The Finer things in Life

I guess you could consider this a continuation in the "how to be Bill" series, but I thought I'd drop a few lines here about some of the more wonderful things that make the world a richer, better, or tastier place. So in no particular order, here I go:


1) Pinkerton by Weezer: Yes, the album is like twelve years old at this point, and I also realize that it was a resounding commercial failure. That doesn't change the fact that it is far and away the greatest album Weezer has released (or could hope to release). I'm telling you - I could listen to those ten tracks over and over and never get tired of them.

2) Gestalt Haus: It's a German alehouse that serves pints, half liters, and liters of beer. They serve sausages. They have a pool table, and a gripload of indoor bike racks. I might have a new bar to put in my top five Mission bars to go to. It's on sixteenth between Guerrero and Albion, across the street from Kilowatt, and just up the block from Delirium. Check it out.

3) Corduroys: Keep your skinny jeans. Every man needs an option when they don't feel like wearing Dickies. I have recently dusted off one of my old pairs of olive greenish cords, and I couldn't be more comfortable. I just can't figure how I ever got away from these things. Probably summer hit and I forgot all about them.

4) Maker's Mark: I don't drink a hell of a lot of whiskey, but when I do, you'd better be damn sure it's Maker's. I don't know what they do to make it taste so damn good, but whatever it is, they do it well.

5) Pizza: It should go without saying, but seldom does enough. I love pizza. I could be condemned for the rest of my life to eat nothing but pizza and burritos, and I'd be the happiest kid on the planet. Plus, where else can you go into a restaurant and tell them exactly how you want the kitchen to make your food without sounding like a demanding ass?


Arright, and I have to add one thing that drives me nuts if I'm going to be praising all this stuff:

Self-help books: Yeah, it's easy to hate them. But as an avid reader, and someone who went through a brief period of fascination with these books, I can say this very objectively: all self-help books tell you is that you may be weird or crazy, but there are people out there who are every bit as weird and crazy as you are. I mean it. I've read a handful, and every one uses personal testimonials from people who exist in first name and location only, and they tell their stories of how they're going through exactly what you are. I eagerly await the day that we, as a society, don't need books to re-affirm the fact that we have problems and that's okay because other people have problems too.

And with that, I bid you screwed-up crazy people a fond good night.