Thursday, October 30, 2008

Mighty Tasty Videos

Despite its hours of brain-destroying entertainment, MTV has done little to provide me with a reason to like them. They are called Music Television, and yet they do little to help music. And I may never forgive them for allowing Carson Daly to feel important. But they have earned a little bit of credit this past week by allowing us to browse through a pretty large archive of old music videos.
Including, They Might Be Giants!



Or my favorite video of all time:

Monday, October 20, 2008

Perchance

Those of you who keep track of my random world, probably know that I have a silly little dream. I want to own my own bar. I also have a great friend who loves brewing beer, and has been teaching me. He wants to own his own microbrewery. Together, we will own a brewpub. Now that I am in the great soon-to-be-frozen North, close to Matt, this has moved from dream to goal.
What's the difference, you might ask? Well, some good folks once told me that a dream is something that you would love to see, but you aren't proactively doing anything about. A goal is then a dream with wheels.
I suppose that moving here is enough to begin the wheelificiation process of that dream, but I need to work towards it more. It can be done. But how? What will be the next big step towards making it happen?
I suppose financial stability is part of it. Which means I need a job. And I need to learn a lot about big brewing. And running a business. And building a business model.
Can I really do this? Really? Don't just bullshit me here. To go from high school teacher seriously in debt to successful business owner is a big leap for me. I'm not used to financial risk. But if we do it right, we could help cure cancer. For the good of humanity, beer must be brewed...

Friday, October 17, 2008

Nap Fu

Tiny Warrior scans her lunch plate. The eviscerated sandwich remains and apple slice fragments are a warning sign to her. Immediately, she assumes the traditional stance known as Crane Too Cute To Nap and states, "I'm not really sleepy today. I think I could watch some TV instead."

The Master, however, has anticipated this move. Timeless Boulder Stance appears. "Sleep is good for you, it will help you grow strong in the ways of Our Clan."

With a fluidity envied by streams, Crane Too Cute To Nap flows into Solid Pine Forest. "But I'm already big and tall. See?"

The Master sweeps The Tiny Warrior into Wings Folded On High, lifting her into a more maneuverable location. Tiny Warrior deftly retreats into her most comfortable Monkey Style. Climbing Golden Ape, Escaping Chimp, and Gibbon at the Temple Gates are all attempted, but the Master lowers her calmly into bed. The skills of Tiny Warrior are great, but Master was well prepared for this morning's lessons.

"Would you like your music during the nap, sweetie?" The Master turns from the bed to the CD player, preparing the Sacred Chimes of Sleep. He spins at the rustle of mismatched slippers scurrying across the floor.

"I have to go peep!" Tiny Warrior unleashes her Faithful Flood maneuver. The Master once again settles to Timeless Boulder Stance. The hands are washed. The Tiny Warrior returns, this time clad in her fairy costume that had been hidden from the Master. "Can you tell me a fairy story?"

The Master is ever prepared, however. "I will tell you the story of Fairy Pewterstink, in whose trust the bathing of skunks is placed. But first, you must remove the fairy wings, wand, crown, purse, and camera. And crawl into bed."

The counter works, and soon Tiny Warrior is seated in bed. She has not thrown her last attacks, however. The pillows are placed against the wall, preventing her from being forced into Bug in Rug stance. The Master begins his tale, distracting her as he dislodges her slippers and removes her hidden Berenstein Bears book. Tiny Warrior sees this just in time to throw one last attack. "The blankets have to be smooth! No blankets on me!"

Now the Master unveils the true power of the Timeless Boulder Stance. He attacks with a Quiet Kiss, deftly closing the room in darkness as he does. The Tiny Warrior is left to her bedroom.

The Master closes his eyes in the next room, reaching out with his trained Kung Fu senses...

He "sees" Tiny Warrior resisting the nap. She tries her most advanced techniques. Handstand of Buddha, Tower of Forbidden Books, Bridge from the Cliff, and Running Cloud Legs. But despite her perfected skills, sleep overtakes her.

Quietly, the Master opens his eyes, and with a silence equaled only by the fall of night, he enters her bedroom. Tiny Warrior is asleep, still in Defiant Tiger stance. Calmly, lovingly, the Master covers her in warm blankets. He turns and leaves, knowing that soon enough, there will be no battles. The student will become the master.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

The Great Pumpkin...

It's a freak!
It was a week of pumpkin. Brewing a batch of pumpkin beer with Matt (our experiment is fermenting!), pumpkin pie a la Dr. Wife (PhD in Bake-ology), drinking pumpkin beer (Jack's Pumpkin Spice Ale), eating pumpkin seeds (the batch I roasted today has garlic salt), and of course, Jack-O-Lanterns.

Rather than detail the whole weekend in words, I will throw a few pictures with comments in here. I'm not that lazy. I actually resized the pics to fit in the blog easily...


Later, she climbs in a giant pumpkin
First, a trip to the pumpkin patch. Silliness ensued, including climbing over every pumpkin pile available.


Dr. Wife and Miss Neverpoop getting their swing on...

Where does she get it?
Then, a brief trip to the playground with Miss Neverpoop.

She's so proud!
The design team began work on the carving this afternoon.

Day
The results were some mighty fine pumpkins, de-gutted, de-seeded, artfully sliced, and and candled from within.

Night
The results lit nicely as the sun set...

Cannibal!
And I will admit to being painfully proud of my creation.