8. birthdays, beer, blogging.

A quick post, in part to make sure I maintain my NaBloPoMo compliance. And because I haven’t done a bullet post in a while.

• I’m happy that I went to Blogfest 12 last night — had a great time finally getting a chance to talk with some people I pretty much knew only professionally and meeting some of the other folks whose faces I recognized from Podcamp or from Twitter. It’s a little odd — I’m still a bit intimidated, because my technical knowledge of this stuff is close to nonexistent compared with most of the others who attended. That’s an interesting contrast to my office, where I’m one of a few who knows the most. But last night, it wasn’t a big deal … and I know I’ll be more comfortable the next time.
• I found one moment last night to be especially gratifying, although I clutched a little and wasn’t able to give credit where it was due. While we were waiting for the server who had been assigned to our group to show up with some aluminum foil so we could take home pieces of the wonderful cake Cindy brought along, the conversation turned to the post-a-day thing we’re all trying out/suffering through. Several people turned to me and said the thought occurred to them after reading about it here. I was thrilled and terrified at the same time, and I blanked when I tried to remember where I first heard about NaBloPoMo. On the way home, though, I remembered the source: a tweet from Rachel in late October. She deserves to share in whatever credit and/or blame there is to go around.
• We got to Columbus this afternoon, stopped at The Andersons to buy beer (Spoon — grabbed a bottle of the Sierra Harvest … looking forward to cracking it open this week) and warm socks. Next was Giant Eagle — yes, they’re here too — for the stuff The Wife needed for her contributions. And then we were going to stop briefly at Fred and Ethel’s for a drink before heading to my folks’ house to cook, but it occurred to us that F&E hadn’t yet picked up the growlers for tomorrow, so Fred and I headed to Barley’s in the Arena District to take care of that “problem.” We each had a pint of their excellent imperial stout while we contemplated our decision, but a taste of an apparently new imperial pilsner made the decision for us — three growlers, one Scottish, one porter and that pils. Tomorrow will be a good day.
• I know my friends in Pittsburgh might argue this point, but we tailgate better than you. Besides the growlers and the other beer we have in the garage fridge — Left Hand’s porter, Bell’s Kalamazoo Stout and a winter ale from Columbus Brewing Co. — there is the food. We’re arriving at 9 a.m. for a 3:30 game, so this is a two-meal party. Breakfast will be homemade maple sausage, courtesy of Fred. The main course is a bacon/ham/clam chowder made by The Wife from a recipe of Sister of Uncle Crappy. Dessert? Bourbon pecan pie, made with Maker’s Mark. I hope I just got Cindy’s attention.
• It also occurs to me that some of my Pittsburgh friends might be wondering what Uncle Crappy thinks about Sunday’s game. There are some things I’m kicking around, and by tomorrow I may even be ready to talk a little smack — but that can wait until tomorrow.
• A quick NaBloPoMo note. You may have noticed that the numbers accompanying my posts aren’t matching up with the numbers on your calendar. That’s OK. There have been a couple of auxiliary posts, one of which — I think 5 (a) — serves as the post for whatever day it showed up. I’ll work up another extra in the next day or two to get the numbers caught up.