bierkergaard

I am attempting to blog from my iPhone at a cafe in Quebec. Asymmetrical blogging. I have some time. I have a lot of espresso hurtling through my nervous system. If someone sneezes, I am so jittery that I might have a stroke. I first ordered a 16 ounce coffee, then a double espresso. Then, I accidentally gave the barista a ten dollar tip. The credit card processing system here in Canada is different than the U.S. Handheld devices. Prone to screw-up at the hands of dudes like me. Rather than retract the tip, I let the tip stand. The barista tried to dissuade me but it seemed like a Christmassy thing to do. He then repaid me by making me a single espresso for free. Now, I got the shakes. The little espresso cup trembles. I have found the Quebec natives to be quite reserved. I only know a bit of its culture, but this reticence seems historical. A walled city, where the French were beat in battle by the British in a sneak attack up a bad-ass hill during the French Indian War. Psychol...

This Fall, rather than pulling my kale out when it started to get cold, I decided to let nature take its course. I figured that soon enough, the kale would slowly freeze to death. A death by degrees. I would take no heroic measures to keep it alive. Instead, four days from Christmas Day, the kale is still kicking. All on its own. We have had a very warm Fall but the temps have dropped below freezing numerous times where frost was on the leaves in the morning. I had consulted a farmer friend of mine and he advised that kale can survive frosts. It dies when the thermometer gets in the mid-20's. Heck, I am feeling that I should wrap some Christmas lights around these sulfuric evergreens. I started growing kale about ten years ago around the time it was trending. But, I am not one of those foodie types that will pay 12 dollars for a plated dish of two sliced organic tomatoes drizzled with balsamic vinegar. Instead, I will spend two dollars and buy a plant. Kale grows well, is o...

John 1:4-5 In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness apprehended it not. I have affection for my post-industrial town of Columbia. A modern day Nazareth, a Charlie Brown type of town. Down on its luck, like a boxer who has taken one too many shots to the head who is on the ropes. I grew up on the Main Line of Philly. Now, I am on the wrong side of the tracks according to society. But, I like it here. There is no one to impress or carry on airs about. I have become part of a group, the Columbia-based Beer Theology posse. Five of us are behind the upcoming Libations: Craft Beer Church event   (Church and Beer, essentially) this coming Thursday night down in Lancaster City at the Community Room on King, known for those in the know as C-ROK. Please take note. We will recognize you as an insider if you use the abbreviation. We won't let you in otherwise. Innovation comes in from the edges and Columbia is on ...

This post doesn't specifically get into Facebook per se but it does speak about the nature of conflict. Since I work in a high school, I can say with absolute certainty that social media either magnifies the good or bad in people.   The 30 Years War was largely fought on German soil and reduced the country to desolation as hordes of mercenaries, left unpaid by their masters, lived off the land. Rapine, pillage and famine stalked the countryside as armies marched about, plundering towns, villages and farms as they went.  ‘We live like animals, eating bark and grass,’ says a pitiful entry in a family Bible from a Swabian village. ‘No one could have imagined that anything like this would happen to us. Many people say that there is no God...’ Wenceslas Hollar recorded devastation in the war zone in engravings of the 1630s and starvation reached such a point in the Rhineland that there were cases of cannibalism. The horror became a way of life and when the war finally ended...

I drove out to Pittsburgh Thanksgiving on the Pa. Turnpike. It is a road that is a monopoly because of the mountains. There is no other way to get out West without facing tons of local traffic and poor roads that go over the mountains rather than what the Turnpike does...tunneling through. Mucho dynamite was used back in the day. It is still a curvy and hilly drive. In the two decades tradition of heading out to Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving to visit my brother and his family, I have learned that it is best to stagger the trip a bit to travel on Thanksgiving and either come back Saturday or Monday. Sunday is a killer traffic jam because of aforementioned monopoly. I can't believe that the extra day is worth the hassle. Not my idea of starting the holiday season off with peace and serenity. Three days also doesn't wear out the welcome. Each day I had this delicious dish that Dawn, my brother's wife, prepared. It is really every food that I love best for Thanksgiving....

Dionysus has remained an inspiration to artists, philosophers and writers into the  modern era . In  The Birth of Tragedy  (1872), the German philosopher  Friedrich Nietzsche  proposed that a tension between  Apollonian and Dionysian  aesthetic principles underlay the development of  Greek tragedy ; Dionysus represented what was unrestrained chaotic and irrational, while Apollo represented the rational and ordered.Nietzsche claimed that the oldest forms of Greek Tragedy were entirely based on suffering of Dionysus. In Nietzsche's 1886 work.  Beyond Good and Evil , and later works  The Twilight of the Idols ,  The Antichrist  and  Ecce Homo , Dionysus is conceived as the embodiment of the unrestrained  will to power  (Wikipedia) . The pic is of Jim Morrison in the short film of their song "Summer's Almost Gone."  It was made a decade and change before MTV so I think it incorrect to call it a music vide...

