George T. Stagg

buuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...............

received a very thoughtful last minute invite to a gathering of foodies and wine nerds last night. i had committed earlier that day to a night of work on the final (group) project for one of my courses, but it was in my longterm Eugene foodie interest to attend the party. and besides, i have a weak will when it comes to good food and drink. okay, this late in the semester, i have a weak will when it comes to anything other than homework.

so i suited up and biked through the rain to the party, hosted by my Provisions friend and his lovely wife. the food was terrific, the wine divine. folks from soriah, marche, the downtown wine shop (Oregon Wine Tasting Room??) and so forth, swirled around sampling pinots and so forth. everything was going swimmingly and it occurred to me that i might do some homework when i finally returned to my apartment, refreshed.

and how did it happen? maybe it was the ham and biscuits. or the deepfried yam fries. but suddenly, our host was bringing out his rather varied collection of bourbon. at this point, things grow fuzzy. i remember tastes (smokey and almost soaplike, sharp, vanilla) but very few names. only my favorite, George T. Stagg (second bottling, no longer available), which had that lingering flavor of vanilla. i didn't feel like i'd had any significant amount, just a few small sips of each. maybe a few extra sips of the Stagg. but i tell ya, when i started bicycling home, it occurred to me that my head was just ever so slightly tingling. and things were spinning ever so subtley. and then when i went to bed, i could not for the life of me fall asleep. actually, i fell asleep but woke up completely refreshed just a few hours later. i read some of my book, watched the rest of a movie i'd started earlier that day, and even contemplated the pile of dirty dishes in my kitchen (didn't wash them, though -- i wasn't that desperate). even though it's a depressant, i can only blame the bourbon for my insomnia. i'm not sure why i blame the bourbon...i guess i figure its some sort of divine retribution for drinking on a school night.

anyways, now i'm at work and i'm exhausted.