Alcohol-free weekend is one to be remembered

Earlier this month came the shocking news of an inebriated 20-year-old falling to her death from an apartment window, during a weekend party.

I am no longer at risk of dying violently due to alcohol because I think myself too old to do anything but sit in front of the telly or play pool when I am drinking.

But it's still hard to visualize a weekend without beer. Old habits die hard and the brain inexplicably links fun with drinking.

Still, I recall with pride, one recent Friday evening that I spent without drinking and had fun, too.

That evening, I was slouched in front of my TV set and flipping channels listlessly in the hope that some station would have the good sense of showing last Sunday's episode of "X-Files" which I had missed, or maybe a sneak preview of the Star Wars remake -- the kind of dreams which if come true would make me respect the Tube a great deal more than I care to.

Needless to say, I felt let down after about an hour or so of fruitless channel surfing.

And the stage was set for another Friday night devoted to beer and one more lazy Saturday morning spent recuperating from the excesses of the night before.

I am not one of those individuals who is hooked on alcohol, or for whom the weekend inevitably means two full days in the company of ol' man Bacchus.

I am your run-of-the-mill graduate student who works his butt off for five days of the week, and who comes back home on Friday evenings with the modest hope of relaxing and having a night away from the grind of endless hours at the lab counting unfriendly bacteria on unappetizing agar plates; or grading a quiz for a class, half of which doesn't know the difference between electromagnetism and relativity, and couldn't care less anyway.

And what do I get? A series of moronic, canned-laughter filled sitcoms. Am I to blame then if I take refuge in the inevitable six-pack?

But luckily that night, while I was contemplating whether to cut costs and go for Rolling Rock instead of the usual Corona, a friend dropped in to see me and inquire if I was doing any better than him.

After the usual greetings (actually grunts, for that's what greetings become when you get too familiar with somebody), and having satisfied himself by peeking into my bedroom that I wasn't hiding a half-naked woman in there, he suggested that we see Sleepless in Seattle showing at the HUB that night.

I looked at him with amazement. The first great idea that's come out of X (that's what I'm going to call him lest he get too swollen-headed for comfort) in a long while.

I mean, I had seen Sleepless in Seattle once before and couldn't make it through the first half on account of my dozing off, but it did seem like a much better idea than being holed up at home all night.

After I had made X call the HUB front desk to confirm that the movie was free, we trudged up to the HUB.

The movie turned out to be okay (except for X's snickering at every little intended joke or funny remark, which made me want to twist his head off or something).

After the movie, two other friends who had joined us suggested we go for some pool in the HUB basement. We then played pool for a couple of hours during which I lost about a few hundred bucks in foolhardy challenges -- money which I never intend to pay, of course.

By the time we were ready to go, I realized that it was about 2 a.m.!

I hadn't taken even a drop of alcohol, nor had I spent the whole night curled up on the couch watching an endless series of TV programs.

Instead, it had turned out to be a really great evening. What's more, it was almost without expenses -- except for the dollar I had spent for getting the pool table.

And of course, I had the added advantage of waking up the following morning fresh and clear-headed. I promised myself that I'll try it again.

The University provides a chance for a great Friday evening away from the bars or drunken parties through the various programs it has to offer -- from the availability of pool tables at the HUB till 2:30 a.m. to the movie shows at Sparks, Chambers and Kern buildings.

You too can avail of it.

Try to consciously spend a weekend without alcohol. Do it as a mark of recognition for the terrible untimely death of Leigh Anne Prevatte, or just for the heck of it.

I bet you'll have a weekend set apart from the rest, at the very least.