Filed under: Travel, Wine & Food | Tags: Baltimore, chardonnay, cherry, chocolate, community, Fells Point, friends, garnacha, good book, good friends, good meal, Grenache, hemingway, Las Rocas, loves, Merlot, Mt. Vernon, oak, Pazo, peppery, raspberry, red wine, sangria, seattle, Spain, summer, Sun Also Rises, tapas, Tapas Teatro, wine
My love affair with Spanish wine began roughly a year and a half ago. It wasn’t a specific instance. No moment of sipping a Spanish wine and having a “best wine ever” epiphany. No trip to Spain. No passionate Spanish woman (a la Penelope Cruz’s character in Vicky Christina Barcelona) came into my life. Those things would have been lovely. But my love affair was rather, a culmination of several different things that I happened to love, coming together. A perfect storm, if you will, of loves. Deepening more with each additional element joining in.
Element #1: Tapas Teatro & Pazo
These two Baltimore tapas restaurants set aflame my heart and palate. Pazo’s open atmosphere and fantastic tapas and wine menu quickly made it one of my favorite Baltimore bars/restaurants.
Pazo
Where Pazo is a huge open room full of energy, Tapas Teatro, located just north in the Mt. Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, is everything you would picture a European street cafe being. A small, charming, and warm space with tasteful art adorning the walls, and right-on-the-sidewalk seating.Where Pazo tends to be more widely Mediterranean, Tapas Teatro is almost exclusively Spanish.
Tapas Teatro
Where I would end up on a given night, would depend on my mood. If I was feeling more social and felt like putting up with crowds, I’d go to Pazo. If I was looking for something more chill, a casual night with friends, I would go to Tapas Teatro. You would’ve been more likely to find me at Tapas Teatro. Their small plates were amazing. The attention to detail, from presentation to flavor, was stellar. The sangria: served in a giant rounded pitcher, icy, ruby-colored, and jeweled with fresh cuts of fruit. If you’re ever in Baltimore, go to Tapas Teatro.
Element #2: Hemingway (Specifically, The Sun Also Rises)
The Sun Also Rises was the first Hemingway I read. Ever. His writing style is understated and simple. His stories are almost always based on his own experiences. The Sun Also Rises follows a group of friends (and expatriates) living in Europe. The story jumps from Paris to Spain (San Sebastian and Pamplona) where the characters take part in the running of the bulls and the fiesta surrounding it.
“El vino did flow.”
Although it was most likely a product of the atmosphere surrounding the celebration in Pamplona, drinking all hours of the day seems to be romanticised by Hemingway … which is why I am a bit uncomfortable with the fact that I felt drawn to the particular lifestyle our expat friends were living. But c’mon, who wouldn’t want to spend their mornings, afternoons, and evenings enjoying (for the most part) food, booze, coffee, and friends?
Hemingway and friends in Spain
Element #3: A Summer Visit to Seattle/My First Encounter with Las Rocas
Living in a Baltimore suburb. In my parent’s basement. Working at a Christian radio station. These three things don’t exactly allow one to “fall into culture”, if I can quote my own phrase. My limited exposure to wine was basically my Dad bringing home a bottle of Corbet Canyon Merlot or Chardonnay from Buttons, one of the local liquor shops. I began to branch out a little, but was still more of a beer guy, truth be told (I still am, by the way). I am totally going to be nailed on this, because I am going to come off sounding as if Seattle has culture and Baltimore does not. If you are thinking that, let me refer you back to the three opening sentences of this paragraph. The point is that as things were in Baltimore, I had to try hard to find things I loved. I had to go out of my way. That was not the case in Seattle.
Seattle (courtesy of Ork Posters)
My dear friends (and now housemates) Emily & Scott moved to Seattle in the summer of ’07, thus opening a bright, shiny (sometimes rainy), and obsessive place to me. Obsessive? Seattle seems to be a place where everyone wants to perfect their craft, whatever that may be. Restaurants (for the most part) want to be the best at what they do. Brewers and wineries want to craft the perfect beer or wine. Coffeeshops and roasters want to pull the perfect shot and achieve the perfect roast or blend. With this attitude seemingly all around me, it was easy to get excited about finding really good stuff in Seattle. Emily and Scott certainly fell for this aspect of the Emerald City. It was transmitted to me upon my first visit in October of ’07.
When I visited again in the summer of ’08, Scott & Emily were more settled and more in love with Seattle. Summer in Seattle is brilliant, if you didn’t already know. You probably thought it rained all the time, didn’t you, Steinberg? Not even close …
Let me set a scene for you wizards …
EXT. HOUSE, QUEEN ANNE, SEATTLE – LATE AFTERNOON
BRIAN, ERIC, & SCOTT stand together on the deck off of a house. The deck overlooks Lake Union, the Cascades mountain range, and the Seattle skyline. The three young men enjoy a cold brew, a clove, and take in the view that is laid before them. The sun is still high in the sky. It is Sunday. It is warm. It is perfect.
