Today Novia (my girlfriend) and I started my 7th batch of mead. We are aiming to make a medium sweet cherry melomel. We used twelve pounds of cactus honey and one pound of dried tart cherries, I am a little concerned about the cherries releasing enough flavor to be noticeable. Next time I might buy cherry juice to use instead. The starting gravity was 1.09 which means the must has an alcohol potential of 13%. I used Lavlin 71B-1177 wine yeast which has an alcohol tolerance of 14% I am concerned with how sweet the result will be. I will have to recheck things after two weeks.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Victoria
My girlfriend and I just got back from Victoria, BC. She went to the University of Victoria, and we went there so that I could meet her friends and be shown around it was also my first trip to Canada. It is a beautiful place, sort of like a mix between San Diego, CA and Olympia, WA. The weather was clear and sunny almost the entire time but colder than I am used to. The city was an interesting mix of old and new buildings with that "college town" feel of tons of pubs and hip stores.
Meeting my girlfriend's friends was awesome. We all hit it off immediately and had fun chatting and taking pics around downtown.Vic. It makes me wish that I could live everywhere at once. I thought it was a drag having friends in the OC but that commute is nothing to the double flight required to get from LA to Vic. It also made me realize how much better I have gotten at connecting to people. I was able to enter conversations with people who were almost complete strangers and be laughing it up and carrying on in minutes. I will definitely have to make it back on a semi-regular basis. There are so many places in the world that I want to go and want to return to. One thing is certain, however, I want to go there with my girlfriend.
Meeting my girlfriend's friends was awesome. We all hit it off immediately and had fun chatting and taking pics around downtown.Vic. It makes me wish that I could live everywhere at once. I thought it was a drag having friends in the OC but that commute is nothing to the double flight required to get from LA to Vic. It also made me realize how much better I have gotten at connecting to people. I was able to enter conversations with people who were almost complete strangers and be laughing it up and carrying on in minutes. I will definitely have to make it back on a semi-regular basis. There are so many places in the world that I want to go and want to return to. One thing is certain, however, I want to go there with my girlfriend.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Cohabitation
Starting on the first I have moved in with my girlfriend. It has been an exciting process of arranging and moving our things in together. We have both enjoyed the process of deciding where everything goes and making room for each other. It is nice to be moving into a new place together and not into one or the others existing space so that we are able to start fresh.
So far things have been wonderful. The closeness is constantly great, we haven't yet gotten in each others way. We are sharing bills and time very well. I feel like it is some sort of vacation that I will have to give up. It seems so good that I keep waiting to wake up.
So far things have been wonderful. The closeness is constantly great, we haven't yet gotten in each others way. We are sharing bills and time very well. I feel like it is some sort of vacation that I will have to give up. It seems so good that I keep waiting to wake up.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Failure
I got news today about the job that I interviewed for recently. It seems that they "filled the position" I guess that is soft talk for "we hired someone else." I am very disappointed that I didn't get the job, but I am also sort of glad that I get to finish out the project that I am currently working on where I work now.
The big problem now is figuring out what direction to go next. Do I stop looking for work and stay in my current job? do I keep looking for work in my field or in the field of props making? Do I look for a marketing-type job like I interviewed for? I am now faced with a number of options and I am not sure what is best for me. I know that I can no longer accept the inconsistent work that got me to this point but if I have to move on where do I move to?
The big problem now is figuring out what direction to go next. Do I stop looking for work and stay in my current job? do I keep looking for work in my field or in the field of props making? Do I look for a marketing-type job like I interviewed for? I am now faced with a number of options and I am not sure what is best for me. I know that I can no longer accept the inconsistent work that got me to this point but if I have to move on where do I move to?
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Interview
Yesterday I had an interview for a job that is outside my field of experience. I have spent the last six years installing professional audio and video broadcast gear and now I am trying to get a job in another field. Changing careers is a daunting proposition but I feel that it is time to move on.
No small part of this decision is my girlfriend's advice and support. The interview was with the same company that she works at but in a different position and with a different team. I know that trying to work for the same company as your significant other can be a bad idea but the positives so steeply outweigh the negatives that I have to give it a shot.
I am now in that uncomfortable waiting period where I have done all that I can do and now must wait for their decision. I am not still searching right now because I have months more work at my current job. I feel a little guilty because I may be ditching my team at a critical point where they need me, but I have to do what I think is right for myself and for my future.
No small part of this decision is my girlfriend's advice and support. The interview was with the same company that she works at but in a different position and with a different team. I know that trying to work for the same company as your significant other can be a bad idea but the positives so steeply outweigh the negatives that I have to give it a shot.
I am now in that uncomfortable waiting period where I have done all that I can do and now must wait for their decision. I am not still searching right now because I have months more work at my current job. I feel a little guilty because I may be ditching my team at a critical point where they need me, but I have to do what I think is right for myself and for my future.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Change of Role
People have different inclinations and different strengths. Some people are very athletic, some people are intelligent, and some people are supportive friends. These strengths and weaknesses can sometimes define a relationship and other times be defined by a relationship.
I am reluctant to make comparisons between my ex and my girlfriend but this post is not about comparing these women but about my personal growth and how my life is influenced by the personalities of others. The reason I am using this example is because it is so unique of a situation, where the person in the role of significant other has changed but the repercussions of that role are much the same. I had six months to recenter myself as a single person and now another six months to align myself with this girlfriend and there are very compelling differences.
