I've got culture coming out of my ass.

There are things I've held onto far too long. Things I should've let go of, but haven't been able. I've held on far too long before, to my own detriment, and the detriment of others. As the New Year encroaches, bringing with it a sense of renewal, so shall I renew myself, and let go of things which need letting go of. Its been great fun, but its time to say goodbye. I know that this will make us both stronger in the long run.


"Now, all these wines are very old. I bought them to make sure they were cared for properly."
"You got a lot of wine to drink."
"They're too valuable to drink."
"So you sell them?"
"Never, they mean too much to me."


I've collected a great deal of German eiswein (ice wine, or sometimes icewein outside of Germany) over the years, never drinking it, and not buying it for any reason other than to have it. I don't know if that makes any sense or not. I collect Cuban cigars as well that I don't smoke, for the same reason. I don't know why. Each of these things, however, require time to care for properly, and my plate is usually far too full to give them the attention they deserve. My teeth need work, the tags for my car are 8-months overdue, I have computers to build, my children's plays to attend, air conditioner filters to replace, dishes to do - the list is endless. And while my humidor takes far less work, I'm seriously going to have to start turning my bottles on a semi-regular basis unless...

I drink them!

Erma Bombeck once quipped, "I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage." when asked what she would do differently if she had it all to do over again.

And while I haven't made up my mind completely, time is running out. It'll just be a quiet affair, my wife being the only other attendee. One hell of a private party if you ask me. The Kurgan once said (quoting Def Leppard if memory serves) "Its better to burn out, than to fade away."



Your days are numbered.

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^{Eiswein is wine produced from grapes that have been frozen while still on the vine. The sugars and other dissolved solids do not freeze, but the water does, allowing a more concentrated grape must to be pressed from the frozen grapes, resulting in a smaller amount of more concentrated, very sweet wine. With ice wines, the freezing happens before the fermentation, not afterwards.}