Red Wines

Update! This wine shit's too hard to write!

Here's the problem. I'm always adventurous in the old Trader Joe's or Safeway or the occasional wine store (tough to take the preschooler to the wine store and not feel weird. Maybe I'll start going more now that the preschool thing is real. probably not). Then I bring the wine home, and it gets drunk (well, I drink the wine and then I get drunk...hubby, too. I'm not a wino). And I suck and drinking and typing, so I don't write the wine up that night. And I suck at remembering to type later, so I don't write the wine up later.

But whatever, it's more about the drinking, after all.

Anyway, I've had reds from US, Spain, Portugal, Greece, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Argentina, Chile, Italy, and South Africa. Not to mention one from somewhere in Eastern Europe. It wasn't good.

So i'm actually going to give this task the pink italics even though my reviews are woefully incomplete and my recordkeeping sucks.

i'm a lush, not a critic.

1. 2004 Sangre de Toro, Miguel Torres, SA, Barcelona.

first off, i'm sad to read that older vintages of this wine came with a little plastic bull...we got no such toy. second, i know nothing about how to write about wine--so bear with me. fairly simple, full-bodied red wine flavor, but without all that "glue taste" that you get from a cab or a merlot. a little bit tart at first, and can feel a touch acidic at the back of the mouth. has a nice, clean, earthy finish--my favorite thing about the one or two spanish reds i've tasted thus far...it's certainly one i'd be willing to drink again.

2. 2003 Malbec, Zolo, Argentina

i don't think i have quite so much to say about this wine. at first it seemed nice and bright, but from about the second or third sip, that "bright" became merely "kinda sour." don't get me wrong, i drank it happily and was glad that at least it didn't taste heavy. still, malbec just isn't my bag.

3. 2004 Carmenere, Casillero de Diablo, Concha Y Toro, Chile

another good, full-bodied but not at all overwhelming red that's contributing to my newfound belief that in the case of a bordeaux, the sum of the whole just ain't as good as the parts.

4. 2005 Cotes du Rhone, E. Guigal Chateau D'Ampuis, France

i have to admit i was already a touch tipsy from wine #3 before i tried this one, so my opinion might be overly favorable. it certainly was heavier than the spanish and south american wines we've been favoring lately, and tasted more of the darker fruits everybody's always talking about: cherries, plums, etc. also, sadly lacked that clean yet oddly gritty finish i've come to love in the iberian wines.

5. 2003 Adriano Estate Bottled Red Wine, Adriano Ramos Pinto, Portugal

this wine was sweeter than any we'd tried thus far, but quite smoothe and easy to drink. it held its own against some pretty intense irish cheese, danced on the tip of the tongue, but settled down for the finish.

6. 2004 Shiraz, Red Knot, Australia

in progress #70 and #95

#70: squirreled away $20, taking care of weeks 1 & 2 of the $10-a-week challenge. only 8 weeks to go! the plan is that if i continue, we'll have some bonus spending money for a europe trip.

#95: bought a copy of war and peace and started reading this evening. page 10, baby!

also: picked up a bottle of red wine from spain with the groceries. probably make some progress on #98 this weekend. yummy.

#49: buy new running shoes

new shoes
Originally uploaded by the_pdub.

as promised, a pic of the spanking new shoes!

(for anyone who cares, they're new balance 473's, and mom got quite a deal)

the alphabet streets

• Ankeny--Alexander P. Ankeny...unsurprisingly a guy who owned a chunk of land at what is now Ash & Ankeny (then "A" street...serendipity? maybe). created a space for a public outdoor market, really not that far from the current saturday market.
• Burnside--David W. Burnside...business partner of Savier, son-in-law to Davis, and local flour miller and merchant
• Couch--not pronounced "cooch," no matter what anybody says, and named for Captain Couch, who participated in voyages of "discovery" in the north pacific, owned the 'alphabet district' and made it alphabetical, got famous for his ability to navigate the columbia, and was involved in the notorious shanghai-ings from northwest pdx
• Davis--probably some relative of ted's
• Everett
• Flanders--another sea-farer who worked under Couch
• Glisan
• Hoyt
• Irving
• Johnson
• Kearney
• Lovejoy--Asa Lovejoy, with Overton and Pettygrove, one of the original settlers (1843) and founders (1845) of Portland (and loser of the coin-toss)
• Marshall
• Northrup
• Overton--William Overton, one of the original setttlers of Portland...he sold his claim to Pettygrove
• Pettygrove--winner of the coin-toss and co-founder of Portland (named for his hometown of Portland, Maine)
• Quimby
• Raliegh
• Savier
• Thurman
• Upshur
• Vaughn
• Wilson
• Yeon

