Awesomeize

Awesomeize. verb. Describes the action of receiving or giving something awesome. Examples: "I was awesomeized by his lecture." "I awesomeized her with my present." "I awesomeized everyone at the party." "She is in the process of awesomeizing."

Over a Year!

I haven't eaten meat in over a year! October 2009 marked my one year anniversary.

Wow.

Denial

Denial doesn't make things go away
Denial doesn't make situations better
Denial is what cowards live in
Denial hurts those around you
Denial only causes more pain
Denial is for the sad and lonely and weak
Say NO to denial in your life
Responsibility is so much more dignified.

Things to be Excited About

This month has really tested my patience with life. However, I do have reasons to celebrate: Alan's birthday is coming up. I'm planning a birthday party for him and I'm really excited about it. Plus Halloween is just around the corner. Halloween is one of the best cultural inventions of America. During Halloween you get to play dress up, express yourself in unconventional ways, and eat all the candy you want. I especially love the candy-giving part of Halloween. It feels very gratifying to make little kids around your neighborhood happy. When else do you have the opportunity to give candy to total strangers? When else do you get to make art out of pumpkins? When else can you pretend you are a super-hero with magical powers?

Personality Assessment

I am currently finishing an Organizational Behavior class for my MBA program. The class includes writing a 10 page paper about my personality patterns and leadership-style trends. In order to complete the paper, I took 11 personality assessments (half online and half in class). Most assessments, especially the online ones, seemed full of hocus-pocus and were just trying to sell me something. However, there are definitely some interesting trends that emerged from all the assessments. For example, I apparently should have focused my career on becoming an engineer, or joining the military, or become a farmer. These career options were a pretty consistent trend among many of the assessments.

I don't know how those three very different careers kept coming up on my assessments, but they make sense. After all, I still have my dream of owning a miniature-cow farm one day.

Some of the free online assessments I took are here, at Quintessential Careers.

Pictures of This Weekend

Crushing Grapes at Bouchaine

Listening to Music at SoloVino

Eating a Burger and Chili-fries

Tasting Wine at Beringer's Redwood Grove

Wine-O-Weekend

It feels like we were gone for at least a week. But, in truth, it was only a weekend. Calistoga has that magical power, which makes time warp and hours fly by in blissful glee. Here is what Mr. Husband and I did this weekend:

- Friday: After half a day of work, we frantically ate lunch, packed and drove to Calistoga. We arrived to our hotel, the Calistoga Village Inn, around 4pm. The hotel turned out to be a little farther away from the main strip than we would have liked and, unfortunately, our hotel room sucked. It smelled like someone had gone bonkers with the cleaning supplies. The entire room was drenched in the fake-clean smell of "flowers" that makes your insides churn and head hurt. The shower was so tiny Alan couldn't stand up in it without hitting his head. We quickly were informed that one of the inn's main pools was out of commission. Overall, the inn was a bit more run-down-looking in person than in its website pictures. We were not impressed. However, we are currently in harvest season, which means most hotels in the area are full and booked months in advance; we knew we couldn't change hotels without paying premium prices, so we decided to make-do. After complaining to management about our hotel room we got bumped to a better, larger room, with a whirlpool tub... and received a steep discount. In the end, the hotel worked out well since it was relatively economical and we didn't spend much time in it anyway.

Once we were settled in, we set out to dinner at Hydro Grill. After dinner we went swimming in mineral waters and received relaxing massages at Golden Haven Spa. By the time we got done with our massages we decided to out to town again, and ended up eating a second dinner at the famous Calistoga Inn. We finished our second dinner with cappuccinos and a decadent piece of chocolate-peanut butter cake, (which tasted like a large reese's peanut butter cup) covered in chocolate syrup. By the time we got back to our hotel we were happily bursting at the seams.

- Saturday: We woke up reasonably early, had breakfast at a nice, little cafe and set out to Vincent Arroyo winery, where we did some wine tasting and purchasing. Beringer Vinyard followed. While there we received an amazing tour of the Beringer Rhine House and tasted some more fantastic wines. The Rhine House has stained glass windows worth about 89 million dollars! By the time we left Beringer we were starving, so we decided to stop by this cute burger joint that we saw off the side of the road near the town of St Helena. At Taylor's Automatic Refresher the burgers were good, large and filling.

