One Year Ago Today...

So it was one year ago today, January 31st, that I drove off into the winter sunset of the Michigan country-side totally unaware of how my life would change in the coming two weeks, and six months.

Only now, 365 days later, am I starting to be able to accept that-that part of my life is over and begin to move on. Only now can I begin to piece things together without being rendered numb with pain. I am only now being able to put my life into another gear and dimension. I still have numerous questions un-answered, and some severely raw emotional wounds. Time will heal and answer those questions. I have since met some of the most amazing people who have helped me through these last 12 months.

I have no regrets, as the last 5.5 years have been one of the most amazing and unforgettable periods in my life. I had an unmatched best-friend for 4.5 of them, and she will be sorely missed. Things change, and apparently so do people. This I learned on Valentines Day 2010. This is where I think I mentally checked-out for at least a few months just so I could function at work "normally". It've been one half-decade learning experience for me that I will never forget.

I still care about her immensely and wish her nothing but success and happiness in her future. She's worked so hard, she deserves all she gets. Life however is a funny thing. People change and blind-side you, even when you supposedly "saw it coming". It can change your perception of them completely and harshly thrusts you into a new dimension of failure. Failure is not something I deal well with at all. Hence, the year-long grievance process. Healing, and moving on, come with time. Time is starting to shine a warmer, happier beam of light on me lately. This is a sign of positive changes possibly brewing in the future.

She owns a piece of my heart forever. Even though she would never admit it, I think I may be somewhere deep, deep inside of her's...hidden somewhere.

God Bless, and God Speed-Good night and good luck.

2011: A Month and Half Later

So here we are on the evening of January 17, 2011. I haven't made a blog-post here since December 1st, 2010. My did I ever take a leave of absence from this parcel of internet property.

Christmas break featured a two-week absence of work for me that while being amazingly relaxing, seemed at the same time to by-pass me all too fast. I had planned a wonderful and highly extensive New Years Eve post with all the trimmings of what 2010 (one of the most momentus and tumultous years of my life) had been. Days of editing never came to fruition and a horrific stalemate met the midnight hour separating December 31, 2010 and Janurary 1, 2011. There I was, one month void of any meaningful remarks on here, more-so ANY remarks on here.
I feel as though I've done 2010 a massive injustice by not posting that piece. While it was one of the most important and poignant years of my life, it passed by deceptively fast and stealthily. There is so much from that year that absolutely bears comment, commendation and re-telling, while at the same time, it seems so empty. It would be a tradgedy if I did not re-tell of it. So instead of nothing, I will eventually give you all (how few you may be) an account of the year that was...and wasn't.

I hope this long weekend celebrating the life and work and efforts of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has treated you well. Remember to keeo with you his spirit and hope.

God Bless-

PJ

The First Snowfall of the Season

Man has it ever been a while since I have really put a decent update online. Well today/tonight saw the first real snowfall of the season in West Michigan. It's December 1st, which is a rather late start for our area. Through today and this evening we've recorded a little over four (4") inches of snowfall in the metro Grand Rapids area, As always people need to re-adjust to winter driving and there were scores of accidents throughout the day.

Forgive me if some of the lighting is a bit off, I couldn't use a flash outside tonight. I always find the first few real snowfalls magical. We live only several hundred yards from a major expressway (which is visible in the second to last photo) and it's so silent. The silence that accompanies a snowfall is almost mystical. Living in the center of a large city we're used to lot's of everyday sounds and the drum of everyday city life around us. In winter, especially at night, it all seems so hushed. A quiet blanket of white muffling the earth's activities descends on the land. In the city, a cloudy night sky takes on a festive and warm glowing hue from the lights below. In the country, a deepened blackness provides a foundation for millions of stars and adds to the impression of the never-ending depth of our sky and universe.

On a night such as tonight in winter the world seems to slow down. The hushed atmosphere also seems suspended, as it were, in time and space. If it weren't for the falling snow and an occasional passing car or plane overhead one could easily imagine such a happening. I keep wanting to revert back to the word "magical", but there really is no other descriptive adjective that does the feeling justice. I dare you to step outside in a winter's snowfall and bring forth a more fitting term. Here's to the season my friends!