sidebar: originally named in the much less interesting and far more common "a, b, c,..." configuration, the streets were renamed in homage to the early bright lights of portland in the "great renaming of 1891"

day 1: #49 & #100

49. [buy] new running/walking shoes:
check--went to jantzen beach this morning/afternoon and had a nice shopping trip with mom, who was in a generous mood and bought my running shoes for me (and a cool beatles t-shrit and some fun things and clothes for the dub). so, thanks, mom! i'll pop back in later to add a picture, but in the meantime--a list of 5 things i like about my shoes:

1. they're made in the usa, which means even if they came from a sweatshop, at least it was a somewhat better sweatshop than the ones nikes are made in.
2. they're new balance, which means they've got a number instead of some dorky or inspirational name like "huntress," "sequoia," or "xtreddr" or something.
3. they're white and pink!
4. they don't tear the shit out of my feet (so far)
5. they were free! (thanks again, mom)

100. create a blog for this project:
obviously

your list, the list itself, is a white ball of healing light

start: 14 august, 2006
end: 11 may, 2009

the inspiration: triplux, where you'll also find a less terse explanation of what, exactly, it is i'm trying to do.

the gist: i've got somewhat under 3 years to do as many things as possible from the following list. fancy pink italics mean the job is done while groovy teal means it's started, but not yet complete.

completed: 43
remaining: 57

***note: the world is a crazy place. when i started this list the following things were very different:

1. no Finnegan--not even a glimpse of Finney on the horizon
2. I hadn't even decided to go back to school...let alone to set out on a K-12 education career.
3. as a result, i had a bunch more free time, and a bunch less direction from external places...

so, without making excuses, I am making some minor and some major changes to the list in this, it's final (wow!) year!***

family101:
1. enroll the dub in 3 parks and rec activities (I'm making a judgment call and saying preschool counts 08/07)
2. see grandma at least 2x/month for 3 months (11/06, 12/06, 1/07)
3. take pictures of the dub and finney to give away as/with christmas presents
4. see the extended fam on their home turf (11/07)
5. convince/badger/cajole or otherwise entice mom to illustrate war of roses comic book
6. take the pdub out somewhere every day for one week (May 2007)
7. have 5 lunches with mom, and without the dub (02/07: big daddy's bbq; 07/07: pho van)

self-improvement101:
8. complete the columbia gorge waterfall hike (one way is okay)
9. weigh 150 pounds
10. wear glasses from #53 all day, every day for one week
11. go without smoking a cigarrette for 5 days (12am monday to 9pm friday)--started 27 August, 2007.
12. get a pedicure
13. go swimming in naturally occuring, non-chlorinated fresh water
14. go snowshoeing or cross-country skiing
15. do yoga every day for 2 weeks
16. wear a dress or skirt every day for one week

gettingout101:
17. paris (10-11, 07)
18. an oregon state park cabin during discovery season for a long weekend (or longer)
19. any campground for 2 or more consecutive nights
20. london (11, 07)
21. british columbia (Vancouver, BC, on Canada Day! July, 2007)
22. sumpter, oregon
23. anywhere not home on new year's eve
24. to live theater three times
25. higgins restaurant
26. kennedy school (or cinetopia) for a "mom's movie"
27. ikea (without spending money on anything
besides lunch) (11/07)
28. renaissance faire
29. roseland theater for a concert--They Might Be Giants (9, 07)
30. downtown pdx for an entire day alone with no shopping
31. a brown-bag concert
32. any knitting event or group (Girls' knitting group, Fall, 2006)
33. pittock mansion
34. a pacific northwest lodge (salish, timberline, kah-nee-tah, crater lake,
skamania--whatever) (Father's Day, 2007 at Skamania)
35. three "hot" clubs in pdx--11/9/06: Betty Ford, East, and Doug Fir.
36. harvest festivals or other fairs every weekend for 6 weeks in summer/fall

