No matter how poor I may be, I always feel like I should leave at least a dollar for buskers. They're creating beauty after all.

Currently, this guy is playing incredibly gorgeous music outside of the store.

I had a dollar in my pocket. It's his now.

Ouch. My whole body hurts, but it’s okay. It’s because I’ve been helping harvest wine grapes.

This morning my Charles and I got up at 4:30 after going to bed late because we saw Billy Bragg who was fucking awesome (sorry, Mom). I haven’t been so stoked to be at a show in quite some time. Anyway, this morning we had a bit of oatmeal, chugged two cups of coffee each, and departed to Montoliva Vineyard & Winery. We were supposed to be there at first light, and so we were.

Equipped with gloves, pruning shears, and buckets, (plus I scored the one and only stool, lucky, lucky me) we headed out to pick us some Sangiovese. It was cold, it was wet, it was back pain and knee pain, and we had a blast. Mark Henry, vineyard owner and winemaker extraordinaire was a wonderful host, as was his wife Julianne – who made us the most scrumptious brunch – quiche and apple sausage and pumpkin scones and mimosas, oh my!

Then it was back out to harvest some more. Everyone moved a bit slower as our bellies were full of good food and our backs had been given the opportunity to stiffen. At the end, we got to hang out, drink great wine, and thieve some vino from a barrel. (One of my favorite things. I always feel like such a VIP.)

It was the best Halloween my Charles and I have had in a long time. We ache and it’s great. And hopefully, we helped contribute a little bit to the creation of some kick ass Sangiovese.

*photo from Montoliva's FB page. Seriously -- check out their wine already!

  Tonight is my work’s annual meeting. It can be a bit of a yawnfest if you break it down into what HAS to happen: Board of Directors’ presentation, potential bylaw votes, etc. I’ve been in charge of organizing it for the last two years. (I guess I should probably add event coordinator to my resume.) My opinion is that we have to have the meeting, so let’s make it fun. This year’s theme is Oktoberfest, in honor of that glorious tradition’s 200th anniversary. I don’t find event planning too difficult, but the day of can be pretty stressful. This morning, I got in the car and blasted the Future Bible Heroes and got my blood pumping and a smile on my face for my 14 hour day.

  The tomato season is leaving us, and we ended up getting a pretty glorious amount for a year of wonky weather. My CSA gave me the best thing to do with extras: cut them in half, lay them out on a casserole dish, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper and cook in a 350 degree oven until the liquid completely cooks off. Then you just put the goopy stuff in the freezer and use it for pasta sauces during the cold days of January. Good stuff!

I hate driving. I didn’t even get my license until I was 34. But some things become a necessity, and me behind the wheel became one of those things.

I still don’t drive nearly as much as my Charles. Since his dad went into hospice, we’ve driven 13,500 miles to go back and forth from the Bay Area to our home.

Even though cars aren’t really my thing, I do enjoy the opportunity for tune-age. Those 13,500 miles have offered up a ton of music blasting time. My Charles prefers more folksy stuff, but for my own indie ear, I’ve come up with the perfect playlist for the drive there and back again.

In no particular order, my album list goes something like this:

Pavement, “Slanted and Enchanted”
Smog, “Wild Love”
Amanda Palmer, “Performs the Popular Hits of Radiohead on Her Magical Ukulele”
Tom Waits, “Rain Dogs”
Eels, “Blinking Lights and Other Revelations”
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, “The Boatman’s Call”
The Moldy Peaches, “The Moldy Peaches”
Pixies, “Doolittle”
Jónsi, “Go”
The Magnetic Fields, “69 Love Songs”
and depending on whether or not we want to push our sad off until later:
The Flaming Lips, “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots”
or
Cat Power, “The Covers Record”

I’ve also played old tapes of my radio show, but because I was such an indie snob in college, my Charles doesn’t really appreciate them too much.