Archive for April, 2011
Fifteen Bags of Gravel, and Counting…
Wednesday, April 27th, 2011 | Home | 3 Comments
…in which I talk about landscaping, or at least making the yard look a little better.
I’m not a person avidly dedicated to yard work, or the outward appearance of my home. Truth be told, I”m not that dedicated to the inward appearance of my home, which is evident in the layers of dust on the computer desk I’m sitting at. Now, to be honest, that dust is pretty new, since the last warm spell we had lined up perfectly with a pollen explosion. At any rate, I do my best to keep the lawn in check, and beyond that, I’m pretty content to let the rest of it all grow wild. But recently, be it the impending family visit, or just a more mature outlook on curb appeal, I’ve gone above and beyond my traditional minimal efforts.
Two Beers, In the Keg
Monday, April 25th, 2011 | Brew Blog | 1 Comment
Late Friday night, I set to mixing up two more beers, in preparation for family coming to visit next month.
My brother specifically requested the Mr. Beer Honey Brown Ale and I had ordered in everything to make it. I also had another Whispering Wheat Weizenbier that I was going to make into my Honey Wheat Meadbeer. I should have taken better stock of my pantry before I started.I sanitized both kegs, planning on doing the to beers immediately back to back. While the kegs were sanitizing, I started prepping for the Honey Brown. I got the hop sack ready and started to measure out the honey. I thought I had more. The Honey Brown calls for a 1½ cups of honey, but I only had a cup. I’d even read a review suggesting that you put as much as 2 cups of honey in. I was already short, and if I was planning on making the meadbeer, I would need at least another cup or two of honey. Rather than scrap it all, I just decided to improvise.
It’s Always Five O’Clock Somewhere…
Wednesday, April 20th, 2011 | Food | 4 Comments
…in which I talk about home brewing, even if I am cutting a lot of corners.
When I first got interested in home brewing, I saw Mr. Beer as a gateway into a more involved, more traditional home brewing. I though, I’ll use Mr. Beer as a way to learn the concepts of beer, what makes the simple ingredients come together into a malted, alcoholic beverage. And besides, the starter kit isn’t that expensive. So when Heather bought it for me as a gift, I made the first beer and saw this kind of “Kool Aid of beer making” as a jump off point for true home brewing. I mean the kit is kitschy and you use all pre-processed ingredients, but the concept is sound.
Now that I’ve been doing it for a few years, I’ve found that while it still may be kind of a shortcut to true brewing, you still have a lot of room to play, and you still end up with real beer. I’ve discovered that you can use their refill kits as a starting point and play around with the additives to get a dramatically different result. There can still be a lot of art in this color-by-numbers home brewing kit. So, damn the naysayers, I’m gonna keep on doing it my way.
It Was Unequivocally Designed To Make Your Body Rock…
Wednesday, April 13th, 2011 | Entertainment | No Comments
…in which I talk about our latest adventure into Dallas.
In my recollection, it was about two months ago in the sleepy town of Denton that we first became aware of the fact that Gogol Bordello was to depart from a faraway land and return to the nation of their birth, the United States. Such an return as this was deserving of a most excellent party, and they kindly decided to share it with all the peoples of this country. As a part of this celebration, they would not only bring around vodka and marinated herring, but also they would bring an nearly illegal amount of gypsy punk!
I’ve been listening to Gogol Bordello for maybe a year now, and while I am no superfan, I am pretty fucking fond of their music. I am not, however, one to go to a concert stag style. I didn’t really give the idea of going to see them much of a second thought because I figured I could find no one to go with me. It turns out that I should maybe have made the suggestion to Heather earlier.
In Case you Haven’t Met Me, I’m Tall…
Wednesday, April 6th, 2011 | Clothing | No Comments
…in which I talk about the trials and tribulations of finding clothes that fit, but also don’t suck.
So, recently, I happened to win a $50 gift card to ThinkGeek from the fine folks at GeekDad. Yes I am, in fact, a geek and a dad, myself, so I am kind of surrounded by such sites in my internet neighborhood. At any rate, it just so happens that my favorite hoodie of late, had a bit of a zipper malfunction, and while I’m usually quite adept at repairing zippers, this one seems to be immune to my tool-using ways. As a result, I found this $50 fortune to be a sign from fate to go ahead and buy a nice, new, albeit pricey hoodie. As it turns out, this inspiration may have been delivered by a false prophet.
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