Taking it to X-Tremes

Turned 26 on Friday and made it yet another reason to procrastinate. In celebration, I decided to live on the edge in my own tame way. Eating a plate of sausage at the The Great Dane was the first of my mild indulgences. I highly recommend it to grotesque meat-lovers like myself. Here's the description from the online menu.

Mixed Grilled Sausage Platter : Homemade chorizo, herb and chicken and mushroom sausages simmered in our famous lager, then grilled and served on a wild mushroom-cabbage ragout with mashed potatoes and Pilsner mustard.

I think they should change the name to "Beer Meat".

My second little liberty was to watch Saturday morning cartoons. What I found on network television alarmed me. The cute and cuddly cartoons I once adored like the smurfs, the snorks, and my beloved muppet babies, had been usurped by animated martial arts. Every flick of the controller turned up more mutant powers, advanced pokemon attacks, and ninja nonsense. The worst blow came when I saw a show called Loonatics Unleashed, where characters loosely reminiscent of Daffy and Bugs wore body armor and flew fighter jets. I couldn't believe it. They had combat trained the toons! The old cartoons had persisted, but not without a complete uber-overhaul, evident in their turborific names: Sonic X, G.I. Joe Sigma 6, Pokemon Advanced Battle. Next year for my birthday, I think I'll dissapear for a month and come back as Kevin Uncontained. Maybe we could all get battle makeovers. Feel free to suggest your own.

The last of my temperate adventures was a grappagasm. An Italian friend of mine named Gianluca first introduced me to this exquisite beverage when I stayed at his home in Forli. Adjectives fall deplorably short as expressions of its goodness. It is undistillable with single descriptive words. A glass of grappa is an experience and an event, calling forth narratives, odes, and encomniums. Once grown fond of its lip-lapping lovliness, you will no longer be able to say the word with passing pronunciation. And like me, will never let it leave your tingling tongue without affection. Grrrrapppa, Graaaaappaaaa, Gerrrrappappapa. Now whisper it. Grappa...