The Harvest
This image needs little introduction. It captures the tireless work that is still going on in vineyards all over the Northern Hemisphere, but which will shortly cease. Many of the vintners I've talked to are finished with harvest, or plan to be by this weekend. And after an intense month or two, the folks who work in the fields at sunrise are able to sleep in a little later these days. This image was made in Sonoma County, and presumably, these are Chardonnay grapes. -- Alder Yarrow
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Most people don’t understand alcoholics. Most people view alcoholics as only slightly less despicable than serial killers, rapists, and child pornographers. What people don’t understand is that alcoholism isn’t just a habit. It’s a lifestyle…a philosophy…and it’s not completely insane or
necessarily irresponsible. I want to share with you my philosophy on alcoholism. I don’t speak for every alcoholic, but I’m sure most of them have thought similar thoughts.
First I want to mention 2 reasons why many people can’t understand the appeal of alcoholism. The first reason is because alcohol affects everyone differently. It makes some people feel great but has little to no affect on others. Some people it just makes sick. So if you don’t see what the big appeal of alcohol is, it might be that it doesn’t make you feel as good as it does other people.
The other reason many people don’t understand alcoholics is because they grew up in an upper middle class family where everybody loved each other, encouraged each other, and supported each other through life struggles. Well, some
of our lives sucked shit. Some of us have felt fear far more than we ever felt loved. Some of us got the crap beat out of us our entire childhoods and had little to no emotional or financial support through the rest of life’s struggles. Now we’re buried in debt working at hard jobs we hate with no prospects for the future except more hard work and no thanks. So hey, if the
only good thing that’s going to happen to you all day is either masturbating and/or getting drunk then you take what you can get.
However, some people feel great when they drink and like to get drunk after have a shitty day at the office but don’t become alcoholics. You don’t become an alcoholic until passing several mile markers. The first mile marker
is when it dawns on you that if it’s great to be drunk some of the time then it would be even better to be drunk all the time. Another mile marker is when you realize your alcoholism has reached a level where it’s definitely affecting or going to affect your health but you choose to keep doing it anyway. Some people say that drinking alone is a huge mile marker. I’ve never liked that idea. Why am I only allowed to have fun when other people are around? What if you’re a private person? What if your friends are all busy? I will say this though,
drinking in the bathtub is definitely a mile marker.
The big question that all this is leading up to is, why? Why allow yourself to pass those mile markers knowing that you’re hurting yourself? Why
do you need alcohol to be happy? Why can’t you trade the bottle for a positive attitude?
Because, as we’ve already established, life sucks shit. Having a positive attitude doesn’t change that. It just blinds you from the reality of what a horrible world we live in. Furthermore, it’s not a virtue to be able to remain happy while atrocities are committed all around you. At least getting drunk is a way to be happy without lying to yourself.
A cheerleader would reply to this by saying that getting drunk is a way of hiding from the atrocities of the world as well. Ah, but you forget, the alcoholic has already admitted to himself that he doesn’t care about his own health and thus his own life. If he’s not worried about his own life then he sure as hell doesn’t give a fuck about the rest of the world, especially since
that world abandoned him. The alcoholic accepts responsibility to suffer the consequences of his habit and expects the rest of the world to accept the responsibility to suffer the consequences of its habits.
A cheerleader would reply to this by accusing the drunkard of giving up on life and tell the drunkard he’s morally obligated to pick himself up, rise to the challenges of life, and try to make the most out of life.
What the cheerleader doesn’t understand is that the drunkard has already done all of those things. He survived a shitty life. He stuck with his drinking habit when his lightweight friends quit. And he’s making the most out of life by getting drunk as often as possible.
But all that aside, what would you have the drunkard do? Where do you want him to go? Where will living a clean life get him? In a more expensive house? In more expensive and more uncomfortable clothes? Will he win the approval of more judgmental friends? Will it get him a more prestigious job to
slave away after hours at? Will it get him a bigger car, tickets to sports events, and Chinese take out? Will it really make him a better person or will it just make him more like you?
