tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63530989997639365402011-07-30T12:41:57.287-07:00now serving Soylent Brownarbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.comBlogger791100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-60581946858261981082010-08-12T08:42:00.000-07:002010-08-12T09:34:42.585-07:00

1. I find myself in a position to which I am neither suited nor attracted.2. I got here through various acts of Bad Faith (acting on the fallacy that I have no choice).3. I will continue choosing to do this work as long as I am unable to perceive a significantly better alternative.4. I'm completely uncertain that, as a means, continuing in this job meets any of the ends I hope to achieve,

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-70334874393108239902010-08-09T16:27:00.000-07:002010-08-09T16:35:03.769-07:00

Freedom isn't about the ability to escape from or leave a situation, or a state of mind, or the absence of obligation, or even about physical constraint or economic compulsion. It seems (today) to be more about releasing myself from a focus on being unfree. I am free (today) because I have chosen to be who, what, and where I am, and I choose to remain unburdened by my being here. Unclench.

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-15201391297509737272008-11-05T13:06:00.000-08:002008-11-05T13:21:41.073-08:00

Yesterday, when I picked my son up from Kindergarten, I asked him if he knew that this was a special day. He said no, and I told him that it was Election Day, just as I would have told him it was easter or Halloween or any other holiday. He immediately latched on to the concept as I explained that today, we were choosing who would be President.Throughout the remainder of the evening, he asked

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-69599722986612975452008-10-16T13:47:00.000-07:002008-10-16T14:18:59.814-07:00

Wow. I'm either having a stroke or a major epiphany, and I think it's the latter, not the former. I can't quite believe that I am able to type the following with considerable conviction:I just figured out what I'm supposed to be doing.Those of you who have had the misfortune of sitting around listening to me complain about my job, my ambitions, my fears for the future, my chronic boredom and

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-29926668677851529282008-10-13T11:23:00.000-07:002008-10-13T11:59:00.901-07:00

What the hell is it about this time of year? Why does it screw with me so bad? Am I suffering disappointment that the summer is over and I didn't do most of what I wanted to do? Am I just hitting the Seasonal Affective Disorder wall once again? Or maybe the layers of my life have just piled up in an inopportune pattern, and I'm feeling walled-in again. What does that mean? Let me give you

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-37446036227951081572008-08-08T09:04:00.000-07:002008-08-08T09:08:51.131-07:00

Portland, supposed Mecca of green living and universal mass transit (unless you start looking at surrounding communities, the rug under which Portland sweeps its dirt, but never mind about that), has shut down Light Rail into downtown for pretty much the entire month of August. Now, I understand that they're doing something invisible, yet incredibly important on one of the bridges, and I

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-2430305625137602522008-07-24T11:03:00.001-07:002008-07-24T11:09:05.634-07:00

I got to try the stout last weekend. It's very good again, precisely what I was going for. Amazing how careful design leads to predictable results. It still needs a bit of time in the bottle (dammit, go away, Jim Croce playing in my head) to mellow out some sour tones, but right now it tastes like an austere Imperial Stout. It threatens some sweetness right at the start, but then catches

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-88573670773210912412008-07-18T14:30:00.000-07:002008-07-18T14:39:40.136-07:00

I thought briefly today about going back and seeing what the first entry on this blog was like, but I don't really want to. My life is completely different now than it was then, while my circumstances have changed very little. The difference, of course, is me. I've made changes that caused the world to suck less while remaining exactly the same. How weird is that?The results, at this point in

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-32759959412898338772008-06-16T09:46:00.000-07:002008-06-16T10:15:57.332-07:00

I've brewed again. It's actually a bit scary how easy it was to pick up right where I left off. I've had the recipe for this batch sitting curled up in its cozy spreadsheet for months now. Some of it didn't seem quite right, but I decided to trust my judgement from back then, as I was way more absorbed in beer design and obviously had some sort of vision I was pursuing.What I brewed should end

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-20205319270430682008-04-16T09:43:00.000-07:002008-04-16T09:45:48.499-07:00

