Beverages.

Here I am between classes.

Tuesdays are extremely long days for me now.

The day began with a great class- Beverages. Have I told you about this class? Mais, non, I know I haven’t! It replaced the mysterious fourth class (previously and nevermore Writing for Television 1) and today was the first day I had the privilege of attending!

“But Claire,” you ask, “what on earth do you learn in a class called Beverages?” Well my friends, this I can answer! You, or more specifically I, will learn all about wine! And beer! And spirits! That’s right! I am taking a class on the finer alcoholic beverages for credit! Ahahaha! But here’s the neato thing- it’s legit! It’s not like we sit around and say “mm, I’m getting some oak in this one” and then slug the whole thing back in one fowl and uncultured gulp! Oh no, my friends, no indeed! We observe the color (lemon? gold?), we observe the nose (is it strong? approachable? Fruity? Nutty?), then we swirl and slurp (how’s the boldness? full-bodied?), and then we spit in to our spittoons (I always wanted one!) and discuss the finish (strong? light? memorable?). It’s SO FUN!

The great part is I’m learning too! We learned all about the evil Phyllorax parasite that threatened the world’s supply of wine, and how they defeated this clever beast (though say that name out loud in South Australia and it’s like yelling out the Scottish Play’s title on the eve before an opening...). It is really quite interesting! And the goal for me is to somehow tie the things I’ll be learning here into something to do with society and culture- what difference does wine make? And hopefully I’ll get to combine that with food, and then write about it, and then graduate from college and be no closer to having any idea what I want to do with my life, but hey- you can bet I can tell you what kind of grape they use in the Chablis vineyards of France!

So that’s good news! And the other great news? I GOT A JOOOOOB! WAHOO! Thank you Lord, what an answer to prayer! I was thinking it was going to be quite a while, but here it is! I have no idea how many hours or when I’ll work, but knowing that I have some sort of opportunity to get a paycheck is really exciting! And it makes me feel less like an awful, spoiled, moochy, you-have-no-idea-what-its-like-to-support-yourself kid- though I still am all of the above.

So there’s my update for now. I have lots to write about but have had so little time to do it! In the future please look for and bug me about the following entries:

1- the silence of the first day of class
2- Profile: the bubble man
3- Making out in Union Square park
4- Thai food

Have a great one! And hey- if you just read this-- leave me some comments! I never get any, it’s very sad, really!