As I was window shopping in the “marketplace” within my cellphone, I came across an application that allows one to blog directly from their cell phone — yes I’m feeling a little behind the times about this. But, at least now I know that it is in fact possible! The challenge… make the next post from my phone. The next steps.. figure out exactly how to do this. I’ll let you know how it goes!
I’m a little sad. I’m sad because I realized this evening that one of my dearest friends and I are just not connecting. I’m not sure when this happened, but I think that it must have been recent. I’ve noticed that she and I can’t seem to have a conversation without one of us getting defensive. It was recently compared to oil and water or a married couple who just doesn’t know how to communicate without bickering.
This hurts because my friends really mean the world to me. My first impulsive says to go up and talk to her, to ask her what’s wrong. But I realize that the timing isn’t right. It’s not right because the conversation would no doubt go something like this:
me: Are you mad at me?
friend: Why would I be mad at you?
me: I don’t know, I feel like you may be mad at me and I’m not sure what I did.
friend: we’re fine
me: ok
But what I would really be thinking is — what do I do now? how do I fix this because there is obviously something wrong, otherwise it wouldn’t be this awkward.
If you know me… like REALLY know me, this kind of situation causes me to retreat. I start to wonder if my presence is wanted or I start to think that by staying away then I won’t escalate the situation – whatever the “situation” is. I makes me second guess my words, my thoughts, my actions. Sometimes it’s just easier to retreat, but she is someone I consider on of my best friends, so I really don’t want to retreat. I guess I just wish I knew how to fix this – I guess I wish that I knew why we’ve suddenly start to speak different languages.
April 9, 2009
A year ago, about 22 hours shy of being to the day, The Loose Goose Wine Society, Wine Festival, and Private Wine Cellar officially announced the closing of the doors. How sad it is to remember. Up until the last minute I was go go go, but it was on April 9th that I finally sat down and shed a tear at the realization that this amazing company was going to exist only in memory.
This is what the flock put together - Good times!
I remember first meeting Peter, the founder of The Loose Goose, at a Jaycee membership meeting. Who knew that the brief introduction made by April would eventually turn out to be an introduction to The World According To Goose. You see in Goose’s world, the goal is to enjoy the little things in life in a really big way. The Loose Goose Wine Festival was proof of that. I had the pleasure of being a part of the festival twice – once as a volunteer, and then last year as a PROUD member of the “Flock”. There’s a saying that states “the proof is in the pudding”, well at the Loose Goose Wine Festival the proof was in the faces of the guests — their smiles wide, their glasses empty, their friends near, the music playing, the wine itself and later at the “decompression party”.
Just yesterday at work I was recounting some of the preparation that was made for the events leading up to the festival. For those of you who received invitations to the Loose Goose Gala, all I can say is that I had fun watching Peter perform surgery on that pillow in effort to get enough feathers to fill the invitation boxes. If you’d been a fly on the wall, you would have seen the preparation made – complete with mask across the face while the pillow was marked and then dissected. Somewhere Arnie has a picture. We all laughed as we watched and of course it was only later that we realized that our guests would probably hate us for stuffing their invitation boxes with feathers – but that they would know that it was all in the spirit of fun. Like that guy who called and said that he opened up the box in the car with the air conditioning on and the feathers blew everywhere — I raise a glass to you for laughing about it.
My "desk" was the wine rack just to the left of the image. How many people get to work over a rack of wine?
I didn’t always know how fun it would be. Actually it was quite the opposite at the beginning. I had made a life change, moved and started working for The Loose Goose, but I really didn’t know where I would fit in. It took a few months of uncertainty for me to devise a plan to ensure my longevity in the company. In listening to Peter explain wines, I realized that there were more bottles that needed their stories shared – so I started to learn about the wines we carried in the cellar. Who knew, especially at that time, that it would have had such a profound affect on my life. It was Peter who took the time to share his knowledge of wines with me and who gave me the opportunity, and the venue, to learn about the magic of the grapes, and of their stories.
I can go on and on about my experiences at The Loose Goose, and maybe one day I will take my experiences and bind them together for the world to see. In the meantime, some are already here and I’m sure more will come. I am proud to have had the opportunity and the privilege to work for a company such as The Loose Goose where, yes, the hours were long, the pay was sometimes in wine, but the smiles were in abundance, the audience was appreciative, the love was evident and the passion was infectious.
Cause that's how we roll
Peter, I know that today is hard, but it is your dream that was shared and impacted the lives of
countless people. Your heart is big, your taste in wine is exquisite, your accent is charming and your lessons in pronunciation are forever present in my mind. Like the phoenix that rises from the ashes, I know that The Goose will lead the flock back into formation. When you’re ready to rise, as a member of the flock, I will be there.
So last night I met up with some friends to see a production of On Golden Pond at The REP. I arrived a little early and spent a little time talking with “O” as he was pouring drinks for his guests when I realized exactly how much I miss pouring wine for guests. It seems silly, but wine has the ability to take you to a whole other place. Imagine ….
