From the archives: Stargate: Coach, episode, er, 1? a blog post circa 2009

Some Saturday, March 2009.

Well, first, my handbag is NOT Coach. Not Fossil either. Not Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada or anything else remotely classy. It is just something I picked up at WalMart. When I bought it, my girlfriend Connie said, “I hate to tell you, but honey, you just bought a black hole.” Little did I realize how prophetic she was!

The story starts at the end and goes backward in a classic Sci Fi plot affectation. I spent Saturday morning taking the train to my school in Claremont. Our story opens (er, closes) in the computer lab. I am there to pass off a set of car keys to a person I haven’t met.

Lab Attendant (reluctantly pulling iPod earbuds out of his ears): Can I help you?

Me: Yes, can I leave these keys with you? Someone named Stephanie will be along soon to pick them up.”

Lab Attendant (eyeing me suspiciously): What is her last name?

Me: “Er, I don’t know.”

“What does she look like?”

By this point, I am stammering. “Mmmm…I don’t know.”

“How will I know who she is?” he asks.

“Well, you see, I have an email here on my Blackberry that has her last name in it. But I can’t access it because my Blackberry battery died on the way here.”

The lab attendant reaches for his earbuds, clearly giving me up as a hopeless case. Then, I get a brain wave! I have my computer with me. I’ll just fire up my computer, download the email and find Stephanie’s last name.

About this time, a beautiful, young, blonde walks in, surly escort in tow. With a huge sigh of relief, I ask, “Stephanie?”

Well, not to belabor the point, but I dutifully turn over the keys, she says a perfunctory, “Thank you.”

Then, she says – if you can believe this – “I’m still fuzzy on how you came to have these keys in your purse.” She says it with almost – but not quite – an accusatory tone. Well, by this time, I’ve worked out the whole story, but it’s easier to just say, “Oh, my handbag is a gateway to an alternate universe,” smile kindly and flounce out of the room, which is of course NOT what I did, but makes for a much better story. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.

Stay tuned to this space for the next (er, previous) installment of Stargate: SG Coach.

Crime dramas, tennis and white wine?

CSI: NY and Blue Bloods, a tennis match captained (but not played) and a pinot grigio. Good way to end a Saturday? I think so. I now plan to fall asleep on my couch while watching the Australian Open. A few random thoughts...

• Tommy Robredo has nice legs (even in comparison to his opponent Roger Federer).
• Tom Selleck has nice everything (I'm still steaming from watching his brooding portrayal of Police Commissioner Reagan. Blue Bloods is probably may favorite right now.)
• I wish Darren Cahill called more tennis matches. I just love listening to him talk (Aussie accent)!

Wine and cheese tasting

Since I last wrote, I've been EXTREMELY busy with school. I have only rarely been at home in the evenings. And, when I was, I was studying rather than enjoying wine. But not too long ago, the ninja and I went to a wine and cheese tasting at the local Wine Bar. Of course, the ninja didn't taste any wine, but they had beer, too.

I had a great time. Emphasis on the word "I". The ninja really liked the cheese and the beer, but gets a bit bored about wine talk.

Meanwhile, we purchased me a bottle of this really heavenly Chardonnay.

The next day, we went for a perfectly pleasant breakfast at Walter's in Claremont. Breakfast was perfectly acceptable. The ninja ordered an omelette. I ordered a "Ratatoullie burrito". Everything tasted perfectly acceptable, but the burrito just wasn't as good as it was billed. Bummer. I felt a little guilty, but I brought it to their attention.

Afterward, we ran our two REAL errands of the day. We visited the regionally-famous Claremont Farmers Market and we stopped by the Cheese Cave who had provided the cheese for the event the night before! We bought some of the cana de oveja and the majon reserve! It was totally yummy with the Novellum Chardonnay the second time around!

Highly recommended!

Carhartt 2009 Chase the Blues Away Rosé

On 9/3/10, I wrote: This afternoon it's time to clean house. Must make some room in the wine cooler thingy because I'm expecting a shipment from my wine club next week. That means I'm opening this lovely Rosé.

Ripe fruit on the nose. Run of the mill flavor - a bit flat and uninteresting in the mouth. Pleasant finish...

...Sadly, that's as far as I got on this wine. I didn't have time for it. So, it really didn't get a fair shake. I was scheduled to start school the next day after opening it. I did the responsible thing and went to bed early.

Bummer!

