Ladies and Gentlemen...

...Welcome to the show!

I was recently asked by a friend to attempt to describe myself using five, and only five words. I took a minute, thought about it, and this is what I came up with:

"Domestic circus freak who brews."

We decided that, given the limitation, this was a fairly good fit for me. Let me see if I can explain why.

Domestic...

I can sew. I can cook. I can bake. I can (though often choose not to) clean. I keep house plants alive, play in gardens, paint houses, fix drains, and generally am not the worse person to have in your house. But the big one (two, really) is cooking and baking. As of yesterday, I started classes at the Great Lakes Culinary Institute, and will, in two years time, finish up with an Associated degree in Culinary Arts.

...circus freak...

I am one. I joined a circus club while enrolled at Kalamazoo College. We called ourselves Cirque du K. From them I learned all manner of circus skills: juggling, poi spinning, rolla-bolla, aerial silks, partner acrobatics, and a few other tricks. Now I work as a part time circus coach for a program called Starfish Circus. I use circus to teach children self-esteem and how to just play and have fun. While stressful at times, it is an incredibly rewarding job.

...who brews

This is my main hobby. I love brewing beer. I love reading about it, I love talking about it, I love doing it, and I enjoy drinking the finished product. Like so many hobbies, you can simply dabble in it, have some fun, and try something new, or you can geek out to the max, studying in-depth topics and advanced techniques, pushing consuming every bit of available knowledge and discovering completely new things. When it comes to beer, I venture down this second path.

So that's me in a nutshell. Also, that pretty much sums up the topics of this blog. I will try to keep posts limited to food, beer, and circus-related topics. I may even succeed.