That Lovin' Feelin' on The Brew

I just posted Dan Burnham's article "When You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" on The Brew.

It's a great look at...feelings.

Headline News

I like this format of giving just headlines of what's going on so I think I'll stick with it.

I went to both the counselor and the chiropractor this week. I'll let you all draw the spiritual applications from this.

I discovered how great SuperTargets are today. You can buy individual bottles of beer there, as well as frozen corn dogs and cheap six packs of Lever 2000 soap.

I'm constantly amazed at The Brew. I've already had two new writers referred to me this month(one by my brother and another by the biggest cheerleader The Brew has: Mishraile.) The Brew truly is a dream come true and perhaps the culmination of so many other life experiences that didn't necessarily make sense until now.

Had such an encouraging conversation with a grad school student who wanted to run by me how much to share about his life during a discipleship group that we're both in at my church.

My grocery shopping trip to SuperTarget made me love being a bachelor. Here's what I bought: three apples; a bottle of Pete's Wicked Ale; a bottle of Sol (a Mexican beer); baked potato chips flavored with chicken, thyme and lemon; a six-pack of frozen corn dogs; some healthy whey protein shake flavored like cappuccino; Cheerios and a can of soup.

Interpol is the perfect soundtrack for this moment of blogging.

For some reason, I found it funny to look hrough my shelf of the food pantry in my apartment. Here's what made me laugh (this being before my grocery trip): Foreman grill; coffee grinder; French press; 1/4 lb Arabian Mocha Sanani coffee beans; 1 pound of organic, Peruvian coffee beans; 1/2 jar of Jiff; 1/4 a bottle of Crown Royal.

What To Do After Divorce on The Brew

I just published Lonnie Smith's article "What Do You Do After The End?" on The Brew.
It's heartbreaking but also offers a different take on what Paul has to say about divorcees in I Corinthians.

That Video..

So I mentioned a SNL skit with Natalie Portman and Jamba Juice in my last post. YouTube had to get rid of it but it survives on MySpace Video.
Here it is.

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=578939

Funny...

So I went to get my hair cut at a Sports Clips chain. This is chain of stores meant for men, with TVs at every chair and all kinds of sports memorabilia around. I've gotten good haircuts here in the past. This is probably the middle of the road spot between Great Clips and Knockouts, another men's barber shop that transplants Hooters waitresses here and has them cut your hair instead of serve you wings.

So I go in to a newer location and a frumpy, middle-aged woman cuts my hair. I was a little worried at first because she had a lazy eye. Some could say this would be comparable to having a one-eye pirate cut your hair, but that seemed to me be a little much. The hair cut was great but during the process I was a little uncomfortable. Mainly because this hair stylist was...um...a...um...little...um...buxom. So whenever she had to reach up and over to cut different parts of my hair... um... her ...um ...buxomness was right in my face.

Something else that I found was another SNL clip where Natalie Portman works the counter at a Jamba Juice. All the jokes are so easily transferable to the Coffee Chain That Shall Remain Nameless. ...Well, I was going to but the vid got pulled off YouTube and it's not readily available at NBC.com either. If anyone can find it, let me know.

Single Guy and Divorce

I just posted my article "My Generational, Somewhat Committed, Apathetical View on Divorce" on The Brew. It's what a Millennial, single male might think about divorce.

Camping

So over the weekend, I took seven college students to work at a camp near Tyler, TX. We worked in the kitchen at the Bluffs camp at Pine Cove and did meal set up and tear down. It was pretty cool.

I hadn't been to a camp since high school, and the camps I remember back then don't leave a good taste in my mouth today. What I grew up with were more fundamentalistic/legalistic type camps that I might even blame for my own legalism in the past.

But naturally, this camp was different. Or at least it was different working there rather than being run through the programs. There were various women's groups (usually middle-aged) that we served this weekend. I probably made one too many comments about feeling like I'm still at The Coffee Chain That Shall Remain Nameless when some of the older ladies had annoying or involved requests ('Do you have cranberry juice?'). But I enjoyed the weekend, in spite of this small, piddly stuff.

Something I never thought I'd do again is sit around a campfire and sing worship songs. We had some S'mores and then I made some kind of transitional comment to lead into how everyone should use this weekend to reflect a little bit. I asked someone to bring a guitar for the weekend, knowing that this would be part of the camping trip experience. And there I was singing three worship songs around a campfire.

No one threw any rededicational sticks in any recommitmental fires or had any shattering revelations of how sinful they were. We just sang a couple songs. And I think this was good for me. I can look at it and see it as perhaps how worships songs at a campfire can be good. No drama or tears, just a little time to remember why we were serving that weekend. Maybe I've matured past all my cynicism to see the good in all that I think is bad about evangelicalism.

