Week in Review

What rocked my world this week:

Routas Infernet 2003 Grenache/Syrah, $15: Since the Bush administration started hating France, I have made it a point to drink French wine during every nationally televised address. This week, maybe it kicked in, because he apologized. Oh wait, he's still sending troops to Iraq? Never mind. Anyway, this wine is quite tasty. It has a lot of spice, a little oak and a touch of fruit. Perfect with the pimento cheese and Melba toast I have been eating all week. I've had this wine several times now — in fact, I'm drinking it again as I write this — and it's a very sophisticated bottle for the price!

Cuvaison 2004 Zinfandel, Napa Valley: $20ish???: I "borrowed" this bottle from my wine-drinking friend and neighbor after running a number of errands for her instead of accepting payment (she knows; I do it all the time and always replace the wine, unless it is a form of payment, like this bottle); thus I have no idea exactly how much it cost. (And I think she bought it at the vineyard on a trip to Napa last fall, but anyway ...) I am not much of a California wine drinker, as you have to spend upwards of $20 usually to get a tasty bottle, and my meager wallet draws the line at $15, except for special occasions. But this wine, while a little fruit-heavy, was still a pleasant surprise. It was a tad spicy and full of character, and I would definitely buy it (or borrow it) again.


What Celine Dion'd my world this week:
[If anything is the opposite of rock, it is Celine Dion. From now on, she will represent the epitome of critical badness.]

Financial advisers (pick any, pick all): I really am trying to get a budget together. But even the financial advisers who say they aren't like the rest of the other financial advisers are still evil twits. All of them, I suspect, have their own special level in Hell awaiting them. I don't care how practical it may be, what is the point of living if one isn't suppose to do anything fun and instead should save all one's money in case one gets laid off or injured or has to quit one's job to take care of an ailing parent? Suggestions I have read this week included: working 80 hours a week, canceling your cell phone, selling your car, selling all your stuff on eBay, paying only in cash, and opening a second checking account. If I can't balance one, why on earth will having two checking accounts do anything but wreck my life? Do these people not have friends? Do they not have a life? WHO LIVES LIKE THIS?