bierkergaard

I run around my neighborhood like a I would a track, except it is hilly. Never really knew why they called Mountville its name until I actually did more than just drive through it on 462 which is a flat as a pancake. So there is the Mount part and the Ville part. In my hood, it seems like almost everyone has a dog. I am one of those people who loves most dogs but don't really want the responsibility of taking care of it. So, I get to pet all of my furry neighbors when they are out for a walk and then they go their way and I go mine. Kind of Rent-A-Pet. I win, the dog wins. And, I get to know the people on the block. I have notice a principle in and around where I live. The smaller the dog, the nastier, vicious, and downright mean these little canine Hitler's are...there are of course some exceptions, like my neighbor's chihuahua who is totally chill and a small white little curly thing who peers at me cautiously. Small souls, like dogs, get meaner the smaller they are. ...

On Sunday night I watched a documentary about Tupac Shakur called Thug Angel . Lina is not a big fan of documentaries...but I am, so I am packing them in while she is away. The Wifi download option from Netflix is sweet. This documentary was a story of Tupac's life from start to finish, and a brutal end it was. There was a a video of him in the film when he was 17. He was quite a sensitive, perceptive, socially-conscious, and intelligent kid. Someone who I'd relish talking with as a school counselor. In the video, he recounted how there was a girl that he really loved who broke up with him because he treated her too well. Apparently, he was "too nice" in her words. The prototypical girl who loved bad boys. Ah, the sins of Eve. It seemed to be a turning point for Tupac because soon after, he embraced all things thug. He made millions. But that kid who wanted to be a force for good became an agent of evil. It was as if he said, "You want a bad-ass Nigga (he used Ni...

On the way home from work, I was listening to NPR. Yes. me hard-core Conservative that I am. I am so ashamed. Nonetheless, there was a piece aired about French Shepherd's Pie and a new book called "Around My French Table" . The author mentioned some ingredients and I began to envision what our fridge had in it to see if I could whip something up like it when I got home. A couple of days ago I had taken a 4 lb pork shoulder out of deep freeze and was thinking a stew. So, I had the meat. If you have the meat, like solid doctrine, you can go from there. Butter, yep, onions, yep, heavy cream, nope (but we did have some cream cheese, close enough), garlic, yep, carrots, yep. Although we have a pile of potatoes, I passed b/c I am trying to cut carbs. When I arrived home, I did a quick search for a pork shoulder stew recipe. I found something called Bavarian Pork Tenderloin Stew, just so I could check measurements. Not much into the slacker French these days. I also added some...

I heard a provocative talk from Christian musician, author, and speaker John Fisher several years ago around Halloween time where he deftly explained a wise perspective on the celebration of Halloween. Much of the same thoughts are in his essay "Home for Halloween." The main point I remember from his talk is that some Christians take the one night where the neighbors actually walk around with their kids and interact, and boycott the celebration b/c of their concern that the night is sponsored by Satan Inc. Fisher did identify where Christians should draw the line on the macabre, gruesome, and nefarious elements of the celebration. The mindless embrace or the cold shoulder approach to Halloween are both less than the biblical ideal. Just because some of what is in the Halloween bag is evil, doesn't mean that we have to throw the whole bag out. Some churches sponsor a Reformation Day (Oct 31) where it is advised that the kiddos dress up like Luther and Calvin. Now, th...

Yesterday, I went to the local chop shop here in Mountville to get my hair mowed down to stubble. I have an unusual problem for a 47 year old. My hair grows quickly, and not just out of my ears (like a lot of other aging dudes). Not that I don't have that issue, mind you. Last week I wrote about our CSA where we got over-run with weekly produce. I have the same issue with my mane. It is as if my follicles are trapped in a teenage timewarp and don't act their age. While most guys, by the time they have seen as many moons as I have, massage and cajole their remaining hair to just hold on--some even rubbing in that nasty Rogaine glub--my hair just grows on blissfully unaware that it is not acting its age. I have a dilemma when I get my haircut...if I get it cut the way I like it length-wise, it is not too long, before it is too long. So, I got it cut short. The barber hesitated on the top of my head like a downhill skier at the apex of the mountain, asking me if I was sure that ...

So Lina left today for a three week business trip...three weeks! Her travel itinerary looks like something from a game of Risk. No Irkutsk. Yet. I will be Bachin' it for 21 days...I am going to de-evolve back into a dust and dirt oblivious beast. Four years of marriage domesticity and training lost. But, I am looking for a hard-core housekeeper to do a cleaning intervention a day or two before Lina returns. Willing to pay a cold pile of cash. The initial elation of being alone, being able to do what I want, wears off soon enough...I start to recall the lonely nights and inward chants of nobody loves me, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner, and listless weekends where I didn't have the guts to tough out one more Singles event crammed full of Divorcees with kids. I love my wife, and sometimes her leaving reminds me of this the best. The object around the house that makes me most sad when Lina is away is her empty slippers with that faux fur inside. They sit next to the...

In the last several years, I have been trying to drink more water. Some H2O authorities state that the average person should divide their body weight by two and drink the ounces of what that number is...so I weigh 230 lbs, I should be drinking about 115 ounces of water a day. Not all at once, but in hourly aquatic allocations. It is supposed to be healthier to be hydrated (yeah, that is the word, after several minutes of pondering) . I do find that I walk the three blocks to the men's faculty bathroom at work a lot more...and the trot is good for me. But, it just seems to be too much agua. Yet, I attempt to quaff two 16 oz glasses in the morning and another two glasses when I get home from work. So, I am around 80 oz's a day from that and other sources. Lina and I have found leaving the Brita container on the kitchen counter to be the best reminder to drink water. I like my water either hot or cold, but in this case, lukewarm seems to be unavoidable. When we stick the contain...