It's hard for a man of my age, with three little children at home, to find time for my own time and especially hobbies. Well, I have listed writing, reading, listening to records and internet (which includes all the shit from browsing to playing stupid browser games) as my hobbies, but 1.5 years ago I decided to start beer blogging. It was not a "serious" hobby, as I can't say anything "serious" about beer - it's not a "serious" topic for me. Though, now I think, maybe it is. I love beer. I love the taste and the drinking and the feeling of having great, tasty beer. I am, however, also an addict, when it comes to the substance itself - alcohol. So, maybe I was stupid to even think I could be a beer blogger, when I'm a bit of a drunk too. Drunkards don't appreciate the taste, they just need to drink. Wait, do I? I have not been drinking regularly for about a month and a half now, though I have been drunk three times. Still, they were social gatherings, so I am not counting. We Finns are a drinking people, I'm afraid. As far as I remember, the non-drinking dudes were the misfits in my early adulthood days. As I was one of the shy ones, who wouldn't go anywhere until I was seventeen (and got my first beers), alcohol was my friend from the beginning. With it I could go and be as stupid as the others. We had fun. We bonded. And when sober, we sometimes had to be ashamed of the things, what we had done drunk. Still, those were the days to find your own place in the world, and not under protective custody of your parents. It was a rebellion, it was a way to freedom.
It took a hell of a lot of living (and drinking) to be in state of life to become a beer blogger. Maybe I was aware of my situation from the beginning; I did not write in Finnish, as I don't know anything - or didn't want to say I do - about beer. About drinking, well, I know something. About beer drinking, quite much more than the average dude. But blogosphere is full of better beer bloggers, raters, reviewers and people who appreciate the drink of the people, than me. I just wanted to drink my beers and write some shit. Maybe that's why I started to write in English, as a universal beer-loving drunk, who just happens to like drinking good beer - and not as a beer enthusiast, who likes to rate and taste and compare and such shit. I just wanted to drink good beers, and maybe even some bad, for the sake of drinking. So, what happened? I started to like beer blogging also. It really became my hobby. Even my friend said to me last autumn, that it's a perfect excuse to drink, this blog of yours. But, it was and is a hobby.
Now I'm waiting for my next free evening, when my kids are with their grandparents. That night will be a beer blogging night. Maybe I start a new series: Jimbo's Beer Friday Presents. Yeah, I'll do that. Or something else. But for now, I'm a non-drinking dad, and that is an absolute so long, that I don't need to drink no more. Maybe that day will never come. If I live long enough to see my grandkids, I want to be a sober grandpa, not an old drunkard they are afraid or ashamed of. I am struggling, of course, as I love my beer, but now it has to be enough, that there still is those nights of freedom for me.
Cheers!
Yours truly,
Jimbo
PS. This year I have had no extra-ordinary beers yet, just some good and great ones - the ones I love, and which I have had with my friends. But there was one beer I anticipated a lot. It was Fuller's Vintage Ale 2012, but I was a bit disappointed. Too sweet, too toffee-like. It made me think, have I become a dry old stout man, after all :)
PS2. Big, HUGE thanks to Finnish Beer Blogging scene, You are the Best! I continue writing my boring stuff in English, but still only read the Best Beer Blogs so Reittausblogi rules ok, Arde Arvioi like hell, Tuopin ääressä is a nice (and fun!) place to be, Hiivahommia is so interesting to follow, JaskanKaljat are tasty and Tuopillinen has some great attitude. Keep on doing your splendid stuff, sirs! As do I, humbly as ever, writing what ever comes to my mind about the beer (mainly in the spaghetti western simplifying way of rating beers as "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly").
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