Respect

I took in my first figure drawing class last night, and I was all ready to work with ink, but realized I’d forgotten my brushes. I started out really well, but got too much into my own head as the night went on, and my quality dropped off so I left 1/2 hour early.


No word from the roofing guys yet; I’m going to call them tomorrow and find out what the damage will be. Then, I suppose, I’ll call a few more to get some comparison pricing. I’m having them bid on asphalt replacement instead of slate; we just can’t afford new stone up there and the clock has run out. In the meantime, I’m doing some preliminary car shopping to see what I might be able to get for a Slattern replacement with four doors. So far I’m considering

  • A Honda Fit: 31-38MPG, full hatchback, and about a million airbags
  • A Honda Civic: larger interior compartment, roughly the same cost for a comparable Fit
  • A Honda Accord: Even larger than the Civic with almost comparable gas mileage.

I’d like to say I enjoyed the latest DJ Shadow album (after sampling it on Spotify), but I didn’t. Pitchfork says:

…whether The Less You Know was intended to reestablish Shadow as a musician, as a producer, or even as someone with decent taste, he misfires on all counts.

I’d agree with their opinion that the beats are, as always, top-notch. Everything else falls flat, and the annoying insistence on finishing all of the tracks with a faux CD-skipping loop sealed it for me. I don’t need another …Endtroducing; I just want something good.

Date posted: October 6, 2011 | Filed under art/design, cars, music | Leave a Comment »

IPA in the fermenter

I invited our neighbor over on Saturday evening to observe as I brewed a kettle of beer. This time everything seemed to go a lot smoother, excepting some wonky readings with Jen’s candy thermometer as we cooled the wort down. This time I boiled it right around 200° and made sure not to let it burn at the bottom of the kettle, as well as making sure the final wort wasn’t too hot to kill the yeast. Once it was in the fermenter, the entire basement filled with the scent of hops as it started bubbling. The krauzen is much thicker this time, and there’s a layer of hops at the top, which tells me it’s working hard.

Date posted: October 3, 2011 | Filed under brewing, photo | Leave a Comment »