Arrogant Bastard Ale

I have a new favorite beer, or at least in the top 5.
If I had to choose a favorite beer in the past it would be either Beck’s or Guinness. Recently, I wanted to try some Red Hook ESB but I want to buy a single bottle. Safeway only carried six packs. So I finally went to Bevmo. After extensive looking around I found that they only carried Red Hook in six packs as well. At $13-$15 a six pack I did not want to try a new beer and possibly be stuck with 5 extra bottles. Although, I have had Red Hook in the past it was many years ago and I don’t remember the taste.

I did not want to leave empty handed. I really wanted to try something new. I came across the Stone Brewing Company display and read the review cards. Arrogant Bastard Ale looked promising. Excellent choice! Arrogant Bastard tastes as described. It has a refreshing crisp flavor with a nice bite.
To my surprise Safeway also carries Arrogant Bastard, at least for now.

Two other beers I picked up that I enjoy from time to time were Old Rasputin Stout and Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout. Samuel Smith Imperial Stout is in my top 5 of favorites.

Night of the Living Book Club meetings

The Night of the Living Book Club will no longer meet at Books Inc in Mountain View after the September selection. I no longer work for Books Inc. and communication about dates and times as become difficult. I will discuss with the few participants if there is any interest to continue the club elsewhere. I may continue it on my own at a local coffee shop. If that happens I will make the club bi-monthly. Once a month is just too far apart per book discussion. I am reading 4-5 horror books a month plus at least 2 more of non-fiction topics. Most horror books are not difficult and average 400 pages.

July selection: Urban Gothic by Brian Keene

August selection: Ghost Story by Peter Straub

September selection: Sparrow Rock by Nate Kenyon

iMac i7 appreciation

A little while ago I purchased a refurbished iMac i7 to replace my aging iMac 20-inch. My last four Macs have been refurbished models. The 27″ screen is amazing. The size allows me to have two full page windows open and viewable at the same time. I only have 4 GB of RAM for now, which should be plenty for what I do, but 8 GB couldn’t hurt.
I initially was using the wireless small keyboard with the Magic Mouse, but have recently changed back to a more traditional set-up. I now use a wired Apple full-size keyboard and a Logitech M500 corded mouse or a Kensington Expert Mouse trackball. I prefer the full-size wired keyboard with number pad. The Magic Mouse works great, nice feel and responsive to Multi-Touch but was a bit twitchy at times on some web sites I visited and would occasionally lose the bluetooth connection. Battery life was not a big deal since I used rechargeable AAs and would monitor remaining charge. But I did grow tired of that and wired components don’t bother me and I never have connection issues.

Current: iMac i7
Past: iMac 20-inch

See a more complete computer history under About tab.