a humble pilrgrim on a long, slow journey

Our century, which began and has developed under the insignia of industrial civilization, first invented the machine and then took it as its life model.

We are enslaved by speed and have all succumbed to the same insidious virus: Fast Life, which disrupts our habits, pervades the privacy of our homes and forces us to eat Fast Foods.

To be worthy of the name, Homo Sapiens should rid himself of speed before it reduces him to a species in danger of extinction.

A firm defense of quiet material pleasure is the only way to oppose the universal folly of Fast Life.

May suitable doses of guaranteed sensual pleasure and slow, long-lasting enjoyment preserve us from the contagion of the multitude who mistake frenzy for efficiency.

Our defense should begin at the table with Slow Food.
Let us rediscover the flavors and savors of regional cooking and banish the degrading effects of Fast Food.

In the name of productivity, Fast Life has changed our way of being and threatens our environment and our landscapes. So Slow Food is now the only truly progressive answer.

That is what real culture is all about: developing taste rather than demeaning it. And what better way to set about this than an international exchange of experiences, knowledge, projects?

Slow Food guarantees a better future.

Slow Food is an idea that needs plenty of qualified supporters who can help turn this (slow) motion into an international movement, with the little snail as its symbol.

-The Slow Food Manifesto

(The Slow Food international movement officially began when delegates from 15 countries endorsed this manifesto, written by founding member Folco Portinari, on November 9, 1989.)

a step forward

Last night was the finals of the in-house barista and service competition for two local cafe/lounge/who-knows-what-else's, tryst and open city. Since both shops rock a GB5 and Counter Culture's espresso toscano, they wanted to have an in-house barista competition to see who's tops. Since both shops have table service with a wait staff, they wanted to incorporate another element into the standard USBC/WBC format. The way they achieved this was really quite wonderful and enjoyable.

As their customer relations representative, I had the distinct honor of being the presiding head judge over the final round of five teams of competitors. Yes, teams. Each team consisted of a barista and a server, with the barista responsible for knocking out four different drinks off their menu for two waiting sensory judges. Two tech judges examined the baristas technique using the standard USBC scoring. The two sensory judges were served not by the barista, but by the server, armed with an arsenal of coffee knowledge to enlighten the judges (and the crowd). Each team was to pick a theme and the finals saw presentations touching on Bird-friendly and sustainable coffees and their effect on environment as illustrated on a flip-chart as well as a touching expose on coffee in Japan complete with videos of Japanese coffee commercials projected on the wall behind the espresso machine. There were also plenty of coffee facts sprinkled throughout the presentations from the legend of Kaldi to the proclaimed superiority of Counter Culture among East Coast coffee roasters (i think Joel was sucking up to his head judge).

While incorporating a server is not necessarily revolutionary, the exciting factor was that they were encouraged to have fun. And fun they had, from straw hats and overalls to a long-winded story of high adventure that would've been delivered in a gnome costume had one been found in time. I felt free to laugh and enjoy myself and respect the humor and creativity of the presentations as well as evaluate the drinks served.

The baristas and servers accepted the challenge put before them (there were fourteen teams between the two stores at the beginning of the competition) and fought hard to take a prize that was unknown to them until the awards ceremony. Maybe it was fifty bucks-either way they were going to enjoy the experience. In the end, the winning team won transportation and lodging along with $250 each spending cash for a weekend trip to NYC as well as mad bragging rights. Pretty amazing.

The event was capped with drinks and cake at Tryst, bringing together baristas from at least four different DC-area cafes in addition to the businesses that are a part of the Tryst family. And the evening did not end without ideas on how to make the next competition (tentatively scheduled for January) better and more fun for all involved, not only to raise the level of coffee skills and knowledge but to celebrate all that it is to work in the greatest industry on the face of the planet.

Go, coffee, go!

cows, cheese

In the 1960's, the Aubrac, like almost all the mountain areas of Europe, entered a period of profound social and productive crisis...The few who remained (to raise cattle and produce cheese)...were persuaded by zootechnical experts to switch from local breeds of cattle (the Fleur d'Aubrac or Rouge d'Aubrac, pictured above) to Holsteins, the famous dappled black-and-white creatures that invaded the world milk market in the late 1970s. They are the most productive of all cows...They produce almost twice as much milk per day as "normal" cows.

