Made on honor, sold on merit.

Hi, gang! Enthusiasms is off for the rest of summer, and back to regularly scheduled programming after Labor Day. In the meantime, here’s one from the archives.

HAGS,
J

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It feels wrong, at a show, to drink anything fancier. I stood toward the back, beer in hand, and was 25 again—though when the singer announced that her kid, too, was recovering from hand, foot, and mouth disease, I had to laugh. So far from it, really, and my sleeping son just a few miles away a reminder of how long it’s been.

I got a buzz on and went back for another, thanked the bartender and sipped the little bit of foam that sizzled around the top of the open can. Maybe I’ll regret this, I thought, envisioning my bike ride home and how badly I might have to pee. I tucked the beer beneath one elbow, held ice-cold against my ribs, ready for applause.