Festivities.

We have much to discuss.

Friday night was a party at the Parthenon restaurant in Greektown with Alma, many other Loyolans, and Jan, whom I hadn't seen in forever. We caught up a bit, though I have so little to contribute to most discussions of that sort ("yeah, I graduated in December... well, I've been looking for work... yeah, the jobs I really want are impossible to get... so, nothing really") that it ended up being half funny stories from the days of quiz bowl and half funny contemporary Jan stories. I ordered something called an Amnopita that had lamb, vegetables, and I think half the feta that Greece annually produces, and that's some salty stuff. Woof. I have never eaten so slowly (I was the last person to finish their entree), except for that time when I ate a big heaping bowl of salt.

Saturday night was a semi-impromptu birthday dinner thrown jointly for me and Brian (Alma's sister's fiancé) by Alma's parents. Brian's birthday is four days before mine, so it was like splitting the difference. We had Chinese food and a very tasty cake with a lot of strawberries (usually I'm not the biggest fan of fruit in cakes, but the strawberries were relatively fresh and so quite enjoyable). Alma's parents are always so generous and nice, which probably explains where she gets it from.

Flashing back to Friday, I sampled a new pop variety: Mountain Dew Pitch Black II. Apparently unwilling to completely resurrect last year's grape flavor, the folks at Mountain Dew came up with this version, which comes complete with a "sour bite," as the bottle describes it. I'm Mr. Sour, as we well know, so of course I was all over this.

Here's the problem. Sour is all well and good, but it's better when the sourness is coming along with something sweet. Bafflingly, even though Pitch Black II contains 75 grams of sugar in a 20-ounce bottle (which, reduced, is something like emptying four sugar packets into a pony shot glass full of water), it's not especially sweet. The result of this is that the sourness has a harsh, chemical-like effect rather than a pleasing tang. Drinking this stuff feels like you're trying to scrub soap scum out of the back of your throat.

So, normally I like sour stuff, but this is just too much. Combined with the lack of sweetness, the raised level of acidity caused by the sourness just invites problems. It's not as unpleasant-tasting as regular Mountain Dew, but it sure doesn't feel very good going down. I can't recommend it.