Wednesday, January 04, 2006

I Picked the Wrong Week...

Looks like I picked the wrong week to cut back on my coffee consumption.

With Chris eschewing coffee in favor of tea these days, I've found myself making a concerted effort each morning to cut back on how much of the black stuff I'm pouring down my throat.

So, in the span of a few short weeks I've gone from drinking 6-8 cups a day (as measured by my coffeemaker) to no more than 4. This morning, though, I could've used that 8 cup kickstart and maybe even a Venti Skim Latte around 3 o'clock.

Why? It's these damn bowl games. Remember the good old days when New Year's could be spent laying on the couch, nursing a hangover and a bloody mary while yours eyes glazed over from an orgy of college football? No more my friends, no more. Instead, we've got 20 or 30 meaningless games, two or three meaningless games between marquee programs, and one game for all the marbles (like tonight's USC/Texas matchup).

Case in point, last night's Orange Bowl. I got home around 8:45 EST, flipped on the TV in the kitchen, and gasped as I realized there was still 9 minutes left in the FIRST HALF! With television timeouts and stoppages every time a team made a first down that meant the first half wouldn't be over until sometime around 9:15 or 9:30. Add in an overblown halftime show and the second half probably wouldn't get started till around 10 PM.

By the time the game ended -- in the third overtime period -- it was somewhere around 1 AM on Wednesday. I don't know what time it was because I'd drifted off to sleep so many times that I'd stopped caring. But damnit, I wanted to see how that game turned out.

I'm not sure how long I'll last tonight, but I am prepping a variety of food and snacks for the festivities: we'll be having grilled goat cheese burgers (yes, I'll be firing up the grill for the first time in the new year), roasted sweet potato wedges and maybe even some sauteed asparagus as well as some chips and salsa (I'm currently enamored of Plocky's Caribbean Bean Black Beans and Rice Tortilla Chips which have a nice taste and a light feel that doesn't leave you feeling all grosses out after you eat half a bag of them).

Odds are I won't make it through the game – which I expect USC to win – but at least I'll give it the old college try.

3 comments:

Clurg said...

I quit drinking coffee at least once a year.

Hot tea is good, so it's not that hard for me. I love green and black tea.

Except that I love coffee, too and there really is no substitute for a good, rich coffee. So, I inevitably start drinking it soon after I quit.

Time for some now, in fact.

Anonymous said...

I really need a caffeine boost in the mornings, but I can't *stand* coffee. So lately I've been doing half a can of NOS energy drink, which does the trick, but I suspect is killing my heart.

Does tea really have the kick of coffee? Any particular kind work better at making one alert?

Dan said...

I always hear these reports that tea has the same kick as coffee, but I find it hard to accept. I didn't drink coffee for years and used to make a pot of tea to help me get through late night zine editing sessions.

Half that amount of coffee can keep me up and going and going.