Friday Four

1. The beer-a-day calendar on my desk recently featured a short list of "can't go wrong beers". Founder's Breakfast Stout made the list. Here's the brewer's description:

The coffee lover's consummate beer. Brewed with an abundance of flaked oats, bitter and imported chocolates, and Sumatra and Kona coffee, this stout has an intense fresh-roasted java nose topped with a frothy, cinnamon-colored head that goes forever.

Based on my limited experience of its quality, it definitely belongs on the list. Its rating at Beer Advocate and my poor luck at finding it on shelves indicate that I may not be alone in holding such an opinion.

2. My daughter had been sick with a cold, but bounced back strongly one morning early this week. She was radiantly happy and so enthusiastic about everything in general, in fact, that I was disappointed that it was a daycare day. While she was sick, she didn't seem to care which clothes I dressed her in in the morning, but that changed. I saw a pretty, mostly yellow floral jumper. "Would you like to wear this? I asked, not really expecting much of a reply. "Yeah!" She said. She even called it a "jumper", which was a word I didn't know she knew.

The next day was funny. She saw my green and blue shirt and decided she wanted to wear green. Sadly, blue-green was as close as we could get. After her initial disappointment, Momma Van Horn offered to wear a shirt and pants that matched her. She liked that idea, of course.

3. I love the name of the company, and they have an interesting idea:

For many people, on many occasions, food is a hassle, especially when trying to eat well. Suppose we had a default meal that was the nutritional equivalent of water: cheap, healthy, convenient and ubiquitous. Soylent will be personalized for different body types and customizable based on individual goals. It allows one to enjoy the health benefits of a well balanced diet with less effort and cost. [bold added]

I'm not part of the target demographic: I enjoy cooking food and eating it too much. Also, I am not confident enough about the state of knowledge of the field of nutrition to contemplate subsisting on this, even if I were so inclined.

4. The title both says it all, and compels one to learn more: "I was Struck by Lightning Yesterday--and Boy am I Sore". I'm glad this guy is okay!

-- CAV