I’ve always thought that wine tasting is for snobs and old people. Well I guess I’ve become more of both, because since this summer I’ve made not only my first, but two additional, wine tasting expeditions. The biggest barrier to trying wine tasting was the intimidation. I was scared to look like a fool if I didn’t follow some protocol or I showed my ignorance of wine. I remember reading a lot of guides to wine tasting, but most of those resources focused on how to taste the wine (look at the color, swirl, sniff, etc). Along the way, I’ve learned a lot about what I like in a wine and in a wine tasting experience, but I wish I had been better prepared for managing my experience. So, this guide is a beginner’s attempt to that for you so that you will hopefully feel less intimidated to try wine tasting!

1. Start small. My first wine tasting experience featured a full day of winery hopping in San Benito County (about two hours south of me). In retrospect, I wish that I had tried a smaller tasting experience closer to home for only a couple hours. That way, I can practice my swirling techniques (sometimes I try to swirly my wine and it just wobbles back and forth, that’s when you feel really dumb), develop my taste buds, and learn the vocabulary of the trade (I had no idea that cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay were types of grapes, or that reserve wine meant limited production, or that you should say “can I revisit this wine” instead of “can I have some more”). Although you pretty much have to drive to the country to get the full experience and taste local wines, many cosmopolitan areas have tasting rooms that feature wines from diverse geographic areas. It’s also less likely that you will run into “wine snobs” who make you feel stupid just by sitting next to you.
2. Start early. Most places open at 10 (some at 11) am. The first time I started at 1PM and even then it was too late. After a two hour tasting and tour, we had only enough time to fly through three more before closing time (usually ranges from 4 to 6pm). The third time we walked into our first tasting room seven minutes after they opened, and still only managed to finish by 5pm.
3. Don’t be afraid to admit that you’re new to this. After letting the staff know that I am there for a tasting, the next thing I like to say is, “I’m a little new to this.” They won’t look down on you in anyway, and they are usually happy to answer questions (to break the monotony of pouring for hundreds of people every day and to show off their knowledge).
4. Ask questions. At most places, if you don’t ask, the staff won’t say much to you (I have encountered some wineries that are exceptions). What most servers do is recite the description of the wine to you, pour, and move on to the next party. Although I like tasting the wine, I also like learning about the history and character of the vineyard and the production process. Some good questions I have stuck with are:
   • Where does your name come from?
   • When was the winery established? Has it changed ownership?
   • Who is the owner? The winemaker?
   • What kind of wine do you specialize in? What is it about the area that is particularly good for that wine?
   • Has it been a busy day/weekend/season?
   • Where is your estate/vines? Where does your production take place?
5. Take your time. Talk to people. Enjoy the sunshine. At first I felt a lot of pressure to finish as quickly as I could, especially if the server has made his or her rounds and is standing in front of you with a bottle while you still have a half full glass. I would then chug the rest as if it were a beer at a college party (see #6). You can talk to the owners/servers if it is a small place, or enjoy the company of your party if it is a larger place. Don’t be shy, you can also talk to your neighboring parties, who often have interesting (wine related or not) experiences and can give you advice. Take the time to enjoy the environment of the winery. Wineries are simply beautiful places in and of themselves. Many larger ones feature bocce ball, art, or outdoor gardens. Go outside with your glass. Don’t feel like you have to be stuck to the counter simply because the servers are there. Sometimes they will come outside and serve you. Otherwise, you can just return to the counter when you are ready for the next round. Don’t venture too far or you might get detained by the police for public drinking.
   

   Enjoying the gardens at Medlock Ames in Alexander Valley

6. Dump if you don’t like it. If you don’t like a wine, don’t feel like you have to drink it. At first, I thought that since I was paying for the tasting, I would be wasting my money if I didn’t drink all of the wine that I was entitled to. If you are planning to visit multiple places, you will imbibe more than enough alcohol to keep you satisfied. Also, if you saturate your taste buds with bad wine, you won’t be able to taste the subtleties in the wine that you do like.
7. Ask for a grounds tour. The first few times I had a grounds tour, I had bought a packaged deal through groupon or travelzoo. These can be good if you are unsure of where to go and want an orientation to the area and to wine tasting. I found that most places will just take you around if you ask for it and they are not too busy, without charging anything. Some of the larger places also have established tours at specified times. One of my favorites was the wine cave tour, where we walked around a wine cellar in an artificial cave.
   