The detailed preparation that takes place only to ensure that your experience is the something special – considering your pallet to ensure that I have something to tempt it – making sure that the bottles are just the right temperature to showcase the transformation the grapes have made – cleaning every glass, spotless, so that the view is completely unobstructed – pouring it so that it reaches just the widest part of the glass so that the wine can open up, then carefully placing the bottle down so that the next pour can be just as perfect.
At that point, it’s up to you, if you’re a novice, I would hope that rather than “downing” it, you would take a moment to mimic the experts, or better yet, to ask questions, so that I can walk you through the appreciation of the taste. I’d ask you to take a look at the color and notice how deep or clear or rich or opaque it is. I’d ask you to smell it and describe what you smell, then ask you to swirl it in your glass just like this so that the wine can open up. Then I’d ask you to smell it again and see if you noticed any differences, what do you smell now? Then I’d ask you to take a taste, but don’t be too anxious, let it sit on your pallet for just a moment – then you can swallow it. What did you taste? Did you taste berries? what kind? was is like tasting spring in a glass? how so? or was it something that you could picture having with a juicy steak? What about with Thai food? Then for that next taste and to watch you walk away content with a glass of wine that you can envision as part of your future –
Or to pour a glass for the expert. To know that they are closely watching me for mistakes – which I would no doubt make, only to welcome the helpful tips offered. Then to see them truly evaluate the liquid decorating their glass claiming to be the best in show. To have them appreciate the tannins, the acidity, the crispness, the imagination, the labor, the love that was placed into creating the experience just for them.
For many wine is just another beverage to be consumed… to me, it is an experience to be had. I don’t drink wine, I savor it. It offers me the opportunity to be a conductor for others, or the ability to transport myself to a place where nature meets labor and love. It represents a world often taken advantage of for personal escape, but is really an oasis of art when appreciated.
Wine is not a beverage, it is an experience and I miss being a part of your experience.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of visiting a local museum – the Hart Ranch and Museum – with a great group of friends. The Hart Ranch and Museum is where western movie pioneer William S Hart retired after a successful career making silent movies. I admit, I had no idea who he was. I mean I know that everything out here seems to be named after him, but other than that — no clue.
Jack Stewart was our tour guide and he did a wonderful job sharing Hart’s story. The museum’s website (www.hartmuseum.org) describe Hart and his ranch in the following manner:
William S. Hart was born in Newburgh, New York on December 6, 1864.Hart started his acting career in his twenties. At the age of 49, Hart came west to Hollywood to start his movie career. During the next 11 years, he made more than 65 silent films, the last being “Tumbleweeds” in 1925.
In 1921, Hart purchased a ranch house and surrounding property. He built a 22 room mansion which to
day houses Hart’s collection of western art, Native American artifacts, and early Hollywood memorabilia. Hart lived at the ranch nearly 20 years until his death in 1946. In his will, Hart gave the Horseshoe Ranch to the County of Los Angeles. It was to be set aside for the use and enjoyment of the public, at no charge.Today, the Horseshoe Ranch consists of 265 acres. Both the ranch house and the Hart residence are open to the public. An assortment of animals reside at Hart Park, including a small herd of bison which were a gift from the Walt Disney Studios in 1962
The home is a beautiful and we learned that at the time, Hart forked over a good $100K to have the home built. That’s a pretty good amount of coin if you consider that it was nearly 90 years ago. There’s this beautiful texture on the walls, which are all decorated with amazing paintings by Charlie Russel and Fredric Remington. And a great room upstairs that houses gifts and posse
ssions Hart enjoyed. We learned that the museum is a static museum – this means if something is broken, it is not replaced, it is simply removed from the museum, so guests are careful not to touch anything. We also learned that Hart authored numerous books containing stories that he and his sister would write for both boys and girls. Hart seemed like a pretty cool guy – too bad United Artists didn’t do his final movie, Tumbleweeds, justice. Apparently Hart was mad at the movie industry and produced his own movie which was distributed by United Artists. The movie didn’t do great in the box office and Hart sued United Artists – and Hart won the case in the 1940s. I guess the last laugh was his though, because when he died, he willed his ranch to the county on 3 conditions – that it would become a museum, that there would be no charge for guests to visit, and that there would be absolutely NO filming. Thank you William S Hart for opening your home to us!
The past couple of weeks have been rather stressful. Today was the day I had been waiting for. After countless sleepless nights, I was finally able to sleep in. Waking up, I decided to start the day with some fresh brewed coffee from the french press and warm oatmeal. Then a trip to the puppy park where I spent a good chunk of the afternoon talking about the world of wine while Corky and his new friend, Anna – an adorable and sweet Corgie – played with each other. Then lunch and a nap and now a relaxing evening with the remote catching up on a few shows that I haven’t had a chance to watch in a long while. This is what I consider a pretty great day. 
