About Alan

I cannot imagine life without books. My favorite color is green, though I rarely wear it. I play guitar and piano. (I played guitar in bar bands for years, much to my parents' chagrin.) I live with a cat. I learned about wine from my father and his father - both were big wine aficionados; I started tasting itty-bitty sips from my father's glass when I was four - and this led to my professional interest in wine with Primitivo Restaurant and VintageSpec. I was extremely close to my paternal grandparents. My closest friends describe me as stubborn, intelligent, stubborn, opinionated, stubborn, generous, stubborn and funny (in that order) (I asked) (So there). I am an unapologetic carnivore. I was and am a total, unrepentant nerd (in fact, on an online test called "The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test" I scored "Pure Nerd") (Don't laugh, apparently you'll probably be working for me someday ... ha!). I'm an Eagle scout and I know my knots, first aid, and how to start a fire. I have no patience with people who don't vote. I hate to shave. I looooove Legos. Looking at, experiencing and thinking about art (especially photographs) turns my crank like almost nothing else (beauty is encountered everywhere, at some level, I think). I'm never bored. I'm an optimist by nature, and a pessimist by policy. I can't watch television - it turns me into a zombie. I am in touch with my inner dork (but not, thankfully, with my inner jerk) (most of the time). I'm hopeful. I try to keep a sense of humor even when in the worst situations (getting food poisoning in Morocco, for example). I can, when prompted, take constructive loafing to new levels. Some of my favorite words are "wretched," "insipid," simulacra" and "no."




Life is an amusement park - enjoy the ride.