale, I recall the following:

Announcing to my friend that I was now drunk after 15 minutes, pointing to the 60 percent of the brew still left in the glass.

And then 4 hours later, at his place, getting the almost worst migraine due to tyramines in the raspberry wheat ale I drank 4 hours previously.

This happened about 72 hours ago, and yesterday I am sure the rather lousy sleep I had the night before was all part of the sobering up period.

But then this is me: one drink is a rocky road.

BTW the grill salmon dinner at Central City Pub is excellent!!

Downtown Vancouver Nightlife Changing, Hopefully for the Better

Obviously, the party scene on Granville Street appears to be working. About eight months ago, Vancouver was made aware that VPD needed money to pay overtime to police assigned to the bar crowd along Granville Street, where bars and clubs are being concentrated.

However, it appears that a lot has changed over the past 3 years in Gastown with the Purple Onion closing and the Brothers restaurant leaving. Yet the last bastion of unruliness, the Sonar, is still open, only to kick out drunk patrons when all bars close at 3AM. Unfortunately, it will probably take more gentification of the area to pressure the Sonar into closing its doors for good.

Because the Sonar is not part of the Granville bar watch, and its bouncers not obligated to pat down patrons for weapons, it's only safe for dancing by yourself while getting very drunk.

Even so, gentrification will slowly make Gastown safe for yuppies, provided they party on Granville and only quietly drink and eat at the Chill Winston Restaurant in Victory Square, which has been in business for a year.

What really bothers me is that Chill Winston appears to allow people to get throughly inebriated without eating. When I was out working at the stage at the confluence of Water, Alexander, Powell and Carrall, I spotted one gentleman who plopped down and drank a lot of ale over 3 hours, only to be rendered inebriated. This almost violates the BC Liquor Control Act.