Pictures of Pictures, and Beer

I'm a bit under the weather this weekend. And no, not from drinking too much. Just from being under the weather. I've spent today writing, playing Mario, watching Dream Theater, drinking orange and cranberry juice, and I went out into the world to get some groceries. That was enough activity for me for today. I wish I had the energy and gumption to get up and go do something, but I don't. All I want, really, is to sit on my butt.

Last night I did a little better. I hung a photo in my room, and my room's much better than it was. My job, a photo lab, allows us to print either five 8x10, or two 11x14 photos for free each month. Here's what I did.

The above photo, taken by Jenne LaCasse while we were in Creston, California, was sized to 11x28, then split in half so it could be my two 11x14's this month. I had them mounted on boards for $5 each, minus 40%, and hung them on my wall with sticky stuff. I pulled my level out of the toolbox so they'd be straight. In situ, they look like this:

It's still pretty barren and monkish in here, but these guys help out a lot; and I love having my family on the wall. As I sit here typing, my eye keeps being drawn up there. It makes me feel good.

Another thing that made me feel good was the turnout for my beer gathering. We ended up with a table of 14 people or so. A few appetizers, a few beers, and it was good times. The restaurant, Old Chicago, had a vibe very much like F. McLintock's meets generic large dining room chain restaurant. There were nearly as many TVs on the walls as there were beers on tap.

The first beer I tried was something local, but with the word Alaska in the name. Don't know what that was all about, but it was very tasty. Next, and all I could think of was Renee and DHAG, was called Sweaty Betty. After that, I had a delicious IPA, the name of which escapes me right now.

Sweaty Betty on the left, IPA on the right. Italian nachos in background.

They gave me a little card they use to track my beer intake and give me stuff. For instance, after I've had ten beers, they'll give me some Old Chicago World Beer Tour playing cards. After only forty beers, I'll get a bottle opener.

Also, once my registration has gone through, I should be able to log into the website and see what beers I've tried, and what's still on the list. I like that.

Here's me with some of the crew who showed up.

L to R: Me, Leslie, Jackie, Shipping Shawn, Press Sean

L to R: Peter, Lauren, Dave, Ben — (I'm directly to Peter's left)

It was a fun night. I'm glad I went, and I'm glad everyone who came did. It was nice meeting Press Sean's wife, for instance, and seeing Kameron drunk. We'll have to do this again some time.

I guess that's it for me for now. Thanks for reading.