   At Pietra Santa, I bought a grounds tour and got to see where they barrel their wines

8. The swirl. We’ve all at least seen people do the swirl. It helps to bring oxygen into the wine and release the aromas. The first time I did it, I felt pretty reluctant. I felt like an impostor, partaking in this highly specialized ritual of which I had neither knowledge nor skill. JUST DO IT! You won’t feel so stupid after the first time, and it really does work.
9. Keep your glass! My first time, I assumed that we would get new glasses between each wine. That is NOT the case! I put my glass down on the table, walked around for a bit, and by the time I returned, the server had given my glass to another person. When he came around to pour the next round, I simply had to tell him that I didn’t know where my glass went and that I must have misplaced it. He didn’t have another one, so he asked me to walk around looking for it (although I knew that was pointless since the glass was in the other customer’s hand!) I couldn’t tell him the truth, because the other customer had already taken a sip from my cup, and would probably have been pretty angry for being given a used cup.
10. Don’t get drunk. So far, I haven’t been able to manage this one. I usually drink so much that I immediately pass out afterward. I guess the trick is to keep drinking water, eating, and taking breaks.
11. Don’t feel pressured into buying. It might feel awkward to walk away without purchasing a bottle, especially if the tasting is complimentary, and especially if you are the only party there. However, realize that it is perfectly expected. Not everyone will love the wine, and you should only buy if you love it. After all, you’re committing yourself to finishing at least a whole bottle of it, right? Wineries stay in business, and your purchase won’t make or break it. It is polite, however, to thank them for the tasting before leaving (especially if it was free).

Pietra Santa in Hollister was among the most beautiful facilities I've visited

Who can say no to the natural beauty of wine country?

I’m flying back to San Francisco for Labor Day Weekend, but I never seem to come prepared to entertain myself on long flights. Luckily, one of my favorite plane pastimes is to browse the Skymall and fantasize about the excessive gadgets I will buy once I’m rich. Here are some of my favorites:

Casio Green Slim Projector: This portable device uses a “revolutionary” laser and LED to deliver high-brightness, eco-friendly projections. At a conference or business meeting trying to pitch my new greatest idea, I can wirelessly connect my own and up to three more computers. BUT, if I happen to meet Bill Gates in a coffee shop, I could whip out my projector from my purse and instantly deliver my presentation from my THUMBDRIVE (no computer needed!). It doesn’t matter if I have a good idea, Bill will be won over by my awesome gadget. The projector will pay for itself! ($1599.99)

Digital Notepad with Memory: This clipboard pen combo captures all of your handwritten notes in digital form. You’re probably thinking, that’s just the same thing as a tablet. BUT there is nothing electronic that can parallel the gratifying feeling of ordinary ink on paper. I guess there is a sensor on the pen that goes through the paper and works with the clipboard somehow (magnetically?) to track your pen movements. This would be an amazing tool for med school, and isn’t too much out of the price range for someone my age. Hey – anyone wanna buy me an early Christmas present? ($149.99)

Nano-UV Disinfection Wand: I hate cleaning, but I am sensitive to dust and insect bites. The Nano-UV Disinfection Wand seems like it could definitely solve this dilemma for me. You simply pass the wand over the area you want to clean (pillows, carpet, food) and it instantly kills microorganisms. If I had this then maybe my bed wouldn’t have gotten infested with bedbugs last year > < For those OCD people who won’t use public toilets, you can also fold it to fit easily in your purse. The catalogue doesn’t mention how it works, but I assume it uses UV rays to kill the critters. So, theoretically, you could also use it on your enemies and induce skin cancer… ($159.99)

Towel Spa: The one and only chore that I actually enjoy is drying clothes. In fact, when my boyfriend and I were just housemates, I made a deal with him. I would wash both of our clothes if he would do the dishes. Washing dishes is my most dreaded chore, because growing up my mom would yell at me for washing them too loudly. But taking a big batch of clothes out of the dryer right as it is finished is the most amazing feeling because it feels like the warm clothes are hugging you. I like to dump them on my bed and just lie on top, taking in the warmth and smell of downy. (Clearly, I lacked affection as a child). Well that was a really long tangent to explain why I find this gadget so awesome. What it does is heat your towels, robes, mittens, hats, pillows, whatever. The catalogue advertises that you will feel like you are going to a spa, but I prefer to think of it as drying my clothes every time I take a shower. ($79.99)

Head and Eye Massager: If you’ve never had a head massage, get one! Better yet, get one of these! ($199.99)

Headache Relieving Wrap: Sometimes I wake up with a headache due to lack of sleep, and I cannot be productive for the whole day. When I get migraines, it’s as if I can feel the rotation of the Earth and the vibrations rattle my brain inside my skull. This wrap uses pressure to compress blood vessels and relieve headaches. Makes sense, considering that I learned that headaches result from the pressure of a brain swelling against the skull. If you constrict blood vessels and impede blood flow to the brain, you prevent water from entering and enlarging your brain cells. You could just use your hands to push on your skull, but that’s not as cool ($49.95)

