"What are you going to have?" Johnny peered chin down at the drinks menu. It was mostly beer, but there were some liquors.

"Probably a nice lager. I'm sick of all these ales. Especially the IPAs."

Johnny looked away from the menu, directly at Max. "You know I was thinking the same...

McKayla's roommate would judge her for sleeping with one of her customers. Someone from out of town at that. How long had she even known him? Less than two weeks. Yet she felt like Marc Love had known her her whole life.

At the bar he ordered them her favorite  beer...

As the night went on fewer things were open. The lights were still on all over the city though. Pegasus knew he should go back home right after getting the ounce from Gus. But Gus lived a bit out of the way. Plus he knew if he went home with...

Mondavi had a thirst for some light beer to complement these memories of Stickman . A Big Red liquor was around the corner up ahead so he swung in. "Which light beer would Stick drink?" he thought to himself. Once at the back fridge with the beer s he decided...

Inside the noise reverberated. Laughs. Screaming conversations. A guitar was playing. Derek sung a tune that sounded Irish.

Girls were in spaghetti straps; boys in shorts and tanktops or light, breathable cotton tees.

It was dark except for the glow of yellowish lamps. Everybody was either smiling or nodding with eyes half...

"A shooting? Down by the Seaside Rest you say?" the tanned, lean forearm powered the hand that was holding a brown bottle of lager. Between the index finger and thumb was dark blue star tattoo. The blue was dark enough that most would describe it as black .

"Yeah! And even...

Jack. Jack. Jack.

that was the same name as the kid that those kids were looking for. Couldn't be the same guy though right? fuck what was his occupation? His description.

He didn't remember shit because he was too busy counting down the time to the record. Fuck. What was that kid's...

He needed a  beer .

His shift was only half done. This was the worst part. Stuck in the middle. At least a liter of sweat lost in this hot kitchen. Hot and loud. The fan they had spinning to ventilate the kitchen made it feel like they were working nearby...

Joey wiped the curst off his lips then dusted his fingers onto the tray. And then he wiped the grease off onto napkin that reminded him of paper towel.

For a moment he wished he was back home. What was he doing here?

That feeling quickly disappeared when he went outside. It's...

He needed a  beer . It was a sunny afternoon with crisp air. It made his skin feel neither dry or oily. In college he would often take such afternoons off. He would go to a bar with a patio and drink cold beer while watching people pass by.

There was...

The man who had lost his hat on the boat. He had always been a supremely happy man.

The worst things could happen. He would take them in stride. Saw the positive side to anything.

It was a wet, chilly  New York afternoon. Jittery from half a coffee too much. Nursing a ...

The night before the big job, James went to a bar where nobody knew him.

Ordered a whiskey . More expensive than the  liquor store . But reasonably priced, all bars considered.

He traded remarks with the bartender. Had a chat with a few strangers who sat down alone by him.

The first...

"Who even reads books   these days?"

"Nobody."

"So why are you writing one."

"Plenty of people still write books."

"So let me get this straight. You're telling me nobody reads. But people still write?"

Jack's autobiographer nodded.

"Also what's this mess with Jackoff calling you his autobiographer? Doesn't he know what an  autobiography even means?"

"I don't...

In the alley of a no name city. No where you could get a direct flight to from a major city. There was a smell. In the heat of summer, it permeated quick and far. Someone reported it. The police arrived within an hour.

A tall blonde woman covered her nose....

"Why aren't you eating anything?"

Dick looked up. Jimmy had his palms faced up.

"Come on. Aren't you hungry?"

"No. Not really."

Jimmy said nothing. But it seemed like he was waiting for permission to scarf down Dick's omelet.

"Why don't you have this."

"No way? Thanks, man!"

Casey was out of the house. Going to get...

Back at home the hunger came. Maybe not hunger. When Dick thought about it his belly was still full. Instead his mouth was craving something. Something sweet, sour, and crispy. Like Chinese food. They had just feasted an hour earlier and here he was: craving something new. He wondered whether...

Jimmy took a sip of the  coffee with his yes closed. Mid grade. Decent. not good. Not bad.

He kept his eyes closed and took another long sip. Then he opened them and saw the branding on it. It was his favorite cafe. Suddenly the coffee tasted better.

"you got any plans...

As soon as he arrived at the bar, he had a beer in hand. The golden lager vanished in three gulps. A long, loud belch escaped from his barrel chest. Some people at the bar peered over. His coworkers laughed. The bartender got him his second beer un prompted.

That beer...

"Why's this son of a gun drive all that way?"

"Mexican food."

"What?"

"Chipotle."

"Keith. You know that ain't damn Mexican food."