Last night I completed my first real bread baking project. I've baked bread before, sure, lots of times, but this was different. This was real freakin bread, with a 2-day process and some sophisticated techniques involved. The results, I have to say, are amazing:^^^an actual picture of the actual bread I actually baked^^^When I opened the oven and took out these loaves, I couldn't believe that

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-89569777111723219392008-04-15T09:57:00.000-07:002008-04-15T10:05:41.727-07:00

I'm not really sure how it happened, but I somehow kind of forgot that this whole blog existed there for a few weeks. I don't think I've thought about it since the start of April. Odd. Really odd, actually, because a bunch of stuff happened. I guess that's what I was doing instead of blogging. So...what happened? Well, I started jogging, passed the 20-pound weight loss mark, went on some

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-58918866375052054252008-03-24T10:44:00.000-07:002008-03-24T10:58:42.654-07:00

Finally, at long last, after numerous delays, setbacks, and vast tracts of empty procrastination, I've installed a new oven in my kitchen. It's awesome. I'm knackered.This oven has been in my house, waiting to be installed, for many months now. It's silly how long it was there waiting. The problem was that we needed to have a cooktop, too, since it's a wall oven. So, we ordered a cooktop.

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-51112398456251871952008-03-07T10:04:00.000-08:002008-03-07T10:06:15.327-08:00

As you know, I brewed my last batch of beer about 8 weeks ago. I was loosely shooting toward a Trappist-style freeform strong brown(ish) ale. I had never used Belgian or Trappist yeast before, and I used several methods, such as lagering, re-yeasting, warm storage, and long secondary fermentation, that, although elementary to many homebrewers, were new to me.Last time I tasted this beer, I was

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-30105177549463714942008-02-14T12:27:00.000-08:002008-02-14T12:54:39.667-08:00

My daughter asked me the other day whether the company I work for is evil. I thought about it for a moment and had to explain what the term evil actually means. That means I had to come up with an on-the-spot definition. I do not believe in Evil with a capital E, meaning that a thing or person's whole being is devoted to the destruction of human life in the full knowledge that such destruction

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-81478480191496742102008-01-24T10:05:00.000-08:002008-01-24T10:23:05.258-08:00

I had a migraine yesterday afternoon, and when I got rid of it, I started having all kinds of memories of details from my childhood. As I was lying in bed to go to sleep, I started to remember the house we moved out of when I was 4 (my son's age now). I remembered the playroom and the bathroom/shower in the basement, and the furnace room. I remember sitting on the floor of the furnace room

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-33637110983325939152008-01-07T11:18:00.000-08:002008-01-07T11:42:35.969-08:00

I brewed yesterday, marking the second session where I've used a minimash for the grains. I've been thinking about this batch for weeks now, and reading about Trappist beer. I decided to leave aside any consideration of style and just attempt to brew a big, flavorful ale with modest hop levels. I think it went just right.I stopped by the brew store on Saturday, where I got some Trappist yeast,

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-37989172547044843602008-01-02T10:01:00.000-08:002008-01-02T10:05:23.522-08:00

I've started a new photography blog, fotographic-memory, for those of you who may be interested. I've been updating it a lot more frequently than this one. I've actually been thinking of splitting my blogging up into several separate sites devoted to different interests. It seems like it helps me organize my thoughts on different topics a bit better. This one seems mostly to have turned into

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-67219161055769648612007-12-31T11:38:00.000-08:002007-12-31T11:50:22.131-08:00

I'm ramping up to brew again next weekend. I'm going Belgian this time, trying for a really big beer with a modest hop profile and some fancy yeast work. I'm going to use the minimash approach from last time and hope things work out the same. My entire approach is going to be a bit more free-form, but my target gravity is 1.085 using light extract and two-row and caramel malts. I'm adding

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-85437216784569319082007-12-19T10:57:00.000-08:002007-12-19T11:07:52.972-08:00

Homemade grenadine kicks store-bought grenadine's ass. I used it to make a Secret Cocktail (gin, applejack, lemon, grenadine, and an egg white), and the results were stunning. I'm going to try it in a Jack Rose tonight. It's very simple to make, but definitely not cheaper or easier than the corn syrup slurm that Angostura puts out. Basically, you macerate the edible bits out of 2 large poms

