On Halloween (kind of weird), I had a partial nephrectomy; ~25% of my left kidney was removed.     I had a surgeon at Johns Hopkins who is considered one of the best.    He completed the surgery using a minimally invasive robotic laparoscopic technique – 5 holes but who is counting?.   When I think back it makes me laugh that they considered it minimally invasive.   It wasn’t pleasant but when the choice is do nothing and eventually die or have surgery, it really doesn’t matter.

Fast forward to the present – I’m cancer free and just need to keep up with periodic monitoring.    That is the awesome news.    The bad news – no one can ever tell you it isn’t coming back.  Frankly, that has been the worst part of this ordeal.      But the more time passes, the more I realize I’m the same guy with the same interests.    Cancer isn’t going to define me.    I have the same great friends and family, but now I appreciate things just a little bit more.     I’ve just happened to experience more emotions than I’ve ever known existed.  

Thanks for the support and stay tuned, I hope to post more in the upcoming months.

"I really reject the notion that beer is meant to be collected," Laffler said, referring to some of the bourbon barrels he used to brew Goose Island’s now-retired Bourbon County Rare. "Beer is a reflection of time and a moment. It’s not meant to be kept forever."

The liquor lobby is incredibly strong in Maryland and I can’t see them giving up any control unless they are compelled.  More details here.

Lately, one of Dick’s favorite beers is Hoegaarden; aka, that refreshing orange-flavored beer.   This was a special batch as he was able to join me for the brew session (#53).   It is really just Jamil’s recipe but I tuned it a little for my system.

Am I the only one who thinks Wine Spectator missed quite a few restaurants with excellent wine lists?    Some of the entries on the overall list are questionable at best.   Just my $.02.

"Three hundred or four hundred years ago, a group of Paulaner monks in a Bavarian region had made a stronger beer in a town called Einbeck and they called it bock. The monks started making a stronger beer, a double beer, called doppelbock," Sorensen said. "The story goes the monks would give up eating and literally would drink this ‘liquid bread’ to sustain them through their Lenten fast."

It allows 18 shipments per year, but Maryland citizens are only allowed to buy wine shipped directly from wineries. The bill does not allow people to buy wine from retail outlets or auction houses.

Sorry everyone – you aren’t going to be shipping in that hard to find beer.  

More details here.

It’s clear that this bill isn’t everything that everyone wanted, but it represents progress and I’m glad to take it.       With that said, I still feel that the distributors are entirely too strong in this state.    Short and simple – their lobby killed the effort to be able to buy wine from any retailer.

UPDATE: More info here.

The wait can sometimes be long (not many tables), but this place serves up all your favorite American classics at reasonable prices.    French Dips, Burgers, Mac N Cheese ….

I highly recommend this place for lunch if/when you are in the area.
More reviews here.