Mad Men’s January Jones Epic GQ Drinking Adventure
GQ might just be my favorite magazine, and when the November issue found its way to me via a maze of forwarding addresses, I was very pleased to find the incredible January Jones of Mad Men on the cover. This pleasure was upgraded to a full-fledged mutiny when I found that her story was chock full of fine beverage awesomeness.
Here are some fine beverage bits from the piece, “OH, BETTY!” by Mark Kirby with killer photographs by Terry Richardson.
January wants to go to the Chili’s near the H Gates. She loves the queso there. Loves it even though it doesn’t always come in one of those little cast-iron skillets like at regular Chili’s and they don’t have a “red beer” (beer and tomato juice) here like she’s seen at the franchise’s other midwestern outlets.
Because by now, January has already finished her first in-flight drink and is giving me a hard time for being slow on mine. It’s clear that she’s taking the notion of having fun on her “vacation” very seriously; it’s up to me to keep pace. Shouldn’t be a problem, I think. She’s so small-give her another beer or two and she’ll be asleep.
She’s drinking Bud Light now, telling stories about growing up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where her family moved from Hecla (population 314) after she was born.
The flight attendant-older, highlights, annoyed-arrives. “Can I get another Bud Light?” “I think there’s only one left,” says the attendant. “You know what? She’s trying to cut us off,” January says when she’s gone. “Apparently we’re badly behaved.”
We are drunk. Or at least I am. January swears that she’s not really drunk at all, that she’s been known to have a twelve-pack from time to time (liquor doesn’t agree with her), and that once, in high school, she downed twenty-six beers in a single night. (“I threw up a lot. But it was a contest…. I hope this story isn’t only about drinking.”)
We have a breakfast date set for the next morning, at a little place in Los Feliz, to make sure we can cover the sorts of topics (“So, are you single?”) that might be awkward to talk about over beers on a four-hour flight. January walks in-jeans, sunglasses, loose-fitting top-and promptly announces that she had two more beers after returning home from the airport, pushing her grand total up toward eight. “You remember last night?” I ask. “You said that in high school you once drank twenty-six!” “I did drink twenty-six,” she replies coolly.
I order coffee, she orders orange juice, and we talk about her love life.
“Dear men of America, I like beer, I like football. I’m probably the most interesting girl you’ll ever meet.”
I definitely recommend picking up a copy and experiencing the story (and photos) in their hard copy splendor. (Also check out a brilliant three-page exploration of coffee, including Mutineer alum Zoka.)
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