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-14689257468154877962007-12-14T11:03:00.000-08:002007-12-14T11:10:09.681-08:00

So, after guzzling a huge amount of store-bought eggnog over the past month or so, I started thinking about how it might be possible to take eggnog as-is from the store and turn it into ice cream with no additional processing. So I dug out my Krups, stuck the bowl part in the freezer, bought a couple jugs of nog, and went for it. I made sure to age the nog by putting it in the back of the

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-33551498249172144552007-11-26T14:26:00.000-08:002007-11-26T14:37:50.336-08:00

Grilled organic turkey with sage and garlicCeleriac mashed potatoes with giblet gravyScalloped sweet potatoesKey lime cranberry sauceCabbage wedges braised in butter and dry vermouth with garlic and shallotsSavory chanterelle stuffed White Swan acorn squash That's everything we served. The celeriac mash was really the most amazing bit. It did something with the giblet gravy that briefly blew my

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-75477935290109420792007-11-20T15:00:00.000-08:002007-11-20T15:08:04.561-08:00

Last Friday, after a brutally disheartening commute, I came home, cooked up some steaks, had a couple of Martinis, and decided that now was the time to try my first fresh Hop IPA.My first impression: sweet. Not sweet as in sweet, this turned out awesome, but sweet as in it hasn't fully carbonated sweet. Don't get me wrong the head on the beer was very nice for a two-week-old beer, hell even for

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-81024211718158303882007-11-15T12:37:00.000-08:002007-11-15T13:15:37.567-08:00

OK, so why would it be that, right when Portland becomes a focal point for food enthusiasts across the nation, the food here starts to suck? The number of mediocre-to-revolting restaurant experiences I've had over the last two weeks or so exceeds the total number for the previous year. What gives?Granted, half of those problems stemmed from eating at a mall food court, and therefore hardly

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-78516075274601282592007-11-06T11:25:00.000-08:002007-11-06T11:36:25.559-08:00

Last saturday I bottled the IPA. Gravity was stable from 3 weeks ago at 15 GU, which probably indicates that all the fermentables were used after primary, and the remaining 15 were nonfermentable sugars. It tastes pretty good, and had around the bitterness level I was looking for. I used a calculator to figure out how much malt to prime with, and used a scale rather than a measuring cup when I

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-61396974259004914092007-11-02T12:09:00.000-07:002007-11-02T13:09:35.021-07:00

The longest two weeks in my recent memory will come to an end this evening: my wife will be coming home tonight.It was not a horrendous trial parenting solo for two weeks. It was certainly a pain in the butt, it was tiring, to be sure, aggravating at times, but I've definitely been through worse.I've compared the experience to single parenting, but I think that most single parents have it easier

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-48598717351046777602007-10-25T10:35:00.000-07:002007-10-25T10:48:49.987-07:00

I went to a Ubiquitous Big Box Store yesterday (no, not The Great Satan, the other one) to look for some Halloween decorations. I wasn't looking for anything fancy, just some cardboard bats and maybe a black cat or two. Something to hang on the wall or put in the window to amuse the kids and get them in the mood for the only holiday celebrated in the US that does not yet totally disgust me. I

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-88843512840714498862007-10-22T12:40:00.000-07:002007-10-22T12:52:12.659-07:00

So my wife left yesterday on a two-week business trip out of town. Today will be my first full single-parenting day of 11.75. It has been OK so far, but I wonder how things are going to seem a week from today, after I've done the same routine for 7 days with work my only source of interaction with other adults (to the extent they can be called that).I'm viewing it as a long slog and hoping that

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-59071084055262469242007-10-19T13:33:00.000-07:002007-10-19T13:39:37.670-07:00

I just got back from having lunch at The Heathman in Portland. It was one of those meals that, when you're done, just sits there in your insides making you feel like everything's going to turn out OK. Perhaps I'm a bit food-drunk. I had the Duck in Mole. The Mole was not as good as what I make, but the duck breast was amazing, flavorful, smokey, a bit crisp, and it went perfectly with the

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-46530974767090329302007-10-18T12:14:00.000-07:002007-10-18T12:23:26.627-07:00

