Huge new year post

So yeah, been a while. With the previous couple weeks' holidays happening, me traveling a bit for such things, and general laziness, I haven't updated this thing in ages. Time to get caught back up.
First, I got myself a little xmas gift.
Look what came in the post! I wonder what's in there...
Two new, and redesigned tulip glasses from New Belgium! They're sturdier than the old style, and look great. Plus, while supplies last, they're $5.99. Get yours right here. I don't know if it's still happening, but I used the coupon code "free shipping" to get, you guessed it, free shipping. So for about $6, I got myself two pretty sweet beer glasses. You should too.
Those glasses aren't the only thing I've had from New Belgium:
Another pretty solid entry in their Lips of Faith series. This one is a "collabeeration" with Allagash, in which they've used hibiscus and endive. It sounds pretty weird, but it totally works. The floral notes are more subtle and less sweet than you'd expect, but they are very prominent. If you like lighter beers with complex floral notes and/or unusual beers in general, this one is certainly worth a shot.
That's not the only fancy beer I've been drinking recently though, in addition to some home brews, Surlys, and other standard bar beers, I've had a couple of recent stand outs.

Poppaskull from Three Floyd's and Dogfish Head in a collaborative effort to make a beer that will blow your damn mind. Holy cow is this thing great. Two of my favorite breweries joining forces to make a beer that kick ass. It combines their take on the Belgian golden ale with cardamom, then ages 35% of that in oak brandy barrels, which ends up being amazing. The way the cardamom and oaky brandy flavors mingle is nothing short of outstanding.
This next beer I ordered on a whim on New Year's Eve at El Bait Shop. The waitress cautioned me that it was a 750ml, and that it was $20. I said to bring it on, and I split it with a friend.
Big Sky's Olde Bluehair Barley Wine. That's exactly how it's listed in the menu. What isn't listed is that it's aged in bourbon barrels. The resulting beer is very boozy, with awesome bourbon flavors that have a fruity finish after a face assaulting barrage of barley and hops. I'm super glad I took the chance on this beer, despite the waitress's caution. She wasn't very knowledgeable anyway, which is weird for such an establishment, and she's likely the only poor server I've ever had there. But back to the beer, it rocks. Very similar to Boulevard's Bourbon Barrel Quad, save this is a barley wine vs. a quad, and this didn't involve cherries directly, though I can definitely taste a little hint of them in the aftertaste.

Other thoughts about life and the new year and all that jazz:

While self improvement shouldn't be a once a year thing, I've been eating like hell and not riding anything other than my commute for quite a while, and the holidays didn't help, so I'm going to try to get in better shape. In this vein I weighed myself and discovered, to my surprise, that I'm all of 182 pounds. Keep in mind I'm 6'4" and have a relatively thin build naturally. This is a "racing" weight for me, which means I've probably lost some muscle in the last few months, and I'm not eating as much of the terrible food as I thought I've been. I'll post some photos later so that I can try to force myself to not only ride more, but to do some work on the rest of me too, ie push ups, sit ups, etc.

2011 is likely going to be an eventful year for me, I'll turn 30 (about seven weeks is all that remains of my 20s), likely move (wife is finishing grad school), and with that move I'll have to get another job, and start a new life in a new town. Well, really continue my old life but damn near everything will be different. This is a bit intimidating, exciting, confusing, and (I hope) ultimately invigorating. So often I get stuck in a routine that I scarcely notice that things outside my routine are possible, and only a big change can shake me out of it, and get me on a better path. One thing's for sure though, I will still ride bikes, and I will still drink fancy beers.