ex-drinking buddy
My former drinking buddy back from my law school days is going to meet up with us in Berlin. We're planning to travel around a bit while Saltbox is in her conference.

We were chatting yesterday about plans, when he tells me that he hasn't had a drink since February. He read some book that convinced him that even drinking moderate amounts is too much, because it causes your body to crave more and puts you into a perpetual state of stress until that stress is relieved by drinking. He claims that he now feels as relaxed normally as he used to feel after a few beers.

Anyway, I found this relatively convincing. I started to think about how much time and money I spend on drinking, and how it forms such a central part of the social life here in Madison. Even a few beers keeps me from sleeping properly and makes me somewhat dehydrated. It certainly interferes with my running.

So I'm considering giving up drinking at least until Berlin, although I'll definitely want to sample the local beers when I'm travelling.

But our conversation also made me wonder what he now does with his time. He's a retired internet millionaire. His one real hobby was trying to destroy the reputation of this dentist that maimed him, and he's now successfully ruined that former "dentist to the stars". He's currently engaged in designing his Greenwich Village pleasure palace, but it doens't seem like that's a full-time endeavor, although maybe it is.