The car is sold. In a matter of hours yesterday, I heard from the dude, received payment, and watched as the car's new owner drove off in it down my street. It's good to see a blank spot on my driveway where that car used to be.Working on that car again brought back a lot of the really horrible feelings I had right after the accident that wrecked it. Yesterday evening, I could hardly speak I

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-62177176454133931872007-10-17T09:00:00.000-07:002007-10-17T09:07:39.621-07:00

I never heard from the dude wanting to buy my bug yesterday (of course), but I did go out and tinker with the car a bit. I actually got the thing running, and I took it for a short drive across the street and through the parking lot (no insurance, no seatbelt, weak brakes, no brains, but decent luck). I had to unfreeze the brake drum of the wheel whose hubcap was smashed by the semi, but once I

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-13594728907282454622007-10-16T09:24:00.000-07:002007-10-16T10:05:09.941-07:00

The last two weekends in a row, I've had dudes crawling out of the woodwork on Sunday trying to buy VW-related items. Weekend before last, I was sitting in my house, minding my own business, wasting some time on the Gamecube, when there comes a knock on the door. I am not a fan of the unexpected visitor. Selling something? Just stopping by? Not a fan.In this case, the guy wanted to buy the

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-82449257671035285752007-10-15T09:04:00.000-07:002007-10-15T09:12:10.409-07:00

I racked the IPA on Sunday. I took a gravity reading, and it's gone down way more than I thought it would, from 1.085 to 1.015. Whoosh. Now comes the long stretch. I plan on giving it two weeks in secondary. I dry-hopped it with a modest 1/2 oz in a hop bag. The beer had a very floral aroma, with a little citrus, but was quite sweet still, with good bitterness that stopped short of that

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-958823091684281052007-10-12T08:31:00.000-07:002007-10-12T08:43:08.555-07:00

After 4 days of driving into work and parking downtown, I found myself unexpectedly relieved to take the train this morning. I actually got to sit and read on the way in, listened to some music, had myself a great time. Well, a better time than I had driving, anyway. I don't believe I had occasion to say the words 'stupid bastard,' 'asshat,' or 'motherfucker' the entire way in (after I got out

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-38484019876278968052007-10-10T10:11:00.000-07:002007-10-10T10:31:24.535-07:00

I'm very sad today because my brother is leaving again for Thailand. Although I'm bummed that he's not around, his visit made me feel better about several things. I feel better about a lot of the decisions I've made in my life that have led me to do what I do, live where I live, and work where I work. I'm not always entirely happy about any of those things, but really, they're OK for now.

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-41836367406331344862007-10-10T10:08:00.000-07:002007-10-10T10:11:09.368-07:00

I renamed this blog. The old name was annoying me. It is now Hollow Log.

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-55070520220997614952007-10-09T09:31:00.001-07:002007-10-09T09:35:51.943-07:00

Also after a long hiatus, I'm updating my blog again. More than 2 months and all, I know. I don't know why I stopped, I just lost interest over the summer I guess. Stupid real life, interfering with my shouting into the hollow log. Meh.Anyway, I figure I'll start updating this thing some more. Here, have a picture of what distracted me from blogging:

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-6138841144993152332007-10-08T12:13:00.000-07:002007-10-08T12:36:13.771-07:00

After a long hiatus, I decided to brew again. I was running out of beer. My brother is visiting from Thailand, so despite my resolution previously always to brew alone, I invited him over to help me out. Turned out fine.I wanted to try out some of the techniques and ideas I have gotten reading Designing Great Beers, and I had just harvested hops, so I thought I'd try making a fresh hop IPA. I

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-45940506856730908682007-08-02T10:23:00.000-07:002007-08-02T10:39:09.933-07:00

Getting down was a long and arduous task made more difficult by the fact that we were almost out of water and quickly running out of time. The trail, which was merely steep on the way up, was a collection of rather grave hazards on the way down. I hadn't realized how narrow it was in parts before my momentum made the edge a hazard. I hadn't realized that the roots from cedars running parallel

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-75318358023419503492007-07-25T08:52:00.000-07:002007-07-25T09:24:40.447-07:00

