I have to admit, the first time i tasted beer, i was mortified. This was what all these kids around me were ingesting for a good time?! No thank you! You can keep your keystone light friend. i'll take a diet coke. Over the many years since then, my palate slowly developed to a point where i could 'tolerate' beer. Mostly the light beers that really tasted bland and watery. (Fun fact: Did you know that the main ingredient in beer is water? now you know...) And when it was required of me to drink said beers, it was usually in situations that involved red cups and ping pong balls, and i'd take large gulps and swallow fast in order that the beer was in my mouth for the shortest amount of time possible.
Then my world was shaken just a little bit when i was introduced to the microbrew. I tasted 'dinkey wheat' at old main and admitted that the flavors definitely brought a new dimension to my world of beer, but it still wasn't going to become my drink of choice. I'll have a malibu and diet, thanks.
THEN I MOVED TO COLORADO. Where i walked into a whole new ballgame. You see, here in Fort Collins we have not one, not three, but SIX breweries. So people here are self-proclaimed beer snobs. I had some catching up to do! My first flavorful taste was a Two Below from New Belgium Brewing. It hit me. There's something different about this stuff. Next up were some ODell's beers; Isolation Ale, Cutthroat Porter, Easy Street. Then Coopersmiths Poudre Pale Ale and Horsetooth Stout. Each new beer i've tasted has heightened my growing admiration for beer. Of course, I've now developed favorites, but i've opened this awesome can of worms and am looking forward to many future samplings of great, great beers.
I also took a journey back to my early beer days when i recently toured the Coors Brewery in Golden, CO. P and I were the last ones in the door for the day and proceeded into 45 minutes of listening about the beer brewing process from a little hand-held machine. It was semi-awkward standing in a room with about 20 strangers, all listening to the same words from the same man (and woman who would periodically just whisper 'Coors' inbetween his words). You were pretty much silent the whole time, just watching other peoples reactions and reading about the brewing process. I think P and I had the most fun as every once and a while when the music started to build (near the fresh beer room!) or when the guy got really excited, we'd have our own little reaction of feigned excitement. All in all it was FUN :) I learned a lot about the process and more random little trivia about the coors brand. But the best part was the samples! The Coors Light really did taste so much better and colder. We established that this may have been because they kept subliminally building our excitement for that cold beer at the end of the tour but it could be that beer just tastes better at the brewery. (whether or not it's just in your head)
Now I get to look forward to the New Belguim tour again with the little sis in a few weeks!
But right now i think i'll go have a nice cold Isolation...mmmm :)
always,
amanda
1.31.2010
1.29.2010
a moment that moved me...
I've been quite lax in my blogging as of late and it seems that every time I do, I am apologizing for not doing so more often. But that will not happen today. I will not apologize for not setting aside time to blog, because I wouldn't trade a second of the many things I've experienced instead of blogging for anything. Maybe someday I'll retro-post and tell you about all those wonderful things, but for now I've got more important things to share.
If you know me well, you know that one of my passions in life is 'words.' Many have informed me that this is too vague a passion, but I cannot narrow it to one certain aspect of 'words' without leaving behind other parts. So I stand strong on my vague passion. It's mine. Find your own...
I'm also a little bit in love. It's only been a few months but i've never been happier or felt more myself. That's right, the great state of Colorado has stolen my heart, and I hope the honeymoon phase never ends.
Love. The reason i began this blog way back when. To explore the vast, exciting, overwhleming, diverse world of love. Where I will always be an amateur. But always game for exploring :) I've looked back lately at my early posts and can only smile. Ah, the things you learn through the years...
To bring this all back to why I was originally posting, it's a combination of love and words. And a little about my love for words. A few days ago, my roommate purchased the most recent Avett Brothers album, which he confessed he had not been able stop listening to. As I pushed play, I was curious. Was this going to be life changing? At first I was unsure. Track #1 seemed lethargic with the first few strains and didn't catch my ear immediately. But then I looked down and saw what I thought was the 'thanks' portion of the album cover. I love to read this stuff so i grabbed it and cuddled up on the couch, the melody perking my ears more and more as the song went on. In mere moments I was enthralled by the passage written. It was not of thanks, but of love. And I was floored. By words. By truths. By the way it made my heart twinge and rejoice simultaneously. And this is what I share with you today. Not my words. Words from another. That left me amazed and intrigued. Mull over the words, savor them, enjoy them, love them. Just soak them up. And don't forget to breathe a few times in the middle. (i kinda forgot that part) There is one spot in the middle i left out (marked by [---------]) which they go on to describe the making of the album but in order to get that full experience I urge you to actually purchase the album for yourself. The impact is even better with the music :) So here goes...Enjoy!
