From G-strings to geography to the grail

This isn’t me – I have longer legs…

So, I’ve been spending most of the past few days cleaning, unpacking, sorting, organizing, and laundering. Apparently, it is rather difficult to move out of one’s apartment and try to make everything fit in one bedroom. Who knew? However, fear not, loyal readers. Your heroic host has had some time for fun, and even managed to sneak out for two meals in fine dining establishments today, both with equally fine company. Tomorrow promises an intriguing lunch in Boston, and then your guess is as good as mine for what will happen afterwards. As always, I’ll be sure to keep you informed.

On a completely unrelated note, I came across this chart on the Internet (more specifically, on the Economist website):

The information provided by the World Health Organisation is slightly stunning -I knew the Czech Republic, Ireland, Hungary, German, and Britain would all be near the top when it came to what countries in the world consumed the most boozedrink. I was, however, shocked that Luxembourg was at the top of the list – I previously figured their claims to fame were being the worlds only sovereign Grand Duchy and being the richest nation (GDP per capita – twice as rich as the U.S.) in the world. Luxemboug has less than 500,000 people packed into an area less that than 2/3 the size of Rhode Island – I guess familiarity breeds not only contempt but alcoholism. Congratulations on your status, Luxembourg – the U.S. (50th place) has a long way to go to catch you in both GDP per capita and liters of alcohol consumed per year – unfortunately, it would probably be impossible to catch up on both at once. More boozing means less productivity, but longer hours at the workplace mean less drinking – we as a nation have a big decision to make – let us hope we don’t “choose poorly..”

 

Alright peoples, that is all for now. I’m off to do a little more cleaning – in shorts this time; those fishnets get itchy after a little while…Have a good night, my friends.

Expand my brain, learning juice!

Now, if there’s one thing I hate, it’s a corporate shill. I understand the person wearing the sandwich board sign outside Subway or Burger King is probably just making a living, and I certainly don’t hold anything against him or her. However, the fact that Pepsi pays MGM 10 million dollars to feature Clear Pepsi and Kentucky Fried Chicken in their latest crap fest horror movie makes me all tingly inside – and not in a good way.

With that being said, this post may mark my me as an apparent hypocrite because I would like to take a minute to extol the virtues of a particular adult beverage I have been enjoying of late in moderation. (But it’s OK, because they aren’t paying me, not even in free beer – sad day). Now, as this is a family friendly site, I of course would not recommend the overconsumption of alcohol, nor would I recommend breaking any laws with regards to boozedrink. With that being said, everyone knows the fun that can be had enjoying one or two drinks with a friend or a group of friends. As you may have guessed, it is getting a bit warm around these parts after a long winter, and there is nothing better than sitting outside sipping on a drink in the company of good friends. Sometimes that drink is a lemonade, sometimes it happens to be fruit punch jungle juice, and once in a great while, that drink might be a beer. Around April and May, that beer starts to become more attractive if it is light and a little bit citrusy. As such, if it is adult bevvy time, my beer of choice lately has been this one:

I could write an epic poem about it, but that’d be slightly creepy. So, instead, I decided to take a little info from their website (linked to via the picture), and write that old standby of 4th grade English classes – an acrostic poem!

Lasts a while – savor it

Everyone will want one

Incredible with an orange

Not an enemy of your taste buds

Excitingly affordable

Not anything like Budweiser

Kangaroos might steal yours (give me a break, K is tough)

Ultimate beer for BBQ’s

Go to Spirit Haus to pick a few up

Excellent hint of coriander

Lovely color

Superb start or end to the evening

So, unfortunately, this exercise in procrastination must come to an end – I have to get back to working on my theoretical toolkit. What’s that, you ask? If I wrote it out, your eyeballs would start bleeding and you would never return to this website, I reply. For now, have a good afternoon, and welcome to the weekend!

Weekend Musings

So I finished up some design work on the new style for the blog. The pretty colors and lines come in handy as I consider trying to make this blog a somewhat appealing and pseudo-professional blog. As some of you might have guessed, I do enjoy writing, and also like to express my thoughts, on occasion. As such, doing the blog thing might turn back into a regular thing like it was in the golden days of 2004-2005, and if I’m going to ask you all to come here frequently, I might as well sweeten the pot by making it aesthetically appealing for you.

In less important news – life stuff. Today was the last Open House I will ever work at. Showing off the school to hundreds of excited students and, for the most part, excited and pleasant, but occasionally rude and often confusingly ignorant parents. It marks the end of an era though, and so as always, there are going to be some mixed emotions. Right now, I’m mostly just feeling tired and irritated that the weather is so overcast and chilly – it would be an ideal time to have a drink outside and enjoy the freedom and fresh air.

However, I’m not going to throw a pity party for myself just yet – it is the weekend, after all. The plans are starting together, but all I know for sure is I will be watching plenty of baseball, since the Sox are spending the next 3 days in the cesspool of obnoxious accents and questionable personal hygiene known as Yankee Stadium. Beyond that, the future is unknown, but if you were a Charles Barkley type who couldn’t resist a good bet…I’d put my money on there being some of the following involved:

and

Both of them, combined with a beer or seven, should make for an entertaining evening, and that’s just the start of the weekend. Speaking of starts, its about time I got started getting ready for a night of relatively lazy partying. So…that’s about it for now. Catch you later kids…

The Long Weekend

So, I am working on the latest installment of what has become an annual tradition in my blogs. However, that will have to wait, because this long weekend is all about:

So, more on that upcoming project to come later. For now, have a good night, kids.

Looking Back at the Big Day(s)

(This is another one of those entries designed to get people off my back about me not writing an entry every day)

So other than the inevitable post-Christmas letdown, there may be no bigger drop from one day to the next than on the day after your birthday. Don’t get me wrong, today didn’t suck. It just can never live up to the big day. So now with the distance and clarity that 24 hours brings, I figured I would look back on the day that was.

