On Tasting Blind.

This photo doesn't have anything to do with anything currantly relevant. I just wanted to put something up. It was taken during the Thanksgiving dinner of Aught Five. I was telling people about an article I read in the New Yorker a few years ago by Calvin Trillan about how even really educated wine enthusiasts usually cannot tell the difference between fine red and white wines when blindfolded. The study was done at the Oenology Department at UC Davis. Nobody believed me (except Nephi, who had read the article) so they demanded a live test, which is why I'm wearing my brother Blue's shirt on my head. Incidentally, no one at the table could tell the difference between the wines except Nephi and me. My folks even tried to trip me up by giving me two different reds on my first try. I think my cousin Jordan did pretty well too. Maybe we just got lucky--in the study involving the Experts they used nine different reds and whites so it was a bigger playing field; we had only two of each. We also had actual goblets; in the study they used styrofoam cups, which could theoretically change the way the taster experienced the wine. You should try it--it makes for a funny party. Ironically, the people who most disagreed with us most vocally about the ability to differentiate between the red and white wines were the ones who themselves had the most difficulty.

On the knitting front, I'm finished with the body of Heather's bag (for the Great Bag-Swap of Aught Six). I was pretty concerned that what I had in mind wouldn't turn out well, but I'm really excited about it now. All that's left to do are the embellishments. It is, in my opinion, really cool. And going to get cooler.