I love it dripped, pressed, espressed, and pretty much in any form except percolated.

Yet, I’ve stopped drinking it regularly.

It’s for a simple reason: I want to be able to function in the absence of coffee. I recently went on a hike with Myles and couldn’t go further than half a mile. Part of it was poor physical conditioning (up until then, I’d been pretty bad about going to the gym), part of it was the coffee I had on the way up to the trailhead.

I haven’t given up coffee entirely, for I had some at breakfast (at the Breakfast Club with Woof). I’ve just given up the regular dosing of it.

So, new rule: drink coffee to enjoy coffee, not because you need coffee.

Whisk in a mixing bowl:

1. Juice of 1/2 a small lime
2. 1/6 to 1/3 of a cup of olive oil
3. Pepper to taste

Then add and stir into the bowl:

1. 1 cup of baked pearled barley (to bake: in a greased oven-safe dish, add 2 cups pearled barley, 1 can beef consomme, 16oz beef broth, a pat of butter, and (kosher) salt to taste. Pop in the oven at 400 F for about 1 hour)
2. Diced yellow bell pepper and red onion (as much as you’d like)
3. Some shredded or otherwise small greenery (I used mixed baby greens)
4. Half a small red tomato, cubed.

Eat.

At work – we’re making a concerted effort at work to get our product development cycle to the “Feature Complete” state. This means that all the prescribed features are implemented and that after this date (3/31), we will be in stabilization (“polishing up”) mode. As a team, we opted to make our ‘death march’ a twice weekly event (with company-provided dinner) instead of a whole-week pain fest right at the end of the cycle.

At home – I had the pleasure of entertaining David over the last few days. He was gracious enough to drive out from California and hang out with myself and Mary. We enjoyed some cycling along the city of Fort Collins trail system and out in Lory State Park. We visited some breweries and did some evening outings in downtown Fort Collins and Boulder. Fun was had all around.

In the community – I’ve started volunteering for the Betsy Markey for Congress campaign as a writer. Due to the incredible workload at work, I haven’t had time to put my thoughts to text. I’m hoping that when April rolls around, I’ll have more time. In addition, I’ve been selected as a delegate to the statewide Democratic convention in Colorado Springs as a delegate for Congressional District 4 and for Larimer County. Yay!

In the eCommunity – I’m actively (as active as I can ) executing my role as a server administrator on EsperNet. I’m also heading up efforts to replace the IRC daemon currently in use with a custom set of patches to ircd-hybrid. So far so good!

In my glass – New Belgium Springboard. Yum.

That just goes to show that a questionable location and zero marketing will always be a death knell to a fledgling business. All the same, however, my friends and I will miss the atmosphere and beer selection.

RIP Beer Fest Brew Food. You were short-lived but well-loved.

It’s like tasting freedom, one scoop at a time.

I have sampled Stephen Colbert’s AmeriCone Dream, and let me tell you, freedom tastes sweet. A near impossible find (made more possible by virtue of my proclamation to the contrary), Stephen Colbert’s AmeriCone Dream is a delight once you do. Our good friend David may or may not have found it at a Save Mart at the corner of Cedar and Ashlan in Fresno.

I invite you, my dear readers, and presumptive members of the Colbert Nation, to stand up, drive out to your supermarket, procure this fine ice cream, and taste freedom out for your very own self. You won’t be disappointed.

Death to bears.

… and the world wept.

That is all.

I had a great time. Many thanks to Shane for showing me around the area — especially Mac and Jacks and The Tap House. That was some damn fine beer and food. I’m also happy to report that my growler made the trip in once piece.

Speaking of beer – props to Horizon Air for offering a complimentary microbrew as part of the food and beverage service. With non-stop service from Fresno to Seattle, you might have a hard time not seeing me as a customer.

Now, to catch up on some sleep…

“Zantar is a gelatinous cube that eats warriors in a medieval village.”

Shane lived the dream. He had a mole black and tan.

I had a life-defining realization on top of the Space Needle today. It was an amazing revelation; a bit of startling self-discovery. It turns out that I really love beer. Hops, barley, water, and yeast (and maybe a few accents) — that’s all you need. Case in point, there’s a restaurant in Bellevue that I like for approximately 151 reasons: that’s about how many craft brews they have on tap (and incidentally, they make killer ahi tuna steaks). Mmm.

The weather in Puget Sound area was beautiful today. Clear, cool, and lovely vistas of the surrounding snow-capped mountain ranges. I dig it.

On another note, please buy my stuff.

1 x Sun Blade 100

1 x 4 Port USB KVM

Some criticisms:

• The beer is served too cold; it might as well be frozen.
• It’s too loud.

In a nutshell, it’s a place where college students gather, be loud, and drink crappy beer. Avoid. The bar at Fresno State is better.