When I was with my ex-girlfriend, I was the more intellectual person in the couple. I had the inclination to read books and to plan projects and measure things, whereas she found the process of preparation to be fatally boring. I was the one to handle logistics and the one to drive. She was the driving force for physical things like running or hiking, and with a strong need to be outside and moving, she drove me to being a more physically active person. The roles in that relationship were assigned in a certain way and I became used to that.
Now I am in a different relationship with a very different woman and the roles are predictably very different. I am now the less intellectual one and the more physical one. I am the runner and she in running to share in my interest. I am reading one of her books (The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde) and learning to speak Spanish. I am coming to grips with that shift in perspective. I was the "smart" one and now I am not.
The idea of self identity is not something everyone ponders but I do. I have defined myself to some extent by my intelligence but now here in this pairing I am not exceptional. There is little use in trying to find some arbitrary scale that will accurately define which of us is smarter, but I can say this with certainty: she is much better educated than I am. So now comes the part where I could be threatened or insecure about this change in position but I am not. I am now in a place where I can debate and discover, consider and collaborate on the topics that interest us.
The physical role in an interesting reversal as well. I have been used to being overweight and awkward for so much of my life that now with my running and martial arts I am feeling strong and confident in a way I never have before. I want to share this with my girlfriend so that she can feel what I feel when I jump easily over a barrier or finish off a 5 mile run. (its been quite a while since I have run more than 3 miles but I am getting there) I am now the instigating force in things like this (she dances but dancing and running are not the same level of cardio) and it is a strange place to be in.
I am reluctant to make comparisons between my ex and my girlfriend but this post is not about comparing these women but about my personal growth and how my life is influenced by the personalities of others. The reason I am using this example is because it is so unique of a situation, where the person in the role of significant other has changed but the repercussions of that role are much the same. I had six months to recenter myself as a single person and now another six months to align myself with this girlfriend and there are very compelling differences.
When I was with my ex-girlfriend, I was the more intellectual person in the couple. I had the inclination to read books and to plan projects and measure things, whereas she found the process of preparation to be fatally boring. I was the one to handle logistics and the one to drive. She was the driving force for physical things like running or hiking, and with a strong need to be outside and moving, she drove me to being a more physically active person. The roles in that relationship were assigned in a certain way and I became used to that.
Now I am in a different relationship with a very different woman and the roles are predictably very different. I am now the less intellectual one and the more physical one. I am the runner and she in running to share in my interest. I am reading one of her books (The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde) and learning to speak Spanish. I am coming to grips with that shift in perspective. I was the "smart" one and now I am not.
The idea of self identity is not something everyone ponders but I do. I have defined myself to some extent by my intelligence but now here in this pairing I am not exceptional. There is little use in trying to find some arbitrary scale that will accurately define which of us is smarter, but I can say this with certainty: she is much better educated than I am. So now comes the part where I could be threatened or insecure about this change in position but I am not. I am now in a place where I can debate and discover, consider and collaborate on the topics that interest us.
The physical role in an interesting reversal as well. I have been used to being overweight and awkward for so much of my life that now with my running and martial arts I am feeling strong and confident in a way I never have before. I want to share this with my girlfriend so that she can feel what I feel when I jump easily over a barrier or finish off a 5 mile run. (its been quite a while since I have run more than 3 miles but I am getting there) I am now the instigating force in things like this (she dances but dancing and running are not the same level of cardio) and it is a strange place to be in.
Monday, October 11, 2010
SCA Aspects
SCA stands for Society for Creative Anachronism. Basically it is a reenactment group that focuses on Europe from about 600AD to 1500AD. The resultant culture and experience is a cultural hodgepodge of eras and locations, technological levels and styles of dress. I could go on for pages and pages (screens?) of description and analysis of the SCA but for my purposes here I am going to assume a passing level of knowledge.
I went to a weekend camping event called Great Western War this past weekend and I have been thinking about how much of my time I want to dedicate and how deep I want to get in. There is so much to do that one could make it a full time adventure. There is garb and camp gear to be made and fighting or period crafts to perfect. Some people get so immersed that their 'mundane' identity becomes the secondary one and the SCA becomes their real life. I don't think that I ever want to get to that point but I do want to become more part of the society. There are people that share my love of handcrafts and are willing to share their knowledge.
I have been to two large camping events this season and the experiences make me want to make the SCA a part of my life. The question remains as to how to take action and fit myself in. I think that I am going to make contact with a few of the master craftsmen and attempt to persuade them to teach me something of their crafts (mainly ceramics and metalworking) and to make time to hang out with the locals at the weekly meetup.
I went to a weekend camping event called Great Western War this past weekend and I have been thinking about how much of my time I want to dedicate and how deep I want to get in. There is so much to do that one could make it a full time adventure. There is garb and camp gear to be made and fighting or period crafts to perfect. Some people get so immersed that their 'mundane' identity becomes the secondary one and the SCA becomes their real life. I don't think that I ever want to get to that point but I do want to become more part of the society. There are people that share my love of handcrafts and are willing to share their knowledge.
I have been to two large camping events this season and the experiences make me want to make the SCA a part of my life. The question remains as to how to take action and fit myself in. I think that I am going to make contact with a few of the master craftsmen and attempt to persuade them to teach me something of their crafts (mainly ceramics and metalworking) and to make time to hang out with the locals at the weekly meetup.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)