Such the fraidy cat that I am, I just spent half an hour rehearsing a phone call that lasted no more than five minutes. But what a step! And what a series of events! For starters, I went out last night with an extremely hip group of women. One gifted writer, one theatrical designer and TV stylist, one genius computer engineer, and me. The four of us, after a hilarious mishap which found us at an Israeli cross between a pub and sports bar when we had been expecting a suave wine bar with exquisite Italian food, went across town where I found us a real quality wine bar, one of only two that I know. This one was closer (corner of Nachalat Binyamin and Montifiore), very new, and owned by a friend of a friend, so I was more than glad to give them our business. It was a wonderful decision. We shared a bottle of Rioja, which turned out to be very complex, spicy, and really hit the “we want to be in a great and elegant spot” kind of mood. We also shared a cheese plate, a fundamentally fantastic decision, again, as it had a Chevre, a goat’s Camembert, a gorgeous Gorgonzola, and a hard cow’s cheese presented in dainty slivers whose name I can’t remember now. This wonderful place even gave us four homemade chocolate truffles with our bill. Nice. In a country where customer service is a non-existent joke, we were quite happy, indeed.
My depression / melancholy / ennui patch slowly subsiding this week, and still very much on a high of wanting to “get into” the wine/spirits business here in Israel, I chatted with the ladies about some realistic short-term goals I had in mind. Amongst them is to perhaps get a job at a wine shop, or lead wine tastings, or doing some part-time marketing work for a boutique winery, or some such activity which would allow me to get out of the house some, interact with interesting people, and taste and learn lots about Israeli wines. As well as earn a buck, I should say, as I’m unemployed or self-employed, or delusionally employed, or goodness knows what.
As I was saying this, the wine bar staff was just pouring our wine and presenting our cheeses, and my friends stopped me…as it seemed the two waitresses were trying to get my attention. These two charming girls told me that they often do wine tastings and that their manager at this company was looking for more workers, especially with the holiday season approaching (holiday season in Israel comes twice a year, essentially — we have the autumn holidays, the big scary “high holy days” — and then we have the spring holidays which start with Purim in March, continue to Passover in April, and then continue to a bunch of national holidays leading up to Independence Day, which is usually in early May). They had me take down their contact’s number, said to pass along their names, and that was that. It also turned out that one of the women I was with, the designer, has a brother who is a wine maker, a true blue degree-carrying expert in setting up vineyards and making the actual wines who has been doing it for a decade or more here in Israel. Good friends of her brother’s actually started one of my favorite boutique wineries here in Israel, Flam (it’s a gorgeous website, too). And after I do some good research about what my “wine goals” realistically are for the long run, and do some good research on wine making, wine in Israel, etc, she’ll find a way for me to meet her brother. Yay!
It was a fortuitous evening to say the least. Stars coming together to help me. But, I have to act, too. This could be it, the way for me to make money without hating myself. It also really helps that I love this field, and I might be persuaded to even dream so big as to want to make a big contribution. Why not? But I have to act. And act I did. I made that phone call, they are looking for new people to lead wine tastings and market the wines, and there will be an introductory meeting early next week! Yes! It’s a step. And it may lead to nice part-time work. And it’s a great company, from what I’m told. At least the wines are good. Check the Golan Heights Winery out.
But onto the daily drag. I have a mountain of laundry so scary, I’m not sure what to do about it. Wash it would be the logical thing, but I don’t have a dryer, and it would take me more than a week to wash, then hang, wait for the load to dry before doing another one, as the apartment is too small to even hang more laundry than that. I have to read two manuscripts this week for my writing seminar, and I have to write, and write a lot, because I’ve barely been doing a thing. So, it’s gotta be about writing and cleaning and reading this weekend and it has to happen.
Luckily I’ve got some great new tunes to make it all go easier. I’ve heard some of Mika‘s songs over the past many months, but I didn’t connect the dots. I must have been the last one to hear of him. I honestly thought the songs might be from Robby Williams (because to me, they have very similar voices). But in Ireland, my friend had the album Life in Cartoon Motion in her car, and I got to listen to the whole thing. Impressive, full of energy and light. Fun, hip, bouncy, quirky, and intelligent. I highly recommend it to anyone out there who needs a boost. And to anyone else. It’s just too damn fun to miss out on.
Enjoy Big Girls – They are Beautiful!
Good weekend, all!
Life After 30 