I really didn’t like the movie ‘Sideways’ very much (as I noted below), so there’s a kind of cruel poetic justice in this story…

TG and I went to a community art show and auction last weekend; I love things like this, even though the quality of the art can be uneven. Sometimes you discover a gem, and you always get the feeling that you’re watching fermentation happening…you’re just not sure if what will come out is champagne or biodiesel.They had a raffle, for a ‘Sideways’ weekend in the Santa Ynez Valley – a nice B & B, a private winery tour, and dinner at the Hitching Post. They had pressed some young children to wander around the crowd and sell the tickets – each being shadowed at a respectful distance by someone who I’m guessing was a parent (I know the feeling all too well – “Go ahead, Junior, you can do it!” as I skulk along hidden, making sure that he’s OK…).

When the little girl approached TG and me and offered “a chance to win a Sideways trip”, my response wasn’t profane because I try not to swear in front of stranger’s children. So I launched on a quiet rant about the movie, the impact on the prices of pinot noir (which I happen to like), and the innate superiority of Jocko’s to The Hitching Post.

Embarrassed, TG turned to the little girl and bought three tickets. Doubtless out of sympathy to her, the little girl ‘rubbed the tickets together for luck’.

You know how this comes out, of course…we won the darn thing.

If there is a God, she has a truly twisted sense of humor…