"Whatever. I don't care if  Chipotle is Mexican or not. Look at this."

"What am I looking at?"

Keith pointed to the bottom right corner of the dashboard and began to explain.

----

Dave never thought he'd...

"What the hell took you so long?"

"You won't fucking believe. I almost. I almost hit a bunch of fucking kids!"

"You did?"

He hadn't. But he didn't want to rephrase or explain what had actually happened.

"I took their  frisbee though. Look."

"Now why did you do that?"

"I don't know," James shrugged without looking...

"I'd like a  beer as well."

Denver raised his hand. It took ten seconds. His voice wheezed through the air. He'd taken his oxygen mask  off. Marc Love had already gotten up but Denver swatted him away.

The waiter acknowledged the request. Gave the two younger men a look that asked 'is...

electricity was free up here. They had solar panels facing straight out into the sun. And boy did the station eat up a lot of juice. So many computers and appliances everywhere. And the whole infrastructure that allows people to survive inside of  Spacecity . the mechanism that taks the...

The newcomer was whacking the old tape player with a little brush. That's all the newcomer had been doing with his free time since arrival two weeks ago. Strange behavior, Sanderson thought. You got three hours of freedom a day. Why spend it whacking some arcane Technology ?

Wouldn't it be...

When Steve walked in holding a pack of  IPA s Lindsay was livid. They couldn't afford that shit. But the smile on his face stopped her. How could she be mad at that puppy dog face.

I got a big tip today. So i'm treating us.

He told her bout the weird...

Get me a damn beer .

No not this one. The other one.

The kid gave an asking look.

You drink it. The man said while pointing at him. Get me the right damn beer this time, boy.

The kid went and got a can. Cracked it open. Saw his fingers remove some of...

At a rest stop off the desert highway, Denver took out a sanitized straight razor. The man in the expensive suit was snoring. The sun shining into his eyes as he drove had put him to sleep in the dead of day. The man refused to wear any of the...

Mia ended up ghosting me. She said I could interrogate her tonight. But she never showed up. I stayed up drinking a few beers while cleaning the apartment. And then I fell asleep. I tried putting something on  Netflix , but it was boring. Something was different about tonight. I...

Drinking  beer in dim rooms was how Carl liked to spend his free time. He couldn't get with the youngsters and what they did. Generating content that was tailor made for them using  AI . Carl was  old school . Couldn't get on board with the idea of a computer...

I wandered aimlessly. Waiting to smoke my next  cigar . I already had a buzz going. So I'd hold off as long as possible before stopping in someplace for a  whiskey . You could make a buzz go long that way. The key was not to get into  beer too...

I hadn't seen him in months. Used to hang out each weekend at the least. Was excited to hear  he had moved over by The Medical Mile. Where the fancy, new buildings were. I'd heard good things about it. How it was going to boost  Westcity 's economy, bring new...

Andrew Cook never wanted to save himself for  marriage . He wasn't that idealistic. Plus, most  educated people these days didn't get married until their late twenties or even early thirties. He couldn't wait that long. But he did like the idea of saving himself. For something. He didn't know...

"Another Wild Turkey."

"Another  Wild Turkey then."

A double shot arrived. He had actually been planning on order a single this time. But what could he do. Order a double your first time around and your  bartender was bound to assume that double was your standard. Plus, he didn't mind drinking extra...

Sandy Bridgers picked at the white glob on the verneer tabletop. She shivered slightly, then took out an Italian flannel shirt. Sandy aimed to keep a long sleeve shirt in one of the bags bags she carried, no matter the temperature. American buildings blasted the AC unlike any other country....

"What else do you get?"

The thick wrist placed the  beer back on the coffee table and then the wideset torso that it was attached to leaned back. On top of was a big blockhead with that bright white smile. Usually such white smiles were exclusive to straight  teeth , belonging...

I never learned to write honestly on a daily basis. I'd maybe crank something worthwhile two, maybe three days a year, but I was never one of those writers who could do it consistently.

This is something I admired about Haruki Murakami , who I couldn't consider a "great" writer, but...

I had saved a hundred dollars for the final weekend of September . The plan was to buy a  quarter ounce for around 70 and then a  30 pack for a little over 20. The little extra left over was just a buffer. Some  liquor stores charged you more for ...

Stories and memories get condensed. Like Jake might say he's going out with Mike for a  beer when in fact there was a lot more they did than just get a beer. But we can communicate with each other by saying these symbolic meanings.

Went out for a beer.

The person we...

Darjee sold his right kidney so that he his family could eat for two months. They were starving and this was the only way. His parents were too old and sick to sell their kidneys , and he would never allow his wife to do such a thing. His daughter,...

