Tangent Whines

I’m playing with the idea of forming the brand name of Tangent Whines.

I like it better than The Bloggy Doldrums, which has a nice ring but just sounds too depressing.

“What,” you are wondering to yourself, “is a tangent whine?” Good question!

A tangent whine is when I complain about going off on a tangent.  For example, when lecturing, I try to refrain from going off on a tangent. It’s one of the things that a) my professors in grad school demonstrated well, b) wasted good class time, and c) was usually fun, informative, and intrinsically educational though often unrelated to the topic at hand – voila! – A tangent. Did you see we just had one? Right, it is just that easy to do.

Although Tangent Whines is my brand-to-be, you’ve probably already experienced one (or more) tangents in your own life.  (Pause, see your nods, and continues.)

Just for the record, I’m not talking about the nice wines made from Tangent Winery in California. But, while I’m on the topic of wine and not whine, I should point out that I have also experienced other tangent wines. These Tangent wines (without the H) are the wines that pop up in your life, interrupt your plans and change what you’re imbibing – as opposed to what you INTENDED to imbibe – much like the tangent in a conversation that pulls your focus away from what you intended to discuss.

Over the recent holiday, I caught a cold. With an occluded palate, I could not enjoy several wines I had planned to taste and review. Additionally I was unable to imbibe alcohol due to a medication I was taking to help fight the cold, and honestly, I really wasn’t even in the mood for anything but hot tea.

Having since recovered from my cold, I have several wines that are still awaiting my tasting notes. I have in the meantime, tasted other (tangent) wines, but not always felt they were wines I wanted to review. And my cellar is full of  great wines waiting on me, and some lesser wines as well. With all these elements in play,  I’ve been in a kind of wine holding pattern as a result.

In the writing process, every great story has parts that get cut. The good thing is, there is usually an editor who keeps your story on track, sees when a writer has lost their focus, or drifted off on a tangent, like that one.

Today is my tangent whine, and I’m regaining my focus, and explaining why I’ve not blogged in the last week- I was away on a tangent!  But I’m done with my bloggy doldrums,  I’m ready to get back to really tasting, smelling, and focusing on enjoying wine again, and sharing it with you. My whine is over, my rant is done. Let’s taste some wines, shall we?

À votre santé!

Tags: Commentary