I’ve been taking walks at lunch these past few days because it’s been nice, but today it’s a bit more humid than I’d like so I get to finally write in this. Besides, MorganHorse needs something to read when she’s bored at work.
I’ll start with beer. This week I tried some new beers, two of them ended up being quite good.
First was the Three Floyds Gumballhead. Michael talks about it here. It’s a wheat, but it’s dry-hopped, which gives it much good hoppiness. Crisp, a little sweet and goes down easy, very good summer beer. It was on tap at Ortino’s Northside and we brought home a couple bottle-conditioned bottles, I’m not sure which I like more, I’m actually leaning toward the one on tap because it’s sweeter.
Second was the Sly Fox Pub Ale. While IPAs and Belgians are on the top of my list as far as beer styles go, I do enjoy the occasional English-style pub ale, Boddingtons is a favorite and so is Monty Python’s Holy Grail Ale (which I bought as a joke, but have since had in bottles AND on tap – it’s good!). This Sly Fox Pub Ale ranks right up there with these favorites as far as I’m concerned. It has “little bubbles” from the nitrogen that’s pumped in while it’s being poured (a la Guinness and Boddingtons), and has a finish that seemed similar to a Maibock, very refreshing for a pub ale. I don’t order dessert every time we go out, but I couldn’t resist pairing this beer with a slice of carrot cake.
I also tried the Shipyard IPA since it was on special in bottles and I’d never tried that Maine brew. It wasn’t very good as far as IPAs go, watery and pretty weak overall, but at $2.50/bottle I wasn’t expecting much from it.
Now audiobooks! I have been hitting the library for audiobooks these past few months, and early this month the Lansdale Library got in a whole pile of new ones, hooray! I decided to pick up Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella. Anyone who knows me probably knows that “chic-lit” is not my style, but I guess it was curiosity that drove this choice. This was a highly acclaimed novel in the genre (with several sequels) and addressed a shopping addiction that I can’t relate to at all. As you might expect, I hated it, but I listened to the whole thing. This week I picked up The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova which is about a young woman who is tracking down Dracula, it’s cheesy in an “I’m trying to be dark and serious” way, still not generally my style, but it’s turning out to be fun to listen to.
Now movies! We watched What the Bleep Do We Know!? last night. It was recommended by some people I like and respect as a good film attempting to unite Quantum Physics and Spirituality, so I went into it expecting it to be pretty good. I was horribly disappointed. There were glaring factual errors that even I could pick out, and even some of the things that weren’t outright lies were presented in a misleading way. The leap they made from Quantum Physics to Spirituality was just that, a LEAP. I remember when I first learned about Quantum Physics, by reading Discover magazine in High School – I got that “OH MY GOSH I CAN WALK THROUGH WALLS… wait, I can’t *ponder for 3 years*” But then you get over it because there is not enough evidence to draw conclusions about the nature of reality and all that; this movie didn’t get over it and drew all sorts of wacky conclusions. I’m not trying to say that the movie was all off-base and wrong, it certainly had good moments, but I tire of people trying to link science and spirituality in such a poor manner – it makes them both look bad.
Fabric, there is a fabric outlet within walking distance of my job. I never paid much attention to it because I didn’t care about fabric until I got my sewing machine. I went there earlier this week, and wow! Lots of fabric! Much of it is $1-2 per yard, the nicer stuff is closer to $5 and up – these are not bad prices for fabric I think? I just ended up spending a few bucks on a pile of fabric remnants ($3.50), a pile of buttons ($1.50), a 6″ zipper ($.25) and a package of purple lacing ($.75) – all stuff to practice with. I’ll be making clothes for my stuffed animals for months – hahaha!
Oh, and this week Michael updated Bevilacqua.us to showcase all our computers, Check out the Clockbot Network here.
Finally,
Since I’ve been lazy, stressed and tired all week, there is a bunch of stuff I need to get done this evening before DarkSol arrives tomorrow. Quick cleaning of the house, laundry, mending a fitted sheet to use with the spare bed (with my sewing machine!) and probably half a dozen other things I am forgetting about. Michael is hitting the grocery store today so we’ll actually have food here when he shows up (thank goodness, Michael also mowed the lawn yesterday <3).
And now my lunch break is over *back to work*