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I’ve told you about my favorite foods, Sushi, Kwik Trip Hot Dogs and Taco John’s, but there is one thing that I enjoy while consuming my favorite foods, a cold beverage. That beverage would be Mtn Dew.  Unlike the other blogs, I don’t know when I first started drinking Mtn Dew or the real reason I love it so much, but I do (no pun intended).

I remember waking up my senior year of high school, I’d do my hair, eat Oreo cookies and milk, watch Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, brush my teeth, and then grab a Mtn Dew on the way out the door. By the time I got to school, which at most was five minutes away, the Mtn Dew would be gone. When I would come home, that would be the first thing I would have after walking in the door. There was one time I refused my parents to crush the cans and I left them on the kitchen counter and made a castle of empty cans.  There was no reason for it, no pictures taken of my artwork, but I did it anyway.

After moving to Minnesota, living on my own with my own income, some of my ‘drinking’ habits had to change. I couldn’t afford 4 cans a day, and I wonder how much my parents spent to keep my ‘addiction’ going while I was in high school. I know at one point I had stopped drinking Mtn Dew daily for about 6 months. I never got headaches, which was nice, but it might have been the reason I had a dream about the tasty beverage.

The dream happened in the spring of 2001 when I was living in St. Louis Park, MN. My apartment complex was across the street from a gas station. One day, the manager called his employees (I knew one of them while working at the mall) and said it’s closed until further notice.  I would walk past the station every day on the way to the bus stop. I watched as the cardboard boxes changed color from sitting in the sun. I also saw the milk stay on the shelves for two months.

So, I had this dream. I dreamt I walked home, the doors were open as they were airing out the store from the spoiled milk.  There was a sign next to the doors that said everything must go. The next thing I know, my roommate comes home, all the living room furniture was in the apartment building hallway and the door opens. I had Mtn Dew cases along every wall stacked to the ceiling. He asked what I did and I said, it was all free, I couldn’t let it sit there any longer.  I woke up soon after that and I wanted to cry, because I had no Mtn Dew in the fridge and my walls weren’t stacked with 12 packs.

Some people drink Mtn Dew, others, like me, live/drink/dream about Mtn Dew. If I could get ITRadio|tourettesradio|Feed This Blog sponsored by Mtn Dew, my dream would come true. When I was managing on the Indy pro-wrestling scene, I wanted Mtn Dew to sponsor me, because it was all I talked/blogged about and drank.  Before my ITRadio shows, if I have one in the fridge, I’ll get a can out, start the show, open the can and drink right next to the microphone. I’ve been told, when I do that, my listeners wish they had a Mtn Dew, JUST BECAUSE I WAS DRINKING IT BEHIND THE MICROPHONE! Oh well, I may not be a role model, but I can at least want a refreshing beverage.

I do, however, still have the dream of opening the perfect can of Mtn Dew. I wouldn’t dream of the perfect can if I haven’t seen and tasted the perfect can of Dew.  As soon as you pick up the can, you know it’s special. It seems a little heavier then what you’re used to and it’s super cold to the touch and gives you a possible brain freeze.  What makes this Mtn Dew a perfect can is the fact it is heavier and when  you open it, the liquid rises out of the can opening and spreads across the top of the can. IT happens on rare occasions, but tastes amazing!

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I guess I could be called spoiled, or I might just be lucky, but growing up in Eau Claire, WI had an advantage.  The advantage I’m talking about is Taco John’s! At any given time, I was 15 minutes from any of the three Taco John’s Eau Claire has. One is on Water Street on the UW-EC campus; the next one is near the high school on the south side of town and one in Oakwood Mall.  Even when I moved to Minnesota, I have lived 15 min away

When did I fall in love Taco John’s is beyond me? What I know I was younger than 10 years of age and I’m not complaining.  I mean, what else is better than their super nachos? Oh yeah, they have Pepsi products and Pepsi makes Mtn Dew!  And yes, I eat at Taco Bell. Sometimes I can’t get to a Taco John’s, but they also have Mtn Dew.

One of the earliest memories of having Taco John’s was at the mall. I remember my mom had something going on in the food court area, 10am hit, I was hungry, my sister and I were given two dollars. I remember this because the tacos we ordered were 95 cents each, plus 10 cents in tax and the total comes to two bucks! Maybe there was some gimmick that made me want it all the time.

