We get to take a vacation day within one week (in either direction) of our birthday. My birthday was last Wed., so I took off today for the sake of a long weekend. I really gave the credit card a good wearing today in Lubbock: liquor store (bought some cheap wine ($7 a bottle) and one moderately expensive bottle picked out at random, 1997 Château La Cardonne Médoc ($22), just to see what, if anything, I've been missing), clothes shopping (shoes and belt=$120), lasagna at a chain Italian restaurant that wasn't the Olive Garden, Best Buy for 24 hours of absurdist genius ($160), and then to the movie house for Sideways.

The film is a funny and fresh riff on some classic themes: The Road Trip, The Buddy Flick, The Odd Couple, The Lovable Nebbish. It's painfully sad in some spots, though, particularly if you see yourself destined for the protagonist's fate. Who, by the way, is this Sandra Oh? Wow.