Occasionally, other than a way to avoid talking to my parents to let them know what I’ve been up to lately (kidding!), my blog serves a useful purpose. For example, the other day as Hanne and I were talking about her birthday (last Sunday), I couldn’t remember what I was doing on my 24th birthday, so I had to dig through my blog to remember. BBQ at my mother’s house. I had totally forgotten about that, though I still recall and tell the story that I drank a bottle of MacTarnahan’s Amber Ale that night that had been sitting in my Mom’s fridge for about two years, and it was one of the most delicious beers I’d ever had.
I’m sure a psychologist would find that fascinating.
That was also the night that I got my pizza stone from my Dad, which ironically I just recycled the box from. I actually haven’t used it in awhile since it requires me to make two pizzas when I use it (due to size), but even though I made pizza last weekend I’m feeling a hankering to use it in the near future.
From there, I actually started reading through my past entries, and as I say every time I delve into my past, my writing style has changed so substantially in the time I’ve had this site. Part of that sentiment comes from the fact that the period of time I was reading from I literally had nothing to do (yay, unemployment) and so I wrote a lot, but also I guess I’ve grown up. Maybe just a little. I did come across this hilarious tidbit, though:
Today when I went grocery shopping, I decided to see what Thriftway had in terms of interesting, exotic beers, so I bought a bottle of Czech lager, New Zealand ale, German ale, and “Arrogant Bastard Ale” from a California brewing company. That last one isn’t exactly foreign and exotic, but it has such a cool name, no?
If I only I knew then what I know now. Talk about discovering the moment of an awakening. My first Arrogant Bastard? Awesome. That’s what I marinated my steak with on my birthday. I’ve had it so many times and have so much respect for its taste, I’ve relegated it to cooking by now. Of course, I’ve also indulged just about every other beer that comes out of Stone Brewing Company since then.
My fermenting beer hasn’t kept me awake in the last couple of nights (listening to the airlock bubbling), but it’s still happily bubbling away nonetheless, releasing the carbon dioxide that’s a byproduct of the yeast consuming sugars and producing alcohol. As I was cooking dinner for Hanne on Monday night, I realized that from a biological perspective, yeast is one of the most interesting organisms that serves a useful purpose to society. It’s just so…simple, yet it produces so much. Beer, wine, bread, you name it.
Speaking of beer, OPB is airing a program on Monday called “Beervana” about the rise (and domination) of Portland’s crew brewing industry. It airs, sadly, during the new episode of “Heroes,” but I found a perfect way to watch it: the Bagdad Theater is showing it earlier in the evening with free admission. Honestly, I can think of no better way to watch the program than sitting in the Bagdad Theater, eating pizza and drinking craft beer. Well, unless I were drinking homebrew, but I have to save some of my stock for Thanksgiving and my December party.
And then I get to go home and watch “Heroes.” Awesome.
Time for another round.