Not so much cruel as pretty darned great

I have no complaints with April.

I've heard she is the cruelest month, but March was worse so...maybe I paid my dues already.

*knocks on wood*

Earlier this month I went on a tour of the Georgetown Brewery with friends, which included drinking Manny's with Manny. (Not any kind of euphemism. Manny is awesome.)

So here's my plug: If you are around Georgetown (slightly south of downtown Seattle) and like to consume Manny's and Roger's Pilsner and Lucille's IPA, I highly recommend visiting Georgetown Brewery. If nothing else, they have a tasting area set up, merchandise, and growlers. Well worth the short trip. And the tour, if you are lucky enough to attend, is fun and informative. Made me appreciate their beer all the more.

Oh. I co-taught my first class online. That was a lot of fun.

And last weekend I drove onto a ferry for the first time. It was not as scary as I'd expected. I'd imagined driving onto some rickety thing and workers attaching your car to the platform with huge metal hooks and chains. Torture devices, really. But the reality is that you arrive, you wait, you drive onto the ferry and then you drive off again. Sometimes you get out of your car to go upstairs for hot coffee or to let the wind buffett you around the "sun" deck. Easy.

I also had the honor and pleasure to spend a weekend with a number of writers I didn't know very well but had admired from a distance. We stayed in a repurposed military barracks, had quiet time to work for most of the day, and shared most meals and drank all the wine and all the coffee. Not necessarily in that order. I hesitate to even bring up my weekend because I don't want to make anyone jealous, but it's my blog and I need to at least note that it happened or I risk forgetting. When we were not reading or working, there were trips into town or to the abandoned munitions bunkers for exploration. There were games--which I normally avoid because I get too competitive, but you'll be surprised to learn wine helps with that. And there was much washing of dishes.

The whole experience was a delightful adventure that reset my productiveness, provided inspiration via all the creative, hilarious people so generous with their time and conversation, and just plain got me outside of my head.

Like I said, April, no complaints. And no, universe, that is not a thinly veiled challenge or invitation to make next month shitty.

Happy Tuesday.