Colossians 1:20 And God purposed that through (by the service, the intervention of) Him [the Son] all things should be completely reconciled back to Himself, whether on earth or in heaven, as through Him, [the Father] made peace by means of the blood of His cross. As I was heading to bed last night, I saw that there had been horrific attacks in Paris by Islamic terrorists.  It was not isolated and random. Preliminary reports suggest that over 24 individuals may have been involved in the attacks. Over a 100 people have died. One of the venues for the attack was at an Eagles of Death concert. Irony indeed, and a very sad one at that. One of their songs is "Don't Speak (I Came To Make A Bang)." Actions speak louder than lyrics. I am listening to their "Peace Love Death Metal" album (2004) right now.  I couldn't think of a more apt description of the ISIS version of peace and love through death and metal. Atonement by attack. A caliphate that kills a...

Psalm 62:3 Like a leaning wall and a tottering fence. This was the only reference I can find to a fence in the whole Bible. I took out the un-PC part of the verse because it is really not relevant to this blog post. About ten days ago, we have a gusty storm blow through during the late night and early morning. Earlier in the evening, I had noticed that the door had been blown off my plastic storage shed so I checked on it first thing in the morning at 5:20 when I got up for work. To my surprise, I saw this out in the backyard: It looked like a UFO had crashed in my backyard. It took me a sec to figure out that it was the townhouse 3 doors down trampoline. I walked out back and tried to move it and it weighed what felt like 200 pounds.  Earlier this summer, God had used the trampoline to remind me of the joys of childhood because the kids would  bounce on it for hours, laughing the whole time. I found myself having to correct my spirit. Initially, I was getting...

I was introduced to the power of shopping on Amazon.com from a woman I was and am good friends with...she was buying her nieces gifts and shipping them over a decade ago directly to Texas without first having bought retail, wrapped, and then sent. That seemed like a great way to cut the corner, rather than a protracted gift purchasing project. Amazon made me a cheerful giver because it was clean and efficient. With all of the negative press recently about how Amazon abuses its employees, forcing them to go all in and obliterate work-life balance, especially women who are moms, it makes me wonder if the issue that is driving such a Darwinian approach is actually the insatiable consumer demand, often from the same audience, who want their stuff yesterday? In other words, think about why it is happening. We are time-and-energy deprived from work, so we need to get stuff done quick and may be buying stuff to try an fill the abyss of our souls. If one finds a lion chasing you, get the...

Well, Dad's 80th Birthday Party was a smashing success. The setting for the celebration was the family Cabin up in upstate NY. Back before 9-11, from a trail close to the camp, one could see the Twin Towers in the distance. The camp was originally created by my grandparent's generation from the German Fatherland in the 1950s (my Father's parents immigrated from Germany in the aftermath of WWI) as a place to come to escape the non-AC summer swelter of some big city. Close enough to get to for the weekend, far enough away to feel like the city was left behind. Very German to have a small place in the country to relax away from the maddening pace of modern life. I have been coming to the Cabin since the early 1970's and have many positive memories of the place. The lake has been decreed by the powers that be to be pristine. People are not allowed out on the lake period. So, rather than being over-run by yahoos drinking beer and jet skiing, the lake is unperturbed. O...

I was visiting the Dentist's office this week for my 6 month cleaning and check-up. Besides the Soft Rock and Pop music which makes me want to puke, going to the Dentist for me is a fairly perfunctory affair. No drills or shots usually. I have one cavity and age 52 that is pretty good. I have hard teeth. Must be the same reason I have a hard head. Ever since the 1970's, going to the Dentist has only been to clean the choppers. I miss the spittoons and don't dig that sucker of saliva instrument because the grit the Hygienist uses to clean the teeth doesn't clear up well with the sucking action. Better to spew it from my mouth. I never follow the typical every six-month protocol for X-Rays. I learned during my visit that I am either going to have to comply with the X-Ray protocol or switch Dentists. The office has a rule that all patients must get X-Rays at least once every three years. Oh well, I fought the good fight. I just don't like the idea of radiation ...

I am heading to the Fam Cabin in New York for my Dad's 80th birthday celebration tomorrow. He actually does not turn 80 until next week on 10/18 but this weekend was the date that worked for all four brothers, which turned out to be a fairly elongated communication process. It seems a million years ago when we celebrated his 70th Birthday at the Cabin. Amazing how much shit can go down in a decade. I have washed ashore and am loving life again. But, it all worked out for this weekend despite the drama with the Bros. Actually, it was not that bad. Just some tectonic family plates creaking.   I have a killer case of brew, one that I spent at least an hour looking for, using my iPhone and checking the beer distributor's super-sized three ring binder for pricing. I like to shop for three things: Beer, Coffee, Books. All addictions-lite. I would fight to the death for words. willing to assume wounds for coffee, and I actually think I could give up beer. I would if God wa...