Actually, days might be more accurate, since there was a little family get-together in my honor on Saturday before I had to come back to school. My aunt and grandmother joined the fun, and although there were a few mixups, everything got sorted out in the end, and we had a delicious meal enjoyed in great company. Presents were well thought out and very much appreciated, and I owe many a thank you note. If you gave me something, yours is in the mail. If you didn’t give me something, then its all good anyhow. The cake was excellent, and I’ve still got most of it in my room if you all get that crazy craving for sugar. You know where to find me.

So nothing can compare to spending your birthday with your family, but my friends are the best substitute. I had a few beers to start the night shortly after midnight. (I was born at 12:20 AM, after all. As a nod to my recent national holiday, they were food-colored Kelley green. Nice touch. Then a friend came over and we watched “Office Space”, which is just a stunning movie every time you see it.

Ron Livingstone is a sly devil, and I love his subtle mechanisms that create humor. Apparently, Jennifer Aniston used to be pretty hot too, before she decided that eating wasn’t entirely fashionable.

Anyhow, then came sleep. I woke up bright and early, relatively speaking, at the hour of 830. I had to get all clean and spiffy for my grad school assistantship interviews, or, as it turned out, interview. It was with Career Services, and it wasnt too bad, although the fact that I knew nothing about the offic seemed to be a bit upsetting to the interviwer. I walked out, and deciding that in my current get-up, I was well set to make an impression, I walked over to the International Programs Office. Generally, I dont really share what Im thinking about future hopes and dreams, so here comes a bombshell. That is the job I want. International higher education fascinates me in a way not unlike a Sears lingerie catalogue fascinates a 12 year old male. I had a great talk with one of the women who works there with the current grad students, and I walked out of there really excited. Apparently she digs me too, a bit, which is always a good thing. We shall see where that leads.

Next stop was the Loose Goose, where I treated myself to The Eckel. Yes, for those of you familiar with the Loose Goose, I am not a jazz legend. However, I order the sandwich every time I go there, so its mine.

The recipe:
Foccacia Bread
Peppered Turkey
American Cheese
Bacon
Black Pepper
Lettuce
Creole Blue Cheese Mayonnaise

For those of you who have done cocaine, its kinda like that, except less deadly and more substantial. Hence, you might actually gain weight instead of losing it, but the taste makes it worth it. For those of you havent done cocaine, I recommend you just try the sandwich. Its cheaper, and less illegal. You wont regret it.

After the sandwich, it was time to get home and finish up some scholarship essays and forms and letters and such. For some reason, the Commonwealth College informed me via mail that I was nominated for this scholarship. Of course, this mail came roughly 5 days before the deadline. This made for a bit of a rush. I got it all done by 630ish, when we headed to dinner. It was Amherst Brewing Company time, and most of the Grayson 4th floor crew was able to make it. There were some exceptions, and they were missed, but a good time was had by all. I got a bison burger (they are a new addiction – healthier and perhaps tastier than beef). Of course, a few beers were consumed as well, as the ABC has some excellent home-made beers.

I was so pleased with my selections that I bought a growler or three to bring back for the low-key festivities. Thats a lot of good quality beer. Fortunately, it was enjoyed with good company while watching excellent television, i.e. these guys:

After that, the carnival of leisure continued. The entire evening had been spent doing nothing much, and I was loving it. The night ended with some Halo 2 with the gentlemen friends, Mister Blood and Mister Murphy.

Some of my friends, particularly the ladies, will decry this as completely lame, because it is a video game. To them, I say: “Screw off, it was my birthday, and if I wanted to spend it playing video games, then thats what im gonan do.”

That pretty much wound down the night. I spent a few hours just reading and getting sleep-ish, then hit the hay, knowing that when I woke up, it would all be over. And so it is. But life goes on, and tomorrow will no doubt hold something new and exciting. Good night for now.

Black Lager and Life

Samuel Adams Black Lager is an excellent choice for any occasion. Paired with the OC, its a rather unbeatable combination. Victory Golden Monkey is the next brew on tap. So, its pretty much officially spring break. I need to add one or two touches to my big paper, and then email it in. Easy enough. The most worrisome thing might be the drive home. Honda Accord, stay strong.

Reason Number 39 – She’s always confused about things.

I can’t wait for the week off. Its been a rather silly couple of weeks since we got back. The last few weeks of the semester are always my favorite anyhow, what with the shorts and the bonfires and the etc. The sun better start shining sooner rather than later. Alright, time to get back to the O.C. See you later children.

Another Great Reason To Drink

Man peed way out of avalanche

“A Slovak man trapped in his car under an avalanche freed himself by drinking 60 bottles of beer and urinating on the snow to melt it.

Rescue teams found Richard Kral drunk and staggering along a mountain path four days after his Audi car was buried in the Slovak Tatra mountains.

He told them that after the avalanche, he had opened his car window and tried to dig his way out.

But as he dug with his hands, he realised the snow would fill his car before he managed to break through.

He had 60 half-litre bottles of beer in his car as he was going on holiday, and after cracking one open to think about the problem he realised he could urinate on the snow to melt it, local media reported.

He said: “I was scooping the snow from above me and packing it down below the window, and then I peed on it to melt it. It was hard and now my kidneys and liver hurt. But I’m glad the beer I took on holiday turned out to be useful and I managed to get out of there.”

Parts of Europe have this week been hit by the heaviest snowfalls since 1941, with some places registering more than ten feet of snow in 24 hours.”

(http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1261997.html?menu)

Beer saves lives. If that doesnt convince you to drink, what will?