–
After a drink or two and a smoke, we headed inside to the dining room table for dinner. Forgive me for not remembering the meal exactly (Apricot Chicken?), but when we sat down for dinner with Emily and Tab (Eric’s wife), there was a bottle of Las Rocas on the table. The rest, as they say, is history.
–
Las Rocas
How much do I love this wine? In short, about as much as one can love a liquid. It goes well with anything. Just ask my friend Dave S. from back in Baltimore. He had it for the first time with a peanut butter sandwich and said that it was a nice complement.
Las Rocas drinks well out of it’s price point. It’s peppery, a bit sweet, and subtle. The tannins are smooth. The fruit (cherry and raspberry, mostly) is present, but not overpowering. There is oak. There is some chocolate. There is a whole lot of goodness in this bottle. A whole lot of goodness for around $10.
–
Maybe I think this wine so great because I’ve been influenced by the perfect storm of events that surrounded my trying it: the tapas, Hemingway and Pamplona, a Seattle summer and good friends. Maybe I want so badly to love it because I love the places, characters, events, and friends that helped me experience it. Or maybe I love it because it actually is a fantastic wine. One that is easy to drink, cheap, really good, and complements sitting down with friends, a good book, a good meal. This is why I like wine as a whole. It screams of community. There is no better representation of this than what adorns a wall in our apartment. Beer bottle-caps line the frame. Wine corks from bottles, long emptied and enjoyed, line the inside. Tacked to the cork are pictures of friends. Loved ones. The people we most enjoy, over a drink or two. For relaxing times, make it Suntory Las Rocas time.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: beauty, change, darkness, dreams, job loss, joy, light, moving, pain, rosie thomas, sam beam, struggle, sufjan stevens, summer, sunrise
i can explain … i think all i need is one word, actually …
life.
that sums up the extent of my absence, and thus, my lack of involvement here.
apologies all around.
i miss the hot, lazy summer days as a child … the day would pass slowly into evening, lilting along with an easy current, mimicking the soft, warm breeze july in oklahoma. i look back now and imagine myself as an oft-seen tumbleweed … blowing along the dusty earth, carried toward every wind with nary a care … as a child, the worries of being caught in the wind and scattered about were groundless … obligations were few, fun was abundant. as years have passed since i enjoyed carefree days of warmth and joy, many things have changed. obligations are many … there are important, life-altering decisions to be made … fun can still be abundant, though the time one has to have such fun, has been greatly diminished. life is a struggle … ever-constant … push/pull, light/dark, joy/pain, happiness/sorrow, life/death … but at the center of this struggle is where beauty is most defined … i hope to find myself centered more often than not in this struggle in the coming days, as i finalize plans to uproot myself from my home of more than 18 years … leaving friends, family, and most things familiar and comfortable to me. there is still much work to be done, and some things still need to fall into place, but i am trying to take in these scary and exciting days with the mindset of the child i once was … being able to enjoy the ride, more than stress about it … being able to see the beauty that is at the heart of struggle.
i was informed last week that my position at work is being cut at the end of the month. reading this, many of you (all two or three of you) would normally assume that this is an awful thing, though, not at all surprising, given all of the bad news fed to us about the economy and lessthanstellar job market. i can tell you that this news reached my ears and was met with excitement. i have felt pretty trapped at this job … dependant upon it for income, yet being completely bored with and uninspired by it. unfortunately, with many financial obligations, the money out-dueled my boredom and dreams, and so i kept on in it. every day was the same … nothing new … exciting things were coming up over the horizon, but looked dim, like the sunrise on a cloudy day … the job was the cloud-cover, teasing me … i could see the faint hints of light, but it was obstructed just enough to keep me discouraged. now that the clouds have cleared, my dreams are once again coming into focus. these are exciting times, indeed.
and to add to the excitement …
RELEVANT MAG: Let’s talk about the future for a moment. I hear you’re working on a project with Sam Beam. That sounds like a match made in heaven. Can you tell us any more about what’s to come?
ROSIE THOMAS: Sam and I are great friends. He sang at my wedding and is just such a sweet man who has his heart in the right place. I like him a lot and I like his work. For years he’s been pushing me to do a record with him and I finally took him up on it. We’re starting in February. I’m not really sure where it will go, but we have high hopes for it. It will be great just to be around him. He keeps making jokes saying, “Rosie, I really want you to just belt something out. I want to hear some real R&B from you.” It’s funny. … I didn’t set out to only do records with friends. But this stuff just keeps coming up and it’s too fun. I can’t turn it down. It’s where I’m supposed to be right now.
now that she’s been married off, maybe rosie will keep the joking about being pregnant to a minimum for this collaboration.
cheers.