After the exhausting climb up to Comet Falls (none of us are prime athletes, here, OK? Some of us aren't even 4 yet. Some of us were carrying the others of us that, although not yet 4, weigh about 50 pounds), none of us felt very confident about continuing up the trail. I had made a bad mistake by not eating soon enough, and even after a deviled ham sandwich (nobody else would have anything to

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-56800902182415171062007-07-24T13:13:00.000-07:002007-07-24T13:37:56.820-07:00

On Monday, our first full day of camping, we made some breakfast, then drove out to Rainier, stopping in Packwood for some ice and a couple other things we needed or had forgotten. Our plan was to hike up to Comet Falls. We stopped several times along the way to look at the beautiful mountain vistas and waterfalls, so we arrived at the trailhead kind of late in the day, about 1:30 or so. We

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-4050679697233552372007-07-23T12:41:00.001-07:002007-07-23T12:45:02.817-07:00

It's been awhile since I updated this thing. Perhaps the bloom is off the rose, or however that goes. I was, in my defense, away for a week camping and ignoring the internet, but that only gets me so far when I haven't posted anything since the 6th.I took the family out camping last week. We camped at Tower Rock campground in Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Tower Rock itself is a big stone cliff

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-50879914642983888142007-07-06T12:21:00.001-07:002007-07-06T12:26:50.397-07:00

I tried my Smoked Rye Porter again last night and was very pleased with the initial impression this beer gives. Head retention was not what I would have wanted, but it's hard to tell whether that was due to something beer-intrinsic or to the 90-degree heat and resulting air movement from the fan. Once the beer warmed up (didn't take long), the licorice-like flavor was detectable, but when it

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-37889179876754620902007-07-03T13:20:00.000-07:002007-07-03T13:28:50.765-07:00

I went fishing last weekend (twice, even) and actually managed to catch some fish for the first time in years. I won't say that I was impressed with my angling skills or anything (quite on the contrary), but I managed to hook about 10 rainbow trout and to land about 7 of those (2 of which escaped my grasp and escaped back into the lake). For most anglers, I think my experience would have been

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-53199094183417022582007-06-29T08:47:00.000-07:002007-06-29T08:59:48.226-07:00

I racked the Urschleim yesterday. It seems perfectly fine. There were no visible goobery chunks, no actual slimy bits, no bad smell, no bad flavors. It is possible that some tartness may result, but then again, maybe not. Gravity had dropped to like 7 GU(!), but it was obviously still fermenting, probably because of the inclusion of the honey. It seems a little on the weak side, but I knew that

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-20997238827987567362007-06-28T12:13:00.000-07:002007-06-28T12:18:42.692-07:00

Thanks to the influence (and habitual misspelling) of Beaglebot, I came across this site about Bento today while doing some pointless research. This is amazing stuff, beautifully photographed. If I had about 3 hours every night to make my lunch, I might be able to produce an ugly version of maybe a third of what this woman makes. I am highly impressed and envious (and after looking for 30

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-24813547491302697942007-06-27T10:15:00.000-07:002007-06-27T10:27:36.014-07:00

I made something new (for me) last weekend: stromboli. It was one of those things I had decided to make without really knowing what exactly it was. This seems to be a good approach for me, actually. I used this approach to create my version of posole, a recipe that has won acclaim from nearly everyone I've made it for, including my perfectionistic older brother.So, stromboli is actually an

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-9602284915519072922007-06-26T11:09:00.000-07:002007-06-26T11:16:22.187-07:00

I tried a bottle of my Smoked Rye Porter last weekend. It isn't as smoky as I had hoped, but it's pretty good. It still has some flavors from the malt that I'm hoping will go away as it ages, some licoricey homebrew flavors. It's nicely carbonated after two weeks, though, so Ima gonna start to drinking it.The Honey Cream Ale (which I have taken to calling Urschleim) is still fermenting hard a

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-74150782992190247062007-06-22T13:07:00.000-07:002007-06-22T13:15:38.475-07:00

I just went to Borders to spend a gift card from father's day. I really didn't know what I wanted to get, so I headed to the beer & food section. I didn't see any food books I wanted to own, so I checked out the brewing-related titles and settled on Designing Great Beers. I think this will be a great resource for me, and I'm excited to try it out. I mean, it's all fine and well being able to

