Tonight is the semi-annual "Wine Experience" at Blanchard's in Jamaica Plain (a more appropriate name would be the "Million Wine Tasting"). They have about 20 tables set up, one for each of their wine reps, and each rep has five or six wines that they distribute. You get to taste and savor them all, from smooth $8 malbecs you can take home (at a 20% discount no less) to $70 cabernets that you'll never get to taste again. You even get a booklet at the beginning that describes what you'll find at each table, with space for your own notes — which, after sampling several dozen reds, you'll need.
The funny thing is that, well... as much as it's a classy event, it's still a booze-soaked free-for-all. There are insufferable pretentious types roaming the store, casting judgment and hogging the tables, and there are wasted college kids that stagger out after hitting all 20 tables in 20 minutes. The last time we went, we tried to find a happy medium between the two, aiming to sound knowledgeable and sophisticated (not to mention sober) enough to pass for decent members of society. We pulled it off for awhile. It's fun — it's like acting! — but really, who are we kidding? I drink plenty of Trader Joe's Three Buck Chuck, and it tastes just marvelous to me. I just enjoy sampling lots of wine, and if I have to throw around some booze buzzwords to make it happen, so be it.
Yesterday, we got audited — but in a good, non-IRS kind of way.
If you're a National Grid (or NStar) customer, you can get a free energy audit through MassSave thanks to what I imagine is some government- or state-funded program. The guy was wicked nice, and he inspected the entire house — including basement, walls, attic, etc. — for insulation (or lack thereof) and places where we might be losing heat, and then, for free, installed CFL light bulbs throughout both apartments — must have been like 15 of them — and a new water-saving shower head. He even offered to install door sweeps. And again — it was all free!
Afterward, you get a cool print-out of all your expected savings and information about the sundry rebates and no-interest loans available for energy-saving improvements.
I do wonder — this has to be some kind of racket, right? It's never made sense to me that National Grid would want to encourage you how to use less electricity unless the government is making it worth their while. But they must really pay out — because footing the bill for an independent auditor to spend an entire morning at your house, installing some $150 worth of stuff, for the sole purpose of getting you to purchase less of their product — forever! — wouldn't make for a very good business model otherwise, right?
Plus, a nonprofit like MassSave makes out, with plenty of audits to perform for customers who wouldn't otherwise pay for one. (Would they even be in business if it weren't for this program?) The guy was very nice, professional, and totally unaffiliated with the utility company — so he wasn't trying to push us into converting to natural gas or anything, just calculating what savings there might be if we did (turned out, not nearly as much as I expected). So again... either the government is forcing them to do this to stay in business, or National Grid is getting some crazy-ass tax break to offset the cost. Or is it possible they're just trying to foster an eco-friendly image?
Either way, if you qualify, I would totally recommend taking advantage of the service. I mean come on: free light bulbs!
One last plug for Mother Earth: if you're a National Grid electric customer, you can opt in to their Green Up program and choose to receive either 50% or 100% renewable electricity. (In Massachusetts, it comes from small hydro plants and wind.) We do 100%, and the resulting peace of mind costs like $4 more per month — less than a stupid venti latte at Starbucks!
On Saturday we went to a friend's wedding at the Charlestown Navy Yard (outside the Commandant's House — class!). The all-day downpour was unfortunate, but it was still a good time.
It typically takes a (very scientific) combination of gin, tonic, and inspired music to get me out on the dance floor, even at a wedding. On Saturday night, without any gin on hand, it was Sam Octoberfest and the Killers' masterful "Mr. Brightside" that finally coaxed me out of my shell. After jumping around for awhile, Gina and I headed outside the tent to cool off.
While we were out on the lawn, Led Zeppelin's "Rain Song" came on back in the tent. We both love that song, so we started dancing a bit, by ourselves. And when the breakdown part kicked in — you know the part — well, away from the crowd, in the murky post-rain moonlight... we started hippie dancing on the grass: spinning around, twirling and giggling like giddy collegiate stoners. It was so much fun. And it was one of those impenetrable moments of perfection that will forever help remind me why I'm so in love with my wife.
I'm not exactly successful by conventional standards. I mean, I earn less money now than I did three years ago... is taking a pay cut to satiate your idealism one of the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People? I can't imagine it is! But, by my own standards, I consider myself a success. I've been played on the radio. I've been published. I found love. I live by the ocean! These were all on the Master List. And if you had told me in college that I would turn down offers of hundreds of dollars to play on St. Patrick's Day? I'd have flipped out.
However, I have some truly amazing friends — inspiring people who are successful not just by my standards, but by the rest of the world's, too. There are many more that deserve mention, but for now, here are my Top Five Most Successful Friends.
5. Andrea Tompkins
Not long ago, Andrea was just like you or I, working away at a nonprofit in Boston. Then she went to law school in D.C., whence she landed a crazy-ass internship at a firm in London — that paid more than my last two jobs combined (yep, internship). Said firm not only hired her on full-time this year, but paid for her to move to London, paid for a temporary flat, and of course took care of all her visa stuff. And while studying for the bar exam this summer, she also managed to, y'know, travel to Southeast Asia and Japan and attend a wedding in Prague. That, my friends, is success!
4. Sarah Kucserka
Sarah went to Syracuse with us, but hated all of our sports teams (and graduated early, I think just to spite the Orange!). After graduation, she made a name for herself in L.A., eventually landing a gig writing for ABC's Ugly Betty. How awesome is that? Now she's distorting impressionable young minds, writing for the racy, Gossip Girl-esque web series Private, based on the best-selling teen novels. I'll confess, I haven't actually watched it yet (mostly because I'm not a 13-year-old girl).
