Holy crap, words cannot describe the genius of this man. Just watch, learn, and pass on. This man could be a disciple.

Well the whiskey fog has finally departed and I'm left to look at the aftermath that is 2007. The Raiders pulled off a win in what is becoming typical fashion, much to the chagrin of its die hard alumni' and their respective livers. My liver in particular felt robbed he didn't get the game MVP, but that Long kid was pretty spectacular. My wife even asked me if she needed to take the kids elsewhere after "six" was hit with the second safety. With Jim Beam as my witness, I never thought we were out of it, but it didn't make me act the part well. I leave 2007 as I have the past few years, optimistic, excited and hungover. Its truly hard to be a Red Raider fan, but I'm very appreciative to the players this last year for making every game exciting.

I was however in the fetal position with tears in my eyes as they carted Reed off the field while the Goin' band played the interlude to "Superman", and just as if the chills heading up my spine couldn't get stronger, he gives the guns up. Game, set, match. I was crying like a little girl. Call is fanaticism, or just a whiskey dent on ticker, but it grabbed at every heart string I had and pulled. Prayers have been sent Reed, get better man.





I finally counted and it looks like i spent 21 days in the woods chasing deer this year. Some days more than others but all in all it was a great season. I learned a ton this year, and will be counting the days until Oct 1, 2008. I'm hoping to possibly draw an out of state hunt, and maybe get to chase some mulies or elk around. We shall see. I'm not that lucky at drawings. Until then its time to decide whether to get a new bow or just upgrade the Hoyt. I can outfit my ultra mag with 80# limbs and a single pin sight, or I can get a new bow and start from scratch. The next few weeks will determine my course, but for now I'm leaning towards upgrading some parts. We saw a ton of deer this year and the big ones are still around. I'm looking forward to being outsmarted again.





Homebrewing this year was great. I made 14 batches of beer and some of those were more than good. My Saison is probably the best beer Ive ever made and is not lasting long. I will not brew again until i have upgraded my brewery to 10 gallon batches and completed my kegerator. Until then it will be all grain pilot batches in the 6 pack size. Hops are getting herder to come by so it might be a good time to start focusing on the equipment. I won a silver in my first competition this year. My blueberry wheat took 2nd in the fruit beer category at the Limbo competition here in Dallas. I was surprised and pleased. I did however get smoked at this years Dixie Cup. Never to worry, I've got a few tricks up my sleeve, and some great beers stored for this year. Ive been making mead a lot this year too. My first batch was in 1992 and the mead that's coming out now is great. Ive take to turning 5 gallon batches into 5 1 gallon batches and adding "stuff" to them. Ive also experimented with different varieties of honey. My goal is to have 5 gallons of mead going at any given time, that way after a year I should always have some coming of age.

Bring on '08!