Anniversary and Certification

I have finally gotten solid proof of completing a certification; behold:

Yeah, I'm awesome. I should also have Inpatient and Mychart finished up today- now there's only STC to go  and I'm good to work. Which is a good thing as people from my hiring group are already starting to get customers, and once that happens I'll have no time to do any more training. So gotta get er done!

Also this past week was Ms. Carroll's and I's (mine? my? stupid possessives...) 5th anniversary. Kind of boggles the mind to think that we've been together for 5 years as it doesn't seem so long.

Anyway, we of course had to give gifts to one another. My gift, continuing a theme from last year, was making her some Dr Who miniatures, this time the 11th doctor (Matt Smith) and his companion Amy Pond.

 And the complete group for full measure. All of the miniatures  (except for the TARDIS) come from Heresy Miniatures, bt dubs.

She probably one upped me, though, by biking out to far away places in the rain to deliver me this:

She even put it in a little basket with Easter grass and wrapped it in plastic. Makes me tear up a bit to think about how good that Nettle Gouda is going to taste paired with the cracked pepper beer...

We also went out to dinner at a fabulous restaurant on the Capitol square called the Blue Marlin and then ended the night with a sold out viewing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. Excellent meal, pretty darn good movie and of course amazing company.

We closed out the weekend with modeling (me) and studying (Rachel), though we also had a cozy game night Sunday night. One of the beers that we bought for the game night still has me stupefied; it's called Brown Shugga' from Lagunitas Brewery. It tastes like beer flavored malt syrup, but better than what that description sounds like. It still has a bit of bitter character, but the sweetness is through the roof and the beer itself looks like amber colored glass.

As Lagunitas put it (in very fine print around the bottle), "We believe this Special Ale is Something Unique. Feeding Brown Cane Sugar to otherwise Cultured Brewery Yeast is a'kin to feeding Raw Shark to you Gerbil. It is unlikely to ever occur in nature without Human Intervention. And it looks weird besides. But it has happened and now it's too Late." Truer words never said.

Until next time...

"What ought to be done to the man who invented the celebrating of anniversaries? Mere killing would be too light. Anniversaries are very well up to a certain point, while one's babies are in the process of growing up: they are joy-flags that make gay the road and prove progress; and one looks down the fluttering rank with pride. Then presently one notices that the flagstaffs are in process of a mysterious change of some sort--change of shape. Yes, they are turning into milestones. They are marking something lost now, not gained. From that time on it were best to suppress taking notice of anniversaries."


- Mark Twain's Notebook, 1896

Non-Epic Things: Bread and Beer, paint ball, and a special guest

So I've been posting a lot about Epic, and I'd like to say that no, that is not all that happens out here... though that is a lot of it. A lot of my time has been spent doing hobby things that you can read about on my other blog, but there has been some other stuff. For instance, two weekends ago Rachel and I hosted a very successful Bread and Beer party at our house, celebrating two of life's greatest carbohydrates. Lots of people showed up and brought delicious beer and bread that we are still eating to this day. Man, I love generous people who don't take their stuff away again... I made a pair of loaves of heffenzupf which were devoured quite quickly while Rachel made delicious red velvet cupcakes with homemade icing. Yum!

We've also been working out pretty much daily (well... until this week...) at our gym downtown. It's great because there's almost never a crowd there when we go to work out so if we see a machine, it's ours. Plus they have cable and are very friendly about switching the channels... yay!

This weekend I went paintballing with some coworkers at Apocalypse Paintball. It was a lot of fun and very welty, though I seem to suck at the actual shooting bit. Oh well, just need to practice I guess..

A bit blurry, but that faint pinkish bit is still some paint stuck in my hair. Yay!

Last but not least Rachel Carroll, Girl Reporter saw OBAMA last Tuesday. OBAMA!

He was speaking at the campus and Rachel and a couple of her friends (plus about a hundred thousand other people...) went to go see him speak. Pretty cool, huh? Anyway, some pics from the party hopefully later this week, as well as maybe some pics from around Epic again.

Blessing of the Maibock

This past weekend Rachel and I went to the Blessing of the Maibock at Town Hall brewery in 7 Corners. Town Hall has a lot of these beer release events, but this is the first one that Rach and I went to. There were a lot of people at the event, and everyone was in great spirits. We sat next to one gentleman who is a regular at the bar and we swapped stories of our travels and beer preferences.

The beginning of the blessing was unmistakable, as it was heralded by bagpipes. In walked a vicar and his entourage, spraying people with holy water and filling the room with the smell of frankincense and myrrh. They orchestrated a delightful service that was lighthearted and drunken, a perfect fit for the crowd. Then the maibock flowed like water, and all was good.

Afterwards as we stumbled around 7 corners I got the drunkchies so we headed over to Bedlam to get sweet potato cupcakes (which were delicious) and then to the Wienery for something called the Upsetter.

There's a hotdog in there somewhere... I swear.

For more pics, as well as a video of the proceedings at the bar that you will NOT want to miss, click on the album below.

Maibock Blessing

Post 100! And MN Brewers Assoc.

Wow- finally made it to 100 posts! Go me!

Anyway, tonight I went with my friend Rob to a meeting of the St. Paul Homebrewers Club. It's a pretty cool organization- they organize lots of brewing competitions and other such events, and everyone is encouraged to bring beer to the meetings for other people to try!

As you might be able to guess, this was a great opportunity for me to not only try a lot of quality home brews but also to get a glimpse into how life long brewers interact with their beer. First there is a sniff, then a swirl, then a sniff again, before finally taking a sip. They could isolate the various yeasts, grains and sugars used in the beers and from that determine exactly what style it was. A few brewers included recipes with their beers, and they received plenty of tips on how to improve various aspects of the taste, color etc. from all present.

To be in a room with 40 or so guys, all talking about various beers not only as if they were wine snobs but chefs as well... it's something. Definitely made me want to have a second go at brewing, and maybe try my hand at some more 'real' brewing some day.

They are also going to have an event called the Upper Mississippi Mash-Out towards the end of January. It's a big competition among homebrewers to try to produce the best of the various styles of beers as laid down by the Beer Judge Certification Program (or BJCP). There is some room for expression, but the goal is to try to produce an excellent beer that conforms to one of the styles. They also have a special section this year focusing on English beers. I may end up volunteering at the event just to get a better look at what home brewing can do.

Until next time...

"Training is everything. The peach was once a bitter almond; cauliflower is nothing but Cabbage with a College Education."
- The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson and the Comedy of the Extraordinary Twins by Mark Twain