brewdude2112's Xanga

Mountain weekend

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 12:16:47 GMT

Shigeko and I had a wonderful weekend in Colorado Springs. Weather was great, food was sublime and all was enjoyed in a state of utter relaxation.

West of Salina, headed to the Mountains.

Near Colby, Ks. A prairie dog village.

At the Main Garden formation in Garden of the Gods.

On the hiking loop around the main formations This was about 9:30 in the morning.

Big Horn Sheep. The photo is at the extreme range for the camera which is why it is a little blurry. They were about a half mile away.

This formation is called "Siamese Twins"

Pikes Peak as seen through the Siamese Twins.

Shigeko on the Siamese Twins.

Later we went to the Manitou Springs Cliff Dwellings.

And to the top of Pikes Peak. It was a busy day.

We rode the cog train up to the top. much easier than driving or walking :)

Sigh at the top. It was about 38 degrees at the top but 80 at the bottom.

This is "Cave of the Winds". We toured it on the last day before we headed home. 3 days is too short a time to have in such a beautiful place.

summertime

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:51:55 GMT

I have been getting some study for my thesis done, but mostly have tried to decompress a little from last school year. It was a bit tougher than I expected, and to be fair this is really the first time I have ever stressed about grades. Not many pictures to put up. Last month my wife got to go visit her family. I was very jealous of the good food she got to eat for ten days.

This if my Wife and the in-laws at Ishikawa, the place we had our rehearsal dinner.

This is their tuna and shark sashimi dish. It is what makes this place famous.

This is maguro from the best sushi place we found in Japan. My wife and I love it. I just wish I was there too. maybe next year.

My vacation so far has included a run out to Salina to see a couple of World War II Aircraft that are touring the country. Nerdy, yes, but also very cool to see the P-51 and B-24 actually flying in. Very different from seeing them just sitting on the ground. the pics, though are just them sitting.

Even sitting still the P-51 looks fast and mean.

The B-24, not as photogenic as a B-17 but has a feeling of power to it.

Just this week I went to Kansas City to see Gov't Mule. I forgot the camera for this one but concert photos all look alike and you go to hear the songs. This band just keeps getting better and better in my mind.

Well, back to work.

School is out

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 10:37:06 GMT

and I am keeping busy around the house. All storm windows down and cleaned, 2 screens replaced and the deck watersealed. Garden is giving me my usual fits. Rabbits seem to like peppers. We got a small strawberry crop and just a few pieces of Asparagus. Peas and Green Beans are starting to produce. The zuchinni (sp) looks good as do the tomatoes.

Some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Flowers are looking fine this year

These roses look really good

One of the other posers mentioned a long time back that she was seeking out photos with the circle theme so here are some.

The above two by my lovely wife last winter

The rest are by me on our last Japan visit. They have the coolest utility covers

That is all for now.

Whew

Wed, 27 May 2009 21:56:45 GMT

This grad school stuff is a little harder than it looks. I survived the semester, wrote lots of papers, read lots of books, made tea at a Japanese festival, and did not go totally insane. all is well. Hope to post more soon.

Spring Break...

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 21:57:44 GMT

...but not for busy little grad students. Weather was beautiful today but most of my time was spent reading. Prepping the garden for planting in about 2 or 3 weeks. Writing a syllabus and a foreign relations paper. I sometimes wonder why I did this, but then I have to unclog a pipe and remember that I would rather be reading and writing than unclogging drains.

Friday I will take a break and celebrate the arrival of spring with a BBQ for some of the department.

Hope those thatread this are well.

Pin, Mel, I wish I was back there so we could do some Hanami together. I miss drinking under the blossoms.

and Privateers

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 19:29:20 GMT

This weeks Military thought class has me reading N.A.M Roger. He wrote two large and long volumes on the history of the British Navy. Good stuff. For example, between 1750 and 1757 the British Navy took in 110,049 tuns of beer (and condemned as unfit .9% of that amount). A tun of beer is 954 liters. Conclusion, Navy life may have been hard, but at least they gave you loads of beer.

Pirates

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 03:23:40 GMT

Well, tonight I got to help lead my foreign policy class. Two other students and I chose to jump in fast and get the discussion leader day done quick. we had to run the entire three hour class and the topic was the Barbary Pirates and the wars we had with them. kind of cool stuff if you like Pirates, or Marines, or blowing stuff up.

and it begins

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 12:34:00 GMT

first week of school. getting all my texts sorted and plunging into my readings. Kick it all off with Clausewitz "On War", "Ideology and U.S. Foreign Policy" by Hunt, and chapters 3 and 4 of "Theory and Method in the Study of Religion" . Sounds terribly exciting doesn't it? Should not be too horribly difficult this semester but time will tell. Wishing spring would get here sooner, sick of being cold in the morning.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Sat, 10 Jan 2009 03:18:57 GMT

holidays were quiet. I did well last semester. One of my resolutions is to start trying to write in this thing again. Only time will tell

Been very busy

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 15:25:04 GMT

Like a one armed paper hanger type busy. Not much time to blog, but I did want to add a pic of last summers vacation. This is my father in law and I after landing a couple of very tasty Wahoo. Dinner that night was...Wahoo sashimi with grilled wahoo. It was very tasty

The one I am holding was 35 lbs, the other about 20. we took the little one and the boat captain got to keep the big one (something to do with Hawaiian fishing regulations, boat owns all fish caught on charters or some nonsense). Did not really matter, the little one fed 10 people with about 5 lbs left to give to one of my little bros friends that lives on the big island.

Will try and add some more pics and maybe even write something every so often.