Video Screen Microscope: In med school, we never look at real tissues on real slides with real microscopes. We look at “digital” slides, basically, saved images of tissues. The rationale is to save time and money, not only because these tissues don’t have to be preserved, but because multiple people can look at the screen at the same time. No more one microscope per person. Meanwhile, digital slides improve quality and standardize the experience for all students (making sure we can all see the same thing and that what we’re seeing is a good enough sample). Yet no matter how accurate it is, it’s just not the same as looking at the real thing. How can we appreciate the intricacies of a pathologic cell if we’re just looking at a screen that’s reading back 1′s and 0′s? This video microscope can reconcile these concerns. It is a fully functional microscope that projects the slides digitally onto a screen. Multiple students can look at the same slide, and that slide contains real cells. If only med school deans stopped reading scientific articles and browsed Skymall instead… ($299.95)

Cast Iron Giraffe Paper Holder: I love art with a purpose. A giraffe statue whose neck doubles as a toilet paper holder? Why not? ($29.95)

Darn! That only entertained me for two hours, four more to go!

Mood 5 Can’t fall asleep on this flight…/Tiredness 4 Awake since 8AM and went to ALL my classes today/Spiritual Tiredness 5 Running behind on exam studying but looking forward to spending the weekend with my boyfriend!

Update 9/8: As I’m inserting the pics from froogle, I’m realizing that the market prices are half the skymall cost. They really benefit off of bored travelers…

I went home this weekend, but my original trip back to school on Sunday was canceled due to the hurricane – so I sent an email to my school administrator explaining why I had no choice but to stay at home. Thanks Irene for the three day weekend! Unfortunately, classes were held as usual so I have a lot to catch up on. On the three hour bus ride, I decided to watch The Blind Side. My brother recently started playing football and his trainer recommended this movie.

I can’t remember the last time I cried this much.

The Blind Side is based on the true story of Michael Oher and his adoptive family, the Tuohy’s. Born to a crackhead mother and bounced around foster homes, Michael starts high school homeless with a 0.6 GPA. The Tuohy’s take him in and eventually legally adopt him, helping him to achieve his athletic potentials and setting him on the path to a football scholarship and NFL professional career with the Baltimore Ravens.

The movie won’t keep you on the edge of your seat, it won’t have you shuddering in fear, but it will grip you by the throat as you are forced to re-evaluate yourself and what you stand for. Just like how the kindness of the Tuohy’s changed the course of Michael’s life, The Blind Side will change the way you think about people, interact with others, and the course of your life for the better. When asked how he coped with his jagged childhood, Michael responds, (from my memory, not verbatim) “My Mama told me to close my eyes while she did drugs so that I wouldn’t see. And when it was all done, it would all be in the past.” But we can’t just keep closing our eyes to the lives of others. Although we know that this story ends happily, it could have easily not been the case. To just think about how many lives with such great potential are neglected, or even ended…

And I can’t forget to mention Sandra Bullock, whose portrayal of Leigh Anne Tuohy reminds us that you don’t have to be a saint, you can change a life.

Ever since I moved into a house off campus three weeks ago, I’ve been learning how to cook. Honestly, I didn’t even know basics like how to heat oil or what a cookie sheet was. Learning from my roommate and working together to create meals has been a blast, and I’m surprised to say that I’ve  survived the past few weeks on variants of my home cooked pasta sauce based meals. Mmm both my stomach and my wallet are thanking me!

I’m not sure if this recipe has been invented yet, but I came up with it on accident and it turned out pretty good! So I’m going to share it here:

• place tortilla wrap on frying pan, and add all ingredients to only one half, like a quesadilla
• Add pasta sauce (not too much, or it will be too gooey)
• Add any vegetables/meat/cheese you like
• Fold tortilla half over
• Turn on medium heat and cook, flipping as needed, until insides get hot
• Turn on high heat so that tortilla cooks and is nice and crispy

Voila! Your very own Pizza Tortilla!

My computer after I sleepily stepped on it

Recently, I wrecked my mac by stepping on it, creating this inconvenient, however awesome looking, effect on my LCD screen.  Rather than pay 600$ for Apple to fix it in their store (at that rate, I would rather just buy a new computer), I decided to order a screen from www.Screentek.com and install it myself. Thinking that I would receive an entire screen, frame and all, and all I had to do was pop the original off and the new one on, I thought it should be a piece of cake.

