So I was at this internet conference the other day (staying close to my roots), and I was simply staggered with the number of wealth creation tools (i.e., working stiffs like you and me) that were taking the idea of stage left very seriously (oh, the irony). One gal stood up and proudly stated her rank and serial number for really big Company X. She then pointed a question at executive from really big Company Y, “while I work for ‘Company X’, I also run a group of my own sites geared at…” blah blah blah… “but I don’t get any help or attention. What are you doing for the little guy?”

What’s important in this scene isn’t the idea that “The Man” is keeping the little guy down. It’s more that this woman was taking the stage left bull by the horns. Maybe I’m overselling, but I tracked her down after the session and asked her why she was moonlighting and, more importantly, why she was doing basically the same thing in both her “jobs.”

So, here’s the fun part: she really loved what she tactically did for “Company X,” but doing it for someone else made it just a job. When she was running her own websites, the same tactics became her passion. The challenge of driving people to her site and profitably selling services just made her tick. I told her she needed to get out more. But I get it.

I had a few more conversations along the same lines over the course of the conference. And boy did I receive some colorful descriptions of stage lefts. The edited version: for some people, making wine is their passion (me, thank you very much), some have their kids or escape through travel. Others care about web site optimization, or blogging, or the entrepreneurial adrenaline rush.

What was great for me to see was how many people are truly passionate about something. And that they’re living it (and talking about it loud and proud). With the McStandardization of so much of our lives, it’s easy to just go with the flow. You might even dig the flow. But more and more people are stepping out of the flow, or creating their own – if even for the weekends.

At the end of the day, one doesn’t need to quit the day job or march against the tyranny of Company X, Y, Z, or The Man to have (or do) a stage left. A stage left is simple. It’s what lights your fire… what makes the 9-to-5 totally worthwhile. Even if it is the 9-to-5.

So, what’s your stage left?

What a wild year… if time flies when you’re having fun, we must be smack dab in the middle of the party that never ended. We’re one step closer to releasing wine (just waiting on the government approvals), three weeks away from another bottling run, and about four weeks away from a winery full of fermenting fruit.

We’re expanding the line-up a bit in 2007 (more to come on that later), but just a bit. Otherwise, Melinda will be using me for punchdowns.

This year, we’ll be posting harvest notes daily to give you a closer look at our favorite time of year. It’s chaotic. It’s intense. It’s painful. We wouldn’t have it any other way.