home-ec101:
37. pajama bottoms for myself, hubby and dub
38. 3 pairs of capri pants/shorts/other bottoms for me
39. a skirt (9/07)
40. 5 handbags in 5 days
41. something punk-rock and fun for the pdub and fbomb ( pdub: 08/07, finney 05/08)
42. a crocheted top for myself (and wear said top out of the home)
43. "real" fingerless gloves for the hubby--11/6/06
44. halloween costumes for the family
45. purple crocheted lace shawl for red-hatted mother-in-law
46. 5 hats for charity

random101:
47. get a master's degree and teaching certification for K-12 education (started 1/07)
48. create a blog entry for every item on this list as it's completed or put into progress (started immediately, woefully behind).

buying101:
49. new running/walking shoes
50. macbook (purchased 02/07--I'm on it right now, babies!)--another one 08/07
51. yoga book (08/07)
52. somewhat fuel-efficient suv (got my eye on the hyundai tuscon) (or PT Cruiser...more efficient than a Landrover. that counts, right?)
53. percription glasses
54. new digital camera OR super-awesome mega-pixel camera-phone (digital camera--8.1 mega-pixels, baby!)
55. hyper fuel-efficient car for hubby to drive to work (Hyundai Elantra! He did much better than me)
56. free gift with purchase! (not technically buying, but anyway) --Sephora, like a thousand times now.

writing101:
57. a letter to jane espenson--mail to jane!
58. an article on "how to wing a recipe"--submit for publication
59. smallish cookbook of the things that wow hubby's coworkers
60. short piece of non-fiction (other than the cooking thing)--submit for publication
61. NaNoWriMo novel--revise
62. revision of NaNoWriMo novel--submit for publication
63. war of the roses comic book--submit for publication
64. 5 "20 top" lists--publish in this blog (1/5)
65. a thank-you letter to an old teacher--mail it off!
66. 3 new short stories--submit for publication
67. one original crochet or knit pattern--submit for publication online

life&home101:
68. title and add a description for every photo uploaded to flickr
69. pay off all credit card debt
70. put $10/week into a jar for at least 10 weeks without spending it.
71. sort through crafty area in garage
72. make preliminary home school/private school/public school decision--public school wins!
73. deal with this root canal thing
74. paint kitchen table with chalkboard paint
75. fill the sewing cabinet with something
76. convert living room from green/red/brown color scheme to green/blue/black

activism101:
77. volunteer for democratic party in 2008 (WashCo dems!)
78. volunteer for SMART program at vernon elementary school (more or less--i've spent a lot of time helping out at vernon...just not with SMART)
see #46
79. participate in an anti-war activity

learning101:
80. be able to play 5 songs on acoustic guitar (songs chosen!--2 down 08/07)
81. know the names of pdx's alphabet streets and for whom they're named (see here for that list)
82. practice book altering following an online or other tutorial
83. take a sailing lesson
84. enroll in and attend a tai-chi or other martial arts class through TV parks and
rec (okay, i did this at a gym instead of parks and rec, but i'm counting it anyway because TV parks and rec is the least convenient thing i've experienced this side of inopportunely timed bowel squeakage).
85. speak enough french to muddle through in france (i managed, somehow 10-11/07)
86. brush up on spanish

leisure101:
87. play a game every tuesday night for at least 8 weeks (specific night of the week
negotiable, so long as it's the same night every week once it gets started)
88. have something framed that the pdub drew or colored
89. create a photodiary of my solo day in pdx (see #30)
90. do one of those puzz-3d things--got one for christmas: notre dame!

reading101:
91. 3 "must-read" modern classics (up first gravity's rainbow, started 02May08)
92. 3 on radicalizing education
93. 1 on linguistics--specifically the origins of indo-european languages
94. 3 on pdx or oregon history
95. war and peace (started 15August06, completed 17January07)


food&wine101
96. make apricot brandy or some other flavored liquour
97. have 10th anniversary party in private room of swanky restaurant for at least 8 people (booked the Library at Kennedy School)
98. try 20 different new red wines from at least 10 different countries *20/20* (see here for that list, and my thoughts on the wines)
99. cook an extravagant, but low-fat, holiday dinner--Thanksgiving, 11/23/06
see #58
see #59


meta101:
100. create a blog for this project
101. make list of 101 things to do in 1001 days: 12 may-7 feb 2012 (whew!)