A Variation...

...on the Toy on Head series. I think I'll call this one Saltine on Snout:


Self-control. This is it.

My India Pale Ale

What's awesome? This:


This beautiful mess is the wort for our homebrewed India Pale Ale.


One of two types of hops we added.


Danny (a future brother-in-law) measuring the starting gravity of our newborn IPA.

The best pale ale I ever had was a homebrew. It was a good beer in terms of initial taste but what made it great was that it finished without the usual lingering bitterness. Every sip was like the first sip. I can only hope our IPA turns out half as good - I'll let you know in a couple weeks.

Dumplings

So there's a Korean grocery store down the street that sells all sorts of great Asian food. The only problem with it is that they don't really have any decent dumplings. Its a problem because I crave them all the time. Well, my dumpling craving last week was particularly strong so I said screw it, I'm making them myself:


The last one about five seconds before I polished it off. Actually, the wraps were not made from scratch. I just don't think it's worth the effort. A basic wrap is really nothing but flour and water, so I just bought some pre-made ones made of the same.

The single earliest memory I have is one of me sitting at a kitchen table watching my aunt make homemade dumplings. The memory is somewhat unique because while I see a image of the situation in my mind, I have no idea what happened before or after that moment in time. I'm don't know the significance of that memory, but it's certainly something my brain has chosen never to forget.

Homemade Haircut

My haircuts? I sit around reading brain-shriveling magazines for 30 minutes, sit in a chair for 5 minutes, and then fork over a wad of cash to a stranger. Tired of being scammed, I recently asked my wife from the future if she would try cutting my hair. Well, I picked up some clippers and shears, and next thing you know my hair was cut. Is there anything she can't do?


No, this isn't how it turned out. This is more like my hat hair on a Sunday morning but it's the only remotely relevant photo I had lying around. Cathy actually did a great job and so I can now say that the Hair Cuttery will enjoy my patronage no more. Same goes to you Supercuts, you magnificent piece of crap.

Chocolate Chip Cookie

One of Cathy's famous chocolate chip cookies. I generally don't like cookies or chocolate and yet I find myself shoving these into my face when they are around.

Michigan Nonsense

Went to Michigan this past weekend. Nice and relaxing time as always. I took some very meaningful photos.


A flying sandal.


It was everywhere.


But it could not escape Q's wrath.


What is this nonsense.

It Continues...

Sure why not.

Portions of a Commute

This is some of what I see during my commute when I use the Belmont stop.


Blue Line - Belmont, to the southwest.


Blue Line, Clark/Lake to the west.


Blue Line, Clark/Lake, Wells exit.


N. Wells St to the south.


W. Couch Place, to the east.


Lobby.


16th from 17th.


Blue Line, Clark/Lake, departing train towards O'Hare.


Blue Line, Belmont, exit.


I-90/94, Dan Ryan Expressway, Belmont underpass.

Carrot Cake Prep

Cathy made a two-layer carrot cake with cream cheese frosting last weekend for her brother's (Eddie's) birthday. Took a couple photos, thought I'd share a couple in no particular order. Unfortunately, this was when I started feeling like crap so I stopped before getting a decent shot of the final product: she turned it into a coffee mug since Eddie is opening up a cafe in May.


Frosting and cake were made from scratch, natch.




First layer frosted.


Setting down a layer of toasted walnuts.