Filed under: drawing | Tags: autumn, beauty, brokenness, complete, dead trees, drawing, fall, gloaming and dawn, God, hope, jon foreman, redemption, spring, summer, wholeness, winter
i had some more thoughts to add to my previous post … so i’ve called this the addendum.
i’m going to post another drawing to help illustrate some more thoughts more aptly. this was the first drawing i did in the dead tree series. it may look familiar …
jon foreman, anyone?
again, this image was achieved by doing the actual drawing and then taking a photo of that drawing using lighting to add to the overall aesthetic. once the photo is on the computer, i touch it up using some simple software. this method suits me well because my drawing skills leave much to be desired and it allows me to be creative in other areas of media.
the above drawing was something i did from scratch … that is, you will not find this tree anywhere, as far as i know. but apparently the design of the tree and its shadow are not completely original, as they look uncannily similar to the cover of jon foreman‘s fall ep. this was an honest “mistake” but i think it points to something that resonates in me …
long before i knew of jon foreman’s “ep-for-every-season” project, i had envisioned a photo project based on the four seasons. i had (as i believe i discussed in the previous post) thought about finding a place of particular beauty, and taking a picture during every season, showing the beauty of each setting. scrambler and i recently discussed these things. he articulated it more perfectly than i ever could … and i won’t even try to regurgitate what he said word for word, for fear of butchering it, but … it revolved around the idea that through the seasons the tree’s appearance will change … it will look different, but it is still the same tree … beautiful in its own way in all four seasons.
the fours seasons illustrated through trees …
i love the change of seasons. i think i would grow tired of a place that didn’t have them. i crave the wholeness of the year. times of sunshine and warmth. times of gray and cold. times of dry and of wet. there are times the weather suits my mood. there are also times when the weather dictates my mood. i suppose it is the same as movies and literature, and other forms of stimuli. this really is a poor attempt to articulate these thoughts of mine, but i shall continue nonetheless.
complete.
we like the idea of complete. each season complements its predecessor and successor. gloaming and dawn complete the day. we say things “complete us” … referencing the fact that we are, in fact, incomplete in our current state. we hear a piece of music that ends on something other than the root chord of the key … this deceptive cadence, as it is referred to in music, leaves the listener on the edge of his or her seat, waiting for the chord and piece to be resolved or redeemed by the root … this makes us uncomfortable … this “incompleteness” of the song.
we like stories that resolve, and we marvel at our stories of “incompleteness” and brokenness being resolved and redeemed by our Maker. we’ve been shown all around us glimpses of His work, which is a great mystery, but one that offers hope of change, wholeness, and even beauty in every season.
cheers.
Filed under: music | Tags: anticipation, autumn, beauty, cinematic, Creation, death, fall, hope, iceland, leaves, life, lightning, lovely, sigur ros, snow, spring, storm, summer, thunder, winter
in past writings about their catalog, i have waxed obsessive about the beauty and cinematic quality in the music of sigur ros. that, if one takes time to listen; takes time to drop everything, close their eyes, and give full attention to the music, it will produce images of beauty in your mind’s eye. perhaps this is a bit lame, or a bit over the top, but not if you ask me … which you haven’t, but i will be telling you nonetheless.
a little more than a year and a half ago i could often be found on the wooded trails of oregon ridge regional park in hunt valley, md. i would go for trail runs over the dirt trails riddled with rocks, pebbles, and overgrown roots, careful to not twist an ankle as i gingerly ran, trying to keep a taxing pace. other days when i lacked the energy, i would just walk the trails, careful to notice something new each time. through all four seasons, weather permitting, i would visit the park. i loved noticing the difference from particular places of interest in the park from one season to the next. a towering oak tree, bursting with green life in the summer, would be reduced to a mere skeleton whose bones would rattle in the strong northwest gusts after a cold front comes through. songbirds, whose voice once absent from the snowy forests, have come back for the thaw, singing their songs in the anticipation of spring. the more i think about it, i believe that i am a seasonal, migratory creature as well … maybe not so much in the physical sense, but definitely mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. the seasons seem to elicit very raw emotions within me. as i feel something in me dying, fall and the glorious colors of death that come with it resonate deep in my soul. the winter closes its moribund curtain and the lights go down on nature’s theater … an act break if you will … but soon, soon the stage will come to life once more. as i mentioned with the birds earlier, spring brings strong anticipation with it … the hope of life reborn. as summer incrementally bakes and soaks the earth, bringing heatwaves and raging thunderstorms down from heaven, autumn prepares once more to paint the landscape in gold, orange, and red.
/leaves laid to rest, begin their colorful dance/
/green to gold, gold to brown/
/brown to air, air to ground/
/scattered to every wind/
the cycle continues, paying no mind to us as we take these changes for granted. we are all in cycles and seasons … listen and look to Creation, though broken, it’s beauty points to something whole. appreciate the similarities of our lives with the life of this lovely earth.
on to the song … i would ask you to keep the change of seasons in mind as you listen … close your eyes and drink in the beauty.
