day 20: a hobby of yours

I'm tempted to post that Steve Brule video again, just because I like to shrug and say "It's a puzzle of yours!" Maybe you'll get it at the end, if you're lucky...

This is a hobby of mine.

I drink Diet Coke from Wendy's (my favorite) while hangin' out backstage with my friend Katie Sue.

(grossest picture of me ever, if you couldn't tell)

I'm good at drinking Diet Coke with Anne in Stratford, England, out of glass bottles and straws, with wildish looking hair.

I drink Diet Coke with Jeremy at Hooters when we meet Melinda and Matt for dinner before going to see movies like The Dark Knight at the IMAX (where I drink more Diet Coke, probably).

When I hang out with Madison and Katie days before my 23rd birthday, sometimes I drink Diet Coke-- and take a wacky picture while doing it!

I love drinking Diet Coke in France because the bottles are in French, you guys! And even though I'm eating a croissant in this picture, Chris is drinking a regular Coke, and Alta's back there with a Diet one, so you can see that we Americans got the best of those French by purchasing American products while abroad.


UVU, where I work and spend my days, is what my friend Mel likes to call Pepsi Island, where Diet Coke is rarely available-- certainly not on tap! When I have lunch with Ames, I have to settle for Diet Pepsi. Not preferable, but better than nothing. I'll even smile about it!

This is how I really feel about Diet Pepsi though: I let my Shia-from-Indiana-Jones action figure (with knife throwing action) take on Diet Pepsi (especially caffeine free).

You might say I'm a big supporter of the cola industry. What's funny is, I didn't even like cola until the summer of folk dance before my sophomore year of college! Though my parents have raised us to be a Coke Family, I always preferred Sprite or orange soda. I'm not sure what triggered the change, but the change was triggered, and I haven't looked back.

The beauty of the Diet Coke is that it is delicious, it is satisfying, and it doesn't even cost you a single calorie! Sure, it's got preservatives like crazy and it's probably pickling my insides, but I just love it.

I'm lucky to have other Coke Loving People in my life, aside from my family. Specifically, my friend Emilie who was the blessing of my life this summer when I came to Seven Peaks to work as HR and she was there, waiting and ready to be my friend and my ass(istant). Maybe we kept 44 oz cups in our office so we could go to the food stands promptly at 11 AM to get $1 refills. Every day. Sometimes more than once a day. Especially on payroll days. Don't even get me started on payroll days.

Occasionally I wonder how much time and money I've spent pursuing the acquisition of Diet Coke in my life. I mean, even just my time in Europe in 2008 where everything was exactly 2x the price of things in the US and I would regularly spend about $5 on a 20 oz bottle, multiple times a day. Then there were those times we went to those pubs and paid a cover charge, only to spend the evening downing Diet Coke instead of alcohol, which definitely costs a lot more than Diet Coke, except I spent the same amount on it anyway.

There's a Coke store in Vegas. My mom got me a pen and a pin from the Coke store. I wonder how many things I'd be tempted to buy at the Coke store. Probably the whole store.

My friend Ashley is a Coke lover-- especially Diet Coke with real limes squeezed in. She has said that she'd like to have red, black, and silver as her wedding colors so she can serve Diet Coke at the reception. I think it's a pretty fancy idea, and original. I'd go to that wedding, you guys. (I mean, I'll go anyway, but especially if it's Coke themed.)

When I found out I have a broken thyroid hanging out in my neck, I was told to lay off the stuff-- or at least the caffeinated stuff. That lasted for a while... I have to confess, I'm back on the caffeine, though I do try to make a concerted effort to avoid the caffeinated Diet Coke after 6pm. Sometimes I'm successful.

I always order "light ice" at restaurants, especially fast food when I'm on the go. I'm very particular about my Coke-to-ice ratio, in that I like more Diet Coke than I like ice. I've been known to send my drink back for more drink and less ice-- especially at Sonic. When they get it right, BOY do they get it right, which is why it's so very disappointing that they get it wrong more often than they get it right. Wendy's delivers a consistent and dependable ratio, which is why it's probably my favorite. They also offer a great fountain mix, which cannot be said about all places. Most places, it's blah. Wendy's, it's perfection.

It's nice how quickly the young man Ames learned to order for me, and he's very emphatic about the light ice. Quite nice diction, that one has. He doesn't think my behavior is dependent so much as it's selectively independent. I appreciate that. It makes it so much easier when I just can't drink another sip of boring gross water that I'm trying to trick myself into drinking because it's "better for me." Sometimes I just need a Diet Coke, okay? Which the young man will provide.

Maybe some might think it's silly that I refer to Diet Coke as one of my hobbies but you know, I think hobby is a much nicer word than habit. That's why headbands and cardigans are also hobbies.

And okay, I won't post that Steve Brule video again. BUT I'LL POST A DIFFERENT ONE!