Finally back to work, and ecstatic about it. Being unemployed for so long was rotting my brain, driving me crazy and making family life stressful. Very happy to be working again.

I got a job working for a staffing company as a team manager at a major tech company in the Austin area. The original position I got hired for was a phone tech job, but thankfully, I got promoted to team manager based on my previous work history and performance.

I named my homebrew operation in August. Its name is the New Texian Brewery.  I’m really enjoying the whole process from brewing to bottling… ok, I don’t really enjoy filling and capping 50 bottles in one sitting by hand. Not the funnest thing ever… However, everything else about brewing is something I enjoy. My wife and kids hate the smell, but I love it. It’s intoxicating (get it????) to me.

Since July, I’ve made 6 brews. They include a Red Ale (Red Blooded Ale), Hefeweizen (High Plains Hefe), Whiskey Porter (Cur Dog Porter), Hard Cider (337 Cider), Amber Rye (Autumn Amber Rye), and Pale Ale (Piney Woods Pale). I brewed them to make a variety six pack for friends and family for Christmas, like the sampler pack from Shiner (Family Reunion Six Pack). So far, everything is pretty good. Some better than others.

My wife (and some friends) chipped in to buy me a full fledged homebrew kit for my birthday. I’m attaching a couple of pictures of different stages of the process.

During the boil and in the fermenter.

I’m in love…

I was turned onto this place by someone on Yelp. Evidently, they’ve read some of my reviews and knew I was a pizza snob… They told me if I was looking for good NY pizza, I needed to check Pizzeria Rialto out.

My daughter and I were out shopping for shelving at Lowe’s and Target today and it was getting to be lunch time. She asked if we could get some lunch while we were out and I told her I’d think about it… then I remembered the tip about this joint in the old (original) “Saccone’s Pizza and Subs” location. So I suggested pizza… she agreed but wanted to know from where because she doesn’t like crappy pizza (I’m turning my 9 year old into a pizza snob). I mentioned this place and she asked if it was as good as Saccone’s (young pizza snob in training, right there). I told her we’ll find out…

So… I know what you’re thinking… “Well, IS IT???”… hold ya friggin horses will ya? Sheesh… ya impatient so-n-so…

We show up and I see the little blurb on the lower left window of the place “Proprietor: Phillip Saccone Jr.” and my antennae went up… “Saccone”? Insert Ace Ventura voice here: “oh re-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-eally???” Hmmm… that’s interesting.

Reeeeeeealy?!

We walk in and… It. Smells. Friggin. AWESOME. In. There. Just like the places back home in the OC-NY. A little garlic, a little tomato, and some oregano waft through the air. I never get tired of that mix of aromas.

Talked with Phil, the owner, a little while, while he made the two standard cheese pies. Turns out he took the place over with some different recipes than the Saccone’s branded place. Phil’s a real nice guy. Very personable. I was fishing for info on how he makes the pies, and for the most part, he was happy to share. I didn’t get quite as many secrets from him as I had hoped, but he shared more than most do. Oh, and it’s a family operation… his wife and his daughter were both there as well, and we all had a good conversation. They were nice to my 9 year old as she talked with them about the stuff 9 year-olds talk about and they even gave us some water while we waited for the pies. I felt like extended family. Seriously… I did. This place is just like the family run places back home… where you’re welcomed as if you were a guest in someone’s home. They talk to you. They interact with you. You’re valued… that’s something you don’t get in today’s hyper-commercialized commodity-centric “bottom line orientated” cookie cutter places…

Finally the pies were done and we bid the Saccone family good bye. The whole 10 minute drive home, my daughter and I were both drooling over the pizza boxes. The smell… was absolutely KILLER. I mean… KILLER… as in “yer KILLIN’ ME!!!” It felt a lot longer than 10 minutes to get home.

Anyway, we get home and we dive into the pie and my first bite sent me into pizza ecstasy… it. was. great. Not too bready. Not too crispy. Not too thin. Not too thick. Sauce was right on the money. Cheese (which was made from sliced whole milk mozz, not shredded mozz) was perfectly salted and melted into the sauce. I truly enjoyed it.

I called Rialto when I got home and devoured my three slices to let them know what I thought. They remembered me and were very gracious. Class act, folks. Class act.

And now… Pizzeria Rialto is my new go to place for NY Pie. It’s a slice of home… (get it? It’s a SLICE of home!!!)

~~~ Additional info added the next day~~~

By the way, their pizza passes the cold pizza breakfast, and also the lunch reheat at over 400 degrees tests… not many do. The pie maintains its integrity and its flavor. My wife mentioned that it had gotten even better the next day. That doesn’t happen very often, folks.

Finally got the site completed and we’ve relaunched it. The older posts are imported from her previous photo blog, to provide continuity with her older work and a seamless transition from the past to now.

Feel free to visit the site and have a look around.

If you’re in the Austin area and are in the market for a photographer, click the “contact” link and send her a message.

Robinwood Photography

The Federalist Papers were written in support of the US Constitution by those men in order to explain the failings of the now-defunct “Articles of Confederation”, and to describe the thoughts and intents behind the (at the time) proposed Constitution.

A good read.

Just in case you have never read it for yourself, the passage above links to a copy of the US Constitution on line. You should read it for yourself every now and then… and remind yourself what our Country was founded upon…

Enjoy!

The pictures the Holga produce are simply amazing. Ephemeral, ethereal,  mystical… they’re gorgeous. I’m truly in love with this form of photography. I’m hooked. I need to get a darkroom though, because film developing is so stinking expensive…

Here are a few of my first pictures using the Holga…

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Never forget those that lost their lives.

Never forget how you felt… about what happened… about your family… about your friends… about your Country…

Never… never… never forget…

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