The Shoulder

His should was a subject of ridicule. Each day he would walk through the door at 12:57 PM, fresh off of his lunch break. He would walk down the hall to his desk, ignoring the stares. He knew. He smiled a knowing smile though. The other guys had even started a pool, what would it be today? Pizza? Maybe macaroni and cheese? One cried a triumphant, "Yes!" He must have won, for it was actually pizza. Pizza sauce stains had made there way onto his left shoulder. Some days it was clean, some days peanut butter, often it was strawberries, and many times it was chocolate. They thought him a slob though, thought they could tell what he had for lunch that day by what was wiped and left behind on his shoulder. They couldn't have been more wrong.

For every day at 12:50 PM, the man had two little arms wrapped tightly around his neck, and a little face pressed against his left shoulder. His son had eaten pizza that day, and the sauce was there to prove it. And occasional days before that he'd left something else before saying goodbye. The shirts he could wash, and the jeers could be tolerated. He knew that the hugs would stop one day, and he wasn't letting anyone take them away too soon.

College Imagery 4

Wiest Hall...still feels like home.

Beer Ranks

I mentioned that I drank a lot of great beer in San Diego. This is true, and I tried to only drink ones that I knew that I wouldn't be able to get back in Wichita. Below I ranked in order from best to not best (because there was no "worst" if you know what I mean) all the beers I had:

1. Karl Strauss IPA--This was a surprising 1-2 finish for the Karl Strauss brewery. I'll have to admit that I had never heard of their beer before, and was enthusiastically pleased that we went to eat there. Extra points go to them for serving each beer in the proper glass.

2. Karl Strauss Barley Wine--Great hoppy barley wine. Smooth and full tasting. Perfect after-meal beer for me.

3. Dogfish Head 90 min. IPA--Desperately wanted it to be better. My expectations might have been a tad high. It was a great beer though, better than the 60. Bring on the 120!

4. Stone Pale Ale--Head and shoulders better than the Stone IPA, very surprising.

5. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale--I know I can get this in Kansas, but at the bar it was the best option, and come on, it's Sierra Nevada...always a great choice.

6. Karl Strauss Hefeweizen--I only had a drink of this, but it was enough to know that it was a fine beer. Great color as well.

7. Lagunitas Old Gnarlywine--I hate that it has to be down this far, because it was really good. But it couldn't stand up to the others. I like my barleywines hoppier than this one as well.

8. Stone IPA--Reminded me a lot of Dogfish Head's 60 min IPA. It was too thin for my taste, lacked color and body. I was disappointed I couldn't get my hands on the Ruination. I'm curious how they differ.

There were just too many beers, not enough time.

Elbow Room

That's three blown elbows in the past few months.  Two was a coincidence, three has become a pattern.  Something has got to change or I'm going to run out of dress shirts.

Ice & Fire

Movies generally ruin books. At least for me and the books I love. The only way I ever thought it would work is if they could hook some wires up to my brain and project the images and sounds from my imagination up onto the screen. Then I would go see that movie. They are working on making a mini series out of my all time favorite series, A Song of Ice and Fire, on HBO. I have made my decision. I will not be watching, I will not be looking at production photos or casting shots. I will not be watching trailers, I will not even be listening with my eyes closed. The moment I do any of those things, it would mean killing the images I have in my head, and that, for me, would be a disaster. Poor Harry Potter has nearly done it in for me, Eragon, even though I didn't see the movie, has still been atrocious, and I can't read "Legolas" without seeing Orlando Bloom's golden locks. Please don't let them take the images of King's Landing, Tyrion, and The Wall as well.

The Pacific

A few poladroids at the ocean...

San Diego

I took a trip out to San Diego this past weekend to visit my friend Brandon for a few days. I had a really great time and got to do some things that were probably once in a lifetime kind of things. I got to drink lots of great beer, eat lots of good food, and hang out with my friends. That was the best part of all. Here are just a few pictures I took while there.

Untitled

I found these words written in the margin of an old notebook of mine.  I can't for the life of me remember what they were for or where they came from, so I thought I'd just put them here:   Illusion of conscious will, Unfiltered function of society, Can't purge them, Prisoner of culture.

