Reflections on the Tattoo & Maredsous 8

It was almost exactly a year ago that I got my tattoo down in Austin. I haven't once regretted it, so that's a good sign.

This article came out well after I was inked for life, but it compiles a lot of the history of tattooing as well as the decision making process I'd come up with on my own.  The best advice he has by far is

If you’re going to get a tattoo, pick out your design, make sure it is original and has personal meaning, and then wait a year.

Following this rule is why Sarah has no tattoos yet. She has some ideas we've talked about, but nothing firm or lasting enough to make the permanent commitment. I had been working on some version of my design for over a year and I'd only gotten stronger in my conviction. Since then I've thought about getting additions in the same style.  Maybe knots or sprials or even text.  Perhaps I'll sketch them out one day, but for now I appreciate the timeliness of getting this tattoo. I had just started my family with Sarah and I was about to go to war; it was the right time for me to get some ink. I can say it's for my heritage and family and I "got it in the army" without fudging details. Those are the beginnings of conversations I'll always be comfortable having which is far more than I can say about some of the designs I've seen people sporting.

That distinction is fascinating to me and judging by the comments of the above article, many others as well. I've spent the past several years around city colleges and the military which are both rather pro-tattoo in their own ways. But a lot of people still fail to appreciate any artistic difference between different tattoos and styles consequently painting all tattoos as dumb/defiling or wonderful expression/art. I think it's an art and personal expression, but there is still such a thing as bad art and dumb expression; I'll do my best to promote good art and intelligent expression.

Sarah and I went to O'brien's Pub last night where I had the good fortune of trying a beer I'm reasonably certain was Maredsous 8.  The tap handle displaying the image of a monk and the name Maredsous. The first pint poured dark and red with a thick, creamy head. It was a bit on the sweet side with strong notes of plum and raisin that I really liked.  The second pint had less of a head, but tasted and smelled just as rich.  This is my first Belgian ale on-tap, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was pretty tasty.

Photo from brassam.net

Marksmanship Re-Post & Chimay Première

Blogger went down and then came back but all of the posts since Wednesday are still missing.  Hopefully they will be able to recover my post, because I don't want to hunt down all those pictures again.

In case it never comes back, I wanted to let all my loyal readers know that I shot Expert at the M4 range on Wednesday.  With iron sights on paper targets, I hit 37 out of 40 rounds which qualifies me for this new emblem on my dress uniform:

Chimay Première is the Dubbel from Chimay alongside the Grande Reserve Tripel.  It's also very good in the Belgian dark ale style, though head-to-head I think I prefer the Tripel.  This is a bit more ruddy and cloudy in appearance and less-polished in flavor.  But downright tasty and still way above average.