That’s why I was surprised when I received a thin, black screen in the mail. When I realized that I was actually expected to disassemble the computer, my immediate reaction was to call my computer friend and ask him to help me. Well, my computer friend was busy with his girlfriend, so he lent me his tools and wished me luck.

First, remove the plastic frame

Computer without the frame

Next, unscrew the hinge

See? I can do it all by myself!

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: the inside of a mac

Tada!

The whole process took about two hours, and my computer is a bit more beat up than before, but I finally finished. I feel proud of myself, and apparently not a few guys are impressed as well. So hopefully my computer will stay unbroken.

Cat attack!

Unless the house cat gets to it first…

Meow!

Recently, I managed to make my computer look like this:

Beautiful, no?

Being the technological ogre that I am, I believed it my duty to share with others how I keep my computer in such good shape. Below are five scenarios that actually happened to me; imagine yourself in my shoes and you will be on your way to computer guru-ness in no time!

Five ways to keep your computer in ship shape:

1. You’re already 5 minutes late for class and the professor talks so fast that even if you furiously type you can never catch everything she says. You haphazardly pack the computer in your backpack and bike to class. When you return to your dorm, you’re so relieved and reflexively toss your backpack to the ground. Oops, looks like you forgot to place the laptop in its protecting sleeve.
2. You’re in the library writing your final paper when the “low battery” warning starts flashing. As you uncoil your adapter, you look around but the only plug is across the space between your desk and the wall meant for others to walk past. “Whatever,” you tell yourself, “they can walk around”. As you sip your coffee, you suddenly have to pee, and run towards the bathroom. Hear that? That’s the sound of you tripping over your cord and your laptop crashing to the floor.
3. It’s finals week, and you’ve got a major paper and tests to study for. You can’t afford to spend any time goofing around, even for dinner. You grab some grub from the dining hall and carry it back to your room. You also stockpile some extra for breakfast so that you don’t have to swipe your card twice. The next morning, you sleepily reach for your alarm and knock over your cranberry juice in the process… all over your keyboard.
4. This one is more about a phone than a computer, but – Once in a while, everyone experiences a crapper that just takes forever. Thinking this might take a while, naturally you will take out your iphone to stave off boredom. As you finally finish, you put your phone back in your jacket pocket, turn around and bend over to flush. Suddenly you hear a plop, just as you realize that your pocket got lighter.
5. This last one is the most recent. It’s 3 am and you’ve been trying to fall asleep for hours. Probably you’re too stressed out about the MCAT, so you take out your computer and decide to watch some TV shows to let off steam. Around 6 am, you start to get tired – too tired to walk and put your computer on the desk. It just so happens that the nightstand, which is within reach, is already covered by other stuff you were too lazy to put away under the same circumstances : hair things, books, pens, etc. You decide the only solution is to leave it on the ground by the bed, since you’ll just pick it up the next morning anyway. As you roll out of bed, you hear a crack and look down.

Follow all of this advice, and your computer will look just like mine! Guaranteed!

1. Color with felt tip markers
2. Play my favorite online game online
3. Catch up on favorite TV shows and Detective Conan manga
4. Take a shower and change into pj’s
5. Eat mint chocolate (esp Aero’s)
6. Listen to soundtracks from my favorite musicals (Les Mis, Wicked, Rent)
7.  Dance to my Ne-yo playlist on my bed when no one else is there.
8. Call my close friends and catch up over hour long conversations
9. Blog
10. Sleep!

My friend and I started a competition to do nice things together.

Here are the rules: We set a schedule of tasks and do them. The number in parenthesis is the number of days allotted. Harder tasks get more days. Every time you complete a task, you must document it by sending an email. If you fail a task then you have to come up with a new task to add to the list. Anyone who wants to join us is welcome to, simply post a comment on this blog on the day that you completed it! Oh – and if anyone can think of a better name for this game, please share!

Here are the tasks for the next two weeks:

Friday: April 24 send a card to someone (cannot be a birthday card) (2)
Sunday April 26: give food to a friend (1)
Monday April 27: talk to someone about something they like to talk about. And you don’t. (2)
Wednesday April 29: leave someone a nice note (1)
Thursday April 30: give food to a homeless person (3)
Sunday May 3: eat at a new venue, (1)
Monday May 4: Ask someone out to coffee (2)
Wednesday May 6: cook a meal for someone (2)
Friday May 8: learn how to say hello in a new language (1)

This quarter I began a weekly tradition called ~Tea at Three~

A small group of friends (more of the – they are in my dorm so we are nice to eachother – type) and I began to make a point to leave our Sunday 3 o’clock to 4 slot open in our schedule so that we could drink tea, eat light snacks, and engage in random discussions. It’s something very unique to be able to have so many people consistently participate in any activity at Stanford. I don’t even attend my club meetings that religiously, but I would always make time for Tea, even during finals week. The topic ranged from our favorite quotes and books, to our life experiences, to philosophies about afterlife and love. Aside from the tasty snacks and well-timed study break, after ten tea sessions at the end of the quarter, the Tea gang had become some of my best friends at Stanford. We will be Tea-mates for life.