Blue Mountain Chardonnay II

So, about this Blue Mountain Chardonnay And how I came to have two bottles in my wine cooler thingy. Incidentally, here's what a wine cooler thingy looks like:


And, they're really called wine coolers. Not wine cooler thingies. But I'm of an age where "wine coolers" mean Seagram's Bahama Mama and Bartles and Jaymes (look 'em up here). But now that I'm all grown up, I rarely drink wine coolers unless you count Mike's Lemonade which is my default if that's the only choice (beer not being a real choice).

And, the way that those two bottles of Blue Mountain Chardonnay from Berthoud,  Colorado ended up in my wine cooler is that I BOUGHT THEM ON MY SUMMER VACATION!

The ninja and I took our two 12-yr old nephews to Florida for 5 days. We bookended those 5 days with two very relaxing long weekends in Denver. During the first of those weekends, my long-time girlfriend and I entered a tennis tournament together (in Colorado Springs). By my calculations, I played 13 sets of tennis in the course of 30 hours (9am Saturday through 3pm Sunday). That IS my idea of a relaxing weekend. I'm weird that way. Now, the second of those bookend weekends was much more to the ninja's liking. We bummed around the Tattered Cover and a clearance sale of GoLite gear. And, we hit two great Farmers Markets.

The second Farmers Market was right across from the Tattered Cover's Colfax Ave location. That's where I tasted the Blue Mountain Chardonnay and purchased two bottles! That's ALSO where we had a Thai Peanut Cilantro Omelette at Dolly's Omelettes booth. It was great! I've made two for myself back home in SoCal since that time. Delish!

After we bought the Blue Mountain Chardonnay, we had a BRIGHT IDEA! We were on a meandering, but relentless march toward Denver Int'l and the end of our vacation. And, I knew I couldn't put the wine in my carry on. And, I wasn't crazy about putting it my checked bag either. So, I thought, "Hey, let's stop by FedEx and ship it to ourselves!" Well, it turns out YOU CAN'T SHIP WINE even if it's to your own home address! Is that crazy?

Well, we ended up storing it carefully in our checked bag and everything turned out fine. And, here I sit, enjoying it today!

Blue Mountain Chardonnay

Love this wine!

It's right up my alley. I love light, sweet wines. A Riesling with an apple and peanut butter is my ABSOLUTE favorite Autumn supper. This slightly sweet Chardonnay is in that vein. I'm enjoying it as I write tonight!

But, sadly, no apple and peanut butter :(

Sadly, no Autumn either :(

The bugs seem to like it, too. It's hot in sunny Southern California tonight. And, our air conditioner went out about October last year. We didn't replace it because it was October, duh! This summer has been so mild here that we haven't really missed the air conditioner. Until this week. 108 degrees when NH* picked me up at the train station tonight!

I digressed again. Mea culpa. The bugs. Well, it's so hot that we have the front door open. The bugs seem to like the "Slight Sweet" Chardonnay. I've had to go pour out the wine, rinse and refill two or three times already tonight. The bugs keep committing suicide in my wine!

More to come about this wine...it has a story worth telling.

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*I know, I know...I still owe an explanation for the whole "ninja hubby" title...

Little Black Dress

I failed this wine on so many levels. It deserved better than I gave it. It was a very traditional tasting Merlot. Just like every other above average-to-very good Merlot that I've ever tasted (dozens I'm sure), it went down smooth and had the perfect little spicy finish. My nose kept going back to the plastic camp glass I poured it in to enjoy its perfect merlot-ness.

But alas, I opened it at the very end of the last evening of the camping trip. I managed to save the bottle but not its contents. It was unceremoniously emptied next to our campsite when we packed up to leave. It hurt to do it.

The other way in which I failed this lovely wine, is all in its name. This wine totally deserved a party or a dance or at the very least a girls' night out. All it got was a campfire and canvas.

This was also the evening of the campout when I discovered that with the campground's wireless and the Scrabble app on my iPod I could keep up with the 4-6 or so online Scrabble games that I have going at any point in time! I lose most Scrabble games because I can't bear to give up on a challenge. Once an opponent beats me, I must keep playing until I find a strategy (and the right luck) to beat them. This can take many, many games.

So. Kenny, Sandy, Lori, Michael and Jane can thank Steve Jobs and Mammoth Mountain RV Park and my "Little Black Dress" for the moves I put on them that night!