For I shall always let thee do,
   In generous love, just what I please.
Peace comes, and discord flies away,
   Love’s bright day follows hatred’s night;
For I am ready to admit
   That you are wrong and I am right.

I’m going to need to rush through today’s post as I’m a little behind schedule and have a Christmas party to attend to this afternoon. Two journeys to report on from yesterday: a morning walk with Swan to the Subic marketplace in search of chocolates. The 8K walk was successful, but the quest was unfulfilled. Later in the day, I hoofed it over to Cheap Charlies to quench my thirst and I’m happy to report that I was successful in that endeavor.

Oh, and it is envelope season. Folks who provide services, like trash collectors and subdivision security guards, leave envelopes in hopes you will fill them with holiday cheer.

Swan dictated that I enjoy some “me time,” so I was on my own for the beer o’clock activities, and I set about fulfilling her wishes. It’s been a while since I’ve documented an excursion, so I figured, why not share the joy with my reader(s)?

My Cheap Charlies views:

I had a nice chat with the bartender and apologized again for my boycott of lady drinks at Cheap Charlies. They raised the price to an inexplicable 250 pesos for a SINGLE LD, one of the most expensive in town. I’m not even a cheap Charlie, but I consider that price level a scam, and I won’t pay that amount as a matter of principle. The bartender said she understood, and they appreciated that I bought them food and treats during my visits. So, last night it was chicken wings, chicken fingers, and lumpia from Foodies downstairs, each item priced nearly the same as an f’n lady drink.

I did my nightcap at Green Room for some of the same old, same old, which is still enjoyable for me. And that’s how I spent my Thursday.

At the end of March 2016, in the LTG archives, I was going strong in Itaewon. For all the feedback on my current beer-drinking lifestyle, it is only a shadow of what it used to be.

Today’s YouTube video asks: If you could choose immortality, would you? The first thing I thought of was an old comic book story: “I have eternal life, and it’s killing me.” Suffice to say, it didn’t end well–an eternity of being crushed to death, resurrecting, and being crushed again. Anyway, while I think I’d give an eternity of reliving my current life over and over again a shot, the idea of living into the future without end doesn’t appeal to me. So, my answer to the video’s question is no.

R. Crumb authored that comic I mentioned above. While looking up his Wikipedia entry, I came across this quote:

Killing yourself is a major commitment, it takes a kind of courage. Most people just lead lives of cowardly desperation. It’s kinda half suicide where you just dull yourself with substances.

Robert Crumb

There have been several times over the years when I considered taking “the easy way” out of life. Luckily, I didn’t have the courage to follow through. Call my current lifestyle what you will, but it is better than being dead.

Let’s end this post with a smile or three:

Anyway, we got invited to the Alley Cats bar Christmas party, and we’ll attend for old times’ sake. At least we’ll be off our beaten path for a while.