Ohio State President Hates Boise and TCU

So it appears E. Gordon Gee is simply one of the loud-mouth, empty-headed, greedy money-hogs that run and back the corrupt BCS system. So then let me ask you Mr. President, if you play so mahy fine schools why do you schedule so many non-AQ teams and DI-FCS teams on your schedule? The emporer hath no clothes...

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5845736

Beer Review: Arcadia Ales IPA, Battle Creek, MI

Good Evening Friends and Enemies (Because I know you both read this).
I hope your week has gone splendid. I figured it was time for a quick beer review. I grabbed some Arcadia Ales IPA earlier in the week to enjoy. Attached is a photo and my brief thoughts.


A- Deep but bright amber hues come through the small wine glass on this one. There is a chill haze, but the beer is hazy enough without any chill (which is a good thing). A small white head rises a finger-high and gently falls. Lacing is surely present.

S- The fragrance on this one is fantastic. I could easily put it up to Two Hearted. Tons of citrus notes flood the nose. I am picking orange, grapefruit and even some tangerine notes. If you explore it deeper the next waft has a little edge to it, like the smell of fresh-cut grass and a few pine needles. A beer that already has a great nose is made infinately more pronounced with the right glassware kids! Shaker pints are great, but to do a tasting of a floral beer you need to use a wine glass or something similar. The nose on this beer is fantastic, do they make an air freshener of this??

T- Oh my, while the citrus is there in fine form, it is not over-powering not does it bully out the other flavors of a great American IPA. You oddly enough get grass and pine on the very front, and then a wallop of citrus and more earthy grass. More pine rounds out the flavor on the finish. This beer certainly can hold it's own against the best American IPA's these days. The flavor continually stays with you as well, but not in a bad way. Great balance!

M- Good mouthfeel for an IPA. Good carbonation and no unusual oddities that shouldn't be there.

D- This beer is 6% by volume and a couple of these are certainly easy to enjoy on a night out or while watching the game.

I'd recommend you grab some of this, you can find it at most any Meijer in Michigan!

The First Step

Well, I did it today. I set up an appointment with GVSU to look into the viability of adding to my current undergrad degree to become an elementary teacher. I need to re-activate as a "degree seeking undergrad" even though I already have my bachelors degree. I need to go through some seminars in December, talk with the CLAS department, financial aid and a whole sleu of other people and departments before this is final.

However, that said, I am hoping this is the 'come to Jesus" career moment I have been waiting for and maybe a ticket for me to get out and explore the world more.

Who knows, I am just hoping for the best.

Beer Review: Jasper Ridge Brewery, Ishpeming, MI - IPA

Hello there fellow beer enthusiasts. So a friend picked me up a growler of IPA from JasperRidge Brewery in Ishpeming, MI while swinging through the U.P. of Michigan this weekend. Being from a growler it had nothing on it about the specific beer. I found nothing on Beeradvocate.com and since their website gives no info about their beer I'll do this as is, here it goes!





A- Pours a slightly hazy rusty/golden color, with hints of deep amber throughout. An inch-high head forms and slowly falls over time. Lots of bubbles and lacing present.

S- Wow, is this beer ever floral! For an IPA this is what I love. I can pick up flowers, honey nectar, pineapple, earthy/grassiness, and tons of odd citrus notes that go flowing through. They present themselves, and then quickly morph into other scents that fade and change just as quickly. It's really a deep nose on this one. I keep getting pulled back to that honey note, it just keeps presenting itself. The nose here is almost that of a Two Hearted Ale from Bells, but a lot less piney.

T- While the pine scents are somewhat masked in the nose, the pine flavor hits your right up front. There a nice citrusy notes all over the mouth. Foremost of these is grapefruit, there is a little orange in there but it's not very pronounced. Yhere is a flowery and sightly grassy flavor lurking in there as well. The flavor is wonderful, however it is sadly not as pronounced or deep as any of the IPA's from Bell's, Founders or New Holland.

M- The mouthfeel here is very good. The beer has some weight and depth to it, as well as having a good, mouth-coating texture. It is not cloying in any way.

D- Very drinkable beer. I could easily enjoy some of these any time of year.

Overall, if you're going through the Western U.P. make sure to try and stop by Ishpeming to get your hands on some of this. I'd love to try the other styles as well.