Blog Tracker
13-08-2010, 00:33
Visit the Student Brewer site (http://studentbrewer.blogspot.com/2010/08/matter-of-perspective.html)
It's not every day I feel the need to write a blog at 1am. But tonight has been a little bit special for me.
Firstly, everything for the beer festival has been sorted. Quite literally I'm just waiting to hear back from a couple of the beer writers doing tastings as to which beers they'll be talking about. To be honest it's a huge weight off my mind. Now I just have to order the beer, sort out the stillage and staff the festival. Easy (said with a shaking head)
I went out for a drink with my dad tonight. Now, dad and I don't always see eye to eye. He lets me run the bar as I see fit, and he's happy with the result. In the kitchen, occasionally he'll over-rule me a suggest I do a special in a different way, or with a different sauce. But on the whole recently we seem to be agreeing a lot more, which is making life a bit easier for both of us and work a bit more fun.
Coming back, I found out my sister has come for a visit. Again, in the past we've had our differences but as we sat down at 11pm, a drink each round the large table by the bar, the staff quietly excused themselves and left us to it. And we chatted about the bar, the changes, whether we're changing the lagers too often (I see their point but it's not every day you get the chance to but Brooklyn lager on tap). Overall a great evening.
Coming back into my room I find @marktharparms and @richardmackney tweeting about a meteor shower. I did GCSE astrology back at school (never took the exam but glad I took it up as a hobby) and so could find a couple of constelations, and was surprised when I looked out about midnight to find a perfectly clear sky. We're in Wales after all, perfectly clear skies happen as often as a meteor shower...
I counted about a dozen. Standing in the beer garden, shivering like a cold 23 year old in a beer garden at midnight, I watched as more and more stars came into my field of vision, the result of me walking away from the motion-flood lights and my eyes adjusting. And then came the show. I was only out for 10 minutes, silently sipping my Leffe blonde and staring up. First 1 shooting star, so feint I thought I'd turned my head too quickly and just seen a blur of a star. But then they came thick and fast, bright and clear, proud as anything. I cried.
I haven't seen my son and partner in a week, the pub has been so busy I haven't had time to unwind and being in the position I'm in I find myself regularly feeling lonely. That's why the chance to catch up with other brewers and publicans at events like the GBBF appeal to me so much.
Seeing these shooting stars, on a night when the sky was literally filled with stars, just made me think, why worry. At the end of the day, we're here for a few years. Those shooting stars were visible for 3-4 seconds. Beer, staff, work, brewing, none of it really matters. The important thing is having people around you that make life enjoyable. And I do. Realising that some people don't have that basic need is quite moving. I'm not religious, I'm firmly in the science camp. But as humans we're social creatures. Hence why the pub is so important. Anyone can drink at home. Either alone or with their family, but having a couple of drinks in a pub full of people, whether you talk to them or not your enjoying the same experience. And that's the important thing. Sharing experiences.
So this week, I'm going to take my partner out for a meal. Take my son swimming, and my sister out for a drink. And enjoy every minute of it.https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5810592934633194812-5088449359876043001?l=studentbrewer.blogspot.com
More... (http://studentbrewer.blogspot.com/2010/08/matter-of-perspective.html)
It's not every day I feel the need to write a blog at 1am. But tonight has been a little bit special for me.
Firstly, everything for the beer festival has been sorted. Quite literally I'm just waiting to hear back from a couple of the beer writers doing tastings as to which beers they'll be talking about. To be honest it's a huge weight off my mind. Now I just have to order the beer, sort out the stillage and staff the festival. Easy (said with a shaking head)
I went out for a drink with my dad tonight. Now, dad and I don't always see eye to eye. He lets me run the bar as I see fit, and he's happy with the result. In the kitchen, occasionally he'll over-rule me a suggest I do a special in a different way, or with a different sauce. But on the whole recently we seem to be agreeing a lot more, which is making life a bit easier for both of us and work a bit more fun.
Coming back, I found out my sister has come for a visit. Again, in the past we've had our differences but as we sat down at 11pm, a drink each round the large table by the bar, the staff quietly excused themselves and left us to it. And we chatted about the bar, the changes, whether we're changing the lagers too often (I see their point but it's not every day you get the chance to but Brooklyn lager on tap). Overall a great evening.
Coming back into my room I find @marktharparms and @richardmackney tweeting about a meteor shower. I did GCSE astrology back at school (never took the exam but glad I took it up as a hobby) and so could find a couple of constelations, and was surprised when I looked out about midnight to find a perfectly clear sky. We're in Wales after all, perfectly clear skies happen as often as a meteor shower...
I counted about a dozen. Standing in the beer garden, shivering like a cold 23 year old in a beer garden at midnight, I watched as more and more stars came into my field of vision, the result of me walking away from the motion-flood lights and my eyes adjusting. And then came the show. I was only out for 10 minutes, silently sipping my Leffe blonde and staring up. First 1 shooting star, so feint I thought I'd turned my head too quickly and just seen a blur of a star. But then they came thick and fast, bright and clear, proud as anything. I cried.
I haven't seen my son and partner in a week, the pub has been so busy I haven't had time to unwind and being in the position I'm in I find myself regularly feeling lonely. That's why the chance to catch up with other brewers and publicans at events like the GBBF appeal to me so much.
Seeing these shooting stars, on a night when the sky was literally filled with stars, just made me think, why worry. At the end of the day, we're here for a few years. Those shooting stars were visible for 3-4 seconds. Beer, staff, work, brewing, none of it really matters. The important thing is having people around you that make life enjoyable. And I do. Realising that some people don't have that basic need is quite moving. I'm not religious, I'm firmly in the science camp. But as humans we're social creatures. Hence why the pub is so important. Anyone can drink at home. Either alone or with their family, but having a couple of drinks in a pub full of people, whether you talk to them or not your enjoying the same experience. And that's the important thing. Sharing experiences.
So this week, I'm going to take my partner out for a meal. Take my son swimming, and my sister out for a drink. And enjoy every minute of it.https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5810592934633194812-5088449359876043001?l=studentbrewer.blogspot.com
More... (http://studentbrewer.blogspot.com/2010/08/matter-of-perspective.html)