I'd have all of my bills automatically paid, so I didn't have to worry about them. I'd have a washer/dryer in my apartment. A place to put my 21 oz. wine glasses and a small temperature regulated cellar would be nice, too.

If I were being totally unidealistic, I'd give up this whole academic schtick and pursue my Masters of Wine, and spend the rest of my days making 100k a year to talk, smell, and drink wine. But I care too much; ergo, I will be a Ph. D. student.

I suppose I could come up with a schema to have my bills automatically paid from an account that I don't touch. Being that my student loans are in a lump sum, I could probably pull this off. The washer/dryer thing isn't going to happen any time soon because of the way the water system is set up in our building. That's okay, though, because we love MPT too much.

I will probably pick away at wine knowledge with the use of the Masters of Wine syllabus, then go for it whenever I feel adventurous. I think that once I get into the Ph. D. program (if I do), I'll love it so much that I'll wonder why I ever thought I could do anything else.

.............

And that's all I really want. I wouldn't trade my life, my brain, my situation for anyone else's. I'm young and healthy, and there's are a lot of mountains for me to climb. What else could anyone in the world want? And who can buy that?

(This is truly an Adderall day. Actually, permanent treatment of my ADHD or whatever's making me so tired and depressed would be the best thing in the world.)

Tags: intel, intel sponsors of tomorrow, lifestyle challenges, writer's block

You may now refer to me as "Wine Captain".

I miss Keith. He's my best friend here, and I've never gotten along with anyone as well as I've gotten along with him. I don't have anyone to drag me to random places excitedly, or to give me the volition to play good music or make the house pretty.

Granted, since the move, we haven't really had enough time together to get bitchy with each other. ;) I can only look forward to spirited geeky debates (excluding a few topics that get us angry at each other), Nobuo Uematsu and other nifty music, kicking each other's asses to get things done, distracting each other from getting things done, hearing his analysis of my quirks and being very grateful for them...and probably his family drama. :P

I don't understand why I find New Zealand's wine history to be more interesting than Portugal's, or Germany/Austria, or even Argentina. (Granted, Chile was presented along with Argentina. No country wins with respect to interestingness compared to Chile.) Maybe it's all the Sauvignon Blanc I drank.

( wine geekery )

Varietals: Cayuga, Muscat, Vidal Blanc.
Color: Slightly more pigmented than pale straw, just a hint greener, possibly slightly hazy. (The cork looked just a little weird.) Probably unoaked.
Aroma: Ripened pineapple. Ruby red grapefruit. Thus, kind of pungent.
Taste: Pineapple, peaches, vanilla, ruby red grapefruit. Semi-dry. (To normal people, that's 'sweet, but not too sweet.')
Body: Medium body, probably higher acidity than apparent (medium) masked by the sugar. Sweet, yet crisp.
Finish: Less than 30 seconds. Coolness of the muscat left on the tip of the tongue, pineapple acidity on the mid-palate, slight grapefruity bitterness at the back of the palate.

Granted, it's supposed to be an approachable, easygoing, fruit-forward wine. (Wine people call it "quaffing wine.") There seems to be a discontinuity between the pineapple-grapefruit and peachy-vanilla flavors, but who cares? It was $5.47 at Total Wine, and more than worth the money. Awesome for the summer. I'll probably be taking a few of these to Pennsylvania for the 4th of July family gathering. One couldn't create the most well-proportioned cocktail this nicely. Despite having residual sugar, it has an 11% alcohol content. Vanilla indicates the possible use of malolactic fermentation.

The pungency initially turned me off, but I've acquired a taste for it. Granted, I've had 1/3 of the bottle already. People who drink sauvignon blanc would call me a wimp.

Disclaimers: I'm not a fan of tropical fruit flavors in wine, so my view could be biased. Also, I am a newb.

Good God, I actually have to learn how to do this. I can memorize, but it seems as if no one ever agrees with my qualitative judgment. How's that going to work?

"The title "Sommelier" is worn by an individual who understands the unspoken honor system: if you can't do the work competently, perhaps it's not a good idea to carry the title!" - Court of Master Sommeliers

And now I'm beginning to understand what they mean. Learning about wine is like learning a new language. It's entirely possible to go through the coursework, pass the tests, and not remember a thing. Thus, it's imperative that one also finds other people to "speak wine" with. Unfortunately, I think people think I'm trying to be pretentious when I try to engage them in wine-talk. :/ I guess I could visit some forums.

I actually think I'd rather be a Master of Wine than a Master Sommelier. Simply because I'd like the coursework better. And the exam wouldn't be nearly as scary. :)

Looking over the MW syllabus makes me realize that Gallo, at least, seems to start with giving the student all of the breadth of the world of wine, but in order to be a master of any sort, one has to be very, very, familiar with the depth of knowledge.

(My neck still hurts, and I'm icing it.)

Current Mood: sore

I failed the French wines module the first time around. There are so many appelations and subsets within subsets, varietals made in different styles in different places...very daunting. However, I seem to be doing exceptionally well this second time around. Reading Total Wine's Guide and obtaining Wine for Dummies has been helpful in getting the information down.

I also picked up a bottle of Williamsburg Winery's Governor's White. Apparently it's only $5.47 at Total Wine. (!!!)

I should take a break from wine, and read some swim bladder things.

Edit: 3:09 pm - I passed the French wines module, but only with an 85%. I expected better, being that most of my quizzes were 100%.

I like how now that he's dead, it's okay to like Michael Jackson's music again.

Current Music: Michael Jackson - Rock With You

My doctor switched me from Paxil to Cymbalta. Being that Cymbalta acts on norepinephrine as well as serotonin, she thinks it's a good option, possibly less likely to make me ridiculously sleepy. Also frequently used to treat anxiety. She mentioned that with my level of anxiety, the Paxil wasn't even close to treating it fully, and I would have had to take more than twice as much. (!!!)

Tapering is going to be tough. I even have to go a few days completely without, because of the half-life of Paxil. :/

I didn't entirely catch the name of my new possible doctor. I can only guess, and the new one also seems to be a professor of psychiatry at MCV, and has been there for a long time.

Ugh. Wish me luck.

I've decided that port is about as sensual as cabernet sauvignon. I have a bottle of Taylor Fladgate's 10 year tawny. I think I prefer the 20 year. Still.

While randomly dropping into a Indo-Pak grocery store near Total Wine, I bought some mixes for butter chicken and chicken tikka masala. And brown basmati rice. I'm excited. :-D

I just ate a bunch of pita bread and roasted red pepper hummus. Strangely, my appetite has been voracious in the last two days. Oh boy.

Crazymed appointment tomorrow morning. Wish me luck. :/ I'm scared, because my SSRI needs to be switched out, and this is my last appointment with my current doctor.

While eating a fairly haphazard dinner, I found an amazing pairing for Louis Jadot's Beaujolais-Villages. Dolmas and a ham sandwich with extra mustard.

Sure enough, my research yielded similar matches.

In Level III, I've gone through U.S. and Australian wines, and am in the middle of French wines. (Lots to remember to demystify them.) I still have seven more regions to go. (!!!) Maybe I won't finish by Thursday after all.