A highlight was getting to ride some horses on Saturday. I did a trail ride on 'Goliad,' a slow and steady horse who was pretty obedient. Later on, we did some trotting practice in an arena. For this, I rode 'Pistol,' a spunky, stubborn horse who would stop moving altogether just to try to show me who's boss. I did a lot of kicking and squeezing to get Pistol to trot a few times and had to turn him in circles just to try to show him who's boss.

November Brew - Divorce

I just posted November's editorial on The Brew.

Headline News

I know it's been a while but here's the long and short of it:

I began going to counseling again this week. It knocks the wind out of me (luckily I'll only be going twice a month).

I'm taking seven of the college group members from my church to a camp to serve in the kitchen this weekend.

I made a peanut butter and jelly frappuccinno at work tonight (minus the bread). Good stuff.

I went to a wedding this past weekend but I couldn't stop thinking about divorce (only because I have to write about it this month on The Brew, not because of any opinions I have about the couple getting married).

I had three shots mixed with a little eggnog before starting work today (beginning tomorrow you can too). Good stuff.

Had a conversation with one of my roommates that ended up with us both saying how we had told our friends what a blessing it was to be living with the other one.

I flipped the bird to Dallas and it's 'Must Drive Everywhere Mentality/City Setup' when I walked to Wendy's one night for a burger that kind of sizzled.

I 'bought' Radiohead's new album off their website, which lets you pay whatever you want for the album. 'Reckoner' is an amazing track.

Last Election on The Brew

I just posted new author Scott Duplisea's article, "Mudslinging and Straw Polls in Junior High" on The Brew.
It's great stuff.

Old Brew is New Again!

I reposted the May and April Brews over the weekend.
It's great to read back over what makes The Brew so good.

For example: Dan Morgan's "From Love To Lust" article from April's Two by 4 issue. Or Jon Reisinger's "The MySpace-ination of Community" from May's Space issue.

Single Guy Adjusts, Becomes Token Person

I went back to the chiropractor today after getting rid of one intern at the chiropractic school who was messing up my back rather than fixing it. The new intern (gives adjustments for about $25 a pop) was great. She took the wind out of me with the first crack of my back. The other adjustments were just as shocking but also soothing after the initial pain of the adjustment went away.

I came out of the office feeling a little euphoric. There was one adjustment (somewhere in the neck region) that's famous for making people feel high. "We'll ease into that one," the intern said. They also want to do some test to find out if I'm diabetic. This would mean me fasting for 12-14 hours, sucking down some glucose and then testing my blood six times over three hours to see what happens.

Yeah, I'm bring a book for that one.

Over the weekend, one of the small groups from my church asked me to be the emcee for a "Newlyweds Game." I felt honored until I realized that they had already asked my roommate (one of only a few single 20something guys in my church) already. But I already knew half of the couples in the group well so I went for it. And as usual, the token single guy comes home with half of the desserts from whatever meal they had (though I'm not complaining).

The Oldest Election on The Brew

I just posted Kevin Schwartz's "The Oldest Election" on The Brew. It's a not so obvious look at the idea of election in the Old Testament.

Thanks for reading and being patient as we continue to work out the kinks on The Brew.

A Tour of Texas

I had a pretty extensive tour of Texas on Saturday.

It began when I met up with a buddy of mine at a farmer’s market in Coppell, TX (a NW suburb of Dallas) that morning. We met there to go to on our road trip to see where Dr. Pepper first began.

But while I was there, I chewed the cud with an organic coffee roaster, or more accurately, tasted the brew. After a great conversation that would surely amaze or bore someone not so into coffee, I bought about a pound and a half of some Peruvian coffee. It was great stuff: strong, natural cinnamon, chocolate and caramel flavors in the coffee. The variety of flavors blew away the beans from the Coffee Chain That Shall Remain Nameless because the beans I sell on a daily basis are roasted to fit one specific taste profile. The beans I bought at the market are roasted with the flavor profile left up in the air, like the sweet smells and smoke of roasted coffee. It’s a little more adventurous.

So anyway, two other guys and I drove a couple hours to Hico, TX (just next door to our final destination in Texas terms). Our destination: The Koffee Kup Family Restaurant. They had pies with mile-high meringue and tasty chicken fried steak, but the main reason we went there was the infamy this café used to have. The retired title of restaurant was: Koffee Kup Kafe. The infamy comes from the alliterated title and what the first letter of each of those words mean when lined up next to each other (KKK). No joke. This is Texas, mind you.

Then we set off to Dublin, TX, where Dr. Pepper was invented and is still bottled to this day. What makes this plant (more accurately a small building on a corner in a town of 3,000) unique is that the Dr. Pepper made here still uses the original recipe of Imperial cane sugar, rather than corn syrup. This gives the pop a much crisper taste and is just plain awesome. I took a tour of the ancient glass bottling machine that is only used once a month, due to the lack of bottles and the ancient nature of the parts in the machine.