My favorite item on the menu, other than the Mtn Dew, would be their super nachos. You can’t go wrong with crispy chips covered in ground beef, refried beans, guacamole, tomatoes, shredded cheese and melted cheese. Oh, and I can’t forget the olives.

I wish I could tell you where exactly I had the best super nachos in a long time, but I know it’s on the just east of the Minnesota/South Dakota border, maybe two or three exits before you reach the border on the way to Sioux Falls, SD. The location of this Taco John’s is about a mile off the highway, but it’s worth it.

This Taco John’s was old school! The inside maybe fit 30 people if they squeezed in to all of the seats, the food/kitchen area was maybe double the size of my apartment kitchen, but best of all old school things, they wrote the order down on tickets and hung them up to make. What I didn’t expect was they loaded me up not once, but twice. Once on the way to SD, once on the way back.

But to finish this post off, I can’t for the life of me remember what their sales pitch was, but in 2002/2003, I swear they had something called “The Taco Challenge.” My friends and I never quite figured out what this challenge was, but we were in Eau Claire on a Friday night. We asked what the challenge was and they didn’t know either, even with a sign on the wall.

Well, we made our own taco challenge that night. We each ordered their Six and A Pound meal. That included six hard or soft-shell tacos and a pound of Taco John’s signature Potato Oles. All we would be able to drink is one medium beverage of our choice, but no refills and we had to eat the tacos and as many Oles in 30-45 min. It was good fun that night!

I still want another taco challenge and it will happen someday… someday! I think I’ll have to take a trip to Sioux Falls and visit Frosty for this challenge!

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I love hot dogs (or the way I say IT: hut dogs), but not just any kind of hot dogs. I love the hot dogs that used to be 3 for $1 rotisserie style hot dogs from Kwik Trip gas stations in WI.  I loved these hot dogs and once I moved to Minnesota, the only times I would have them would be on road trips. There are Kwik Trips in Minnesota, but IT’s not the same and they’re not close to where I live. During my Indy Pro-Wrestling days, I had created an urban legend with my obsession with Mtn Dew and the Kwik Trip Hot Dogs. The only thing about the urban legend stories, were the fact they were real.

I didn’t start eating the Kwik Trip hot dogs until 1999 when a friend showed me the “rock star breakfast/lunch/dinner.” I would eat them as often as I would eat Taco John’s while still living in Wisconsin.  The hot dogs were just regular Oscar Mayer wieners that Kwik Trip sold in their store.  What drew me to them? I don’t know, but I had to have them any time I would go to a Kwik Trip. IT was my obsession at the time and I don’t even know if the word obsession is a strong enough word to  describe my need to have them.

I moved to Minnesota in 2000 and that was also the same time I was involved with an Indy Pro-Wrestling federation that did the majority of their shows in Wisconsin and many of them were in my hometown of Eau Claire. So, I would be traveling around Wisconsin at least two or three times a month and every weekend I would have Kwik Trip hot dogs.  In fact, I’ve eaten at almost every Kwik Trip that Eau Claire and surrounding cities had. Even to this day, if a new Kwik Trip opens, I have to have the hot dogs, no if, ands or buts!

I made it part of my Weird Cookie (my wrestling name) gimmick, which wasn’t a gimmick at all. I have a LiveJournal that I would update throughout the week in between school and the wrestling shows. I would talk about the stupid road trip stories that Horace the Psychopath, Rain and I would have and the trips to Kwik Trip. And it never was just hot dogs alone, there would be the Mtn Dew that would be talked about, too.

I don’t know what kind of influence I had, but I had instant messages from fans turned friends that said they had Kwik Trip hot dogs for dinner, including a Mtn Dew to drink. IT would be one thing for them to have it for dinner, but they felt the need to tell me.

