Tuesday, July 15, 2008

This Will Be About Wine. Or Maybe Whine. Possibly Both?

First off, thank you to those who sent or are going to send me photos of windows for my office cubicle. After posting yesterday, I was afraid I might have New Coked it; by delivering what I thought was a good idea that turned out to be something that no one else thought was a good idea. So far, it looks like we are more down the road of Angus beef burgers or stuffed crust pizza, with regards to general acceptance and all. Holy crap do I need to stop relating my ideas to food or this post will never get completed! Any way, thank you for being so willing to brighten up my little cube.

Now, onto the whine wine. Everything about wine makes it something I should enjoy immensely. There are many, many kinds, makes and brands. People can sit around and discuss it. You make going to see where it is made a destination. And perhaps most importantly, it comes in many different packages and with a ton of different labels. I like packaging. Just ask my wife when I buy a new kitchen gadget at Target. No matter how heavy it is, I walk around with the box in my arms struggling to walk and read all of the packaging hyperbole that got me to buy said gadget in the first place. I might fit the mold or profile of someone who connoisseurs wine, assuming you can connoisseur it. I know you can consume it (well I can’t – but more about that in the sentences to come), but can you connoisseur it or just be a connoisseur of it? These are the questions that keep me up at night. Well, that and planning whether I want a real wood or faux wood dock in the front yard for that time in the not too distant future when my home in Corona becomes beach front property. And whether you can serve boiled lobster at a clam bake. It’s not called a lobster bake, and since it specifies clam, I’d hate to let anybody down. I can already tell there is going to be lots of responsibility as a beachfront homeowner.

Thanks to the unusually high variety of PRESCRIPTION (I’d hate to start nasty rumors) drugs, I cannot consume, or alas even connoisseur, alcohol. Heck, I never even developed a taste for it. In fact, when I smell alcohol when out with friends and family, I instinctively begin clenching my left fist in anticipation of having blood drawn for yet another test as if rubbing alcohol had already been swabbed over my arm. Also, did my use of the word ‘swab’ just then make anyone else think of pirates? Arrrrr right, back to the subject at hand, sorry. Smelling alcohol and thinking of having a needle plunged into my flesh is quite the pleasure killer. To help you understand, although I tried to be pretty crystal clear there, I will offer up a few other examples. In a twisted way, I guess it would be like smelling manure and associating it with beef or smelling cut cheese and associating it with cheesy goodness. And I’m talking about real cheese that has been cut at a cheese factory. It smells nasty, man. But then again, so does the other type of cut cheese. I’m going to stop now.

It bothers me that I’m not a wino. Wait, it bothers me that I’m not into wine or I am not a wineologist or winist. Or is it vineyardarian? The relatives I just visited in Oregon live in the middle of a vineyard and there are wineries all over. I’ve always thought it would be the coolest thing to own a winery with some clever name (which I would offer up right now if only I hadn’t sat in front of my computer for the last 20 minutes trying to think of one and only coming up with The squeezed grape or Virgin Wineries – in an ode to my lack of drinking sophistication) and equally clever label, but a non-wine drinking winery owner seems kinda dumb. Although, it does have a great PR angle. Owning a winery just seems fun. The oak barrels, the aging process, the tasting and selling and tours, and do I really need to mention getting to act like Lucy Ricardo while stomping all those grapes into juice. And it hitches up the sophistication level a few notches, which is a good thing because I could most certainly use a good sophistication up-notch hitching. I think. Truth be told, I just confused myself quite badly.

Do you ever feel like you are missing out on something? Like when you get to work and all of your coworkers see you, stop laughing and mysteriously, but quite obviously, disband? Like Michael Scott says: ‘I like inside jokes. I hope to be part of one someday.’ That’s what the whole wine fun seems like to me. We have friends who are into wine and take weekends to visit wineries and have a wine fridge in their kitchen and give away wine as gifts. It all seems like such a blast and real grown-upy. I’ve tried alternates like Root Beers. Have you ever noticed how many root beers there are? I used to collect Root Beer bottles for the labels. Then I realized how much I could make by recycling those bottles and my collection kinda, well, liquefied. I’ve certainly tried it with cheeses. Just one problem though, there seems to be a shocking shortage of cheese factories to visit. Well, at least legal ones. On our trip to Oregon, I checked the option of our GLAD (getting lost avoidance device) GPS unit to display the little bottle logo for all the wineries in the area. Surprisingly, there was no such logo indicating cheese or root beer factories.

