Parallel Johnny

So while cleaning my room and looking for photos to scan with my new scanner, I came across my leadership camp stuff. A binder and a bag. The bag was full of ‘warm fuzzies’, small notes and messages from the people I met that week. Most said they liked my hair (it was dark and spikey with navy blue streaks),. Ohers mentioned my cheerleading abilities (our skit where the guys cheerlead and I showed them I could do a toe-touch). It was a really great week and I think how I didn’t keep in contact with a single one of them for more than a year. The longest was Vanessa, who came to my graduation. She was the coolest. She was very quiet the first few days until one day she broke her silence with “hey, everyone poops.” How could I not befriend someone with a toilet sense of humor?

One person I really wish I knew how to get a hold of was Kyle Grant. This guy was awesome. Not only were we in the same council, but we were roomates as well. He was very intelligent and talented. A singer, actor, NHS memeber, SC member, and he played an instrument as well. His entire summer was filled with specialty camps, he came straight from Blue Lake Fine Arts to CMU for this, then he was to go to his HS camp afterwards. His ‘fuzzy’ thanked me for making his week of camp not suck.

Lastly, in my binder among all this other paperwork was a roster of my council. It listed each person’s full name, high school, address, number, and email (as much as the person wanted to give out). Thanks to social websites like facebook and myspace I was able to find a few people from my council. Do I message them? Its been 4 years since I met these people and I only met them for a week. Does this seem stalker-like? I don’t want to scare these people off, but it’d be nice to say hello.

Also, unfortunately there are way too many ‘Kyle Grant’s in Michigan to figure out which one is him. There are two at Wayne alone. Maybe some Wayne theater people can help me figure if the theater major one is him.

Comment what you think.

A few more pictures from camp can be found in my gallery.

I haven’t done a beer blog in quite some time. That in no way means I haven’t been drinking beer. Far from it, in fact.

Last week, I went to a place called Dragonmead. Its a small bar that only serves their own brews. They have about 30 beers on tap at a time, depending on the season. I chose Bill’s Witbier, Belgian style wheat lager (they classified it as an ale, but it definitely tasted like a lager). The added hops gave it a very clean taste; no esters. Its not my favorite style of beer, but I did enjoy it. 4.9% APV.

Last night was a quick visit to the Double Olive. I love their large selection of bottled beer, but the last few visits I’ve been trying their beers on tap. I recognized the uniquely shaped tap of Bell’s Brewery and asked for whetever was in it. It turned out to be Bell’s Porter.
Bell’s Porter
Type: Plain Porter
APV: 6%
Location: Kalamazoo, MI
Brewery: Bell’s Brewery

A very sweet porter. For those unaware of what a porter is, think of a cousin to a stout (technically a stout is a porter as well, but you can read that in wikipedia). Very dark, roasted malts gave it a coffee flavor. Despite its dark appearance, it was very smooth and easy going down. If your not quite up to the ”challenge’ of a dry stout like Guinesss, I suggest Bell’s porter. Also note it is one of Bell’s year-long brews (only a few more months until its Oberon season).

I should also mention that a prior visit to the Double Olive, I tried their most popular tap, Stella Artios. Theres not too much to say about it, because it is another Belgian style wheat ale, Like Bill’s Witbier. I will say it had a bit more fruity aftertaste in comparison to Bill’s. Once again, its not one of my favorite choices.

Stella Artois
Type: Belgian Lager
APV: 5.2%
Location: Belgium
Brewery: Stella Artois