Island in the Net

Seward Johnson's “Newspaper Reader” located at Princeton's Battle Monument park.

2017-08-19 / 0 Comments

Saturday Links Week 33

Aperture—ƒ/4
Camera—NIKON D5100
Copyright—© 2014 Khürt Williams
Focal length—35mm
ISO—200
Shutter speed—1/160s

Virginian multi-culturalism.

When I first moved to Northern Virginia in 1980, it was common to see Confederate flags and to hear “good ol’ boys” talk with racist overtones. Today the region is a multicultural success, has some of the best schools in the country, and is renowned for its globe-spanning ethnic food.
…
It also helps that Virginia’s immigrants are a mix of nationalities, with no one dominant ethnic group. That has encouraged broad-based assimilation, and prevented any single, easily identifiable group from being a source of social tensions.Bloomberg via Tyler Cowen

Dan Fredinburg, a Google executive who was killed during the 2015 Nepal earthquake:

WHILE CLIMBING CARSTENZ PYRAMID, the tallest mountain in Oceania, a fellow climber fell, lost a lot of her blood, and nearly died of hypothermia. Had we returned on the 6 day trek through the jungle that we used on the way in, she would have certainly died. To rescue her, I smuggled her through Grasberg Mine, the largest gold mine in the world. Along the way, we risked being shot by mercenaries, had our friends kidnapped and held hostage, and then were ultimately arrested and imprisoned inside a jail inside the gold mine. And I was on Mt Everest this year when an ice serac fell into the icefall and killed all but my team on the mountain. Afterwards we executed body recovery and then climbed back down through the damaged route. But these were mostly calculated risks.

If I had to select the greatest risk I’ve taken in my life, it has been to throw myself into a romantic relationship with someone to reach a point of deep, illogical and visceral love. To a point where emotion and human connection overpowers any reason and safety. To be vulnerable psychologically and emotionally. This is real risk, with the greatest reward.DAN FREDINBURG

Every Saturday, I share a list of inspiring or interesting articles that I read during the week. Here’s what I read this week.

2017-08-18 / 0 Comments

Hollow Earth Brewing

Aperture—ƒ/2.8
Camera—NIKON D5100
Taken—6 August, 2017
Copyright—© 2017 Khürt L. Williams
Focal length—35mm
ISO—560
Location—39° 47.15′ 0″ N 75° 58.7′ 0″ W
Shutter speed—1/200s

Last weekend Bhavna and I drove a few hours out to Oxford, Pennsylvania. We wanted to visit Hollow Earth Brewing and try the New England style IPA. A few weeks earlier — maybe even a month or more — we met one of the brewers sitting at the bar at Brick Farm Tavern. He was there with his girlfriend drinking some of the craft ales produced by Troon Brewing. He had seen on Untappd that Troon was rising in the popularity rankings. It’s currently rated among the top 25 breweries in the United States on Untappd.

We talked about the town of Oxford and the sort of beer he likes brewing. Bhavna and I promised we would travel out to visit the brewery. We were happy we found the time to make good on our promise. The ales were excellent.

Bhavna and I arrived just around noon. The friendly staff showed us the menu and recommended the mushroom tacos for lunch. That worked well for both of us. Bhavna is vegetarian.

We each sampled four 4oz pours (16oz total or one pint). My favourite was the Riot Juice. Delicious! We liked it so much we took some home with us. Hollow Earth Brewing prepared cans of beer while we waited. Right in front of us. They have a canning machine at the bar. We watched as our server filled each can and seal it and put a dated label on each. How cool is that?

We got in the car and drove toward Ardmore toward the next stop on our road trip.