King for a lifetime, fool for a... lifetime...

I have to admit, right up front, that there might have been a time in the dark ages when people believed that grilled cheese and whiskey would be mismatched partners. It is a relief to know that that is no longer the case. Grilled cheese, hot off the skillet, coupled with vintage Early Times whiskey make for an unbeatable combo. You think I'm lying? You point and laugh derisively at my claim? You jest and scoff at a man who craves the simplest of grilled dishes and is sometimes referred to as "The Earliest Time?" Shame on you. Saturday night was the apex of a euphoric weekend (which really began on Thursday) and it is thanks in very large part to the grilled cheese/Early Times whiskey super team-up. That, and a near constant stream of buzzing -- not inebriation... although Friday night I earned another in a long line of gold stars (I actually woke up completely disoriented in the middle of the night on my couch, not knowing what time or day it was. I prayed that the night would not move into Friday morning, as I did not want to go to work. I trapsed up to bed and woke up relieved to find that it was, in fact, Saturday).

The only thing that marred the Grilled Cheese Invitational shindig on Saturday night was the ensuing late night outing to Canter's in which I was denied a complimentary coke with my cheeseburger. The waiter, despite my insistent charm, did not believe that I was "a little fresser." It might have been the stubble on my chin that alerted him I was older than age 10. Clearly, he needed Early Times.

To not have dined on exotic grilled cheese while swigging Early Times straight from the bottle is to not know happiness, but rather, embrace lonliness. You're only denying yourself by resisting the irresistable.