Coffee? Craaack!

Why, oh why, does this happen? I swear, the makers of french press carafes know that if they make the glass thin, it will break easily, ensuring them (I'm sure) lots of return customers replacing broken carafes (although there is no replacement for the lost morning with no coffee and a broken carafe).

But why now? Why, when the coffee is ground and the tea kettle screaming, my mouth cottony and morning-y, my head throbbing ever so slightly for caffeine, that the crack in the carafe continues to widen? I'll save the suspense and just tell you, despite the breakage, my quick thinking and ingenuity saved me, my cup was indeed filled. I overfilled the press and placed it on a plate where it collected about a quarter cup of seeped coffee, leaving me 12 ounces in the busted glass. 

As I stood there, watching the pre-coffee seep out/brew inside the carafe, several thoughts seeped out of my clouded mind. Those Bodun jerks! Who are they and why, oh why, is the glass so thin? Is there even a reason?! Maybe I shouldn't whack the bottom so hard when I dump the grounds in the compost, that could definitely shorten the life of the glass. Dang, I hope my coffee makes it to the cup! What a messy hassle this brewed coffee is, I should switch back to tea...and then it hit me.

1) The mechanics of the french press are simple: coarse ground coffee, hot water, brew for four minutes, strain the grounds from the liquid, drink! and be happy. 2) I only ever make one cup of coffee in the press I have which is made for three 12oz (or so) cups, so my current press is a little overkill. 3) I'm a bit on the shallow end of the money pool right now and I don't want to buy a new carafe...but I still want a fresh cup of coffee in the morning. And finally, 4) Coffee has a limited shelf life in my mind so the rest of my Christmas coffee needs to be drunk as soon as humanly possible. I need a brewing implement, for cheap/free in the next, oh, twenty hours. I'm no freezer of coffee, it's got to be fresh, it's got to be black and it has to be good quality. Once a barista, always a barista.

 No one should be without their fix when their carafe breaks, a little creative thinking and some patience while straining...and I give to you, the cheapest, easily accessible brewer of fine coffee: a peanut butter jar (16oz, enough for 12 oz of brew and the grounds (I use about two tablespoons of unground beans in my burr grinder to produce a little bit more than 2 tbsp when coarsely ground) with holes poked in the lid (I tried to make sure there were a bunch of small holes that the grounds wouldn't fit through....not a totally groundless cup, that's for sure).

Seriously though, I should switch back to tea....

A New Hope

**This post should be dated 12/30/2011**

Ah, the feeling, it's almost here
It's cold and it's windy, it's the end of the year

Time for self indulgence or self reflection
A little of both, pulling me in both directions

To resolute, or is it resolve
Become a better creature, that's it, evolve

So here I am, at the end of the year. Does not feel like the end of anything, it feels good actually, to have some time to myself to reflect on events behind me, I want to think that I am always self reflecting but Kelly's week in the bahamas has really left me with a lot of time to think, by myself in my big empty bed.

I just got out of the shower, the first one I had taken in three days. I don't really sweat too much in the winter time and these past couple of days I have been up quite late and out of bed earlier than I usually get up, partly because the bed is so cold with only me in it, there's no reason to sleep in it any longer than necessary. am thinking that the temperature of the bed is significantly colder without her. Additionally I've been able to keep the curtain open which means the natural light, getting stronger by the day is really helping me to get out of bed.

Anyways, the looming new year is causing me to think about some resolutions except I am trying to keep these resolutions completely obtainable and trying to set up for them before the clock strikes.

They're easy, number one, "Be a good creature", this means taking care of my mind and my body, prioritizing my health over a good time, this includes some things that I have already begun to do and my resolution would really just be a comittment to maintain these habits. Yoga, has really allowed me to strengthen my shoulders and that will allow me to start lifting weights more confidently, I may just start with some of the bodyweight exercises in that book I bought a while back "The body you want in the time you have", that book supplies some great exercises that can be done in an hour or less that really build muscle. After going to yoga for a month, two or three times a week I feel much more confdent in my base strength level and I am definitely more aware of my posture and body alignment. This "resolution" also pertains to diet, eating mostly local plants and locally/minimally processed foods. Seems like it would be a major change for someone but it's really not. It is more work, yes, but the amount of good that it does your body far outweighs the pain and suffering you will incur when you spend more time preparing food and food products and it has long been an area of interest for me that I am enjoying exploring. Tasty!

Number two, "Watch out for myself", someone has to, right? By this I mean taking reasonable precautions for an emergency, keeping myself informed and educated about current events and having an emergency plan including a personal/family emergency/survival kit.

Number three, "Put a little money in my cash bag", this is a lyric from a hip hop/dance band and it always hits me. Stack that chedda, another euphimism for making money and, I believe, saving for a rainy day. This one means I will have to write out some things that are important to me and make sure my financial life is on track to meet those goals. I'm hoping to have a personal budget done in twenty four hours that I plan to stick to, which will help me get to Ladies Army in Kentucky and Paris on New Years Eve next year. Those two trips are the only ones I intend to go to, although I'm not ruling anything out, as long as it fits the budget. I've been doing some thinking and some reading and I realise that if I want to have a nest egg to fall back on I need to start now, I'm basically stealing from my future self and using it to buy drugs, alcohol, coffee and bike parts. Which are fun, don't get me wrong but they will not compare to the freedom that having a "fat stack" will later in life.

Not even that much later, I want to be able to enjoy myself, indeed through my whole life, but especially seeing as I'll probably live to ninety five easily, no reason to not plan for that future, the one where you're this fit, good looking older gentleman who rides his sweet bikes around, lives in a small flat in the city and will be some kid's coolest grandfather and great-grandfather even. Sounds fun, I want to get there.....and I want to get to space (time for that in another post)