It’s not that I’m whining or pulling out a bottle of hater-aide for wine connoisseurs. In fact, I envy you and look to live vicariously through you. Vicarious through vino, you might say. Or since you aren’t a member of the species Dorkus Humanicus like me, you might not say that. Actually, I’d bet on it. So, I hoist my diet A&W Cream Soda in your wine loving honor. The next time you spend a weekend wine tasting; just bring me back a t-shirt. Or a really cool label…


***Here’s my little reminder to send me your unanswerable questions and window pictures. I made the font green to soothe your eyes. As a token of your appreciation, you can just send me questions and window shots.

10 comments:

Cheryl Lage said...

Me likey the wine after a long day of twin-chanted whine. No wait, honesty dictates that I need to confess: I like wine to celebrate a day with no twin-cessant whine.
It's all about the antioxidants...or so I keep telling myself....

Wine ain't class in a glass...don't be deluded; or is that dilluted...which one is the result of ice cubes in my car-warmed wine? Lawsy, I need a refill..

;)
Hope you and yours are well.

cmk said...

I have had many different wines in my life and really can't get that excited about any of them. But then, I guess Mad Dog 20/20 and Boone's Farm aren't exactly high class. ;)

Eva said...

I go through phases of drinking it and not drinking it. Otherwise known as "awake" and "asleep". Just kidding. But these days, and it's probably because of the heat, I like a nice chilled glass of white wine before dinner. Like maybe two days a week. And yes, I feel all grown-upy when I sit down with a glass.

Anonymous said...

Believe it or not, the word you were looking for for wine-lover is oenophile!

chefmom said...

Darn! Citizen of the world beat me to it!! I do enjoy wine. Only red through. White has one purpose and one purpose only: Cheese Fondue. or White peach Sangria

Expat No. 3699 said...

Not a huge wine fan myself, I like me some beer.

Anyhoo, I took some pics out my windows at home yesterday...just for you. I'll upload them after work today and e-mail them.

Questions? Hmmm...
Deep Dish or Thin Crust? Chocolate or Vanilla?
I Dream of Jeanie or Bewitched?

Melissa Maris said...

It's funny the smell of alcohol makes you think of needles...it makes me think of how I'd like to have an intravenous wine line all the time. Perhaps you should start dabbling in alcohol-free wine connoisseurship. You could still swirl and be snobby - just without the hangover.

Anonymous said...

I cannot get into wine either. As lovely as the packaging and conversation pieces wine can provide, not to mention a lovely buzz....There is something about the smell of wine that turns my stomach as well.

I stick to the classics like Vodka (Grey Goose in particular) and Good Ol' Bre-Ha-Ha (Corona Only).

I loved the sentence Vicariously Through Vino.

Brilliant as usual.

(Oh, and now while I am home and heavily medicated I am acting like Elaine Benes)

Anonymous said...

PS:

Is it odd, strange or unusual that the only way I can drink Red Wine is with a ton of Ice and through a STRAW?

EMTWench said...

Hiya, Michael.

I wish I could remember all the things I wrote yesterday when I tried to put the comment up on your blog.

I completely understand what you mean and are feeling. I work in a fine, prestigious private golf club with a lot of people who understand, know, appreciate and consume wine with great gusto. I don't even pretend to know or understand even the most basic things regarding wine, and why should I?

I don't drink alcohol.

I'm not religious, I'm not anti-fun, I just don't like the smell or bitter taste that all alcohol - no matter how sweet or sour - has. I hated it when my parents or grnadparents would allow me a tiny sip of anything, and I hate it now.

Sometimes I think it might be nice to go out and enjoy some fine wine with friends, but oddly enough, few of my friends are drinkers of alcohol either... There are more of us out there than one would think!

However, every Thursday night and every sixth Saturday I remember with perfect clarity why I am perfectly happy not be a drinker! When we end up out in the ambulance at 0200 for a violent drunk who ripped a bar apart and is now outside in 2-degree weather; handcuffed and sans pants, svreaming blue murder... Well. Then I am very forcefully reminded how good life is that it will never be me out there in a pantsless awful condition!

So! Rejoice in your alcohol-free living, whatever the reason!