Cheap beer, whatever beer is cheaper than water.

Which raises the question, why is beer cheaper than water?

The stereo is usually just running in my head, I’ve spent many months sorting through over 26,000 archived MP3s and basically memorized all the music I like.

A pepperoni pizza and ice tea since I don’t drink. And on the stereo I’d have lofi playing while I mellow out

I’m weird, I sit down and unwind to a bunch of data management. :( I don’t really eat or drink recreationally, it’s just fuel for me at this point, and I really only listen to music to fill space when driving.

A lamp? :)

Beer and a charcuterie board and listening to either John Denver or the Stuff You Should Know podcast.

I sing and dance to ‘relax’, lol, so perhaps romantic salsa/disco/acid jazz and a jay? 😁

I would be drinking some whipped coffee (decaf) while listening to some jungle/dnb

Some kind of interesting seltzer, some excellent crumbly cheddar, nice summer fruit like blackberries and peaches. Listening to something intriguing and instrumental. Maybe Matthew Shipp, maybe Tyshawn Sorey, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, John Zorn, others.

Methamphetamine and cocaine in order to get nice and focused. Diet coke to keep a clean palate and provide a refresher as needed, but when the focus dies down, more meth and coke until I feel like my head is going to literally explode. While this is going on, I’m listening to Babymetal, Electric Callboy and any other party metal that gets my juices really flowing. I am relaxing, but I might clean the house also, sometimes Jesus just calls me. Eventually, it feels like I’m going to actually physically die so I decide the up cycle is over and I need to come nice and down. I take two hits of molly (which will be just fabulous in 20 minutes or so) but in the meantime, I need to take the edge off immediately, so I shoot two (fat) shots of Woodford Reserve Bourbon (typically Distiller’s Select, but I’ll slum on the basic stuff any day). This is the part where Pink Floyd is queued up. Typically Dark Side of the Moon, but also A Momentary Lapse of Reason, because the tears of Roger Waters fans serve to sustain me in these moments. I might also queue up some Dream Academy just to drive my love of David Gilmour home. The Molly kicks in, and I’ll almost always decide it’s time for a fruit and cheese board, grapes and brie, mixed nuts, apple slices and a really dry Manchego. Two more shots of Woodford and we’re just starting to get comfortable. Heroin is hard(er) to come by - but if I have it, it’s time to shoot it up. 10mg in .5ml suspension will be more than enough to complement the Woodford. If not, Fentanyl it is: I spin the wheel of fortune on the Mexican Percocet. Holy shit, I’m really feeling the groove now. This is where my love of 80s pop ballads kicks in. Stalwart standards like Duran Duran, Thompson Twins and Howard Jones pastiched with glam favorites like Poison, Motley Crue and Ozzy Osborne (God rest his soul). At this point I’m beginning to lose my ability to do remain conscious, and a nice glass of Merlot is absolutely necessary. The night must end with Enigma - anything off of Cross of Changes will do. If I remember anything in the morning, then I didn’t do it right and I need to start over.

A joint and a documentary. Probably history, nature, or mythology

Bong in one hand, weed vape in the other, a can of Pepsi on the coffee table, and Suicidal Tendencies on my stereo. ST doesn’t make the most out of my two subwoofers but they compliment the Pepsi quite a lot.

Black Butte Porter and Fleshgod Apocalypse’s album Labyrinth

It’s been a long time since I have actually been able to do this but let me lay out a vibe for you:

I work 2nd shift which ends at 10:30 pm and I used to live in a really rough neighborhood. The kind of place where people mind their own business as a matter of safety. The kind of place where landlords don’t do inspections so everyone has a grill on their patio even though it’s against the lease.

So I would go out every single night at 11:30-midnight, light up the charcoal grill, poor myself a cocktail and spend the next hour or two cooking for myself in the quiet empty dark.

So to actually answer the question:

• the food would change often but always grilled meats and vegetables. A hamburger and an ear of corn, skewered and marinated meats and vegetables with baked beans, everything you would think to pair with a steak, I even grilled cuts of fish on a salt brick a few times.

• the drink would be something seasonal. In the fall I would mix burnt sugar whiskey with hot apple cider. That was my favorite.

• what I listened to was always some audio horror fiction. I love music but there was just something about the fire, the moon, and the colony of feral cats that chilled with me for table scraps, that demanded I listen to ghost stories.

I don’t know if I have a favorite consumable. Let’s see, if a drink, it could be tonic water or some homemade lemonade with tonic, or it could be bubble tea, or it could be fireball or botrytis if I’m feeling like something alcoholic.

Foods might be chocolate, ice cream, chips, cake, prosciutto, olives, blue cheese and crackers

Drugs would be mushrooms but I wouldn’t consider that a relaxation companion.

I don’t think I put anything on my stereo if I want to relax. Like if I did, I wouldn’t have the food or drinks. I get easily overwhelmed like that. Scrap the food and drink and put carbon based lifeforms

Japanese Ume liquor.

Music is much more difficult. probably some 90’s hardcore like Refused.