Bar Belle from 7/30/08 LEO Weekly

Beer and butterflies ...

BY SARA HAVENS

Sometimes, sitting at your favorite bar and knocking back a few beers can get boring. So one late evening three years ago, a friend and I came up with the Dundee Tavern Challenge. We were about six beers in, twiddling our thumbs, staring at the 20 taps that towered above. “Wonder how long it’d take to drink one beer from each tap,” I mumbled. “I bet if we split it, we could do it in one night,” she challenged. And so it began, our yearly ritual of drinking all 20 beers (10 each) on draft at the Dundee Tavern. This year we had six participants, with only four finishing and two ending the night at Twig & Leaf.

On paper, 10 beers doesn’t sound intimidating. But these are pints, and a majority are imported, heavy beers — like Rogue Dead Guy, Hefeweizen and Shiner Bock. My tolerance is definitely something I take pride in, but by beer four, let’s just say I was feeling it. I documented the experience this year with a digital recorder, hoping that our many discussions would lead to interesting revelations or musings about world events. Instead, what I transcribed Monday morning included an incoherent discussion on Tori Spelling and dick jokes.

One participant, who we’ll call C-Town, even brought an “activity” to keep us occupied. She recently attended a Life Coach seminar at a friend’s house and figured it would be fun to share her therapeutic knowledge with a bunch of drunks. The first task was picking out an “affirmation” that best applied to you. It wasn’t three beers later that we decided to add the phrase “in bed” after our affirmations. Mine: “People love me for who I am … in bed.” Someone else’s: “My family honors me, loves me and respects me … in bed.” We pretty much ended the Life Coaching after task 2, which involved drawing a butterfly that resembled yourself.

The night’s activities progressively got hazier as the beers went down. Alls I know is I finished. And I’m now on a hiatus from beer.

What color is the sky in your butterfly’s world? E-mail me at shavens@leoweekly.com or go to leobarbelle.blogspot.com