The Brown Knowser

Just a photo, on Friday. On the last day of November, 2012. This photo was shot on Bate Island, less than an hour before sunset. No filter, no post-production touch-up. Simple. The next time I shoot from this location, there will most likely be ice on the river. Fall is coming to an end, my friends. Happy Friday.

He looked across the room. She didn't see him watching her. Looking at her smile, the way one corner of her mouth turned up before her lips parted, her teeth sparkled in the light. Her hair bounced in disorganized waves, the light catching the soft brown ringlets and casting itself asunder. Blue eyes, emitting a seeming luminescence of their own, drew him in, made him hungry for her. Until she looked his way. He turned, slightly away, looking vacantly yet keeping her in his peripheral, until her head once again cast itself away, and he could steal a gaze again. She looked across the room. He didn't see her watching him. Looking at his smile, the way his unreserved mouth, his full lips opened wide, his teeth shone in the light. His hair, cut short and brushed, ordered, the light blondness casting light like a beacon, drew her in, made her hungry for him. Until he looked her way. She turned, slightly away, looking vacantly yet keeping him in her peripheral, until h...

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Last night, Lori and I were up late, upgrading our computer from a Windows 7 operating system to a Windows 8 platform. When we started the process, I thought, "Cool: I can write tonight's blog post in a new environment." It took until almost 1:00 this morning to complete the upgrade and add Windows Media and Office, by which point I was barely keeping my eyes open. And my brain was unable to think up a topic to write about. Stupid Cyber Monday sale.

Brewmaster Joel Manning "Give a man a beer," he started, quoting his wife, "and he'll waste an hour." "Teach the man to brew," he continued, "and he'll waste a lifetime." Joel Manning has hardly wasted his life. As Mill Street's brewmaster, Joel has made some amazing beer and has raised the Canadian craft-beer industry to unparallelled limits. And last Thursday, he shared his knowledge and some of his great creations with 100 guests at the tenth-anniversary brewmaster's dinner at Ottawa's Mill Street Brew Pub. Joel, in addition to being a master brewer, is also entertaining and knowledgeable, sharing his wisdom behind beer and giving samples of some Mill Street creations that were available only at this pairing with some culinary genius. We also partook in some vintage barley wine (yes, it's beer too). The brewmaster's dinner was a 10-course evening that paired 10 beers: some of which I made notes; others,...

Did you see yesterday's sunrise? The one in Ottawa, that is. Spectacular. Because I was already at work when the sun painted our cloudy sky, I was limited as to what I could capture. Sadly, this is all I got. But there's another Ottawa blogger that I follow who was thinking about sunrise long before I did, who was set up long before I pulled into the office parking lot. His name is Chris, and his blog is Ottawa seen 365 ways in 365 days . And the photos that he shot yesterday morning are nothing short of amazing. Go on, go check them out. And then come back. Stellar, yes? With those photos in mind, why not check out what I was up to this week? Here's the roundup of The Brown Knowser : Beer O'Clock: MBA and Other Rewards —I earned a spot on Mill Street's coveted keg of fame. Finally. And I review a new beer. What Are We Teaching Our Kids? —seriously, society is messed up. Wordless Wednesday: Sarsaparilla Trail —so close to home but seemingly in...

Snow hasn't come to Ottawa yet, but it won't be long before we're covered in a frosty blanket, leaving us to shovel driveways and negotiate slippery roads. But the absence of snow didn't stop me from preparing a photo for the upcoming beer festival in February: WinterBrewed , part of the Winterlude festivities. The event will run on the Sparks Street Mall over the February 16-17 weekend, and will feature local craft brewers. Festival organizer, J.P. Fournier, asked me to help him create a photo to advertise the event. He had a beer bottle set up with a special label and a tiny toque and scarf. We also had some infant-sized mittens. All we were missing was snow. I was surprised at how quickly I came up with a solution: "There should be snow at the Walter Baker Sports Centre," I told him. There was almost always a pile near the back, where the Zamboni dumps it after cleaning the hockey rinks. Though I hadn't been there in a few weeks, I was sure th...

This week, I've been dabbling in poetry. I should stick to prose. I'm still playing with words, creating images. Whether I share what I've created with you is another matter. Don't hold your breath, but I may eventually work it into the novel I'm currently writing. When I realized that my poetry wasn't going to see today's post, I considered not posting at all. And so I relaxed and watched a little TV, listened to some music. And then played the music over again. And again. And again. I was listening to a CD. I haven't done that in a very long time. But I couldn't get enough. And then it came to me: I needed to share this music. The CD is one by a friend of mine that I first met on Twitter, then at a tweetup, then at a friend's home , then at a performance of The Vagina Monologues , and then again this week, when we shared a bottle of wine and chatted for a couple of hours. I walked away with the CD and a better understanding of this wond...

Because my girls have iPods, they download lots of kids games, most of which are free. I like free, because I don't have to say "no" very often to the kids' requests to download them, and if the games are crap we can delete them with no feelings that we wasted money. A couple of the games that they've downloaded are good enough that I, myself, have added them to my devices. For example, I like Jetpack Joyride and Mega Run : they're simple games where you have a character that runs and jumps over obstacles while trying to collect goodies. I'm actually quite addicted to Mega Run. One of the downsides of free games is that pop-ups appear, advertising other games to download. Every time I start a new round of Mega Run, I am offered other free games that I quickly reject. Most of the games look rather lame, but lately I've seen one game that has shocked me. This game : WTF?? Seriously, are these types of games aimed at my daughters? What i...

I feel such a sense of accomplishment. As many of you know, I have made Mill Street Brew Pub my second home. I try to make an appearance once a week, if not more. I have organized a few tweetups and hope to continue that tradition for as long as the brew pub allows. (I even hope to hold one in December: details will follow.) And I've attended their first Brewmaster Dinner and will be attending my second one this Thursday (and yes, I'll blog about that next week). And, if that wasn't enough, I write many blog posts from the bar and I'm also working on the sequel to Songsaengnim from time to time. So it is no surprise that I love that brew pub and will sing their praises every chance I get. But last week, I earned an honour that I've been working on pretty much since I started going to that pub in January . I've earned my MBA. Master of Beer Appreciation. Mill Street has a loyalty program that can earn patrons swag, such as t-shirts, pint glasses, bot...