By the time we were done eating there were only few wineries left open for tastings in the area. We stopped by V. Sattui Winery in St. Helena, which was close by. We discovered that this was not the weekend to visit V. Sattui; it was packed to the brim with families, babies, and people, people, people. We didn't feel like fighting our way to the tasting bar (or listening to babies cry), so we split for our beloved Calistoga. While wondering around Calistoga in search of wine, we stumbled across a wine-bar "grand opening" in the downtown area. The SoloVino grand opening included great food and live music in an intimate setting, for FREE, with your modestly priced tasting. It was wonderful. From there we went to Golden Haven Spa for an evening swim and a detoxifying mud bath. Both of which were awesome. After drinking and eating and swimming and being detoxified, we were in the mood for a light dinner this time. Bedtime came soon after, because wine tasting and mud baths make you sleepy.

- Sunday: We went back to Hydro Grill for a hearty brunch and then wondered around Calistoga shops looking for interesting art and odd trinkets. Alan found a nice zippo torch accessory at A Man Store. Then we went to St. Helena, where we marveled at all the different types of olive oil and balsamic vinegar and designer shoes that exist in the world. Around 1pm we drove south to Bouchaine Winery, near the city of Napa, where we met up with my family for a wine tasting/grape crushing party. There was live music, generous pours, wonderful people, and -of course- great wines at Bouchaine. After the party we were were pretty exhausted, and we headed back home to Sunnyvale.

Sometimes, in the hectic mess of our daily grind, I wonder why we live in California. California, with its overstuffed highways, menacing wild fires and insanely priced real estate. However, a quick weekend getaway to California's wine country, full of history and world class wines and gorgeous landscapes, always manages to remind me of why I live where I do. I love it here, and I wouldn't exchange it for anywhere else in the world. (Except maybe Paris.)

Completely Gratuitous Photos of Alan and Me

Pictures taken by Ian Elliott Photography

I'd Rather Have Rain

It has been sunny, hot and parched in California for as long as I can remember. I seriously cannot recall the last time I witnessed a good thunderstorm. Usually I love California's weather, but lately I've been missing the freshness and greenness and good sense of cleanliness that comes with rain. I think everybody has; California's water reserves are in trouble because of the looming and dooming drought, which been stressing everybody out for the last couple of years. This land has been way overdue for a downpour. In fact, it could use a series of downpours. Today it finally rained a little bit. My backyard was moistened by a light sprinkle of a rain, which is a good start. But a light sprinkle is not going to cut it.

Maybe if I do a rain dance it will help materialize a big, wet storm. I'll use sticks, feathers and loud shrieking noises, coupled with a few well placed dance moves. If the Gods will look favorably upon it, I'll even consider offering a sacrificial chicken. The neighbors might think I'm crazy, but I don't care. I'd rather have rain.

Rejection, the Opium of the People

Maybe Mr. Marx wasn't specific enough when he coined the phrase "Religion, the opium of the people". He did not mention rejection in the writing where this famous quote is embedded. Without rejection, I do not think religion could exist. Without rejection, and the entailing feelings of sadness and inadequacy, religion would not be appealing to the masses. Why would anyone need religion if you thought that you were perfect, if everybody -including yourself- loved you just the way you are, if you wanted for nothing? Rejection from privileged class, rejection from peers, rejection from society in general, rejection in all its forms is what drives people to religion, a safer haven from the confines of this rugged, finite world.

Thus, it would follow, that rejection is at the root of the opiate which soothes the masses. It is the common bond that peoples share. It is what drives people to mask themselves behind illusions and fantasies. Internalized rejection is what prevents the working class from revolting and claiming their stake in society. Religion is merely a manifest symptom of internalized rejection.

Just a thought...

My Microwave Works

Last night I had a hard time sleeping. Everything kept waking me up. As a consequence, I woke up earlier than usual this morning, groggy and uncomfortable. For my first order of morning business, I stumbled toward the kitchen to heat up my heating pad in the microwave. As soon as I went to press "start", the microwave turned off in a huff. I thought I broke it. After all, microwaves are capricious creatures. Somewhat sad and cold, I went back to bed. 

Later that same morning, after my shower, I realized that none of my kitchen appliances were working. Not even the fridge. I started to panic. What did I miss? Had my beloved kitchen turned against me? Was I in the Twilight Zone? Eventually I figured it out: turning on the microwave blew out a fuse. (What are the odds of that?!) I had to fiddle around with the fuse box until the flow of electricity in my kitchen went back to normal. Then, as I waited for my toast, I tested to make sure that my microwave wasn't broken. 

Veronica Mars

I spent the better half of last week watching the TV show Veronica Mars. The show is about a young female detective who solves unsolvable murders and mysteries. Veronica Mars is addicting and girly and fun. But, now that I have watched every single episode available to mankind, including the failed 4th season pilot, I suddenly have a sense of emptiness in my life. I think some nachos and piña coladas are in order.

The Cake

I made it from scratch, and it was amazing.

Orange zest cake with apricot mousse filling and butter-cream icing.