Car Kit

A Poem...   Car Kit   Damn those words, Atop my LG phone. Car Kit appears, Communication ceases. Calls are still made, No sound returns. Ruined? Not for Macgyver. One bent paperclip, A short in the system. Manner Mode returns.

Untitled

Driving across the Flint Hills area has been a more and more frequent event for me lately.  Highway 77 has become quite the familiar path.  I like the scenic openness that is offered in short-sight.  However, lately I find myself looking deeper across the horizon and can't help but notice the landscape littered with power poles and transmission towers.  Then, I can't drive through a hill, looking at sheer limestone that has been blown away on each side, without imagining how that hill was once complete and flowing unbroken.  Upon further consideration, I came to the stark and devastating realization that I am in an industry that put those things there...   ...damn

Nice Evening

At that moment in time, with the choices I had at my disposal,  there wasn't anything better than sitting on my front porch, smelling the fresh cut grass, sipping on a homemade IPA and listening to the birds as the sun went down.  Ahhh...nice evening.

Weird

He noticed the mark on his arm around 9:46 AM.  That was the first time.  It looked as if he had just donated blood.  He hadn't.  It wasn't there yesterday either, he was certain of that.  He had worn a polo and would have noticed.  He supposed it had happened in the night, while he slept.  Somewhere, far off in space an alien spaceship was now carrying with them a vial of his blood.  Human DNA traveling across the galaxy.  That's weird.  He didn't even feel it.

Beer Geek

I have recently come up with an idea that should qualify me for a Beer Geek license if there is one. It's a modified version of something I heard the other day on a podcast, same overall principle, but different approach plus one. The facts are these (ref): the less time your beer is in contact with oxygen after fermentation begins, the better off you will be. Fact. Oxygen is a beer's worst enemy at that point causing off flavors in the finished product. Handling your beer as little as possible is the rule to stave off any chance of splashing or swirling around your beer and dissolving oxygen. Conversely, carbon dioxide is great for your beer. It is actually a very important part. Who wants to drink flat beer? I have taken these things into account and devised a way that my beer can ferment, be transferred to a bottling bucket, primed, and bottled with virtually no oxygen interference at all. See the picture below.You start by hooking a hose to one of the ports on your carboy cap and hooking the other end to the spigot of the bottling bucket. Place the air lock on top of the sealed bottling bucket and all of the CO2 produced during fermentation will travel through the hose, into the bucket, and drive all the oxygen out the top of the air lock. Now we have a carboy full of beer and CO2 and a bucket full of CO2. When fermentation is complete, and the yeast has settled sufficiently, it's time to prime and bottle you beer. Simply take the hose off the spigot and connect it to the top of the bucket where the air lock was, and connect a second hose from your racking cane to the now free spigot. Once the siphon begins, the beer will transfer through the lower hose, into the CO2-filled bucket, forcing the CO2 out and across the top hose, down into the carboy again, forcing the beer up the racking cane. Now we have a carboy full of CO2 and a bucket full of beer and CO2. They just traded places, without oxygen. Next, disconnect the hose from the racking cane, attach your bottling wand, and you're ready to start filling bottles. Once the beer starts flowing into the bottles, the empty space from the exiting beer will be replaced with, you guessed it, the CO2 from the carboy. Cap the bottles and you'll be ready to drink in no time. Is this necessary? Absolutely not. You can't certainly make great beer without going to this much setup. But it's fun to come up with geeky contraptions and experiments while brewing. That's part of the draw for me. That and, well, good beer too. I plan on trying out my method on my wheat beer this weekend. Wish me luck.

Hops

I'll admit...I was worried about my 2009 hop crop for awhile with the snow and the cold nights we had a few weeks ago. However, it looks like they are going to pull through. I am planning on 6 vines this year and see how that goes. I can't wait to see how they come out.

Oh yeah, Garrett and I finished the fence last night too.

Think With Your Dipstick

I just saw this one last night and seriously lost it. I don't know if I was just in the right mood or what, but I thought it was great.