When I was a teenager, I would look forward all week to The Pink Section in the Sunday edition of the San Francisco Chronicle. It listed all the entertainment happening in the area, most critically the concerts. I would flip through the pink pages every Sunday, eagerly searching for my favorite cutting edge artists to be passing through Oakland or San Francisco. Howard Jones, The Eurhythmics, Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark, The Thompson Twins, New Order...oh, those were awesome '80s nights in music.
When I was out of school and riding a commuter train, I always reached for Herb Caen's column first. He was witty, insider, pointed, historical, a fixture in San Francisco. So much so that there is a prominent street named after him now. Mr. Caen's writing and his amusing view on the world were a welcomed escape from the stresses of birthing a career.
I reflected on this evolution of news favorites when I realized recently that Monday is my favorite newspaper day now. My local paper doesn't have a great comic section (Luanne and Sally Forth are my only must-reads), and the only column I read with any regularity is the editor's Saturday column which makes me shake my head at the silliness of local politics.
But my local paper DOES have a fantastic feature tucked in the Business section every Monday. It keeps me informed on a topic of great import. The information it provides has the potential to fill me with excitement and anticipation. My current favorite section of the newspaper: the listing of recently granted liquor licenses.
Thanks to this rather legal-looking listing, I have learned with great salivation about new wineries coming to town, new restaurants in the works, and plans to expand existing restaurants and stores. I am in the wine know, on the edge, just by reading the seemingly boring list of granted licenses, long before any public announcements, reviews, or ribbon cuttings. It's awesome!
About 6 months ago, I almost fell off the couch when I read that a much-loved but disappointingly absent big box store had applied for a liquor license in our county. It was with this store in mind that I was enthusiastically among the 58% of Washington voters who voted to take alcohol sales out of the hands of the state and put it in the hands of capitalism. Yes, Costco advantageously spearheaded the initiative, and yes, it was written in such a way that booze taxes skyrocket for two years. And yes, a liquor store in tax-free Portland just across the state line is currently the top seller of retail alcohol in the state of Oregon, thanks to all of the Washington license plates in their parking lot. But big change is just a toast away!
Driving around town yesterday, Rob showed me confirmation of the best retail news we've had since Qdoba opened on the east side:
YES! BevMo is coming to Clark County!!!
What is BevMo? It is a big store that sells "Beverages and More!" It has a great selection of wine from around the world. It has fun accessories like glasses and aerators and foil cutters. It has hard alcohol which mostly mystifies me. It is a store that Rob and I have included at the end of every road trip we have taken to California since moving so we can stock up on wines we can't find here. (Those were fun shopping sprees!)
People sometimes ask me if there is anything I miss from living in California. I am sure they are expecting me to say something about the long, lingering, warming sunshine. Instead, I tell them that after eight years, there are still two things I desperately miss: decent Chinese food and BevMo.
One down, one to go!
Szechuan, anyone??
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