I will sorely miss ~Tea at Three~ while I am at Oxford. I finally fully experienced the feeling of friendship and genuine intellectual excitement that college is about. Isn’t it ironic how I had applied to Oxford because I felt so stranded at Stanford, only to be taken away at the moment when I felt like I most belonged?

Recipe to starting a successful ~Tea at Three~

Materials: hot water boiler, cups, various types of tea, assorted light snacks, something to serve as a table (preferably low – a box with a shawl thrown over it works quite well)

Location: Any room, although generally make the ambience quite peaceful, play relaxing and unobtrusive music, can move outside to enjoy nice weather. Rotating rooms is a good way to get to know others because they can show off their room and play their music.

1. Determine a group: very important! These people should be people who you do not know extremely well, but want to get to know better. It’s ok to have a close friend or two (we had roommates participate). Most of them lived in my dorm, because it is more convenient to get together casually. Keep the group small so you can get to know everyone and the conversations are deeper.
2. Determine a time: it should be a time when everyone is available, when generally there will not be meetings scheduled, and when people will not be working on last minute homework. Picking a good time is extremely important to minimize flakiness. It’s a bonus if it falls in a good study break time. We found that Sunday at 3pm worked extremely well. If you pick another time, well, you can come up with another smart name for your tea party.
3. Allocate responsibilities: Figure out who is responsible for what. Who has a hot water boiler? Who can bring what materials?
4. Reminder email: Send an email invitation the night before to give everyone a heads up. Use this chance to get creative! Use fancy stationary and include pictures of tea parties (iPhoto and Mac Mail are great). Write eloquently and pompously. Or, include a joke or something to think about for discussion. Sometimes I ran out of material and started to include pictures to have people guess the relevance; they usually were pictures of things that had happened on that date in history. Be creative!
5. Establish a quorum: Just kidding. But do wait for people to trickle in and expect people to be a few minutes late. Take this opportunity to boil water, pick out music, and chat with the early birds.
6. Check-in: Go around and let everyone briefly share how their week went (high points, low points, etc.). Also answer a check-in question that can range from the trivial (what is your favorite word) to the serious (explain the meaning of your name).
7. Spotlight: Focus on one individual. Have him or her tell her life story and share objects of importance (another incentive to host in your own room). Let people ask questions afterwards.
8. Themed discussion:Discuss a topic that you would never talk about otherwise. Like what you think maturity means, or what your favorite school experience was. These can be chosen in advance or offered on the spot. You can also pick special ones based on the day, for example our Valentines Day tea was focused on love.
9. Awkward glances all around: As people lose steam for discussion and run out of things to say, they will awkwardly start to look at each other in silence until someone pops up and says, “well, it’s four o’clock, gotta back to homework”. And that person will pop the bubble of enchantment that you have built around you that let you forget that you are in a world of books and school and deadlines, and you will fall into the pavement and realize that you have somehow come back to reality. And you will smile and hope that next Sunday will come soon.

Crystal’s First Grade Textbook:

I love procrastinators. I love movies. I love people who procrastinte by watching movies.

I love entrepreneurs. I love money. I love entrepreneurs who make money.

I love entrepreneurs who make money by procrastinating and watching movies.

The thing I love about Stanford is how amazingly smart, and amazingly lazy, people are. I resent everyone (parents, teachers, advisers, snobby know-it-alls, geeks who never leave the library even though they really need a shower) who says that laziness is not the way to success. That is why I am so in love with Hello Movies. Yeah, the interface looks nice, the service is useful (especially the database of free online movies), and the developers are hot (just kidding about that one..), but the real reason I love it is because it proves all those granny-glasses wearing crankies — who always seem to have one hand smugly stroking their chin and the other cramming that stick up my ass — wrong.

Why shouldn’t we get rich doing what we love to do. When its what we love, how can we call it working hard. Work becomes play, especially when  play means getting rich off of all your expertise from watching movies. Working hard has become a thing of the past, and the new wave of lazy entrepreneurs has come: from the web-saavy facebook app developers and bloggers to the down-to-earth garage band musicians. This economic situation especially has woken us all up to the fact that you can study and work for years to acquire your skills, only to get laid off; but people will always procrastinate.