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-77750756718976525562007-06-22T10:46:00.000-07:002007-06-22T13:07:37.012-07:00

0-6, our loss. It was an all-out asswhoopin. I can't imagine a more humiliating defeat to have suffered, especially as this was the last game of the session.It appears that I will be uninvited from yet another soccer team. I believe that this will be the last one, as I am about to just say fuck it and move on to some other activity. I like to play soccer, but I hate dealing with all the politics

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-90776421322359954512007-06-21T09:03:00.000-07:002007-06-21T09:18:00.427-07:00

So far, so good. There's a nice violent ferment going on in the wort now. I'm not so sure that my theory about blowing out all the nastiness will hold, but at least this beer now has a fighting chance of being OK to drink. There's definitely material being ejected, hopefully there will be enough alcohol produced quickly enough to kill off anything unpleasant.Man, this sounds like a lot of ifs.

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-56394390427160749452007-06-20T10:07:00.000-07:002007-06-20T10:13:02.323-07:00

GET ME 50CCs OF CALIFORNIA ALE YEAST, STAT!I had to do the equivalent of emergency surgery on my beer last night. I got home and fermentation still hadn't started. There were some suspicious-looking spots in there, as well. So I made a run to the brew store, got some ale yeast, walked around with it in my pocket for an hour, and pitched it. Hopefully, anything unsavory going on in there will

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-16725827737266472092007-06-19T08:32:00.000-07:002007-06-19T09:10:02.182-07:00

I bought some really substandard beer last night, Copper Hook. Red Hook is decent enough beer, so I figured, what the hey, I'll try their summer ale. Bad. It's what I call dead-tasting, like it got stuck in the pasteurization machine while the dude running that part of the conveyor belt went to push out the remains of his convenience store spicy burrito with extra chili and nacho cheese from the

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-57978389441733148092007-06-18T13:06:00.000-07:002007-06-18T13:22:35.688-07:00

This was a 3-day weekend for me, and a lot of really fun stuff happened along with all the (self-inflicted) things I've been bitching and moaning about. Friday, I took Carolyn out to The Edgefield to play golf (this might become a regular thing...it's fun) for her birthday. I improved on my score from last time, and only had one embarassingly terrible 9-stroke fiasco this time. They had a

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-63433074880686522982007-06-18T11:11:00.000-07:002007-06-18T11:25:32.388-07:00

I brewed. Still no word on how successful it might have been. It did not go as planned. I was assisted by someone that I should have known better than to invite. I allowed him to make stupid mistakes and then failed to adequately control the resulting problems. All my bad, I'm sure. All not his fault, just the way it is. shake head, swallow rage. continue on.Long story short: too much

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-91823178962699998942007-06-18T09:52:00.000-07:002007-06-18T09:56:42.100-07:00

you brew alone. it is not a good idea to invite anyone over to observe, assist, facilitate, ask questions about, or otherwise participate in the brewing process. your response to any requests for an invitation to participate in brewing should consist of the words 'get,' and 'bent,' in no particular order.

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-39191323146224793592007-06-16T23:42:00.000-07:002007-06-16T23:52:23.129-07:00

Somehow it seemed like a good idea to have people over two days in a row on a weekend when I planned to brew beer. Day 1 went OK, I survived anyway, but day 2 looms, and it's the one with the brewing.Day 1 highlights:Kal Bi (turned out awesome, described by my father-in-law as 'Hawaiian style,' which I took as a compliment).Raspberry Rhubarb topping for ice cream (on the fly, with vanilla paste

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-51911652727003556152007-06-13T09:59:00.000-07:002007-06-13T10:13:16.571-07:00

I was reading this Bruni review today in the NYT, in which Bruni pretends he's never eaten any real food. Newsflash, dude: while the elevated ranks of restauranteurs, the people who supposedly define what good food is, were busy making little swirls of sauce on a plate with squirt bottles and dusting cylindrical piles of watercress with fish eggs, the rest of the world was still eating whole

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-21061252708938380232007-06-13T08:15:00.001-07:002007-06-13T08:32:16.208-07:00

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } dragonfly, originally uploaded by O0kla. I took this photo yesterday in my backyard as I was watering the big grape vine that climbs the awning on my deck. If you click on the image, you'be be able to take in some more

