I always find it amusing when people become quite surprised when I tell them I don’t drink very much beer. Yes, there was a time in my life when I would drink a lot of beer. In days of old, my bud Venchinzo and I would sit back in his Venice apartment and kill a case of beer before we would hit the Hollywood club scene and drink even more as the night pounded on. Or, like days with my father-in-law. He was one of those guys who judged everyone by how much they could drink. He never really like me that much, stealing his daughter away from him and all that, until he realized that I could actually drink more than him. I have a Scottish bloodline, okay… We would sit and drink beer after beer all day and all night long. I haven’t had a hangover since he passed away over twenty years ago. I guess that’s a good thing; right?
 
I always kept beer around my place thought. The problem with that is, however, then you drink just to drink.
 
When the pandemic hit, though the supermarkets were all open, at least here in L.A., if you wanted to buy alcohol you had to stand in line for a cashier to check you out. The lines were very-very long back then. But, self-check-out was a breeze. So me, I just stopped buying and, thus, drinking beer.
 
There’s been times since that point when I haven’t had a beer for six months. Now, generally, I only drink beer in restaurants every now and then. Every now and then when they have Guinness or some other dark beer.
 
I don’t know why people don’t like dark beer? They are so much more flavorful??? Sure, they have way more calories. But, it’s all about the taste, isn’t it? Or, why drink it at all?
 
Once upon a time, in the long ago and the far-far away, my favorite beer was St. Pauli Girl Special Dark. Haven’t seen that in stores in years. Then, I found Sapporo Black. Great beer! The only problem is, it is near impossible to find. Every now and then you can find it at an Asian-based market. But, it is rare.
 
Today, I was in a store that used to be called Cost+. Then, it became World Market. For those of you who may not know, this is basically a chain of stores that offers furniture, rugs, drapes, novelty items, some food and drink and stuff from across the globe, and stuff like that. Amazingly, I saw a few cans of 22 oz Sapporo Black on one of their shelf. Of course, I grabbed them up.
 
You know, I drink water, coffee, (or some variant thereof), and red wine every day. I never drink colas, or sodas, or energy drinks. Now, at least, for the next couple for days, I can add Sapporo Black to that list.
 
The point to all of this… What is it that you desire? If what you desire is easily had, is there any great sense of accomplishment when you find it? If, however, finding it is rare—few and far between, then when you do find it, it becomes that something special.
 
How much SPECIAL do you have in your life?