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June 01, 2007

Drink Up!

I got a real kick today out of this interview of Barbara Holland in the Washington Post. Holland, described as "feisty old dame" and a "curmudgeon," has just published a book called "The Joy of Drinking" – perhaps best described as "an ode to booze" - that promises to make a lot of drinkers feel a lot better about themselves. Being a person who is rather fond of imbibing all sorts of fermented treats, I'm thinking this might just be a book I'll have to go buy. Holland's last book was called "Endangered Pleasures" – a book in which she "praised cigarettes, naps, bacon, swearing, loafing and other precious joys." Her core message appears to be that we are worrying far too much about being healthy and good, and that enjoying life means letting our hair down and having some fun, even it it's not necessarily good for us.

She's in favor of joy but she feels it's under attack. She wrote the book as a protest against the decline of social drinking and the rise of broccoli, exercise and Starbucks.

"I was getting sick and tired of being lectured by dear friends with their little bottles of water and their regular visits to the gym," she says. "All of a sudden, we've got this voluntary prohibition that has to do with health and fitness." She pauses. "I'm not really in favor of health and fitness."

But isn't it good to be healthy?

"I suppose so," she says, "but it's largely a crapshoot. The ghost of my sainted mother hovers around, talking about how self-centered it all is. They're always thinking about themselves -- how far I ran, how much I can bench-press, how I ate three servings of broccoli. For heaven's sake, get over yourself."

I really like this lady. She goes on to talk about the fun that was had in Washington back when it was OK to drink heavily at parties, states how having a "teetotaler president" "puts a damper on things," explains why booze is "the social glue of the human race," attributes civilization to the softening of "our natural suspicious hostility with a few stiff ones," and talks about the role of booze in the founding of our republic. And she pines for the old days, when people actually talked to each other in bars.

It is pretty hard to beat the simple joy of drinking with other people, getting a little silly, singing and dancing, and just being happy – and that's why I do it on a regular basis. Whenever my kids try to convince me that they should be allowed to have some unhealthy treat like fast food, and I tell them it's not good for their heart, they love to quote Spongebob Squarepants, "not good for the heart – good for the soul!" And that's really the thing with drinking.

When asked whether, being a curmudgeon, she is "kind of cranky," Holland answers, "I don't know. I complain a lot about how various things were better in the olden days, but I don't feel particularly cranky. If you drink enough, you don't feel cranky." As she and the interviewer talk over a bottle of wine, they find themselves "suffused with a mellow glow and the happy feeling that, despite all evidence to the contrary, the world is wonderful and life is a delightful lark in convivial company." What a perfect description for the social drinking experience.

It is good to live a long healthy life, and I hope that I will be one who does. But at the same time, I'd rather have a shorter, richer life than a longer, boring one. I think Holland would agree.

Posted by Becky at June 1, 2007 11:39 AM