Libation Lamentation

Dear Mr. President,
A laurel to you for your willingness to roll up the sleeves and help bury that hatchet between Messrs. Gates and Crowley. Boy that one almost got out of control on us!
The reason I even clicked on the link to the story about this patio diplomacy, was because the headline said something about you and Joe and these two guys having a beer together. “This is great!” I thought. “Our youthful President with his blackberry will shed light on the important matter of beer in America! Surely he knows that American owned breweries and American craft beer are one of today’s great unsung heroes! Surely he won’t be drinking a beer brewed by ImBev, or Miller, or Canadian Coors!”
Alas Mr. President, I was utterly disappointed! Mr. Biden was drinking some kind of straw-colored libation that had low alcohol and probably even lower taste. Mr. Gates went way out on a limb and had a Sam Adams Light (I read a book about light beers once), Mr. Crowley drank a Canadian Blue Moon with an orange in it, just to look extra Canadian, and the Head of State himself had a um, err, Bud Light? Mr. President, I know you are a busy man, and have little time for the ins & outs of beer in America, but you are missing the boat! There is beer out there, sitting on shelves and in kegs, that is actually delicious! There is beer out there that tastes like something other than the Daytona 500 smells! Beer brewed by small business owners, who live to brew a product they are incredibly proud of! Do you think the drones that own Budweiser are proud of their beer? No! They’re proud of their Brazilian soccer and their Belgian non-frenchness! The fact that the supporting actors of this meeting were not real beer makes me wonder if it was also not a real meeting. Have these gentlemen actually settled their differences? Was there actual dialogue going on? If it was anything like the beer that you guys were drinking, I have to think it was all for naught. No content, no real value, just a show, just a bit of advertising.
Next time I’d like you to consider having an American made, American owned craft beer, play some Bocce Ball, really hash things out between these guys. It looks from here like you guys just took some crappy ingredients, fermented it with some snapshots, watered it down with some rolled up sleeves, slapped a label on it and called it a real product. Well, you’re not foolin’ me. I’ve tasted that beer, and I'm just not buying it.

With warmest regards,
Ethan

How To Dad

I am tied for the least prolific blogger I know. I post about a blog every two weeks on here, but have decided to start a new blog. I'm calling it "How To Dad". Its content will range from great snacks that only dad's could justify eating, to actual thoughts on being a better husband or dad. As a caveat, I am not claiming to be any kind of remarkable dad, although I am certainly striving to be. The idea is, if i can do one thing a day that I wouldn't normally think of, I'm on the road to recovery from the selfish unmarried man era. I hope you enjoy, especially if you're a dad. Oh, and the website is www.howtodad.blogspot.com.

You who are the road

Carver turned 6 months old yesterday. For those of you who don’t have kids, and maybe some of you who do, this may seem ridiculous or cliché, but I can’t imagine how fast all of this is going to go. I can understand why parents don’t want their kids to grow up. I think it will turn out to be both incredibly fulfilling and quite heartbreaking. Children are such a delight. Hug your folks.

Minutia Monday

I know I'm super inconsistent with blogging. I know I only post a blog on average every other week. Don't judge me.
But for real, I'll update soon. I'm currently on a campaign to finish the first draft of this thesis by homecoming weekend (no particular reason I picked that weekend, just that its in October). Hoping to finish or clear prior by December.
The campaign is going terrific so far. Every time I sit down I realize how much closer I am to finishing, and I simultaneously get reenvigorated with my research.
Valerie is also starting to flyer for window washing for me, so I can make some extra money aside from my current job. Long term plans? Well, i don't want to publish those on the internets. Big brother, you know.
On an unrelated topic, Football season at The Swamp starts 7 weeks from this coming Saturday. I won't speak on this anymore right now cause there's just too much to say. Also, HP6 comes out tomorrow night and yes, we will be there sans Carver, although Doug at work reminded me it would have been sweet to bring him with a lightning scar and me and Val dress up like James and Lily, to which I said, yeah, neat if you want me and Valerie to be STRUCK DOWN!
Anyway, see you.

Pinhole Camera

So I spent about 70 hours last Saturday making this tyte pinhole camera, which is pretty good considering I carved it from a single piece of wood. I found the pattern, if you will, from a website that had 5 or 6 others to choose from. It isn't really carved out of wood, but made from a cereal box. It really did take me quite a bit of time. Anyway, the whole idea came about when I was thinking how neat it would be to leave the shutter open, taking a picture of Carver as he moves about his crib during a nap (this is presently taking place). Well, after spending quite a bit of time on this camera, I finally got around to putting the actual photo-taking, pinhole device into the outer box pictured, and it didn't fit once you put film in. Now, if you click on the link above, it looks like a pretty professional website. They're certainly pitching this thing as utile. I just can't believe that the person that designed it didn't consult with an engineering friend, or even a relatively bright 6th grader, to make sure it would all fit. Well, regardless, I am making it work, because I am an American and it's Independence Day.
I can't wait to post my pinhole pictures! I'm so used to having a digital camera, it'll be hard to wait until I take all 27 pictures and get them developed.