The words 'I' and 'Love' and 'You' are the watermark of humanity. Strung together they convey our deepest sense of humility; of power, of truth. It is our most common sentiment, even as the feeling of it is so infinitely uncommon; each to proclaim these three words with his or her very own heart and midset of reason (or lack thereof); a proclamation completely and perfectly new each time it is offered. Uttered daily and nightly by millions, the words are said in an unending array of circumstances; whispered to the newborn in the arms of a new mother; shared between best friends on the playground; in the form of sympathy said by a girl to a boy as the respect continues, but the realtionship does not. It is said too loudly by parents to embarassed children in the company of their friends and by grown children - to their fading parents in hospital beds. The words are thought in the company of the photograph and said in the company of the gravestone. It is how we end our phone calls and our letters...the words at the bottom of the page that trump all of those above it, a way to gracefully finish a message, however important or trivial, with the most meaningful gift of all: the communication of love. And yet the words themselves have been the victims of triviality, a ready replacement for lesser situations among near strangers, burst forth casually as 'love ya.' Truly? To what degree? Why, how much, and for how long? These are questions befitting the stature of love, though not the everyday banter of vague aquaintance. The words have also been twisted by the dark nature of deciet; to say 'I love you' with a dramatic measure of synthetic emotion; a snare set by those who prey upon humanity, driven to whatever selfish end, to gain access to another's body, or their money, or their opportunity. In this realm the proclamation is disgraced by one seeking to gain rather than to give. In any case, and by whatever inspiration, these words are woven deeply into the fibers of our existence. Our longing to hear them from the right place is maddeningly and simultaneously our finest strength and our most gentle weakness. [--------] Perhaps the inability to say these heaviest of words is as much a part of life as the lighthearted candor of those who say them without any dificulty at all. And so it ends with the phrase whispered to and by those of us most defeated and most elated...I and Love and You.
I kind of feel it should end with and 'Amen.' So be it...
We may not all be in love. But love is in us all. For people, for a state :), for the world, for nature. Take a deep breath and remember what you love and who loves you.
Have a great day all. Full of love, real love :)
always,
amanda
If you know me well, you know that one of my passions in life is 'words.' Many have informed me that this is too vague a passion, but I cannot narrow it to one certain aspect of 'words' without leaving behind other parts. So I stand strong on my vague passion. It's mine. Find your own...
I'm also a little bit in love. It's only been a few months but i've never been happier or felt more myself. That's right, the great state of Colorado has stolen my heart, and I hope the honeymoon phase never ends.
Love. The reason i began this blog way back when. To explore the vast, exciting, overwhleming, diverse world of love. Where I will always be an amateur. But always game for exploring :) I've looked back lately at my early posts and can only smile. Ah, the things you learn through the years...
To bring this all back to why I was originally posting, it's a combination of love and words. And a little about my love for words. A few days ago, my roommate purchased the most recent Avett Brothers album, which he confessed he had not been able stop listening to. As I pushed play, I was curious. Was this going to be life changing? At first I was unsure. Track #1 seemed lethargic with the first few strains and didn't catch my ear immediately. But then I looked down and saw what I thought was the 'thanks' portion of the album cover. I love to read this stuff so i grabbed it and cuddled up on the couch, the melody perking my ears more and more as the song went on. In mere moments I was enthralled by the passage written. It was not of thanks, but of love. And I was floored. By words. By truths. By the way it made my heart twinge and rejoice simultaneously. And this is what I share with you today. Not my words. Words from another. That left me amazed and intrigued. Mull over the words, savor them, enjoy them, love them. Just soak them up. And don't forget to breathe a few times in the middle. (i kinda forgot that part) There is one spot in the middle i left out (marked by [---------]) which they go on to describe the making of the album but in order to get that full experience I urge you to actually purchase the album for yourself. The impact is even better with the music :) So here goes...Enjoy!
The words 'I' and 'Love' and 'You' are the watermark of humanity. Strung together they convey our deepest sense of humility; of power, of truth. It is our most common sentiment, even as the feeling of it is so infinitely uncommon; each to proclaim these three words with his or her very own heart and midset of reason (or lack thereof); a proclamation completely and perfectly new each time it is offered. Uttered daily and nightly by millions, the words are said in an unending array of circumstances; whispered to the newborn in the arms of a new mother; shared between best friends on the playground; in the form of sympathy said by a girl to a boy as the respect continues, but the realtionship does not. It is said too loudly by parents to embarassed children in the company of their friends and by grown children - to their fading parents in hospital beds. The words are thought in the company of the photograph and said in the company of the gravestone. It is how we end our phone calls and our letters...the words at the bottom of the page that trump all of those above it, a way to gracefully finish a message, however important or trivial, with the most meaningful gift of all: the communication of love. And yet the words themselves have been the victims of triviality, a ready replacement for lesser situations among near strangers, burst forth casually as 'love ya.' Truly? To what degree? Why, how much, and for how long? These are questions befitting the stature of love, though not the everyday banter of vague aquaintance. The words have also been twisted by the dark nature of deciet; to say 'I love you' with a dramatic measure of synthetic emotion; a snare set by those who prey upon humanity, driven to whatever selfish end, to gain access to another's body, or their money, or their opportunity. In this realm the proclamation is disgraced by one seeking to gain rather than to give. In any case, and by whatever inspiration, these words are woven deeply into the fibers of our existence. Our longing to hear them from the right place is maddeningly and simultaneously our finest strength and our most gentle weakness. [--------] Perhaps the inability to say these heaviest of words is as much a part of life as the lighthearted candor of those who say them without any dificulty at all. And so it ends with the phrase whispered to and by those of us most defeated and most elated...I and Love and You.
I kind of feel it should end with and 'Amen.' So be it...
We may not all be in love. But love is in us all. For people, for a state :), for the world, for nature. Take a deep breath and remember what you love and who loves you.
Have a great day all. Full of love, real love :)
always,
amanda
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