Big Snake . . .Big Snake Chase Me !

Last night around 11pm someone was banging on my door. It was my neighbor and he was in a frenzy screaming something about a large snake.

Whatever, I thought. We got snakes all over the place, mostly little gardner snakes and an occassional rat snake. I threw on some shoes and went outside to humor him.
Well he wasn't joking. Near his driveway crawling along the sidewalk was a 4-1/2 foot long Python.. . .that's right. . .I almost choked on my milk and cookies. . . I scooped up the fella with a broom handle. Krista ran and grabbed a pillow case, and then we put him into a big Rubbermaid container.





Not sure what to do with the poor guy; obviously he was someone's pet that escaped. I have no idea how long he has been outside. No neighborhood cats seem to be missing.

I think I am keeping him, and I will call him Harry. . . after Harry Houdini. The great escape snake. . . .

Bockfest 2009

Last weekend was Bockfest ! This is a description of the Festival as per the Bockfest website, http://www.bockfest.com/

"Cincinnati is the home to the world's oldest Bock festival, but many Cincinnatians are unaware of this tradition. If you are one of the unfortunate who have never attended a Bockfest (or who have but can't really remember that weekend) here's a quick primer. In the 1800s, Cincinnati was one of America's most prolific brewing cities. Cincinnatians drank more beer per capita than any city in the country, and Over-the-Rhine was at one point home to more than 18 breweries. A tradition developed among the breweries to release all of their bock beer on the same day. Bock beer is a rich, complex, robust lager that marks the end of the Winter brewing season and the beginning of Spring."

Dan Listermann and I built and rode the "Bloatmobile" (dressed as monks) in the Bockfest parade. The wheels are made from old whiskey barrels.

2009 Big Beers Festival - Belgians and Barleywines

Congratulations to Mike Pedersen, one of my fellow brewing buddies! Mikey lived in Cincinnati for a long time before picking up and moving to Boulder, Colorado. It was after he moved that I discovered that he was heavily into homebrewing and making some kick-a** beers left and right.

We've stayed in touch over the years and he has just won Best of Show at the Tenth Annual Big Beers Festival in Vail, Colorado ! http://www.bigbeersfestival.com/belgians_barleywines_winners.htm

This is huge because as a grand prize his winning beer recipe will be commercially brewed at Dry Dock Brewing Company http://drydockbrewing.com/ and put on tap at The Falling Rock Taphouse in Denver and at the sponsoring brewery, Dry Dock Brewing, located in Aurora, Colorado. Absolutely incredible!

This is the only picture I found. . . I'll get more photos of him soon and repost.

Congrats again Mikey!

Cricket, Krista, and Cliff

My parents come down and visit every once in a while and every time they bring their German Shepherd Cricket. She is a handful and that is one of many reasons why they stay at my sisters house when they visit. . our cats don't like dogs much!

It was a great weekend of food and hanging out. Pictured is Cricket, my fiancee Krista, and my father Cliff taking cricket for a romp in the yard.

When Life Gives You Chicken Bones, Make Chicken Soup !

Every once in a while we roast a whole chicken in the oven Afterwords you're left with a whole lot of scraps, bones, and less than desirable meat. The solution I found is to make Chicken Soup!

Save some of the good meat (or get a boneless chicken breast or two) to add to the soup at the end. Then you boil the leftovers down to make stock, add some fresh vegetables and noodles, add the good meat and you have chicken soup.

I usually put the whole batch in the fridge for a day and the fat will congeal to the top. Then skim it off and and its good to go. You can then freeze some in individual containers, or divide it up any way you like. I definitely think it's better after a day of the spices and flavors melding together.

It's cold out so stay warm!

Friday night Krista and I ate at the Cheesecake Factory in Kenwood Towne Center. The wait was extremely long but worth it. We had a gift card from Krista's mom which we really appreciated. To start off, we split a (huge) bowl of New England Clam Chowder while eating the warm sourdough bread brought to the table. Krista ordered a blackened salmon salad, that was presented very nicely and I ordered a featured dish called 'Chicken Bellagio' which was made with Procuitto Ham (my favorite)!

Lots of News: Little Space

It's been a long time since the blog has been updated. Where do I start?

In Late October I asked my long time girlfriend to marry me (and she said yes!)

In early November, my architecture firm, where I had worked for 8-1/2 years decided to lay me off. They let go another employee who had been with them for 35 plus years, so I am only a quarter as mad as he is. . .

My cat was diagnosed with diabetes and has to be given a shot of human insulin every 12 hours for the rest of his life. He'll be fine, if fact he sitting on my drafting table next to the computer knocking stuff on the ground to get my attention. . .

In late November I my Grandmother had her 90th birthday party in New York. Spending time with relatives while being unemployed is a bit like going to the dentist. . but still great to see everyone.

The positive side was I was completely free for the Holidays and spent a great Christmas with my family.

New Years eve was relatively calm, I cooked a standing Rib roast and asparagus for dinner with Krista and myself, and we went to a club in downtown Cincinnati.

So currently I am working on silk screening T-Shirts full time.

More to come soon and I'll try to be better about updating the blog.

Happy New Year's everyone !