In the soda fountain shop next door, I had an old fashioned Dr. Pepper, made by adding carbonated water to syrup. Ooooooohhhh yeeeeaaaahhhhh. Then I bought 8 six packs to savor for a while.

And a couple days later, back in Dallas, TX, I hit up a happy hour at a local microbrewery and tasted their ‘chili’ beer, made with jalapeños. Let me just say: jalapeno beer = awesomeness.

Badgers and my influence

One of my roommates showed me some pretty good car insurance commercials. They involve badgers and that's all you need to know.


via videosift.com

On a different note, I'm realizing how much influence I can have one people. The college kids from my church went out and bought a coffee grinder and a French press. And some of them are now quoting The Big Lebowski.

Morals and Election on The Brew

October's first Election article was posted on The Brew. Daniel Burnham wrote on "Why Morals Can Be Dangerous During Elections." It's a powder keg of an article and very worth reading.

Flashback: Take some time to check out Ian North's "Christploitation!" article from June's Film Brew. It's great look at lesser-known, more obscure genre of film.

Ocotober Brew

I just posted October's editorial on Election on The Brew.
This is the beginning of a challenging month, but also the end of the first year of The Brew.

It's crazy to think that it's been going for a year already.

Company Values

So I heard about a "Blend Off" contest at work this week, where employees of The Coffee Chain That Shall Remain Nameless can create their own blend of coffee.

This event was in the works for a while, though my store manager felt like it was one too many things to make working for the company 'fun.' I heard about the event an hour before it took place and tried to get something low-key together.

So I put together a blend of coffees, which consisted of 60% Guatemalan and 40% Kenyan beans. Both coffees have really distinct flavors that work well together and pair well with orange and chocolate. I used dark chocolate orange-flavored Hershey Kisses to go with the blend.

At the meeting, I snickered at the elaborate presentations others made of their blends, though this was to create enthusiasm for our livelihood and a passion for coffee. Some had pencil-drawn logos for their blend and a brief description of the coffee, it's name and it's purpose. I had merely a French Press of my blend, along with a description and a name I pulled out of the air.

My store manager and I snickered to ourselves when one guy took ten minutes just to explain the name of his blend; it consisted of some Italian music terms, references to Shakespeare and the word 'gestalt'. Then he had a medium-sized paste board to feature his logo: a large, abstract painting where it seemed every swatch of color meant something. With all coffee shop stereotypes aside, it's still easy to pick out the art school grads or dropouts.

This guy also had a tray with an elaborate spread of pound cakes and chocolates to go with his blend, which was so many parts this coffee, two parts this other coffee and still more parts of another coffee.

I laughed at this guy because he was enthusiastic and he was taking himself seriously. I saw this meeting as a way to get out of my store for a bit and to be a little creative with coffee. It made me think about how I viewed the company I work for: as a means to an end.

I love coffee as much as the next person but I can't say that it's my life and or that I can't picture myself doing anything else. The uber presenter won the district taste test and is going on to the regional contest on Friday. I guess I'm happy for him but I don't think I could see myself doing the same.

My Education in Chicago on The Brew; Crickets

I just posted my article "Where Education and Experience Blur" on The Brew.
It's just a little anecdotal piece about journalism, Chicago and experience.

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I felt like I was in some bad horror movie the other night when I went to Kohl's around 9:30 p.m.

I parked my car and got out and saw hundreds of little black things all over the pavement. I took a few steps in my flip flops, trying to avoid the black things, which I figured out were crickets.

Once I realized that they were crickets, the black things jumping all around made more sense. I felt many of them bump into my legs and one almost fell in between my foot and my flip flops.

I got into the store without feeling anything squish or crunch underfoot. But it was just weird. I'd never seen so many of them in one spot before, let alone on a cement parking lot. Trippy.

Education Debate on The Brew; MilkyWay Greenbacks

So...yeah. It's been a while. And I didn't blog. Sorry.

But a debate has begun on The Brew on traditional vs. non-traditional education. The first article by Luke Raad, was posted earlier this week. The second article, by Trent Starnes, was posted today. Each author will also be writing a rebuttal to the other's article. Watch for it and for my 'education' article.

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So I'm part of a writing group at my church. I wrote a little short story for it that turned out like this:

“Hey, Rob. What’s going on?” John asked as one the store’s star employees walked in.

“Not much,” Rob said, taking a nostalgic look around the coffee shop, like he would never see it again. “Who’s working this morning?”

“You, me, Jose and Toni,” John said.

