Hello, again. Let's upgrade.

Life is wild. It really is. I will spare you the details of the craziest ~4 years of my life. Instead, I want to share what I have been inspired to do because of all those trials:

• Writing to live. I have returned to writing in a lot of different ways. I have a personal journal, a work journal and a learning journal. I write appeals and those are really, really taking me back to my journalism roots - be factual, be compelling, be genuine. I am in the process of writing a FY17 plan, helping me back to my management roots, which is an exhilarating feeling. Writing, all of my writing in the last months, has been cleansing. The act of writing calms me down. It helps me learn. It helps me work through problems. Writing is life.
• Reading: books, blogs, articles -- all the reading. Well, I'm like a million books behind schedule already, but I'm trying my hardest and the reading I'm doing is helping me with my writing, as it should. Plus, I'm reading a lot more news and professional writing to support my work, which is great.
• Learning hard AF, daily. Something I realized while viewing old Facebook posts was that I used to post more quotes and more thoughtful statements. I do that when I'm learning a lot and my brain is running on all cylinders. While I'm not particularly interested in going back to sharing more on Facebook, I do want to get back into the groove of SHARING KNOWLEDGE. With everyone: my coworkers, students, friends and, frankly, complete strangers. I'm kind of addicted to sharing information and that's my librarian background talking. Good thing I got this here blog, eh? Plus, as I mentioned, I'm keeping a learning journal, where if I don't decide to share online, I have a little book with big learning nuggets. 
• Regularly hearing the song of my creativity muse. This I have found to be true: when I read and write more, creativity comes easily and naturally. When I was in K-8, high school and college, I wrote excessively. I had things to say and a platform to say them on, through homework assignments, newspapers, etc. Now, I still have things to say and have found that there are still platforms, new ones, for those messages. My work, my life, my reading and my writing all combine for me to be more creative, spread good messages, and find better ways to tell stories. What a time to be alive.
• Listening. Well, if there's ever been a crappier Gemini, only child, attention deficit disorder-ridden, passive listener than myself, I have yet to meet or know of them. Active listening is a huge area of growth for me. I don't do anyone any favors by not listening. I must be better. I have improved, but not nearly enough for my liking. The first step is admitting you have a problem, right?
• "Change my life." This is what I replace "diet and exercise" with. I'm not on a diet. I'm changing my life to include nutritious, planned, homemade meals. I'm not exercising more, I'm trying to change my life where I get up and move every single day. If I don't eat well or exercise every day of my life, than I'm not being good to myself. Diet and exercise plans are temporary. I want to live a long, active, truly healthy life, with a few fun and glorious departures from responsibility, like champagne cocktails, ladies' brunches, Opening Day (and the rest of the season), and beer festivals. 
• Getting in good sleep and waking early. All I have to say about this is that this is the pinnacle of being a 30-something. I find the Sandman is knocking on my door promptly at 10pm each night and, well, I am happy to oblige. The next morning, my early curfew is rewarded with energy and the will to conquer the day.

Hope you can into some of these grooves in your life. It's not easy. You have to make the time and commitment. When you're brain and body are active, you are your best.

Year of Gratitude - Day 274 - Beerfest

There's really only one beerfest to me and that's the one that happens every fall in Eastern Market in Detroit. Over the years, beerfest has grown into one of my favorite gatherings of friends. The last few years I've exercised my Michigan Brewers Guild membership to enter an hour before the masses and it is worth every penny. 

So much fun is to be had. The folks I see there are from all parts of my life and we are connected in one, great big celebration of delicious Michigan brews. It is one of my favorite rites of autumn.

Year of Gratitude - Day 245 - Best Brown Ale from Bell's

One of my rites of autumn occurs at the ballpark, where I throw off my beer slinging buds at when I switch from my summer favorite, Bell's Oberon to Best Brown Ale. While I'm sad to see summer go, Best Brown helps the season change. Besides, you know it's just a matter of time before I'm drinking exclusively pumpkin ale and don't stop until it runs out sometime in mid-December.

Year of Gratitude - Day 147 - Two Hearted Ale

Year of Gratitude - Day 106 - Soft Parade & Short's Brewery

As the weather warms up, my taste buds turn toward fruity beer. One of my favorite fruit beers is Soft Parade, from one of my favorite brewers, Shorts. It helps that it's 7.5% - fruity and potent! Here's the description from the brewery, which if you have the opportunity, you MUST visit. Must.