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-31174693055738922262007-06-12T10:11:00.000-07:002007-06-12T10:19:42.017-07:00

Inspired by a recent purchase of some cotija to accompany last night's dinner of veggie burritos, I decided to do some research on Mexican cheeses and came across this page, which seems to contain more information than my brain can hold on the subject. Of course, according to the article the plastic-wrapped cheese I purchased is crap (whatever), but it sure tasted good to me. I'm going to make

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-8399828782743356712007-06-11T13:50:00.000-07:002007-06-11T14:01:30.549-07:00

I drank the last bottle of my first ever batch of homebrew last Friday. It was delicious. Scroll down to see a picture of its swansong. I'm still mourning it a bit. It was some very good beer. *sniff.*The next morning, I stiffened my upper lip, sanitized various plastic bits, and bottled the next batch. This is a funky one, my intention being to brew a Smoked Rye Porter. I have to admit

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-17734275924646120082007-06-10T11:55:00.000-07:002007-06-10T12:04:11.590-07:00

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-91018926900249099942007-06-08T14:33:00.000-07:002007-06-08T14:48:54.126-07:00

this comic. http://www.idiotcomics.com/equation.gif I don't know whether to laugh or cry.Pointed out to me by PAgent

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-72298442058885151352007-06-08T08:15:00.000-07:002007-06-08T08:28:47.054-07:00

Score: 7-4, loss for us. Started the game with no subs for men. Played 18 mintes the first half, more regular shifts the second after we picked up a sub. The team manager pointed out that women could sub for men. This blew me away, since I've never been on a team with more women players than men. You wouldn't think it would make that much of a difference, but two games in a row, it

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-72475727101114428312007-06-07T15:20:00.000-07:002007-06-07T15:21:26.897-07:00

Please send me more problems that can be solved with adhesive tape. Thanks much.

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-78293376372113208292007-06-06T13:43:00.000-07:002007-06-06T13:50:14.374-07:00

Anyone who enjoys good food (you know who you are) should check out this fact sheet:10 Reasons to Buy Local FoodNow if only they would publish a list of ways to get the local food without paying through the nose, and a list of ways to get your local government to stop zoning farmland into McMansion plantations (of course step 1 on both those lists would be to buy more locally grown food...)

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-7701766628337790642007-06-06T08:00:00.000-07:002007-06-06T09:26:16.420-07:00

Lest there be any doubt, or lest I forget in the course of this post to proclaim it, Against the Day by Thomas Pynchon is the finest piece of literature I have ever read. It is the novel I would give my left nut to write, had I any illusions left about my ability to sustain a train of thought long enough to craft something resembling a novel (and, of course, provided that someone might be

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-73865394760695883002007-06-04T14:14:00.000-07:002007-06-06T09:24:59.874-07:00

I like to order one of the simplest espresso drinks imaginable: 4 shots over ice. It has 2 ingredients (unless you count solid and liquid water as two ingredients), ice and espresso. It should be deadly simple to make. I do it at home all the time using either cold coffee or "shots" made using a French Drip device (like they use for Vietnamese iced coffee).The recipe:pour 4 shots over a full cup

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-36622679716115191382007-06-04T10:00:00.000-07:002007-06-04T10:14:55.686-07:00

Last month on my birthday, I took the day off from work and my wife and I went out to the Edgefield in Troutdale to play golf on their par-3 course. While we were there, she was kind enough to buy me a bottle of Pear Brandy. Once we got it home and tried it, we both agreed that it was not something to drink straight, so it has just been aging amongst the other bottles of spirits, waiting.Last

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-21418122893424098642007-06-04T09:47:00.000-07:002007-06-04T09:59:26.541-07:00

By gum, I made some progress this weekend, knocking three projects off my monstrous project list, 90 degree weather notwithstanding.I stumbled across a huge, cheap composter at CostCo (which, despite its eternally hellish interior, was cooler and somehow more pleasant than my yard), so my old compost enclosure made from a wad of green plastic-coated chicken wire and some sticks I'd pruned off the

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-2254883550656247482007-06-04T09:42:00.000-07:002007-06-04T09:44:14.758-07:00

Well, it would appear that all my photos are not displaying. How embarassing, I'm sure. I'll have to remedy the situation once I get home. Just pretend that post isn't there yet, I guess.

