Woke up late, on account of staying up late watching the 2004 version of “Appleseed”. It fell into the pattern of truly awesome action interspersed with lame monologues trying to explain something about human nature. I found myself waiting desperately for the next fight.
Discovered on a routine stroll around the grounds that I own a blackberry bush, which is producing fully edible (and tasty!) blackberries! How much luck can one human being have? Food is spontaneously generating itself on my land!
Went to the Farmers Market this morning and found pickling cucumbers for $2 / pound. This made it pickle day, rather than beer day. Discovered that my local ripoff-mart sells dill seed (not dill weed, which is chopped leaves of the dill plant, but the seeds of that same plant) for $4 an itty bitty container. My recipe calls for 2 tbsp of dill seed per pint jar of pickles, which would have been something like $24 worth of dill. Instead, I took the opportunity to wander around town. Whole Foods struck out, as did the “East Side Market.” Fortunately, “Not just Spices” had large-ish bags of dill seed for $1.95. That’s what I’m talking about. A little boiling vinegar later, I was listening to the happy “tink” of widemouth pint jars sealing themselves.
Next to the spice store was an upscale liquor store. They had an unremarkable wine selection, but the most stunningly rockin’ beer cellar I’ve seen in a while. They had the entire line of Dogfish Head beers including the limited editions, including “liquor de Malt” in a 40 oz twist-off. It comes with a brown paper bag. Here’s the list of beers. These guys are serious freaks. I decided to go with a real freak-o of a beer: The World Wide Stout. It looks like it might be a match for the Sam Adams triple bock, but I don’t know yet. This evening, oh yes, this evening will tell. Reading through the list, I’m going to have to go back and pick up a couple of these other ones. Particularly the 120 minute IPA. That’s just not right.
Mowed the lawn, then fell asleep in the hammock for an hour or so. Was awakened by a peal of thunder. Had just enough time to get the hammock and myself inside before it started to pour. Awesome thunderstorm.
Then I went back to reading through the two books of The Pain comics that I ordered. Be warned, this guy is dark, cynical, freako left liberal, and outright rude. I take no responsibility for anyone who upsets themselves by reading his stuff. Anyway, the books have extended versions of the “artists notes” that he sometimes publishes with his work. He’s very quotable:
This is the problem with the internet: It puts you into instant contact with ordinary people, whom I have gone to the trouble of structuring my entire life to avoid.
The problem, I decided, is that my opinion doesn’t fit on a sign. Let me suggest that if your own political views do fit on a sign, you may not be all that smart.
if slavery were still an issue today it’s not hard to figure out which party would be on the side of Property and States’ Rights. (Not that the Democrats would be taking a hard-line Abolitionist stance; they’d propose some half-assed compromise. Only leftie fringe groups like Naderites would be calling for anything as extreme and hopelessly impractical as Emancipation.) Shit, didn’t Strom Thurmond actually own slaves?
Me, I recognize only two religions in the world, in spite of the superficial diffeerences between the countless churches and denominations: good and evil. Good religious people do things that actually help: feed the hungry, clothe and house the destitute, care for the sick, fight corrupt and despotic governments. Evil religious people want only to judge and punish: They bomb abortion clinics, stone adulterers, fly commuter jets into skyscrapers. They seem suspiciously fixated on personal sexual behavior rather than vast institutional crimes that can only be described with big words like exploitation, imperialism, genocide, and the destruction of the environment. They are more morally offended by one act of fellatio than by carpet bombing.
For all the typing that I wasted in 2000 and 2004 trying to explain why I wanted to take my ball, vote Nader (again) and go home, it’s more eloquently said here
In conclusion, let me say that the world wide stout is a fine, fine beer Complex, rich, blah blah blah. It’s not as over the top as the triple bock, which makes it actually more enjoyable. It’s overpriced, but I’m glad I’ve drunk it once.
Perhaps I shall go down to WaterFire to see the sights.
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