the cat was NOT on my mario kart team

he jumped up on the TV stand and laid down in front of my part of the screen in the deciding race of the tie breaking grand Prix.

nine-below selfies

-9° F bleh

Christmas sledding

imperial stout, another celebration-worthy brew

while the Nerf we're rages on around him, a lagunitas imperial stout goes smoothly down.

brunhilder's gift, the perfect christmas ale

really nice farmhouse ale with a hint of berry. olvade did a great job on this one.

watering the tree

seems right to give it a little celebration ale--hoppy stuff, to boot.

what's that in the laundry basket?

oh, phew, it's the cat.

yesterday's commute was a little...

bleh, bleh, blechy

holiday makis

family celebration, tonight, and my oldest daughter volunteered us to bring sushi. she and i spent the morning making makis. some regular rolls in the first layer and ura makis on top--some with smoked salmon, some with mock crab, lots with carrot and cukes. we also added some avocado and cream cheese to the mix. mmm...

snowmobiles really really ready

i'd been riding the surly with drop bars this winter and it always felt a bit less stable than i feel on the peugeot with moustache bars, so i picked up a new bar this weekend that i'm going to try out. it's not really a moustache but it should give me the leverage i seek.

the peugeot also got set up. i installed the new wheels i just bought from dave at the bicycle chain. wasn't looking for deep-v rims but the price was right.

feels great to have 2 bikes running this winter. the peugeot has only a front studded tire and is running a 42x16 gear. that'll be for slightly clearer roads. the cross-check will be for snowier days--running a slightly easier 42x18 to push two studded tires. the surly also has better fender clearance, which is GREATLY appreciated when the snow is thick.

winter cycle commuting can be a ton of fun if you have the right equipment. and... no, it's not safe, but neither is walking nor driving in the winter. pick your poison.

below 0 fahrenheit, let's fire up the grill

wow, just had a rim sidewall fail on me

crazy! bought a new set of commuting wheels a couple of weeks back and falsely believed I had 2 wheelsets for commuting. not so. this friggin sidewall just blew (on my old wheel).

friggin photobombers

the family went hunting for our christmas tree, and somebody kept hopping into photos!

jerk!

sooo looks like abrasive is out again

WTF, the beer...

Wilco Tango Foxtrot... a supermalty mutha of a beer. Lightly hopped but a ton of flavor. At 7.85% it's strong-ish, but not boozy.

laser cat!

you will obey!

dribble, dribble, drop, drop

mwaaah-ha-ha. cameraphone  mediocrity overcome by a bicycle helmet light.

spooooky pumpkin eyes

can't quite see all the details, but they're guarding our front porch.

before tonight, i hadn't heard of...

green flash brewing. for folks in san diego, they make one helluva cold weather beer. this double stout black ale is nice... sharp and smooth, is that possible?

unique view of our office door

unique for me because i usually ride a bicycle.

umm... ok let me consider that

not sure if I should feel good or cry.

mmm... zzzooombie

when sweater weather arrives, i am all about thick and dark beers. the zombie monkie robust porter, delivers. this is a nice one from tallgrass. i tried their double chocolate buffalo sweat oatmeal stout (can) and was not impressed. it was a little thin on feel and there was nothing double about the taste.

zombie monkie, on the other hand, packs a punch of smooth and dark maltiness. go. get. some.

human brushstrokes on a sirrus sky

brushstrokes slash across
the organic flow of a sirrus-painted sky.
a hack display of amateurish cloudmaking,
or genius juxtaposition
with an ethereal medium making rigid forms?

inflight photos from this morning's wonderfully sunny commute

finishing the workday on the front porch

sole searching

photos of a long drive home from colorado

on the road to the race

a little hackathon downtime

more hackathon supplies

hackathon supplies

Lift bridge hop dish

Excellent

one helluva copter

my parents are visiting and they brought my birthday present with them. pretty cool, eh? i might bring it into the office and challenge people to some helicopter dogfights.

baked eggs in bread cups

pretty good. i made baked eggs in bread "cups" with chives, cheese, and a cherry tomato on top. i baked them until they were fully set. everyone here liked them. totally easy and i'd try it again.

i based my recipe on this recipe (minus the bacon)

trying another from olvade farm

brynhildr's gift. it's a minnesota farmhouse ale brewed with juniper berries. it has that wild taste that you get with auroch's horn, but it's lighter. a sour-ish start but it goes tart quickly. fun. i'd buy it again.

today's training ride

and... another near 50 mile ride on the 1x1. this time, it was just a long ride ending (nearly) with 5 laps in battle creek park that included 2 pretty intense hill climbs.

and then it was time for a nap...



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trail riding (a little dirt and a lot of tar)

took my 1x1 out, today with the intention of riding both battle creek and theo wirth trails. i did that, but i'd hardly call this a mountain bike ride. two small strips of dirt and a ton of tar in between. oh well, awesome day for a ride like this.

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beer with an old friend

split a bottle of epic's elder brett over stories about our recent trips to Colorado. This is an awesome, summer-story-tellin beer. i'm sure a glass of this made my stories (a little) less painful to listen to.

stone russian imperial stout

oh, heck! it was cold enough this eve for a bottle of russian imperial stout to be an impulse buy at the liquor store. evil, evil store manager for putting this next to the register!