Washington D.C.’s Cafe Berlin

While I continue to feel like I need to write deeply profound things, and thus continue to not find them, Isis reminded me of something important:

A group of friends and I had a really great meal and beers and banter at a restaurant yesterday. Enough so that I should tell you about it. Damn shame I didn’t take any pictures, though. I was too busy having fun!

So, here’s the fast details:

Cafe Berlin
322 Massachusetts Ave, NE

Washington, DC 20002

Everything they had on draft (7 taps) was a German import of some type. My Metal Curator and Beer Pal D (MMCBPD) and I shared three beers and while all were solid one, the Hofbräu Delicator, was just out of this world.… Continue reading →

Five (Unexpected!) Chicago Places I Miss

Chicago is too massive for me to wrap my brain around. I lived here nearly eight years and I barely scratched the surface of it. Like many residents of any town, I settled into my routines and barely got out of them. I thought maybe I had a lifetime to figure this city out. And now I only have the occasional visit…

As excited as I am to choose my own PDX adventure (or do I want to take the Rose City path!?!?!), I can’t deny I miss Chicago deeply. And as I’m visiting for the first time, I’ve been replaying so many things I miss, and I realized there’s an important category I’d like to share.

Places I Regret Not Visiting More

MANA Food Bar

MANA has fabulous food.… Continue reading →

Why Do You Write?

Chuck Wendig asks this over at Terrible Minds. It’s his non-fiction flash-fiction challenge. I enjoy that idea, so I thought I’d try to tackle the subject.

The simple answer is I write because I enjoy it. And because I need to write.

I’ve always enjoyed writing. I’ve always needed to write. But I haven’t always done it.

Funny, isn’t it?

I remember hauling a journal around most of my life, and writing in it constantly. I remember wanting to be a lot of things when I grew up, but somehow writing was always involved. I thought I was going to major in English in college (because I didn’t know creative writing degrees were a thing you could get), until suddenly a fantastic teacher changed my life and I ended up in biology.… Continue reading →

‘Tis the Seasonal Beer!

Hi everyone! So, I sent out a call for guest posts for NaNo, and then got so sucked into life that I failed to get them up. They’re really good, so I was not going to miss sharing with you all, even if November is over. I’m starting here, with my friend Russ Chibe’s thoughts on seasonal beers and what places a specific beer within a specific season. Russ is a member of HOPS! homebrew club, a lawyer who does both products liability litigation and brewery consulting, and writes about beer for the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin and over at his personal blog, Chibebräu.

Will 2014 be known as the year that we hit peak pumpkin? I suppose you can’t truly identify a peak until it’s passed, but I will note that this year even I brewed a pumpkin beer, and I can count the number of pumpkin beers I like on two fingers.… Continue reading →