Stream of blah-ciousness

I haven’t posted in a while. Been busy as usual, and didn’t have a theme to really sink my teeth into. But in the interest of keeping things going and perhaps inspiring a flood of posts after this…I present a stream of consciousness.

• Once upon a time I did stand up comedy. This was before Seinfeld, when dinosaurs roamed the earth. I quickly discovered that although I could write comedy, performing it was another matter entirely. I quit after about a year and a half. Did plenty of shows, but never got to the part where it began to pay. Now I have the urge to write comedy again. I have no desire to perform (although I think I could do it better today than then), but I would like to write. Maybe I can use this space for some of that…hmmmmmm?
• I have a new hobby, home brewing. I like beer, craft beer, high quality beer, not the stuff you buy in 30 paks of cans from 7-11. I mean expensive beer snob beers that come from breweries that even we beer snobs never heard of. So the next step was to brew my own. Armed with my $150 starter kit I brewed my first batch, a pale ale. It took a ½ day to cook up, 3 weeks to ferment, and 4 weeks of bottle conditioning before it was ready to share. That last part explains my motivation. The biggest kick of home brewing is the feedback you get from those you share it with. I’ve since brewed two more batches, a dark brown ale that’s bottle conditioning right now (ready to drink for 4^th of July). And a hefeweizen that I cooked up this weekend and is in primary fermentation. I’ve already decided that batch 4 will be an IPA, even though I’m not a huge fan of IPAs. As hobbies go it’s not too expensive. My out of pocket cost for a 5 gallon batch is about $45 for ingredients & energy costs (lots of time on the gas stove). The next step would be to try all grain brewing. That would require a bunch of new equipment, and a greater time investment. For now I’ll be content to be the best extract brewer I can be.
• I am thoroughly distracted by thoughts of my vacation that will not happen until November. I-am-torturing-myself! Maybe the solution is to take some time off during the dog days of summer. I could use it to see a movie without talking animals (ask any parent of a young child), go to the gym, and get reacquainted with my long suffering mountain bike. And nap, take lots of naps…
• LOST ends this Sunday. My Wife and I have watched this show from the beginning. Before the house was over run with boys, we would sit in the living room with our dinner of kraut dogs and ponder the many mysteries & puzzles that made up this show. But after Sunday it will be all over. So now I’m on the hunt for a new favorite show. And I had better find one soon, and it better be one my Wife can enjoy too because I am driving her up the wall with all the Top Gear reruns on the DVR.