Soft Parade is a gourmet specialty pour that is brewed with toasted rye flakes and two-row malted barley. Loaded with pureed strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries, we refer to this fermented potion as a fruit infused rye ale. The result is a refreshing fruit delicacy that is easy to drink, visually appealing, and finishes dry.

Soft Parade was originally developed because Joe Short wanted to create a beer that incorporated a medley of berries, had a great color, and appealed to wine drinkers. The name Soft Parade stemmed from two moments in Joe Short’s life. First, because Joe worked as a brewer at the Traverse Brewing Company and The Doors album, The Soft Parade, played every day at the end of the brew shift. The second moment occurred when Joe was driving by himself, flipping through CD’s in his car, and came across The Soft Parade album again. At the time, The Soft Parade beer had not been named and it dawned on Joe that the medley of fruit infusing into the golden beer reminded him of a soft parade. That day the beer was named!

Year of Gratitude - Day 101 - Anthony and Jamie

Today, my friends Anthony and Jamie got married. I can't think of two more wonderful, caring, smart, funny, loving people. Seriously, Anthony has been our friend for a long time and it feels like Jamie has been with us just as long. They are so wonderful and great and I am delighted to be considered their friend. Further, I'm honored they invited us to celebrate their love. Their wedding was WONDERFUL! A perfect day in every way!

Sidenote: I really, really enjoyed Batch 69 American IPA from Frankenmuth Brewery. Really. I think we all enjoyed a lot of things that evening. This photo is evidence of that.

#freedomandpoutine

Year of Gratitude - Day 82 - Oberon

Today is one of my favorite days of the year, a true rite of spring, Holy Oberon Opening Day. Celebrate safely as you enjoy this glorious brewski. Bottom's up!

30 Days of Gratitude: Day 27 - Michigan Beer

The great state of Michigan has wonderful beer. I won't judge it the best of all the states, because I have not tried enough craft beer from other states to make such a claim. But dang do I love me some Michigan beer. The Michigan Brewer's Guild has a number of beer festivals throughout the year, but my favorite is fall. I'm a sucker for pumpkin beer. My favorites this year were:

• Liberty Street Punkin' Pie Ale (2nd year in a row as my fave - SO TASTY)
• Detroit Beer Co. Double Chocolate Pumpkin Porter
• Hooligan from North Peak Brewing in Traverse City
• All Hallow's Ale from Kuhnhenn's
• Griffin Claw Screaming Pumpkin Ale is always a goodie, too.
• Not sure if they still make it but Baraboo had a great Vanilla Pumpkin one year.

I don't recommend the Jaw Jacker, Ichabod, Grumpkin Pumpkin or Motor City Brewery's pumpkin offering. I like more spice than sour and these lean more toward sour. To me, the closer a beer is to pumpkin pie, the better.

Today's Knowledge: Booze and Recovery

Although I'm not hung over today, I did stay out late so I sort of might as well be. However, throwing back a few pops last night, staying up way passed my bedtime and then recovery reminded me of this fantastic New Yorker article called "A Few Too Many". This is an all-around great article about drinking. Knowledge-packed and entertaining reading.

A Taste of the "D"

This is going to be way sweet. Join me for some suds and bubbles? It is sponsored by the Detroit Historical Society. Nice. Click on the flyer to the left to enlarge.

Stanzas to Pale Ale

(This poem is in honor of the delightful brew served at Motor City Brewery - cheers!)

Stanzas to Pale Ale

Oh! I have loved thee fondly, ever
Preferr’d thee to the choicest wine;
From thee my lips they could not sever
By saying thou contain’dst strychnine
Did I believe the slander? Never!
I held thee still to be divine.

For me thy color hath a charm,
Although ’tis true they call thee Pale;
And be thou cold when I am warm,
As late I’ve been—so high the scale
Of Fahrenheit—and febrile harm
Allay, refrigerating Ale!

How sweet thou art!—yet bitter, too;
And sparkling, like satiric fun;
But how much better thee to brew,
Than a conundrum or a pun,
It is, in every point of view,
Must be allow’d by every one.

Refresh my heart and cool my throat,
Light, airy child of malt and hops!
That dost not stuff, engross, and bloat
The skin, the sides, the chin, the chops,
And burst the buttons off the coat,
Like stout and porter—fattening slops!