success!

dodged all of yesterday's snow-filled potholes
hour and a half late for work

BOOKS READ - 2013

• The Big Cat Nap by Rita Mae Brown, 2012
• Game Of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, 1996
• A Clash Of Kings by George R.R. Martin, 1999
• A Storm Of Swords by George R.R. Martin, 2000
• A Feast For Crows by George R. R. Martin, 2005
• A Dance With Dragons by George R. R. Martin, 2011
• NOS4A2 by Joe Hill, 2013
• MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood, 2013
• 11/22/63 by Stephen King, 2011
• The Ocean At The End Of The Lane by Neil Gaiman, 2013
• Bleeding Edge by Thomas Pynchon, 2013

CRAFT BEER 2013

• Double Black Lightning – DuClaw Brewing Company, Abingdon MD
• X-1 (Imperial Chocolate Rye Porter) -DuClaw
• Cappuccino Stout – Lagunitas Brewing Co., Petaluma CA
• 75 Minute IPA – Dogfish Head...
• Really Old Brown Dog Ale – Smuttynose Brewing Co., Portsmouth NH
• Vertical Epic 12.12.12 – Stone Brewing Company, Escondido CA
• New Albion Ale – New Albion Brewing Company, Boston MA (with Sam Adams)
• Alpine Spring – Sam Adams...
• OREgasmic Ale – Cahtoe Rogue (Ales), Newport OR
• Abbey Ale – Abita Brewing Company, Abita Springs LA
• “FM 966” Farmhouse Ale – Shiner Brewery, Shiner TX
• Conway's Irish Ale – Great Lakes Brewing Co., Cleveland OH
• Hop Manna IPA – Shmaltz Brewing Company, Saratoga Springs NY
• Robert Johnson's Hellhound On My Ale – Dogfish Head...
• Blue Paddle pilsener - New Belgium...
• duganA IPA - Avery Brewing, Boulder CO
• So Fresh & So Green, Green – Terrapin Beer Co., Athens GA
• O'Ryely IPA – Widmer Brothers, Portland OR
• 4059' – Saranac...
• White IPA – Saranac...
• Black Bear Bock – Saranac...
• Chocolate Lager – Saranac...
• Nelson Imperial Ale – Widmer …
• Hoppy Bock – New Belgium...
• Red Caboose Ale – Rumspinga Brewing Company, Bird-In-Hand PA
• Red IPA – Saranac...
• The Congo – Devil's Backbone Brewing Company, Lexington VA
• Kilt Flasher – Devil's Backbone...
• White Lantern – Samuel Adams...
• Double Agent IPL – Samuel Adams...
• Cherry Blossom Lager – Old Dominion Brewing Company, Dover DE
• Grateful Pale Ale – Starr Hill Brewery, Crozet VA
• Northern Lights - Starr Hill
• Rolle Bolle – New Belgium
• 2X IPA - Southern Tier Brewing Company, Lakewood NY
• Pistil – Magic Hat...
• Elder Betty – Magic Hat...
• Summer Session Ale – Evolution Craft Brewing Company, Salisbury MD
• Citra Blonde – Widmer Bros...
• Schwartz Bier – Devil's Backbone...
• Turbo Cougar – Devil's Backbone...
• “Rampant” Imperial IPA – New Belgium...
• 2013 Southern Hemishpere Fresh Hop Ale – Sierra Nevada...
• Lucky 13 – Lagunitas...
• Area 151 – Wild Wolf Brewing Co., Nellysford VA
• Paardebloem – New Belgium...w/ Red Rock Brewery, Salt Lake City UT
• Pluot (Lips of Faith Series) – New Belgium...
• Stony Brook Red – Sam Adams...
• Maple Pecan Porter - Sam Adams....
• Pumpkick – New Belgium...
• Ichabod Crandall – Devil's Backbone...
• Hoptimization- 3 Brothers Brewing, Harrisonburg VA
• Mad Bishop – DuClaw...
• Oktoberfest – Great Lakes Brewing...
• Downright Pilsner – Port City Brewing Company, Alexandria VA
• The Corruption IPA – DC Brau Brewing, D.C.
• Monkeynaught IPA – Straight To Ale, Huntsville AL
• Morning Glory espresso stout - Old Dominion Brewing, Dover DE
• Shiner Black Lager – Spoetzl...
• Shiner Prickly Pear – Spoetzl...
• Shiner Wild hare pale ale – Spoetzl...
• Shiner Kosmos – Spoetzl...
• The Great Outdoors - Virginia pale ale - 3 Brothers......
• Irish Style Lager – Rogue...
• Pumking – Southern Tier...
• Secret Stash Harvest Ale – Flying Dog Brewery, Frederick MD
• Fall Hornin' – Anderson Vally Brewing, Boonville CA
• Out of Your Gourd Pumpkin Porter – Redhook Brewery, WA/NH/OR
• Séance – Magic Hat...
• Pumpkin Ale – Saranac...
• Flipside Red IPA – Sierra Nevada...
• Pumpkinfest – Terrapin...
• Pumpkinhead – Shipyard Brewing Co., Portland ME
• Postroad Pumpkin Ale – Brookly Brewery, Utica NY
• Harvest Ale – Goose Island Beer Co., Baldwinsville NY
• OKTO Festival Ale – Widmer Brothers...
• Giddy Up! - New Belgium...
• Pumpkin UFO – Harpoon Brewery, MA/VT
• El Mole Ocho – New Holland Brewing, Holland MI
• Sixth Day – Goose Island Beer, Chicago IL
• Accumulation – New Belgium...
• Dark Abby – Devil's Backbone...
• Snowblind Doppelbock – Starr Hill...
• Secret Spot Winter Ale – Evolution Craft Brewing, Salisbury MD
• Brrr – Widmer Brothers...
• Juniper Ale – Sam Adams...
• Cherry Chocolate Bock – Sam Adams...
• G-Thing – Magic Hat...
• Moo-Hoo 2013 – Terrapin...
• Winter Solstice Season Ale – Anderson Valley...
• Reunion Ale '13 – Terrapin & Shmaltz...
• Sweet Baby Jesus! - DuClaw...
• krampus Imperial Helles Lager – Southern Tier...
• Monticello Reserve Ale – Starr Hill...

