Morrie and Mountain Lions

This past Friday, my friends Chris and Zohaib and I drove eight hours to spend the weekend at Big Bend National Park.  We had no idea just how ridiculous the trip would end up.  For starters, a raccoon attempted to derail our adventure before it even began.  Then, we got pulled over by the park police just to be told "Have a great weekend!"  And, to top it all off, Zohaib and I were almost devoured by a mountain lion.  Okay, we were not almost devoured, but we did run into a mountain lion during a hike on Saturday afternoon.  Luckily, the creature seemed disinterested in us, and we bushwhacked off the trail to get around the great beast.

Anyways, here are a few more pictures from the weekend.  Big Bend is really a gorgeous place, and I recommend giving the park a visit.

A view from halfway up the mountains

A view from Emory Peak

A view from the South Rim

The Santa Elena Canyon

The dried-up Rio Grande riverbed

Initiate Post-Doc Phase

Tomorrow, I begin the next stage of my life.  Tomorrow, I officially become a post-doc.  I am pretty excited about the new changes this stage will bring.  I have already changed my office location, and I now have a window.  You may think this is but a minor change, but words cannot explain how excited I am to have a little natural light at work.

Speaking of changes, I learned yesterday that a Texas judge ruled unconstitutional a collection of asinine beer labeling laws that were hurting small breweries.  Among the changes introduced by the ruling are the following:

* Breweries are now allowed to tell customers where to buy their beers.  Seriously?
* Breweries no longer have to (untruthfully, I might add) label beers with anything greater than 4% alcohol as ales or malt liquors.

The second change is of particular interest to me.  There are a number of decent gluten-free beers that can't be sold in Texas because they are not labeled as ales or malt liquors.   Previously, I had written how Estrella Damm Daura was one such beer.  In fact, the only gluten-free beers that I have seen sold in Texas are Green's, Redbridge, and Bard's, and frankly, all three beers are sub-par.  I expect with this latest ruling that there will be a wealth of new beers available in the state of Texas within a year, gluten-free and gluten-filled.  Needless to say, I am pretty excited about that.  Maybe New Planet will finally come to Texas as well?  I will be crossing my fingers.