quest for beer.

the first major pit stop on our way to virginia was adam's choice. no big surprise that he mapped a course directly to the dogfish head brewpub in rehoboth beach, delaware.

i was road weary and out of sorts from having woken up at 3:00 am. adam was completely rejuvenated and nearly giddy over the fact that he was able to be in the presence of so many of his most-recent-favorite beers.


we grabbed a table on the patio and ordered up some food. adam had the crab cake sandwich and i got the ale macaroni and cheese. still having a five hour drive in front of us, there was not as much beer savoring as would have been preferable but adam was sure to grab a case before we left for our next destination.

the moon and a pub crawl.

here's a cool little video on our moon's history, showing the reasons why it looks the way it does.
on an unrelated note, happy st patrick's day. i admit this is a holiday i don't normally acknowledge. it's funny that a religious observance became so associated with heavy drinking...but i suppose easter's mutations are just as odd.
this year adam and i are meeting our good friend, tara in saratoga for a pub crawl. tara may or may not be one of the anonymous friends documented this memorable night out but she was definitely a part of this adventure. wish me luck...

day two.

happy two thousand eleven!
isn't it exciting?
no really, please remember that january 1st is not just another day, it's a NEW year; a time for making big expansive promises to yourself and others that you may or may not keep!
what makes the first day of the gregorian calendar so important that it is a better time to reform yourself than any other day of the year?  would it be more productive to constantly re-evaluate yourself and your goals on a daily basis rather than once every 365 days?  i am not sure, but it is sure fun and often inspiring to hear everyone's resolutions.
i firmly believe that self reflection and setting personal goals is essential.  i prefer setting humble, everyday goals and relishing those small successes.  little steps always take you down a longer path and small changes accumulate over time.
don't get me wrong, new years is actually one of my favorite holidays.  it is relatively meaningless, without a gigantic tangle of religious or political subtext.  new years eve is a harmless excuse to celebrate your having survived another year, imbibe, over indulge and be grateful for your friends and family.
i spent my new years eve as the sober driver.  i enjoy a few drinks but am rather persnickety about mixing alcohol and massive hunks of steel moving at high speeds.  i love my friends and want them to stay alive; even the ones who persistently want to poison me with shots of strong liquor.
being the sober person in a bar full of intoxicated people in the wee hours of new years day is a bewildering experience.  my non-scientific observations show that it is a pretty universal theme that drunk people think they are acting much funnier and sexier than reality proves.  luckily, people who are intoxicated have a lower standard for funniness and sexiness than they do when less alcoholically challenged. simple tasks such as getting into a car, urinating in a socially acceptable area or keeping your head inside a moving vehicle become exceptionally difficult, if not impossible, for adam and my friends those with bellies full of adult beverages.
i am happy to say that everyone under my wing returned home safely, although one little bird spent the first day of his new year recovering on the couch. 
every day is an adventure, how lucky to start a new one every morning!

putnam pond.

we camped with some friends this weekend.
























we stayed at a NYS campground in the pharaoh lakes wilderness called putnam pond.
























these photos are deceptively peaceful as most of the time was spent more wantonly.
























at one point adam had shoes on his hands.



















i swore to my friends that i would not post the more debauched (and hilarious) photos; lest you think they are degenerates (in fact they are awesome). it need not be said that a hilarious (and beautiful) time was had by all.

sharing.

•my new favorite television show is "I Survived...". it's voyeuristic and scary and inspirational all at the same time. these people live through nightmares and impossible situations. i don't know how i missed it for so long...well, maybe i do...it's on the biography channel.

•i got a flat tire (today) by running over a piece of iron in the road roughly the size of a bear trap. it was hidden in a pothole covered in snow melt. maybe it really was a trap. it sucked. it also made me realize just how dependent (both practically and emotionally) i am on my vehicle. also that i am unable to loosen lugnuts. i pretty much lost my marbles thinking i would go for more than an hour without my car.

•i am not against drinking boxed red wine. in the effort of full disclosure, i am drinking it right now.

•we are very close to having a wii "problem" in our household. i am not a gamer but i really love the wii (i think this dreadful winter is partially to blame). adam just got Tiger Woods '09, but my current favorite is either Mushroom Men or Shawn White Road Trip (on the balance board of course).

•the garden seeds have been ordered for the 2009 growing season. we limited the catalogs to two; Seeds of Change and Totally Tomatoes. now we just need to set up the third bedroom "greenhouse". experiments for this year will be edamame and eggplant. hopefully we will avoid the blossom end rot on the tomatoes this time around...

•i am trying very hard to read Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. it was leant to me (about a zillion years ago) by our super-volunteer receptionist, kathryn. it was leant to her by someone else. i feel pressured to read it and sort of "report" on it...

hangovering.

i am a creature of hibernation today.
we went to our friend andrew and cory's place last night to celebrate andrew's birthday.
and i proceeded to drink a large amount of red wine. i do remember andrew with a bottle of jack daniel's (yuck). and ironically there happened to be a breath-a-lizer floating around the crowd.
i'm not sure what confluence of circumstances caused this red wine to smack me so hard, but i am pretty broken down right now.
at least it's a sunday.
and there's hockey on the television.