This was also the time my metabolism was going crazy! There was one weekend I had to stop at my parent’s house and pick something up. For whatever reason, I raided the fridge out of habit and they had an almost whole pizza and they let me take it.  From my parents place, we drove to the nearest Kwik Trip that was 5 min away. By the time we parked, I ate half of what was left of the pizza when I got it.  We went in to the Kwik Trip, purchased my hot dogs and some junk food and waited for the others to pay.  When I made it to the car, I hit up the trash can to throw away the hot dog tray gimmick. I ate all the hot dogs while waiting.   After that, finished the rest of the pizza, my junk food and I was still hungry.

Recently, I met up with my family at a Kwik Trip in between Minneapolis and Eau Claire.  After my dad gave me whatever I needed to pick up from him, I had to run inside to use the bathroom. Not sure why, but he and my sister waited until I came back out to leave. During that time, my dad turned to my sister and asked if I was buying hot dogs.  She said, probably.  Sure enough, I walked out with my 3 for now $1.39 Kwik Trip hot dogs. I can’t NOT do IT. IT’s not a gimmick, IT’s real.

I love my Kwik Trip hot dogs, no matter what the price, I’ll get my hot dogs even though I have been slacking and either getting chicken and Swiss cheese sandwiches or just the jumbo dog, but rarely will I get hot dogs from any other gas station, because IT’s not the same to me. I need them from Kwik Trip or I won’t get them.

I’ve been eating sushi (or sooshi fish  (video below)) for almost seven years and I see no signs of not eating it anytime soon. IT happened during a huge winter storm, which fell on a Friday night  March/April of 2002.  I went to hang out with one of my best friends and ex-roommate, Bonnie/Rain, because we didn’t have any indy pro-wrestling gigs that weekend. We were too lazy to cook, or didn’t know how to cook, and took a trip over to Byerly’s, an expensive grocery store.

It was after the in-store sushi chefs had left, but their remaining sushi caught my eye. No idea what kind I had, but I picked up some to try and also gross out Bonnie because she hates fish of any kind. I must have liked IT, because I’m still eating sushi today.

I don’t know when I started eating sushi on a regular basis. IT could have been later that year once I moved in, or IT could have been when I started my current job in 2003. Regardless of when it was, I was pretty much hooked, just like those fish, so the pun was intended.  I knew there were sushi restaurants around me, but I was too nervous to try anything better than grocery stores.

Don’t get me wrong, Byerly’s sushi is decent, but IT’s the fast food version of sushi. Before I mention the few sushi joints I’ve eaten at, a funny story about getting sushi from Byerly’s.  I try and eat sushi every other week while at work. Other than I like eating IT, I love grossing out my co-workers who hate raw fish or fish in general.

There was a Friday I needed to leave work early and picked up sushi earlier in the day. This prepared sushi meal was one I had never seen before. Included in my sushi container was an octopus tentacle. YES, full, not sliced and placed on the sushi itself octopus tentacle. Before I swallowed that thing down, and I wish I had picture of this, but I had it sticking out my mouth like IT was my tongue. Trust me IT was funny, but I paid the price on the way to Wisconsin. Before you ask, no, I didn’t throw up.  When eating it I could feel the suckers in my throat as I swallowed it, but that wasn’t the gross part to me. The gross part was having my stomach feel like a science experiment with vegetable oil and water. My stomach was the 2-liter container for that experiment.

I’ve also gotten my friends hooked (is there any other way to say it without a pun?) on sushi. Where I have gotten most of them hooked would be Ichiban: Minneapolis. Ichiban’s is known for their all you can eat sushi (for an hour).  They have these cool little boats that go around in the circle and the sushi chefs are in the middle of the oval seating area. The chefs are always making crab cake appetizers, seaweed salad, edamame, sushi rolls, tempura and sashimi. They ask if you would like any rolls/sashimi if you do not see them floating around. The chefs engage in conversation, are funny and you can watch them make your food upside down, due to the mirrors on the ceiling above them.

One other great thing about eating at Ichiban with me at their all you can eat sushi fish is watching me eat for that hour. I tend to go overboard, trying everything, never stopping to breath other than to drink water and count how many plates I’ve put away. My eyes bug out of my head, I start to get chipmunk cheeks as I see something come around on the cool boat that I need, or want, to try.

And now, for a video of Brandon Dicamillo of CKY/Viva La Bam trying to get people to come to Kooma in West Chester, Pennsylvania, for their lunch time special and the place “where kids eat free…!”