Let me start by saying that I am in no way a writer. It's funny that I have even started blogging because I hate writing as it is. This is simply a "for fun" activity for me to enjoy and share my passions with others and perhaps get some feedback along the way.
First off, I live in the Triangle region of North Carolina. In the past decade, I have grown to love the Carolina Hurricanes of the NHL. Having Canadians as friends in high school can really push you into loving a certain cold weather sport. Basically the only thing I cannot say about being a Canes fan is that I wasn't there when they were in Greensboro. As soon as they were officially in Raleigh, I was hooked and have been there for all of the major moments.
Which brings me to my next passion. Photography. The above picture was taken with my old Canon S1. Of course I didn't have the greatest vantage point to capture Rod Brind'Amour kissing the Stanley Cup for the first time, but it's not the worst shot ever. The S1 was my first digital camera, and I used the crap out of it. It's a good bridge camera between just a point and shoot and a nice SLR camera. It was an awesome camera to have right out of college, but I missed what I had during my years in school. Here's a few S1 pics.
My previous camera, that originally got me hooked on photography is my old Canon A-1. Sweet-ass 35mm the A-1 is. It's old, from 1978, but it still takes amazing pictures, when it's got a good battery and clean contacts. It was given to me by my Great Uncle along with quite a few accessories. I took tons of pictures while I was in college. I went to Appalachian State University and loved the picturesque landscapes of the mountains around Boone. In the winter I would take my Bronco out on the Blueridge Parkway and take pictures of the snowy landscape. I could spend all days driving in a foot of snow and getting shots that hardly anyone could get to.
Now, I've moved on to my new baby. The Canon 40D. Finally the best of both of my previous cameras. A digital SLR. And a sweet one at that too. My wonderful, and beautiful wife Jennifer(SWMBO) got it for me this past Christmas, and I've barely been able to put it down. I've got two lenses with it, a normal 28-135mm zoom lens and a 70-300mm zoom lens. Next up on the list is a wide-angle lens. Since most D-SLR's have a 1.6x crop on the frame, my 28mm is really a 45mm lens. I love scenery pictures and 45mm is not wide enough for me. So watch out 12mm lens. Here I come.
Here's a few of my 40D pics from just messing around.
Now onto the third and tastiest of hobbies. Beer! I enjoy beer. Actually, I enjoy good beer. Call me a beer snob. I'm Okay with it. I don't drink beer for the sheer buzz of it. I enjoy the flavors. The malts, hops, esters, foam, and bite. The only light beer I truly enjoy is Sam Adams Light. It has flavor. Lately, I've been into very hoppy beers. India Pale Ales and the like are great on my tongue. I love the super-bitterness of the hops.
Now to culminate my beer-fondness I have gotten a beer brewing kit for Christmas that I plan on using as much as possible. It came with a nice Porter kit. It's all from American Brewmasters here in Raleigh, so it's their own recipe and malts. Here's the ingredient list.
3.3 lbs Dark malt extract
3.3 lbs Amber malt extract
Steeping Grains including 4 oz. Black Patent, 4 oz. Chocolate Malt, 4 oz. Crystal Malt
1 oz. Bittering Hops
1 oz. flavoring Hops
1 Pack Nottingham Ale Yeast
Unfortunately, as I look back on the recipe, it doesn't tell me what the exact hops are. That helps a lot. So, as I write this, that Porter is in it's Secondary Fermenter settling out and maybe getting rid of some off-flavors. I don't have any pictures from the brewing process, but here's where it is as of right now.
Tommorrow, I'll update on how my latest brew went tonight. Plus I may try to work out some formatting kinks and post links to pictures so they look better.
(Edit) You can click on most pictures here for a full-size picture. Some work, some don't for some reason.
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