Anytime I return to my hometown, I'll tune into the radio to check what's going on around those parts. It's about the only time I'll tolerate listening to ads . It makes me feel tuned in to what people there want. When I meet a friend for a  beer I'll...

When I started at Stimson Co. they were still doing much of their bookkeeping on paper. Literal paper, with pen, and I don't say that as a knock on excel or anything, they were literally writing down numbers using ink pen onto pieces of paper. Granted they used those  carbon...

On the morning ride, I hardly ever kept my eyes closed.

There was this weird thing about morning, where my mind didn't meander. Leaving me wanting more. Just sitting there on the bus, I felt like my thoughts were good enough.

In the evening I'd always be curious about what other people...

It's been raining all night, my girlfriend said this morning.

When I went into the bathroom and I looked out the window I thought about how this is how  snowmageddon would arrive. The temperature would fall below freezing tonight and then it would all turn into snow.

Being snowed in is a...

I was drinking beer that night with Mikayla. After three  Hamm's I felt ready to share.

"I have something I want to tell you."

"Ah of course. This is why you wanted to hang out." Mikayla laughed and took a long swig of beer. "Come on, what is it?" She signaled for...

She thought she might be able to be a  barista forever. So long as she owned the cafes one day. Making 12 bucks an hour plus tips was just not going to cut it for the rest of her life.

The people and their tips were nice. They meant well, but...

If he had to pick, he didn't know which he'd let go.

beer or  whiskey  

On any given evening he knew what he preferred. But then again letting go of something. Leaving something behind, was different than having it wasn't it?

A woman from  Ecuador used to hang out at one...

He spent much of his afternoons on walks.

Around campus and along the main strip. The early part of the day when he could nurse a coffee were his favorite part. Once the sun started going down feelings grew heavier within him. Have to find someplace that he can call... he...

There was a bar. Outside of town. Just beyond city limits technically; this allowed them to avoid a few laws or something like that. But nobody gave a damn about that and they called this their favorite bar in town.

It was my favorite bar in town. In fact it was...

There was a pub one artery and two veins from the square that sheltered probably who I'd consider the most miserable soul I've known.

He arrived that watering hole around the same time I would: the start of happy hour before the crowd ruffled through. It was my favorite time to...

After taking the first sip of my third beer I wondered why the thought even entered my head at all. I didn't even share the sentiment with my friends who were already five or six drinks into pregraming because there would be no point. It was a stupid thought anyways....

They bonded over rooibos tea. In college it would've been late night coffee or beer , but by this time, they were more responsible. So uncaffeinated rooibos it was.

The sun set early in that time they first met: transition into late autumn. Even though the days would become shorter in...

I am not dodging responses! just been stressed planning for trip and herding cats. will respond to all outstanding messages shortly. Sorry to hear about friend, hope you’re doing well man. will need to catch-up-gift chat soon!

Herding cats is no joke though. They go here and there and they go...

The first few times you go to coffee with somebody are almost always quite exciting. Both people listen to each other and it turns out to be an exciting exchange of ideas and theories. After a few times this excitement fades. You both begin to realize that in fact all...

It was  Tuesday night. Pitch black where she sat inside an orange SUV, the engine cut on the unlit parking lot across from the gas station. Jeannie was inside, picking up a 24 pack of Miller Lite using her cousin's ID.

Two things were on Imogen's mind as she listened to...

We booked one hotel room to save money. But we also did it so that we could sleep in the same room as Maddy and Sylvia. It was Kenny's idea, I just went along with it. But somehow it ended up sounding like my plan. See this is why I...

I once watched two people fall in love and it made me sad. One of them was my roommate, and I was sad because when it happened, I didn't feel anything.

We had all gone to high school together... somehow we were living in the same house. Ivan, the guy, fell...

There's something about a 30-rack of Busch Light .

You buy from the right place and an Andrew Jackson will cover it with change to spare. If you get real lucky that change will include a quarter or two that you can save for laundry day -- if you live...

Nobody cares about the trails you've gone through if you ever end up in a good spot. During your ascension you'll be loved for a little bit. Some get lucky and it lasts years. But the slide from being a hero to villain is abrupt. So if you ever find...

I spent the first few weeks of that job reading  Bukowski . Besides for Post Office, I read all of his books. His stories fit in with this job, because I felt like I was having one over on 'the man', and this was exactly what Buk valued. Living on...

It's a Korean tradition to make seafood pancakes -- or buchimgae-- when it rains. There's two reasons for this. First is audible, the sizzling in the oiled pan sounds eerily like rain. Second is the cool calm that follows on a rainy day.

buchimgae on a cool, rainy afternoon....