Two Sentence Horror Stories

The Meta Picture put up "Proof That You Only Need Two Sentences To Make The Perfect Scary Story".  I kind of wanted to share, but only just under a third of them were actually, you know, good.  So here are the ones I enjoyed.  I'm especially taken with the last one, which is why it's last, of course.

Yakima Valley Beer Trail - Scott's 30th Birthday

For Scott's birthday next month, we are planning a beergrimage through Washington's hop country, the Yakima Valley.  We welcome company for the entire trail, but Scott would especially like to see friends in the evening hours in Prosser.  We have tables reserved at Whitstran Brewing at 6pm and they close at 9pm.  After some time there, we'll mosey on down to the Horse Heaven Saloon which closes at 10pm.

Here's the plan for the afternoon leading up to that:

We both have the afternoon off of work, so we'll get started early with about a 1:00 lunch in Sunnyside at Snipes Mountain Brewing.  Starting in a rustic mountain lodge setting (in a valley?) and ending in a saloon, this trip might have a little Western influence.

From there we'll head to Toppenish for the American Hop Museum.  It is surprisingly the only one of it's kind in the United States, and is exactly the sort of cute curiosity that we love to visit.  Also in Toppenish are 75 murals depicting area history between 1840 and 1940.  We'll have to do a little exploring to check them out.

Scenic Konnowac Pass will take us through the hop fields and vineyards to Bale Breaker Brewing Company.  Bale Breaker just opened a year ago, but the owners are fourth-generation hop growers.  Their family farm has been growing hops since 1932, the year before prohibition ended.  Forward thinkers, those folks.

Somewhere around 4:00 when Yakima Craft Brewing Company's Taproom opens for the day, we'll head that way for some pub snacks and a sampler tray.  I'm looking forward to trying their Twin Stag Scottish Ale.

Finally, we'll wrap up in Prosser, starting with a brief stop at Horse Heaven Hills Brewery, then down the road to Whitstran Brewing.  They have a good selection of brews and eats for dinner time, and as previously mentioned, we expect to be there about 6:00.  I'm a fan of their science-geek monikers (D2O Heavy Water Stout and Pavlov's Pilsner) and sweet bottle labels.  Maybe we'll see you there!

Our last stop is a ten minute walk down the road at the Horse Heaven Saloon for more HHH beer.  It looks like they also have some delicious appetizers and desserts to help us finish out the night.   The fruit versions of their standard beers, Apricot Honey Girl and Dark Cherry Stout, are perfect liquid dessert, too.

We won't be counting them out this time, but with five breweries on the trail, maybe we'll hit 30 beers for 30 years!

"If there's a place you got to get, I can get you there I bet.  I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'M THE MAP!"

View Yakima Valley Brewery Tour in a larger map

Thanksgiving 2011

This is the first year that Scott and I have celebrated Thanksgiving with our own little turkey dinner (at 2pm, in classic Thanksgiving fashion). Soon we will go visit family for sandwiches, dessert, and games. For now, though, we are quietly enjoying each other's company.

There are so many good things in my life. I am most thankful for my wonderful husband. He and I are a perfect fit. After five-plus years together, we are silly in love, and as time goes by, we only get better at this marriage thing.

I am thankful for little miss, Jaqi. She's easy to love, fun to spoil, and after much trial-and-error, she's even become relatively low maintenance. She brightens our days with her goofy habits. She warms the bed when one (or both!) of Scott and I stay up late.

I am thankful for my close family.

...

Apparently we did many wonderful things this Thanksgiving, and I never got back to this entry. *Publish*

New Computer - Mostly

Here's the backstory: around Christmas time, we put a new video card and bigger power supply in the computer that is now mine. Since then, I've had to replace the power supply three more times because they have all completely died. Three completely different models, all kaput in just a few months. I also replaced my power surge protection strip, hoping that would solve the problem, but a couple months later, the most recent supply literally exploded with a blue ball of electrical fire.

After some internet research, and some chatting with the computer guy at my local PC store, we've reached the conclusion that my cheap motherboard just can't manage the increased load of my video card. So I started researching motherboards.

I searched and searched for a mini-ATX to fit in my current computer case, with everything configured the way I needed, and I found one! But only one. And it has very low user reviews all over the internet. Apparently it doesn't actually, you know, work.

That started the hunt for a full ATX board. I decided that I wanted a board that would reuse my current processor (an Intel Core 2 Quad), preferably would have no onboard video to avoid any potential conflicts, and preferably would reuse my DDR2 memory. Turns out, that board doesn't exist, but after uping my memory to DDR3, I found just the ticket from Gigabyte brand.

Next, I needed a case. I looked at every full and mid tower ATX case that New Egg currently carries, which is a lot, including this special kind of awesome pink and blue gem. I finally decided on everyone's favorite, Antec Three Hundred--the all black one without the flashy lights. It's classically sexy, and not terribly heavy like some others.

My hard drives are currently installed with Windows Vista x32, but for various reasons I decided to take advantage of New Egg OEM pricing for the new system and upgrade to 64-bit Windows 7. The architecture upgrade freed me up to get lots of memory, so I added 8GB of crazy teeth RAM.

Now just waiting for processing and shipping. Excited!

Blogging

Apparently I have little bloggy things all over the place. Two LiveJournal accounts, two places for Facebook notes, three Blogspots, and possibly more that I don't even remember starting. Did I ever post Myspace blogs? I don't recall.

I suppose it's mostly an audience thing. I am connected with different people in different internet places, but it still feels a little silly. This time, I am starting a new blog place because my old favorite, LiveJournal, appears to be down for the count.

Welcome to Girlie's Spot.