Why I Wine
Everything Robin said about my grandmother and the rest is true, but there's more to my side of the story just as there's more she hasn't shared yet (heck, she hasn't shared any of her RPG thoughts yet and she's been gaming longer than me).
A big part of my embracing the cult of the grape has to do with the very simple, stark fact that I have celiac disease and therefore just can't drink beer. Like most Irish-Americans, I enjoyed a good pint or two (or three or four) of Guinness, but I began to notice a few years ago that -- in addition to suffering from a horrible, mucus-filled cough anytime I ate anything wheat-based -- I was really ill the morning after a beer-based bender and it wasn't because of hangovers. I could have stopped drinking, but what would be the fun in that?
Another reason for becoming a wino is because I finally discovered something in Texas that I could be proud of again. I'm not a native Texan, but I've lived here for twenty-eight of my thirty-eight years and I'm not likely to move soon. Almost all of both of our families live in this state, so we're stuck here until we win a lottery that allows me to move everyone to Canada so I can play D&D with Ed Greenwood. It's rough sometimes; we have some great reasons to be proud of Texas' independent spirit, and we have some reasons to do a double-facepalm. Going up I-10 to 290 gets me out into the rugged Texas hills, into a majestic landscape that makes me happy I no longer live in Kansas.
And I like the taste. I really, really like the taste.
A big part of my embracing the cult of the grape has to do with the very simple, stark fact that I have celiac disease and therefore just can't drink beer. Like most Irish-Americans, I enjoyed a good pint or two (or three or four) of Guinness, but I began to notice a few years ago that -- in addition to suffering from a horrible, mucus-filled cough anytime I ate anything wheat-based -- I was really ill the morning after a beer-based bender and it wasn't because of hangovers. I could have stopped drinking, but what would be the fun in that?
Another reason for becoming a wino is because I finally discovered something in Texas that I could be proud of again. I'm not a native Texan, but I've lived here for twenty-eight of my thirty-eight years and I'm not likely to move soon. Almost all of both of our families live in this state, so we're stuck here until we win a lottery that allows me to move everyone to Canada so I can play D&D with Ed Greenwood. It's rough sometimes; we have some great reasons to be proud of Texas' independent spirit, and we have some reasons to do a double-facepalm. Going up I-10 to 290 gets me out into the rugged Texas hills, into a majestic landscape that makes me happy I no longer live in Kansas.
And I like the taste. I really, really like the taste.
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