What are you living for? If you don’t know the meaning of life then you’re not living for anything. You’re just going through the motions of life and telling yourself that what you’re doing is important so you don’t go insane with uncertainty and guilt over the fact that you’ve tried so hard to do what’s right your whole life but your pretty life is still a failure and the only
thing keeping you ending this pointless charade with a bottle of pills is your “faith” in your belief that you guessed the right answer to the question of life even though you never even really guessed. You just copied what everybody else in your culture was doing when you got here.
Motivational speakers don’t have anything to offer an alcoholic but spectacular guesses and lies. Seriously, if you aren’t fanatically religious, wealthy, work at your dream job, are a genius or an addict then I don’t know what the fuck you’re doing with your life. There are so many people who wake up
in the morning, put on their boring clothes, go to their boring job, come home to their boring house, watch boring television, go to sleep, and repeat this boring, unfulfilling routine everyday until they die. You can’t honestly tell me their lives wouldn’t be improved by massive quantities of alcohol.
Maybe getting drunk really is the best thing you can do with your life.
Say what you want about alcoholics, but they know there’s supposed to be something more to life. And speaking of life, let’s talk about death. Cheerleaders make themselves look silly by preaching to alcoholics about how alcohol and cigarettes will kill them. Yeah. Alcoholics know that. And we’re
fine with it. We’ve come to peace with death and no longer fear it. Please don’t push your fear of death on us. And at any rate, what do you want us to do with all that extra life? What’s so important that we have to stick around another 40 years for? All you’re going to be doing during that time is watching daytime television and being a burden on your family. Personally, I’d just as soon check out early, thank you.
The only obstacle remaining between an alcoholic and a lifetime of contended drinking is God. Does God hate drunkards? Is God going to punish us for all of eternity? Any good alcoholic will tell you that Benjamin Franklin put it best when he said, “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” At any rate, drunkards just have faith that God isn’t a dick.
On the other hand, many alcoholics don’t believe in God, which
simplifies the problem even more. And if there’s no afterlife then there’s no consequences for our actions in life. This doesn’t mean we have free reign to go kill people. That would be a waste of time that could be better spent drinking as much alcohol as we can before The Big Last Call. And after all, alcohol is the closest a nihilist is getting to Heaven anyway.
Think about it. Life’s short. Fuck it. Pour me another. Let’s have a good time while there’s still time. When you look at it like that, alcoholics are incorrigible optimists.
A new trend is slippy sliding round the S-Africanland advertising ideasadoption curve y’ulz. Am HUGE proud of Ogilvy CT for starting it. Y’ulz are geniuses. This trend is called:
“Humiliate a faded international celeb via writing them into an ad”.
Loves it. Can’t wait 2 humiliate my own faded international celeb. Who d’yulz thanks it should be?
Stephanie "I did meth to cope with the lameness of Full House" Tanner?
Miyam Balik aka Blossom? She'd be gr8 in an ad 4 'how rad it is 2 be jewish' (via her degree in neuroscience, Hebrew & Jewish studies)
Think Bob Sagett would be great in a zany ad that is a montage of ppl tripping over vacuum cords advertising a new cordless vacuumer. What u think?
Which faded international celeb would y’ulz like 2 see humiliated?
***UPDATE**** Quick fact-correction here, Jupiter actually started this trend (via Louis Gosset Jnr Snr Mr bro). Sorry y’als, 4got about that. Am HUGE proud of y’ulz for starting this trend. Y’uls are what legends R made of. Y’ulz can watch one of The First Humiliations (there were 5 involving this faded celeb – they went all out) here:
From the reading chair: by Ian Bradley; by Donald E. Meek; by John Macleod; by Rowan Williams; edited by Michael Welker and Cynthia A. Jarvis; by Jeff Rubin; , and by John W. de Gruchy; by David J. Bosch; by Allan A. Boesak; by Thomas A. Smail.
Through the iPod: by Miles Davis; by Archie Roach; and by Daughtry; by David Gray (this is easily in my top 10 for 2009); by Coldplay; by Bob Dylan (Judy says that it won’t be being played in ‘our’ house this Christmas, so does anyone want me over for lunch).
