Monthly Archives: September 2015

MARS DAY!!!!

Guys, I am not even going to pretend here. I cannot focus on anything today except the fact that I should probably consume food at some point and THERE IS EVIDENCE OF LIQUID WATER ON MARS.

I know! I’m supposed to be studying like my life depends on it. And probably by the time Amanda gets here to study, I’ll have calmed the fuck down a bit. Probably.

But it’s really, really hard, honestly.

I’m, oddly enough, not much of a space nerd. I think space is neat and all, but it’s not usually something that captivates me the way it does so many others. However, the real and possible connections between space and Earth? Always fascinating to me. Extremophiles? YES.

Something very few people know about me (even Bill had forgotten until this morning) is that I was deeply interested in astrobiology1 in my undergraduate studies.… Continue reading →

This is My Life Right Now

I have a lot of formal education under my belt. I’ve learned a lot of things in my life. And I have taken more exams than I could ever count. So, I’ve studied a lot in my lifetime.

I’ve never gone to bed with the textbook.

Until now.

Ok, that’s not really the textbook. Like all of the really important exams in my life (and those I can count), there’s not really a single text to guide me through it. There’s things that can help directly, and plenty of self-guided study.

My family of birth has, rightly, commented on my ability to leave a trail in life. They aren’t talking about a trail of broken hearts or a trail of bread crumbs or a trail of bodies or a trail of admirers.… Continue reading →

Days of PDX

Today marks my 11th day in Portland, Oregon.

The house is still full of boxes, though fewer and fewer as time passes. We haven’t had many times we needed to open something in a hurry, but there have been one or two incidents.

Peaches and strawberries are still in season. I didn’t manage to each ANY in Chicago this year, so I can’t tell you how happy this is for me. So far in PDX, I have eaten peaches straight and in cakes and as sides to savory meals. I have gorged on strawberries. (And tomatoes.)

There’s a farmers market just across the street from my house. And there’s a couple green spaces nearby that are fun to walk around. A big park nearby has me considering purchasing this cart and an exercise pen to have a makeshift yard for the pups to run around in while I work nearby.… Continue reading →

She wears short skirts. I wear t-shirts.

And I seem to be more welcome because of it.

Welcome to my late entry to The Session. And thanks to that damn catchy Taylor Swift song for the title.

A year or more ago, long before Beer 3Up, I was at some beer event with Karl of Guys Drinking Beer, and he asked me what I thought the ratio was of men to women at the event. The answer, based on looking around was, “pretty even.” But I couldn’t help following up with a comment that though there appeared to be even numbers of (apparent) men and women in the group, almost no one was presenting as particularly feminine.

I think this is common. And I suspect it’s femphobia in the beer community.… Continue reading →

You Poured Me “The Hard Stuff” – The Session 103

The Session, a.k.a. Beer Blogging Friday, is an opportunity once a month for beer bloggers from around the world to get together and write from their own unique perspective on a single topic.

I’ve written for the Session before, but this is my first time hosting. I asked folks to tell me what they believe are issues the beer community finds difficult to discuss, and I must say, it’s fantastic to see what folks have to say. I’ll update this post as more posts come in, and probably do a second round-up next Friday. But, for now, let’s dive into what people have already said.

Interestingly, though I doubt any of these folks know each other, the first five I link to are a fantastic group of posts because one naturally leads to the other.… Continue reading →