A Yoga Thing

So I've been practicing yoga for about three months now, and I am hooked. It is so good in every way you hear advertised: body, mind, spirit. Sure, I'm still a novice (can't give you any of the poses' Sanskrit names), but I notice improvement every time...in my flexibility and strength, and in the ways in which I find myself more focused and aware in my brain and in my heart. I enjoy myself, concentrating on breathing and balance, awakening muscles that have been out of use for ages, doing things I didn't know my body could do (and some it still doesn't, but getting closer)...I catch myself smiling in the mirror. My shoulders are becoming less troubled by the spaghetti-noodle ligaments holding them together. The guy I play racquetball with cannot beat me now. I actually think the guy in the mirror doesn't look ridiculous when I see him doing the poses (not to mention most of the other times).

I am not the least bit hesitant to tell all that to you, dear reader, and yet it's still weird to tell my buddies that I am going to be late to go have beers with them because I will instead be flowing through vinyasas with Dr. Carol (who cannot be recommended highly enough). It's interesting though, that it's only before class that I feel that way...afterward, I have no qualms about telling the guys what I've been doing and how completely badass it is.

And when I do tell guys about yoga, of course the only ones who think it's funny are those who have never done it (and must be unaware of the gender balance generally found in yoga classes). Sometimes I find several of my friends have tried it on the sly, and they know how hard, and how good it can be.

I do wish I had tried yoga earlier, but then it is really a perfect exercise for a 40-year-old guy who's always been in half-assed shape to discover. It's perfect for the conditioning, the challenges, and the fact that one doesn't perform or get judged, one practices, always aiming for improvement...an excellent goal for life in general, I say. Nothing new there, but something I have to remind myself to actually do sometimes.

A Beer Thing

An Open Letter to the New Belgium Brewing Company:

Hi There,
I have lived in Oklahoma for 16 years after moving here from Colorado, and endured it with the hope that one day your beers would finally be sold here. Year after year, I have traveled to various states and found New Belgium being sold in more and more of them, and continued to be dismayed by the absence of your fine product here. Now I see on your website an attractive map showing that the territory of your sales has extended coast-to-coast, but still contains a big goddamn Oklahoma-sized hole in the middle.

The reason I have always been told that your beers are not sold in my New Belgium-forsaken state is that our antiquated liquor laws forbid the refrigeration of beer having an alcohol content greater than 3.2% in the stores they are sold in, i.e., not gas stations. I can understand that you don't want your product to suffer from the effects of the high temperatures we often experience here in our extremely air-conditioned liquor stores, and your probable desire to punish our legislators for their unwillingness to succumb to common sense. And so I offer to you the following image that I captured in a liquor store in COLORADO when I was recently there (and of course, this is a sight I have seen in many a liquor store where New Belgium beers are sold, and one with which you are readily familiar with yourselves, I'm sure):



Maybe I am wrong in my assumption of the reason for the unavailability of New Belgium beers for us Oklahomans...maybe it's the short-sightedness of our distributors here. Maybe your market research has determined that sales here would be pitiful -- my own market research, in the form of several cases of New Belgium products found in the back of my car every time I visit a neighboring state (for personal consumption, of course), can attest differently. Or maybe one of your guys came to Oklahoma once to visit family and stepped in something stinky, and has held a grudge ever since (heaven knows no stinky things can be found on the ground in Colorado). I apologize if this question has already been answered on your website, but so far I have been unable to find any such explanation.

I look forward to your response, which I hope will be accompanied by the sudden appearance of your excellent products in the liquor stores of my state, or just a coupon for a free beer the next time I'm in Fort Collins.

Shamelessly,
Chris

P.S. Bring back Old Cherry!


Edit -- the reply from New Belgium:

Hi Chris,

Thanks for dropping us a line and thanks for being such a loyal fan. I can definitely understand your frustration with not having Fat Tire in your state, let alone being surrounded by states that do. You are correct that our reasons for our absence in Oklahoma are definitely related to quality assurance and the fact that all beer over 3.2% must be sold warm to the consumer.

The quality of our beer for our consumers is a top concern for us no matter where it is sold. All of our beers have varying best before dates from 90 days on up. Included in this shelf life is up to 30 days of room temperature storage, like the picture you attached below. This is in place so our beers can be displayed for a maximum of those 30 days out of a cooler. Other than that, it must be shipped, stored, and delivered cold. Unfortunately we can’t guarantee that our beers will be held to this standard in states where the retailer is not permitted to store/sell our beer refrigerated.

Oklahoma is in our plans for expansion, but I can’t give you a date just yet. The laws changing would definitely help us reconsider our absence in your state.

Thanks again for your support and bootlegging efforts.

Cheers,

BK

Brian Krueger

Sales Co-Pilot

New Belgium Brewing Company

Curses! An unreasonably reasonable response!