Postal Service

I got a wonderful card from the wonderful J tonight. The art of thank-you notes is underappreciated. What does it cost a person to thank someone by mail? Not much more than a stamp and ink. I appreciate it. I won't dally in the societal implications. No, there is more business-speak to be written in my paper tonight. I must away.

R-I-D-E I wanna ride

Bike ride after 2 days of rain. Paths cleared, cars wiped of bird leavings. The ghostly golf course soon to be turned into condominiums. We talked brightly and exchanged views on appropriate bike gearing. The temperature was on the right side of cool. The wheels rolled free of friction, spinning for their own contentment. The handlebars felt solid in my hands. The brakes squeaked as I slowed down the hill. The minivan gave us a wide margin as it slowed down. Everything was in harmony.

List of Lists

1. List of government encyclopedias of ethical failure
2. List of top 7 comedy podcasts
3. List of top 20 hurricane names starting with b
4. List of top 13 Italian apertifs
5. List of top 8 frozen french-fry brands
6. List of 32 vacation spots in the southern hemisphere
7. List of nonfatal hairspray accidents
8. List of Hollywood actors named Gene
9. List of international sports bureaucrats convicted of corruption
10. List of books read by President William Jefferson Clinton
11. List of ethical questions inspired by cricket matches
12. List of charities providing address labels more than biannually
13. List of lists of lists
14. List of sports websites
15. List of fictional dentists
16. List of incorrect horoscope predictions
17. List of chess puzzles solved by computers
18. List of future accounting conferences
19. List of yet-to-be-conceived artworks
20. List of French Elvis impersonators
21. List of Dilbert books
22. List of decisions made by Chicago police chiefs
23. List of decommissioned summer camps
24. List of hat manufacturers
25. List of broken mirrors
26. List of audio cues
27. List of deceased Malaysian film directors

Fermentation

Everything is building to me making mead this weekend! I have my supplies and tools in place. I'll probably be doing primary fermentation in the airlock-equipped bucket from my beer kit. I won't be doing the five gallon batch that all recipe seem to specify, but I'm going to try a pretty large batch. Looking for a sweet mead, still if possible, with some nice color and depth of flavor. Dry and sparkling don't sound like qualities I'm interested in quite yet. I will report on the findings here and on the fermentation/food blog I'm planning to start.

out went the candle, and we were left darkling

The credit went to someone else for detail-gathering, reporting, and awareness, all mine. I would appreciate a fruit basket, but 'nice catch' will do.

Ice cream paint job

My father kept turning things off or changing the channel just as I was getting interested in the programs

I sent the same message twice, but doubted that Nancy would notice

I like to play fast and loose with the rules late in the week

Just sitting here idly querying databases, as one does

The usual end-of-the-month posting binge

Smuggling tires to Norway to make a fast buck; riskier than it sounds

I only eat ice cream when it rains

Slush on the sidewalks is worse than ice; ice can't enter your shoes by osmosis

The chair, another item that doesn't get its due for the huge role it plays in modern life

He had a certain brashness to him

The end of November. It was a fine month all around, all will agree. I came closer to finding out where I'm headed, this month.

What I'm trying to say is, I've got freedom and my youth. What I'm trying to say is, I'm in a happy spot. Here's to another glorious year! [years start on December 1st, right?]

[The business with the exclamation points is really getting out of hand! I need to be careful, or I'll start using them without thinking! WITHOUT ANY FORETHOUGHT! Can you only imagine?! That would be like throwing a party and charging your friends 20 dollars to get in to the 'VIP Section'! Say it ain't so, Joe!]

When did Scott Weiland show up? How long’s he stickin’ around?

Michelob Ultra: the beer for people who like holding beer bottles, looking cool, and ingesting flavorless liquids, but don't like drinking beer

Try one today

With bland beer comes limited responsibility

unacceptable neologisms in advertising

Their tag line should have been:

"The difference is in how much water we add to an already flavorless beer."

Drinkability my foot.

Far across the Western Ocean I must wander

Jolly, jolly grog