In our family, we celebrate Christmas at the stoke of midnight — which means that Christmas Eve is full of family and friends waiting anxiously for the little hand and the big hand to meet at the number 12 on the clock. This year I sat at the table enjoying dinner with my aunt, cousin, uncle and dad – while the rest of the family sat at the “long” table talking about God only knows what.
The topic at our table went from the infrequency of family visits to how the meat just fell off of the fork to the fact that my younger cousin doesn’t know much about wine because she does not have a sense of smell.
This got me thinking — if wine is 80% smell, then what process would she take on when learning about wines? Admittedly, she didn’t know much, but was absolutely willing to learn.
I started by pouring her a small taste of wine – a 2001 LoMac Winery Zinfandel out of Fresno to be exact. I explained to her that often times people just pour and drink – but that when it came to wine, we really should take a few moments to consider what it was that we were drinking and to appreciate it. We looked at the color of the wine – a deep ruby with just a hint of brown in it. I explained that the brown is indicative of older grapes. Then we smelled. Since she can’t really smell anything, I took in the aroma while she mimicked the motion. Then we tasted. At first she did what every other person does, just drank. I explained to her that she take it just a little slower – let it sit on the palate, see what you taste. I explained to her why she was salivating and then why her tongue felt dry. At this point my aunt was intrigued so she asked for a glass and repeated the steps with us.
Being new to wine, my cousin, naturally, would have to get used to the steps, but no doubt she would be more aware next time a glass of wine was poured – even if she couldn’t smell a thing.
20% appreciate of wine is so much better than the 0% appreciation a lot of people give it. I’m proud of her for keeping and open mind and realizing that wine doesn’t have to be difficult, but rather it can be a challenge with a unique reward.
Wow, what a life changing couple of weeks this has been. Over the past 10 days, I’ve had the following changes:
Right now I’m sitting on the couch watching Christmas with the Kranks with Tim & Jenny and enjoying some 2002 Silkwood Red Duet an 2006 Fleur Petite Sirah with various cheeses. 2010 is going to be great!
Today is the day that my older brother an I are no longer the same age. You see my older brother and I are 9 1/2 months apart, so for 2 1/2 months out of every year we are the same age. When I was younger, this really bugged my brother. I remember us going to the LA County fair and sitting for one of those calendar pictures, you know the ones where they snap your picture then print it on a canvas with a dot matrix printer? Anyways, we’d sit there every year and the attendant would ask us how old we were. The conversation usually went something like this:
Attendant: “So, how old are you?”
Me: “siiiiiix”
Brother: “six”
Attendant: “Six, wow! Are you twins?”
Brother: “NO”
Me: “yeeeees”
He hated that. I, on the other hand, got a kick out of it . The the picture would end up with me smiling and my brother cracking a slight grin. The LA County Fair is in September, which was right after my birthday, so my brother would have to endure another 72 days of this torture until he was once again a year older than me. This happened every year and every time I think of the Fair, I think of that exact moment.
Adrian, today you are released from your 72 days of twin-ship – and I wish you the best birthday ever. When I think of how much you endured of that torture, I love you more and more. I really can’t think of anybody in this world who has a heart the size of yours. You deserve greatness, you deserve ease, you deserve the best that life can bring to you (I mean, hey, life brought you me, so that’s a start! Lucky you 
). But seriously, I wish for ALL of your dreams and wishes to come true.
Happy Birthday Adrian!
Today I find myself doing a lot of cleaning in preparation for my impending move and I came across a copy of the Yahoo! Hotjobs section of the Daily News from October 4th. There George Gurney writes a section called Dear Headhunter, which is essentially an advise column, similar to the Dear Abbey columns I grew up with, except it’s focus is centered on jobs and careers. Anyways, I don’t usually keep these sections because they’re no longer as information packed as they once where – but on this day, I chose to keep it.
After sharing a quote by Jim Ryum, “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.”, Mr Gurney encourages his readers to take a closer look at their habits and ask, are they positive or negative?
I know that I have many habits that I work at changing. Sometimes I’m successful, othertimes not so much. But the following poem that Mr. Gurney shared really made me think about the power that a positive, and a negative, habit can have over me. Here is it for you to read and hopefully to make you take a closer look at your own habits:
I am your constant companion.
I am your greatest helper or your heaviest burden.
I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.
I am completely at your command.
Half the things you do, you might as well turn over to me,
And I will be able to do them quickly and correctly.
I am easily managed; you must merely be firm with me.
Show me exactly how you want something done,
And after a few lessons I will do it automatically.
I am the servant of all great men
and, alas, of all failures as well.
Those who are great, I have made great.
Those who are failures, I have made failures.
I am not a machine, though I work will all the precision of a machine
Plus the intelligence of a man.
You may run me for profit, or run me for ruin;
It makes no difference to me.
Take me, train me, be firm with me
And I will put the world at your feet.
Be easy with me, and I will destroy you.
Who am I?
I am HABIT!
-Author Anonymous