I was out for my five mile Sabbath Run today which is a run I take on Sunday through Columbia where I leave the watch at home, don't time, and don't push. Even on my fastest days, I am coming in at 11 minutes a mile. I am not even sure that is good enough to qualify for the Senior Games. To be fair, it is a hilly run. I just enjoy the jog on Sunday and it is still rigorous. Today, I noticed along Route 441, which is the busy North and South road that parallels the river, that there were pockets of flowers and vegetation that were quite beautiful amongst the trash, dirt, and exhaust. I had decided to bring my iPhone today on the run because the temps were in the low 50's and it was misty so I wore my rain jacket which has pockets to house the phone. I was hoping for a nice pic of the river but it just was an is a gray day as we are on the outskirts of the hurricane. Nothing majestic about that. So, I snapped a pic of these flowers instead in  the yard of a place that ...

Yesterday, our local Beer & Theology group had a table at Clocktoberfect. A meeting of Horologist which I think is the term for people who work on clocks. We have a world-class kick-ass Watch and Clock Museum here in Columbia, Pa. So there. I took this pic of an attendee's shirt. Beer is the milk of the old. So very wise M.L. As an aside, I decided yesterday to change my hometown on Twitter from Lancaster to Columbia because I do live in Columbia. For a Philly-Metro guy, it is hard for me to fess up that I am out here in the freaking frontier. But, it is a fact. Suck it up Big Man. Our Beer & Theology group, actually four of us yesterday (a fraction of our crew), showed up at C-Fest to hand-out information about our monthly meeting at Columbia Kettleworks where we, well, discuss theology and drink beer. We also passed out samples of our homebrew. My Belgian Quad "Silver Bells" was quite popular. I was like, to the samplers, "One for you, one for me....

ZZZZZZZZ Every few days, I wake up sometime in the middle of the night. 2:00 or 3:00 AM. Usually I get up because of my urinary alarm clock. After taking care of business, I typically fall back asleep. Not always though. I have learned not to fear this wakefulness at night because I typically think about God in a deeper manner than I do that any other time day or night. Worrying about not sleeping does little to wrestle and pin R.E.M. down on the mattress. Just the opposite. Wariness leads to weariness. If you ever want to mess with a man, mess with his sleep and he will go mad. Nixon apparently was an insomniac and attempted to find peace in wine, which only stirs up trouble beyond a glass or two. Hard to figure out if his paranoia created his sleeplessness or if sleeplessness created his paranoia. Maybe both. When the Devil can lock down two bad approaches to life in tandem, it creates psychological hand- cuffs. Just a few I can think off hand: Obesity and Lack of Exercise, A...

The last week here in Central Pennsylvania was quite hot and humid. Every day was hotter and humider than the last. As an oven on Broil.   The Summer as a whole was cooler and rainy as evidenced by the lack of Peppers out in my garden (Peppers like sun and heat) and the proliferation of Greens (Greens like Kale like it cooler and rainy). Last week, it was as if the Summer was trying to schedule in all of the swelter like someone does with vacation days before they expire. I get a horrible itch during hot/humid summers where my body turns into an awful conflagration of rash. The longer the summer goes, the worse it gets. This summer, until the last week, I was itch-free and then it came on bad. It is probably caused by a combo of hot and humid weather, lack of hydration, and showers stripping off my bodily oils with the help of soap and shampoo.     I am much more of a Green person. My ideal weather on Dial-A-Day would be sunny, in the 60's, with a cool wind. I l...

In the news recently, two high profile public persons deeply, aligned and identified with a brand or an institution, stars have imploded. Both entities connected to them are running away from them faster than you can say "Five Dollar Footlong." Jared Fogel and Bill Cosby. Jared Fogel of course was a morbidly obese man who lost half his girth to display the healthiness of Subway, only to be shown to have other morbid fascinations (sexual) with underage children and teens. He seemed like a nice guy, amiable. Really not much obvious talent besides consuming less calories than more for a period of time. Everyman. Cosby for years was a cranky cheerleader for Temple University. Temple attached its wagon to the Cosby star. Hoping for reflected glory, now Temple has institutional amnesia after years of milking the Cosby cow. Cosby, unlike Fogel, has decades of groundbreaking comedy and work to his credit. He was a Philly kid, Black, and Temple Grad who had done well. The prep...

My best buddy has a cabin up in the woods 1.5 hours north of Harrisburg. It is actually his house, not a weekender. It is where he lives full-time except when having to travel to his actual place of work. He does his work remotely and I mean remotely. Sprint (now CenturyLink) years ago ran a DSL connection across his street. I suppose it had to mine opportunity where the bigger players weren't vested. Comcast would call it chump change and CenturyLink is rather chump-like. They were the only utility that didn't respond to my repeated "call before you dig" notification when I was excavating my garden out back and that nearly resulted in me severing their phone/DSL line. By process of elimination, I figured out it was them. Sure, I will sign up for your cut-rate shitty sub-par service. I would really like to stick it to Comcast but just don't have the means if CenturyLink is my only weapon. Like the Poles on horses attacking the Germans in tanks at the star...