"Life's Just a Cocktail Party on the Street.."

So I have a high school class reunion coming up this Fall and for the last couple of months there's been this flurry of classmate rekindling online. It's been.. *interesting*. :-)

Like for instance..

We're all being prompted to create a profile at a specific reunion website, and as I was reviewing classmates' profiles earlier I noticed a disturbing trend in the naming of people's children. Keep in mind that only about 33 classmates had filled in their profile information at the time I am making this post. Of those 33, about 25 reported having children, and 12 people responded with the following as their childrens' names:

Kaylea, Kiley, Kelsea, Kinsley
Connor, Caroline
Coral, Colby
Cory, Courtney, Colin
Holden, Hunter, Harlie, Hayden
Cullen, Cadence
Haylee, Hayden
Robert, Randy
Hayden, Hannah, Holten
Corey, Courtnye
Haley, Haiden, Kole

Is it just me, or.. ??

Whoa.

Being entirely clueless when it comes to the world of wines, a friend who took pity on my ignorance suggested I purchase a bottle of Pinot Grigio in the $15 range and give it a try. Okay!

Ahead of time I read up a little on Pinot Grigio and discovered that it is Italy's most popular white wine and hails from the northeast region of the country. The particular bottle I purchased was made by Pighin from the vineyards of Grave del Friuli. Pinot Grigio is the Italian version of the French Pinot Gris, which is usually a medium-full bodied white wine. It is a cocktail wine which primes the palate for food and pairs well with seafood.

The stuff wasn't bad. My husband busted it open as I was making dinner preparations last night. Mike (who never has been big on wine of any kind) gave it a try and immediately excused himself from the experiment. I, however, really liked the stuff and now had the bottle all to myself. ;) SCORE!

In spite of my raging lushhood, dinner turned out beautifully. I tried to take some photographs of a couple of new recipes in action, but none of the photos turned out particularly well and I really don't know why. *hic*


CHEERS!

But... what's wrong with this picture? Apparently I am drinking out of a champagne flute instead of a proper wine glass (duh! must go shopping!). I am also holding the bowl rather than the stem as I take a drink and when drinking white wine (which is typically chilled) you want to preserve the serving temperature of the wine as long as possible by raising the glass by its stem. I think I would feel absolutely ridiculous drinking that way, but it should make for some amusing photos. ;)

Until next time...

"I cook with wine. Sometimes I even add it to the food." ~ W.C. Fields

Well... It was beautiful and sunshine-y here today so I tried to go on a little photography field trip to Bivens Arm Nature Park a couple of miles away from where I live. I got there and parked and found the boardwalks and overlooks closed for repairs, so I decided to take some of the footpaths through the woods. Nothing exciting to report. I think I took all of 7 pictures and scrapped 4 of them. :p Tangled Florida overgrowth is pretty much tangled Florida overgrowth no matter what time of year you're trekking through it. That's okay though. I was outdoors and it was really nice out, plus I got a good hour+ walk in.


Tomorrow I'm going to try again with a local botanical garden which is a few miles further from my house in the opposite direction. We'll see what happens!

I also have some cooking planned for tomorrow (new recipes!) and an afternoon online chat with past high school classmates to talk about our upcoming class reunion. PLUS I have Monday off also. Gotta figure out what I wanna do with *that* day! ;)

Coming up soon for me:
Hoggetown Medieval Faire
Old Crow Medicine Show concert
Mardi Gras 2009

I write for myself above all else.

Sure, it's great to have an audience and garnish the rare nod for my efforts, but even if I lived in a beat-up rover resting on a dusty ledge on some remote, uninhabited planet, I'd still write just for me. Just because.

Just because it's what I've been doing for so long I can't recall ever *not* doing it. Ya know?

So yeah, I write because it's something to do to get me through the day. It's algebra homework over and over all night long (but for FUN!) and it's a way of carrying over emotions, solving for coefficients, and rounding off baggage. I love the details and relish the distractions.

Saturday was a glorious exaltation of unexplained slothliness and debauchery. WOO!

Then Sunday I awoke with grand visions of annihilating every last thing on my "To Do" list. I was gung-ho and motivated, which lasted all of about 40 minutes or so, then I fell into bed with the last sliver of Kerouac's "On the Road" to devour.

Mission accomplished. Next up on the Reading List: Bruce Campbell's "If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor". I'm looking forward to it. The introduction already had me giggling so that is a good sign.

An old friend from high school has taken me under her wing with hopes of initiating me into the world of wines, of which I know NOTHING! I'm a liquor drinker, period. But I've always been curious about wine and thought if I liked it how fun it could be to homebrew it! I'm all about the hands-on with everything. Looking forward to her tutelage. :) Should be interesting if nothing else.

Right now I'm listening to my friend Darren's last.fm music channel and am not disappointed. Thank you Darren!

Back to work tomorrow. Ugh.

But til the morning hours, I bid you this hearty adieu:

"May you work like you don't need the money, love like you've never been hurt, dance like noone is watching, screw like it's being filmed, and drink like a true Irishman!"

Discovered this little beaut today. LOVE it!