The Inner Science Geek

Over this past weekend I got in touch with my inner science geek. Allow me to explain a bit further, the relationship of ingredients that make beer all go hand in hand and even the German law of Reinheitsgebot, also known as the purity law, understood this relationship. This law stated that only water, barley and hops where allowed for beer production. “It wasn’t until the 1800’s that Louis Pasteur discovered the role of microorganisms in the process of fermentation; therefore, yeast was not known to be an ingredient of beer. Brewers generally took some sediment from the previous fermentation and added it to the next, the sediment generally containing the necessary organisms to perform fermentation. If none were available, they would set up a number of vats, relying on natural yeast to inoculate the brew.” Well just exactly how does Pasteur relate to my scientific mind? That’s easy. I’m venturing into the realm of farming my yeasty little friends. There are numerous reasons as a brewer that you’d want to help yeast grow — by increasing the cell count the lag time for primary attenuation to ‘take-off’ will reduce. There are other reasons as well, but I won’t bore you with all the details. So here’s what I’ve done this past weekend. Other than not wearing a white lab coat, I built a stir plate and purchased a 2L Erlenmeyer flask. The stir plate will help to increase the yeast’s cell count. For $20 and a trip to Radio Shack, I purchased a potentiometer and a power switch, cut up an old cell power cord and wired a computer fan with a rare earth magnet, so I can now spin yeast in my flask. Pretty nerdy, I will admit, but very cool. I’ve never played with electronics like that before and then to be able to aid in the cultivation of yeast…yeah I’m stoked.
Eventually, I hope to start saving slants and test tubes of various strains in a freezer, so I can inoculate them when I need them depending on the style of brew I’m making. I’m like a proud papa of yeast cells. Hence, the inner science geek is shouting, look what I did!

Bethesda, MD

Somewhere in Bethesda, MD, there is an ice machine.

Shortly after getting a cell phone with a camera, which was two years ago, as one can imagine, I went kinda nuts with it. This happens to be the first photo I every created with my cell phone. I ended up heading down to DC via Maryland for an anti-war protest. This was photographed near where I parked on my way to the Metro station. There’s always been some aspect of this photo that I’ve liked, can’t really put it into words, but hey now I can share it since I was successful in transferring it off my cell phone.

General Update

We find ourselves at a point that our lives feel built on a foundation of jell-o, only for the time being at least. Here’s an update of all that’s been going on lately:

Sus has a little under 2 months to go until graduation, she is working 20 hrs on Campus as part job and part internship (she’s double dipping), she also works another 20 hours at a local middle school as an intern, she is taking 4 graduate level classes, and has (at my last count) 8 standardized tests to take in the next 8 weeks or so. The state has been trying to extort more money and bull from her, saying that because her undergrad transcripts do NOT specifically state English 101, she is going to have to either take freshmen english or test out (more $$$), even though she taught high school english, is the assistant director at the writing center currently or that she already graduated with her BA, there’s some other funky bull going on too, but I don’t want to bore you with it and the more we think about it the crazier we get. Then to top it all off, the resume prep, job hunts, etc. It’s nuts around our house these days.
My work is slow and we’ve already had a few rounds of layoffs and there isn’t much work here. So I don’t really know what’s going on. I’m teaching at night one time a week for some extra dough and because I really enjoy it. Double bonus. I am going to be transitioning to 4/10’s at work, so I’ll soon be working Mon./Tue/Thur/Fri. 7a-6p in an effort to save some gas, avoid traffic and get prince parking in our lot. Wednesday will be days to help Sus out if necessary, fish, make beer, and whatever else.
We still don’t know where we’ll be in 6 months, somethings gotta shake, but right now we are so focused on just the next two months we don’t really have any answers. Sus car is just barely hanging on, so we may sell it and move away or buy another car and stay put for a year. Then we found out our landlord has put our house on the market, which we’ll be surprised if it sells, but now we have to add the stress of moving the dog whenever the place gets shown. Pain in the royal ass. Then all the questions of if it does sell will the new landlords honor our lease? up our rent? kick us out?
Then there’s the health issues, trying to bring cholesterol down, eating better, working out and it compounds things as well.

So here’s where we sit, pretty much taking it one day at a time, not looking to far down the road, but also trying to sock some dough away for what could be an inevitable rainy day.

A Simple Idea & an Inspiring Message

Ideas and inspiration come and go. My inspiration lately has been ho-hum to say the least with a multitude of stale ideas, figuring that the epiphany will hit sooner or later. Which I do believe, but in the process of over thinking I brush to many potentials aside while I wait for the big idea. In all of this self created mess I may have overlooked an angle, or I really am in a ’shooters’ slump. People go in slumps all the time over all sorts of things, so it’s possible and more than likely probable. I’m not attempting to dwell and harp on it, but in order to move along I must at-least acknowledge it.

My 8th grade block teacher, I unfortunately don’t remember her name, used to take the class on what she liked to call was Bird Walks. I think it was a technique she used whenever she determined that the class was sluggish or overwhelmed. We’d get up and go take a walk around campus, to get the blood flowing again, get some fresh air, etc. Maybe that’s something I should investigate in.

So here I sit, headphones on and listening to some Keb ‘Mo, wondering what will kick start my “New Beginning”. All signs though point to myself, I’m the only one who can cause the change that I want to be. I guess one of the things that kind of kick started this particular blog entry was the trailer from an upcoming documentary film called Playing for Change: Peace through Music. This film has a great concept and includes the kind of passion I feel for music, photography/video and storytelling. After watching the trailer and a clip from two songs featured in the movie, One Love and Stand by Me, I sit here in Wilmington thinking why didn’t I think of this, it now seems so obvious to me. A simple idea with an inspiring message. That’s it. My time will come especially when I’m not so fixated on coming up with a great idea. That’s just how life works based on what I’ve learned.

If you’ve got 15 min. I’d suggest you watch Bill Moyer’s Interview with the director Mark Johnson and see what inspired him to create such a wonderful documentary.

The Spirit of Home

The warmth from the eyes,
The deep emeralds glistening,
The serenity from the mellifluous sounds,
Of your laughter and your lullabies,
Refreshes the core.
Each day I relish it anew,
Never intentionally taking for granted,
All your encompassing beauty.
The peaks to the deepest depths,
I will travel,
Along side of you,
To take care of,
To encourage,
Or to celebrate and honor.
The North star will always be my guide,
It is with you that I find home.