Sunday, May 02, 2010

On the Consumption of Alcohol

Because the next few weeks are going to be quite full of work, I was pleased to take some time off and unwind at AnachroCon. I know a great many of the folks that attend this convention and that means I'm hanging with "family." As usual there were unique costumes, amazingly intelligent presentations and some very good food at Giovanni's (the Italian restaurant right next to the hotel). I even had the pleasure of speaking to Thomas Jefferson who is a most delightful fellow.

The con went fine for me except for an odd occurance related to beer and a hangover. As in I got one, but not in the traditional "how many six packs can I chug?" kind. Friday evening I had a glass of wine with my dinner (yum) and then later I repaired to the pool area to enjoy the scent of pipe smoke from my colleagues and to have a Shiner Bock. I like Shiner Bock beer. It's unpretentious and though I might argue about a lot of stuff that Texas does, this beer is one of my favorites. I turn in at a decent hour because at 10:45 the next morning there is An Hour With Jana Oliver, which means the Jana had better have a working brain.

I wake at eight. My stomach rolls over seconds later. As in the "OMG how much did I drink last night?" kind of lurch. But I had been sensible, which my body did not seem to notice. It was acting like I'd consumed my body weight in beer (which is a lot, folks). Food was out of the question so I starting sucking down water as fast as possible. I managed to get a bit of string cheese in place. The nausea persists, along with that spinning head thing. Not good, I think, but at least it's not food poisoning. I do make it to my presentation and did fairly well except for the need to sit down in the middle of it because I was dizzy. Then I went back to my room, took a long nap and starting reintroducing food to the system (along with tons of water).

Not food poisoning. Not alcohol poisoning. All I can think is that I was overly dehydrated on Friday what with rushing around to get to the con and with the obsessively healthy diet I've been eating, the introduction of heavy carb-laden beer was a bad idea. Very bad. Since it's the first I've had in over a month, that might be the case.

I was circumspect and nary a drop of beer passed my lips Saturday night (nor any other alcohol I might add).  I am ashamed to admit that I am becoming a Light Weight. Sigh. In future I'll stick to wine and single malt scotch in temperate quantities. But I will remember my former adventures with beer with some fondness.

Next year AnachroCon will be held in late February. Do attend. It's well worth the price of admission.

3 comments:

POLLY CORBIN said...

I still feel a little guilty about that beer! Not really (but hey, I don't mind the blame). I was just so glad to be able to catch up with you because you will soon be on a whirlwind schedule and I'll be lucky to see you at all!

Jana Oliver said...

I did enjoy blaming you, but you really didn't do anything. I'm sincerely bummed because I like the occasional brew. I'll do a cautious test sometime down the line and if the issue repeats itself, I'm in trouble when I go to England.

Great to catch up with you, too. You're looking fab, hun. I'll try to find a way to sneak out of "day job" next year and spend some time with you and the other "family". You'll keep me humble.

Jean Marie Ward said...

Eep! Not fun, but it could've been worse, and at least you didn't have to drive anywhere. Sincerely hope it was an anomaly. We've got some champagne to be drinking in your honor, after all. :-)