“Awesome,” Rob said, relieved. Neither of the managers were working this morning. He dropped his stuff off in the back and put on his brown apron that featured their company’s logo at chest level. He clocked in and walked behind the counter.

“Hey, could I just work the bar this morning?” Rob asked.

John thought silently for a minute and said, “Sure. Why not?”

“Sweet, thanks a bunch.” Rob thought for a moment. “I kinda just feel like making drinks this morning.”

“Sure, no prob. Hey, so what are you going to do with that new inheritance you just got?”

“Well, I’m not too sure, yet,” Rob said. “I might take some time off to figure it all out. Maybe travel a little.” He paused. “I might just make it up as I go.”

The next hour passed as the other employees came into work and took their spots at the registers. The morning rush customers began to flow in, looking like zombies out of some bad ‘50s horror movie.

The employees at the registers began calling drinks to Rob, who wrote drinks down and prepared the syrups for John, who also had taken a spot at the espresso bar.

Rob saw one customer whom he particularly could not stand walk into the store and get in line. She was more than a little overweight and made a large fuss to insure that her drink was made with skim milk but also insisted that there was extra whip cream on top. This customer soon reached the register.

“Welcome to MilkyWayGreenbacks’s Coffee,” the person at the register greete the woman. “How are you today?”

“Fine,” the woman said impatiently.

“Could I interest you in a delicious chocolate peanut butter almond muffin this morning?”

“No,” the woman said curtly.

“Okay,” the employee said, trained to be unfazed by any amount of unpleasantness. “Well how about a pound of our new Palpitations Roas..?”

“No,” the woman said, cutting him off. She turned to Rob and said, “Large, skim, caramel, almond white mocha with a dome lid and extra, extra whipped cream.”

“Large, Who-Am-I-Kidding’ White Mocha,” Rob called back to confirm that he had received the order.

Time didn’t stop when Rob called out this nickname for the drink because time doesn’t stop for coffee-hungry customers during the morning rush hour and a half. A slight pause was felt by everyone in the small store. Some customers in the back of the line snickered to themselves or chuckled with their associates who were in line with them.

John chuckled, but then shot Rob a look between steaming milk and topping cups with whipped cream and lids.

“Excuse me?!” the woman belted out to Rob.

“I’m sorry, maam,” Rob said. “But you’re not kidding anyone when you get that drink. You might was well shove a couple Snickers down your throat.”

“Well, I never!” she responded.

“Well, maam, it looks like you do pretty often.”

“Hey, you know better than that,” John said. “I know I don’t have to tell you about customer service.”

“You don’t,” Rob said. “I’m being truthful in my customer service. I care about this woman so I don’t want her to go on thinking that her drink is anywhere near healthy.”

A young man in a nice business suit was next. “Medium skim, sugar-free vanilla latte,” was called out.

“Medium Soccer Mom,” Rob called back.

“What?!” the man yelled out.

“This drink must be for your wife, right?” Rob responded. “Next?”

The line kept moving because people didn’t have time to stop and talk to this punk kid who was probably taking grad classes at some art institute. Time waited for no man, especially at a coffee shop. All the customers had to get to work on time and their coffee was the one thing that would help them do so. And besides, there were plenty of other MilkyWayGreenbacks around the city. There was no reason to come back to this one, especially if that non-conformist lackey worked here.

“Are you crazy?” John said. “You can’t keep doing this.”

“You guys couldn’t survive this rush without a fourth person here,” Rob retorted.

“Why are you doing this?” John asked.

They were interrupted with another drink: “Large, half-soy, half skim, two pump almond, three pump mocha with organic whipped cream latte.”

“Large schizo-tree-hugger latte,” Rob called back.

“I think people should appreciate the people who help them through their days,” Rob said to John. “Anyone in the service industry is taken for granted so often these days. I mean, what would happen if coffee chain employees weren’t paid to act like they care about customers?”

The normal coffee shop din continued as the effeminate man who wanted the organic whipped cream stood dumbstruck at Rob’s audacity. Cash drawers opened and closed; milk swished and splattered in the steaming pitchers; whipped cream canisters sputtered as they spat out creamy goodness. The shocked customer was passive aggressively shoved out of the way by the next customer in line, who was already barking out a drink order. There wasn’t time for customers to respond.

Another drink was called out: “Large seven shot latte.”

“Large crackhead latte,” Rob called back.

Audible gasps could be heard in the café, namely that of the slender woman who ordered the drink. “What did you call me?” the woman shouted at Rob.

But the next drink was already called out and other customers were pressing in from behind the woman, forcing her away from the registers and Rob.

“Now that’s it,” said John. “No more drink calling for you. You’re doing the milk and drink hand off station. Now!”

Rob obeyed with a smile, satisfied with himself.