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-67210862849620085292007-06-02T10:55:00.000-07:002007-06-04T17:39:55.832-07:00

As promised elsewhere, here are some photos from my trip out to Eastern Washington over Memorial Day weekend. If you drink beer, the hops most likely came from this region. Same for canola oil, wheat, and lentils. Whatever terroir may be detectable in any of those things, this is what you're tasting.

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-80187914146578804072007-06-01T10:17:00.000-07:002007-06-01T11:00:48.347-07:00

Yesterday was the day from hell. I woke up before 6, got myself to work (which, in retrospect, was the most peaceful part of my day), worked my way through my glorious career, took the train back to my car, drove through the daily grind of rush hour a-holes, picked up my daughter (I just had time to change into shorts), and drove to my son's school, where the preeschool/daycare play was to be

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-8068870970024785252007-05-31T13:42:00.002-07:002007-05-31T13:49:25.761-07:00

How not to cool down when it's 90 degrees, outside and in:install new blinds. Yesterday, after coming home and finding that my house was sweltering inside due to unseasonably warm weather, I resolved to nip the problem in the bud and replace the blinds on my West-facing windows (the major source of summertime heat in my house). I picked up some bamboo roman blinds at the unpleasant big-box home

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-49718860778761759972007-05-31T08:59:00.000-07:002007-05-31T09:22:18.789-07:00

I'm normally pretty hesitant about allowing my real life into my online life, and vice versa. I don't know why. I think there's still some lingering apprehension about the internet being solely populated by freaks and perverts (whereas in reality, everyone knows that it is, and that pretty much everyone is a freak or a pervert by some measure), and admitting that you have more friends that

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-51664028322432171282007-05-31T08:29:00.000-07:002007-05-31T08:58:17.345-07:00

TACO (a blog I have never seen before, but that seems concerned with topics of interest to me, namely tacos) had a high-larious interview with Chris Onstad, creator of Achewood, this morning. Of particular interest was Mr. Onstad dissing The French Laundry for serving food identified with certain local farms. "Sure, I’ve had “braised” saddle* of Elysian Fields™ lamb. And now, years later, I

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-88661368097587778822007-05-30T11:36:00.000-07:002007-05-30T12:04:28.090-07:00

There's a good article in the NYT today about menus for kids in most restaurants nowadays. David Kamp discussed the ubiquity and tastelessness of most "kid food," both points I agree with. Why should kids be fed some flavorless pabulum instead of real food that is every bit as good as what adults get? Admittedly, a lot of adults go to restaurants and order the least adevnturous and most boring

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-37211475942606093382007-05-30T10:35:00.000-07:002007-05-30T10:53:05.431-07:00

So I get depressed. I guess. I've never actually talked to a doctor about it or anything, but sometimes (more than others), I just can't freakin stand it anymore. Depression is a sickness, I've been told, and I know that's true of chronic depression, but maybe, I keep saying to myself, maybe sometimes it looks like depression, but a person is just not happy. I keep telling myself there's a

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-74038116942642659172007-05-30T09:58:00.000-07:002007-06-04T09:47:05.418-07:00

I will be listing posts detailing some of the many projects I have in progess or waiting in the wings. There are a lot of them. I am a homeowner stupidly devoted to doing everything myself. Here are the ones I can think of right now:Sell 2 1966 VW Bugs in various stages of disrepairBuild a new gate out of the bamboo I've had sitting in the carport for well over a year nowGrout the tile in the

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353098999763936540.post-17143989380280425272007-05-29T17:26:00.000-07:002007-05-29T17:41:48.991-07:00

Well now. Here it is. I've allowed the whole thing to become so mundane that it's almost without value, but gotten in early enough that I'm in just before the trailing edge drops off the face of the earth into the world of the unfashionable. Just in the nick of time. Perhaps it will take me with it.The meaning of the blog's title, I suppose, would be a good subject for the first post. I'm

arbitraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02341615083449898156noreply@blogger.com0