Hitch, and Writing (Unlike Hitch In 2006) Worth Reading

Erik identifies the most objectionable thing offered up by a Hitchens in his New Yorker profile; he’s become pathetic enough that it’s hard to dislike him entirely. I like Mimi Smartypants’s take on his claim about the four most overrated things in life. On the first read, I nodded my sweaty, mid-eliptical head in approval, especially since he offered it as a guest brought a bottle of champagne–particularly when you consider the quality of red wine you can buy for what a decent bottle costs, it’s like, I dunno, wine for people who don’t like wine. And I can really do without outdoor eating. But somehow the combination of the four ruins the effect–a picnic involving lobster, champagne, and anal sex…sure beats vacuuming, one has to admit.

I should note at this point that M.S. is a blog I don’t link to often, because she’s not really a “political” blogger and because I (thankfully for all non-insomniacs) generally avoid blogging about my daily life, but it is a blog that you should be reading because she can flat write. This is a minor example, but I like this take on bad Trader Joe’s liquor:

Recently the whole family went to Trader Joe’s. This store seems to inspire a sort of carnival, devil-may-care attitude in me—although I am normally a very careful, stick-to-the-list shopper, there is nothing I truly NEED at Trader Joe’s, and thus we just sort of wander the aisles, me with my basket and Nora driving her child-sized cart, and randomly throw intriguing items into our respective containers. One of the intriguing things we bought was a canned beer called Mountain Creek. It already sounded dubious, because mountain creeks usually contain moose urine instead of delicious alcohol. In very tiny print on the can, the Huber brewing company claimed responsibility for producing Mountain Creek, but none of their websites will publicly say so (another red flag). However, the Mountain Creek was so cheap it was practically free, free like a freethinking Unabomber type who wanders out from his electricity-less cabin to scoop up mouthfuls of a mountain creek, so we decided to give it a try.

Don’t you make the same mistake. I am a fan of shitty beer, and I willingly lap up all the dollar Pabst and Schlitz and American that this city cares to throw at me, but Mountain Creek tastes like melted gummy worm with some sort of weird herbal undertone; melted gummy worms simmered gently on the stove with some bay leaves thrown in. Although now that I type that it sounds kind of good (keep in mind I am high on Dayquil). I hope it all remains hypothetical for you, however, because I don’t wish Mountain Creek on anyone.

Plenty as good and better where that came from. Recommended.