The government really goes out of its way to take away our freedoms in order to protect ourselves from ourselves. You can’t smoke weed. You can’t buy alcohol or cigarettes until a certain age. You have to wear a seat belt. You can’t have sex with prostitutes. You can’t even cross the street until the light says you can. The list goes on and on…
…but if the government is so concerned about keeping us from screwing up our lives then why is marriage still legal?
Matt’s birthday was on Saturday. I started the morning by waking up early and taking care of Kasey and Maddox, so he could sleep in. While he slept, I went to work in the kitchen…I made brownies with a caramel swirl (to have later with ice cream, in lieu of cake) and then tried my hand at making waffles so I could surprise him with a birthday breakfast in bed. This was my first time ever cooking breakfast for someone else and I was praying that everything would go smoothly.
Matt came downstairs just as I was finishing the waffles, so while he did not get “breakfast in bed,” he was definitely surprised by my early morning feast. To my delight, everything turned out wonderful!
We spent the afternoon getting the initial wine making stage underway (click for more details) and the evening in Bellevue, for a birthday dinner, at .
A few weeks ago, Matt saw an advertisement for the First Annual Seattle Lamb Jam in our current edition of the and was really excited to go. The event was scheduled for Sunday so we decided to extend his birthday celebration, get some friends together, and attend.
The was a lot of fun. It was an ultimate taste-off that featured top chefs from local restaurants and their creative preparations of lamb dishes, each paired with wines from award-winning Washington wineries. At the end of the event, everyone in attendance was also able to vote on their favorite dishes in different categories like “Best of Show,” “Most Creative,” “Best Wine Pairing,” etc. Lamb and wine, what more could a birthday boy ask for? <jenna>
Listen to some of my music while cooking and enjoying your next meal. Watch me cook and play guitar on TV, try cooking it yourself! Let me know what you think of the recipe. caryfarley.com for more info.
Once I finalize with my venues, choosing my other suppliers should be a lot easier, er right? Wanna share with you guys my supplier shortlist. Not much but it took a couple years of wedding experience to guess at some of them ahehehe..
+PREPARATION VENUE – GREAT EASTERN / BALUYOT / GRAND VILLA / VILLA MONICA / ALTA GUIA
Some list, eh? It will hugely depend on the church and reception we choose, can’t go too far off or we might end up late. All these are very affordable choices, but Great Eastern is still a no. 1 here. Alta Guia have good photo ops, but like Baluyot and Grand Villa, rooms can get a lil crowded. Beggars can’t be choosers
+ CATERING – MADEL’S CUISINE
No doubt on this one. If I won’t end up in Aberdeen or Oxford, I’ll definitely book with Ms Anj. We’ve been working alongside them for quite a while and no food tastings needed for me. Their setup is heavenly, and the food is well, downright superb. The best part, they’re arguably the most affordable. Take it from me; from a girl who attends receptions almost on a weekly basis, I’ll say mam madel’s food flies off the radar from the usual food offerings. Finally, I wouldn’t have realized what a great deal they were until I started canvassing for me own wedding.
You can visit their site at but you can contact ms anj for updates coz the last brochure i got from them are more updated.
+ CAKE – Red Ribbon / Catering
Red Ribbon has beautiful cakes as low as 3.5k. Still wondering if cupcake tree is the way to go… at least 7k, sigh…
jeremiah and joyce and their beautiful wedding cupcake tree - who's your cake supplier?! huhu
+ RINGS – Binondo / Noril’s Sis
So far I’ve been hearing Suarez, Goldenhills, etc. but can’t cope with budget. You can get tempted with their 0% offerings, but Binondo rings still come out cheapest. Seen them as cute at 4k, but will have to ask an expert to come with us to make sure. Heard Jim Quiao, Ocampo, RS Fine Art but haven’t canvassed there yet. Noril’s sister Chichi told his bro she can get a pair for us at KSA, yaayy!! sana sana!!