dreams

neil young is playing a concert in a small venue which feels like my living room...pegi is there, in odd clothes...during one song, neil & i start dancing together, and i am awed at the fact that i am DANCING WITH NEIL YOUNG!!! 

i am troubleshooting things everywhere i go...many situations, many different places, many different people involved...but in each scenario, i fix whatever is wrong...

dream piece

melian and i are in a townhouse development, walking past the home where Lorraine lives...i say that's her house, and then she walks out of it down the sidewalk! i say look! there she is!...then i walk right up to her and say hello...she just looks at me, then mutters a hello, she seems to shy away from direct eye contact as for a few moments it seems there is something wrong with her face, i catch a shifting glimpse of three eyes where there should be one, and then that is gone...she is dressed in sweat pants and a baggy shirt...later she comes out of the house in her work clothes; a fast-food uniform of some sort

rain soaked leaf
releases
its tannins
onto concrete/as
atom bomb victims
leave
powder shadow photographs
of death

rough concepts

phases of moon
cycle of seasons
i am standing still
even as i am moving forward
soon will come the time when
time
means nothing to me

i am the universe expanding
at a rate
previously unknown

i am/full
to overflowing
with the [inter]connected-ness
of it all

thinking of one thing
leads to three more/and back around

step in here, and the current takes me
there/and back
around

who cannot sense the gestalt?
who cannot see the bigger picture?
the repercussions?                        
the impact?

bees
water
war

i am angry. i am afraid.

breathe deep
hold the negativity at bay
remember to find center
                    find ground
too much right now it's just/too much
catch the few glimmers of hope/joy/
                                       positivity
 let them shine/illuminate
the path to growth and be-ing

craving the ability to do something that i want to do when i want to do it, not have to put it off into some vague time in the future...REGAIN SPONTANEITY

systematically eliminating
financial burdens [will]
open new vistas of
possibility and
experience

come the healing
move through and
then beyond
the fear

More Beers with the same Book

Abita's "Abbey Ale", Avery Brewing's "duganA", Terrapin's "So Fresh & So Green,Green" and He'Brew's "Hop Manna IPA" all helped me read Game Of Thrones. Now ready for A Clash Of Kings.

Guest Blogger: Melian Moonstar's Dream

mom & i went to a huge grocery store and we had a cart and there was a big stage where Adam Duritz was performing...mom waved & said "hi" to him, and he started playing for her...he played the song that goes on about how nobody loves him...we went on shopping and then we sat at the cafe where the band was playing...i made a sandwich as Adam played, mom was screaming the whole time...i was calm, just making my sandwich...i am just smiling and making my sandwich...mom is screaming and adam is playing just for her...

showering thoughts

i want to paint the patterns
that appear
from behind my pressed
eyelids

writing while driving

fear is not necessary
a calm focus/ a sense of purpose
doing the best that i can/let go of negativity
i am moving out of the stress
re-establishing self esteem

stop the romance already-NO PROFIT
throw the I Ching
stand tall and proud-YOGA

a reminding poem (love Rhiannon)

fear is not necessary
a calm focus/sense of purpose
i'm doing the best i can/let go of negativity
i am moving out of the stress
re-establishing self-esteem

stop the Romance - no profit
throw the I Ching
stand tall and proud/ a yogi

Two Beers & A Book

Finally reading Game Of Thrones by George R. R. Martin after all this time! This first volume was published in 1996. The reading is going slowly due to my ridiculous work schedule, but these two DuClaw brews certainly make it smooth. "Double Black Lightning"; an American black ale, and "X-1" which is an Imperial chocolate porter. Brewery located in Abingdon, MD.

poem

and this is why i drove home
this way
this 
wedge of geese
flying from the open sky on the left
across the black tree limb sky
on the right, and on
on and on

Guest Blogger: Kay's Dream

Sandi and I were shopping for Christmas gifts for each other when we happened upon a shop in Manassas that was full of occult items. Things from different religions and cultures were everywhere. We fit right in there. There were colored feather necklaces that invoked the things you wanted in life and statues and medicinal herbs everywhere.

Books Read 2012

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
Why Animals Matter by Erin Williams & Margo DeMello, 2007
Sea Of Slaughter by Farley Mowat, 1984
The Walking Dead: Volume 1,2,3 & 4
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson, 2005
The Girl Who Played With Fire by Steig Larsson, 2006
Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg, 1993
How I Learned To Snap by Kirk Read, 2005
Valencia by Michelle Tea, 2000
Solstice by Joyce Carol Oates, 1985
A Mask For The General by Lisa Goldstein, 1987
The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle, 1968 (re-read)
Un Lun Dun by China Mieville, 2007
Waging Heavy Peace by Neil Young, 2012
The Wolf Gift by Anne Rice, 2012
Embassytown by China Mieville, 2011
Railsea by China Mieville, 2012
Under Wildwood by Colin Meloy, 2012
The Dirty Streets of Heaven by Tad Williams, 2012
The Wind Through The Keyhole by Stephen King, 2012