3. Meredith Goldstein
A longtime arts and entertainment writer for the Boston Globe, Meredith has interviewed just about every movie star who's passed through Boston. Then, last year she got tapped to write Love Letters, a Boston.com blog that takes the old daily advice column into the 21st century... and it blew up big-time. What's more, she gives reallygood advice!
2. Will Dailey
My good friend Will is one of the finest songwriters I've ever met or, frankly, heard. He worked his butt off for years — now he's finally getting national attention, playing music for a living — even getting free guitars, amps, and other gear just for being him. He's performed on CSI:NY, the Early Show, and (below) the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson:
He's yet to make the jump to lightspeed, so to speak. But who knows, he could potentially even eclipse our #1 (in fact he already tops this list in Googlefight).
1. Dennis Crowley
Still, there's a fair chance that Dens might one day run Google. Our senior year roommate was always the smart, ambitious type. He transformed our (eventually-condemned) party house into a Saturday night money machine. He created a social networking site that incorporated mobile phones — years before Twitter — that was bought out by Google. Every now and then, I randomly find a story about him in the New York Times; he even has his own tag on Gawker. It runs in the family, too: last year the Crowleys spent three days reigning Family Feud. In short, Dens is the most outrageously successful person I know!
The first people to ever hear this song were my wife-to-be and her friend Kerri, who were stopping by to check out our apartment on Comm Ave. I had just finished writing it and wanted to play it for someone. (Yeah, and so maybe I wanted to impress Gina, too, which makes me embarrassed. I was pretty smooth, let me tell ya.)
Anyway, I've always loved this song, even though it's kind of dark and melancholy. It was a dark and melancholy time — I'd just gotten back from a life-altering trip to Ireland, been laid off, and had no idea what to do with my life. I was writing a ton of music but had no money to record any of it. I desperately wanted to travel more, and had actually signed up for WWOOF in the UK & Ireland. Thankfully, Gina moved in shortly after, and I began driving her to work each morning, which made me feel worthwhile! (Yeah, that's pretty much all it takes. I just like to have a purpose.)
Verse:
[Em*] Nobody's home [G6] I'm feeling rotten
I [Em7*] turn off my phone so [G6] I can be forgotten
[Am7*] Every moment I feel [G6] I'm wasting away
[Am7*] Every moment, every [G] day
[Am7] Every morning I wake up [G/B] with nothing to say
[Am7] Every morning I feel [G] gray
Nighttime is here I feel entitled
To savour a beer a bosom in a bottle
Every night I think I might be living to die
Every night I wonder why
Every morning I wake up thinking of you
Every morning I feel blue
Chorus:
[C] Would it matter more if I didn't [G] care [Em] [G]
[C] I could be so sure if I wasn't [G] there [Em] [G]
[C] I could settle for your reasonable [G] doubt [Em] [G]
[C] Don't you say no more [D] I'll figure it [Em] out
Verse 2:
Curiously I can see my problems
Staring at me face up from the bottom
Every morning I would try to get out bed
When I could not lift my head
Sleeping to the sounds of words I never said
I should have lived I dreamed instead
(chorus)
Bridge:
[Am7] But every gray blue morning
[Bm] I feel my strength returning
[C] Like I might be made of [D] man
[Em] And now my blood is burning
[Bm] With every lesson learned and
[C] I'll do everything I [D] can
Last chorus:
[C] To make it matter more if I wasn't [G] there [Em] [G]
[C] I could be so sure if I didn't [G] care [Em] [G]
[C] Like a metaphor your reasonable [G] doubt [Em] [G]
[C] Don't you say no more [D] I've figured it [G] out
Well, I can't fight it any longer. The sick has finally got me.
Oh, don't worry, I'm not swine flu sick or anything like that poor college kid. (Can you believe that? It's wicked sad. Whole campuses are like, infirm! It's mad. The first week of college should be the best week of your life, meeting hundreds of new people on equal footing, with a chance to define yourself on a blank slate. You should be exploring and conquering your new world, roaming from new class to new party with new friends — not in the sick bay. Poor kids.)
No, this is just that run of the mill cold you get when it's warm outside and then cold inside, and then it's cold outside, and then it's warm again and your body's tired of playing games so it just gives up. Plus everyone on the T has been hacking all over me for the last two weeks; it was bound to happen. And I got like, an hour of sleep last Wednesday night so that couldn't have helped things either!
But it didn't ruin our weekend or anything. (The Yankees took care of that all by themselves.) Our friends in J.P. threw a pretty fantastic BBQ during the open studios on Saturday. And the combination of an oncoming cold and Sunday's gloomy weather was all the justification I needed to laze about all day, reading and watching football and rainy-day television by the fire. Even though it was like, hot outside. We also baked a whole chicken (never done that before — came out pretty well! Except I had it in there upside down, whatever) so between the wood stove and the oven and the muggy day, our apartment was like a sweat lodge by 6pm. I think it helped.
And speaking of Massachusetts, we watched a couple episodes of HBO's John Adams miniseries over the weekend, too. It gets me all fired up! That South Carolina delegate really got under my skin; I guess things haven't changed all that much in 200+ years!
One last political note: looks like we'll have an interim US Senator to represent us after all, should a health care bill advance to a vote before January's special election. You can see a roll call of how your rep voted thanks to Boston.com. I was pretty surprised to find that my state representative, A. Steven Tobin (D), voted nay! I even wrote to him before the vote, urging him to honor the wishes of our late Senator Kennedy, not to mention our state's democratic majority. Guess who may have lost my vote in the next election?