+ FLOWERS – …..
Bakit sa tinagal tagal ko bilang photographer ay hindi man lang ako ngtanung tanong na pinakamainam na flowers supplier? Urg… Bulaklakan ng Maynila has a 6k or 7k package I think. Avengoza has a 5k – 9k package but haven’t checked again. Haven’t been to dangwa yet, so…
+GOWNS
Been to divisoria and messed around tabora’t ilaya and basically it’s 3.5k – 7k. congratulations if you’re sexy unlike me, which means pasadya, extra tela, extra dough. i was hoping to rent my gown instead but found out it’s gonna amount to 2k so what the heck. But some divi gowns end up as disasters so only get those who’re subok na by others. Ms Anj’s contact Ate Tet has made beautiful gowns at rockbottom prices…hmmm…
+SOUVENIRS – DIVISORIA
If you have the time and the determination, you can do these DIY. Divisoria is the way to go, they’re scattered all over the place. The norms are snow balls, figurines, gel candles,and those paperform-watchamacallit giveaways. But if you’re straining for more choices, I found a corner lot near Juan Luna plaza that offers a lot more. There’s also a stall in Pasilio 16 2nd floor divisoria mall that has cute choices. Meron din sa Tutuban mall kaya you just have to look around. My ideas so far are:
PRIMARY SPONSORS
- good ol’ wine, wooden kalesa (yangco bldg), gel candle on lamp, incense set, large antique lamp with gel, round flask with gel n potpourri, glass candle holders, fortune plants GUESTS
- fortune plants, chocolates with personalized wrapper, incense on tubes, incense on box, gel candles, chimes
<SINAMAY WRAPPERS, BOODLE BOTTLES, SCROLL BARS are scattered all over TABORA so happy DIY!!>
INVITE – DIY
Planning on a 3.25″x8″ invite with a full color cover and 3 one-color receding pages for wedding details, entourage list, and location map). For one invite, would only need one long scented board (to be laser printed or powder-copied), to be cut up into three. The full color cover, I can take a risk with a color printer with a clean head or gonna have it printed at Xprint (smudge free and waterproof, imprenta feel), 100pesos for a fullcolor 12×18 print, shud fit a couple of covers there. envelope n lng Design can be done on Photoshop (and yes, you can also do it on Word).
PhotoVid – …
That’s the hard part. My whole photo-vid team is included in the entourage ^&#&%^&&!!!. Would have to hire extras for service only. Still lookin’..
Not sure if this info would help you guys or confuse you more. Congratulations to all you guys, and oh, wish me luck!! If you have any tips, oohh please let me know!! thanks for the read!
For bride & grooms on a budget looking for very affordable photo-vid packages, visit . Packages starting at 17k, photo-vid service only at 10k. thanks for visiting my shutterbride blog! –
Taste of Burbank, Taste of Chicago, Champagne and Truffle tastings are all the rave across the country. Why should you attend these events? It is like one stop shopping and it tastes so good.
Downtown Burbank recently had its Taste of Burbank to raise funds for the local YMCA. Priced at $30, attendees got the opportunity to taste cuisine of Cuba, Thailand, France and more. Music filled the air while people danced and ate all night long. Portos, Z Pizza, Exotic Thai and many other restaurants in Burbank participated.
I recently got the opportunity to attend the Beverly Hills Morton’s Steakhouse Champagne and Truffle tasting. The champagnes featured were Piper Sonoma Brut, Piper Hiedsieck Brut and Piper Hiedsieck Rose Sauvage. Before sampling of the Vosges Truffles, waiters served us with smoked salmon wedges, broiled sea scallops and petite filet mignon sandwiches. All of these appetizers were divine.
Chocolate lovers, contain yourselves, I am moving on to the decadent part. From white truffle ambrosia paired with the Brut to the Naga sweet Indian curry coconut and deep milk chocolate truffle paired with the Rose Sauvage, there are nuisances to discover. Balance your sweeter chocolate with a more dry champagne and the less sweet chocolates with a more smooth champagne. This experience was priced at $45.
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