The Aubrac farmers could hardly believe it when they were shown those production figures. Within a few years, Holsteins had replaced the Aubrac cows almost to the point of rendering them extinct. Problems, however, soon began to arise...their milk, which contains much less fat and also less protein than that produced by the indigenous cows (as well as being less tasty), is virtually useless for making Laguiole cheese, whose traditional production method requires milk with very different characteristics. So, along with the indigenous cows, the traditional cheese was also disappearing.
-Carlo Petrini, Slow Food Nation

(all that just to post a picture of a cow)

(oh, and things have begun to change for those picturesque cows. they are making a fine comeback. as is the cheese)

foreshadowing

This picture was taken at the La Marzocco factory in Firenze. At least twelve 3-group and nine 2-group machines to be made from the subjects of this photograph.

Delicious.

I reside in Arlington--part of the Southeastern United States

“In Atlanta, the heat and humidity for a significant part of the year can be debilitating. Before air-conditioning, people got used to it with modifications in their behavior, namely, doing as little as possible. This held for people of all social ranks and was, in fact, a traditional feature of modern culture. People compelled to do hard physical labor would do as little as possible as slowly as possible, but so too would insurance claims adjusters and bank presidents cooped up in offices. Since doing as little as possible tends to produce less of value to human society, it would be fair to say that the climate of the southeastern United States was not naturally hospitable to advanced civilization. Air-conditioning, or “comfort cooling,” as the industry likes to describe its product, made modern life possible in that part of the country…In contemporary Atlanta, one need only sweat making the journey from a given parking lot to a given building. Air-conditioning and cars are the primary determinants of life in Atlanta. The city’s utter dependence upon them is assumed if no longer completely conscious.” James Howard Kunstler, The City in Mind

Feelin it.

thoughts on the coffeehouse of my future

I often refer to "the coffeehouse of my future" as I continue to learn the how-to's and how-not-to's of opening and running coffee bars. After six years of working most every job available in your average shop--from counter boy to barista to baker to manager to bookkeeper--and now six months of customer relations work for a wholesale roaster, I've seen too much not to have taken a couple of notes.

There comes a point in a baristas life when making high-quality drinks is no longer optional and the intangibles come into play as "that thing" that will distinguish your shop among all others.

Ask me six months, a year, ten years from now and this list will have grown and changed, but I have a few things that have kept popping up recently that I wanted to record at least for my own reflection at a later date.

1. Live where you work
Ask me more about this one and I may go on a tirade about New Urbanism, sidewalks and the decline--and now, hopefully, rise--of american community life. Be specific about coffee and I'll go into the following:
First off, you'll save a lot of money. I don't know how many owners and baristas I've encountered that spend into the hundreds of dollars each month in commuting to and from work and buying meals because they are stranded away from their own kitchen and stove. Bad deal.

Second, if your customers live in the shop's neighborhood, they openly dislike and distrust the fact that you don't. They'll share it with everyone they know. They might not carry this prejudice into their reviews of your product or even stop coming, but they won't be happy. And they'll make that known.

Third, you can't get a feel of your customer base by living inside your store. "My customers say they want X" Honestly, your customers don't really know what they want and neither do you. You can only get a feel for this by exploring the street you are on and getting to know the stories and histories of the community you are serving. Shop at the grocery, eat at the deli, drink at the bar. And then turn around and offer them what they need rather than what they think they want.

2. Serve
While that last point may have come across as somewhat low on humanity, the coffee industry is ultimately a service industry with an emphasis on serving. Thankfully we are not simply vending machines and God help us if we are all shooting to model our stores after a Burger King or a Taco Bell.

Don't ever lose sight of the role of the evangelist--the good messenger. Oh, to open the eyes of the blind with that Yirgacheffe or Macchiato. While we possess such great knowledge, we must judge our educational efforts by both the honors student and the kindergartener. A wise man says, "love your enemies." The enemy here is sometimes seen as "a future customer" with dollar signs in the eyes of the business owner. This is not the way of love and should not be the way of our industry.

Sustainability doesn't end at paying a fair price to a farmer or having confirmation that pesticides didn't touch this plantation. Self, don't advocate sustainability if your own life is not so. Fairness, equality, justice. In my business? In my family? In my community? In my life? Fight for justice at home and abroad. Serve your employees. Serve your customers. Serve your producers.


I actually had a few more things that have been on my mind, but all this preachy preachy has sort of worn me down. Self, don't forget.

Gibbon on History

After traveling throughout parts Italy and spending a few days in Rome a month ago, I realized that I know very little about the history of Rome and the Roman empire. I've always been a Greece guy, focusing my classical studies on Herodotus, Homer, the Tragedians, Plato and the lyric poets. Now I'm trying to learn a little about the Romans by diving into Gibbon's The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. While I doubt that I'll finish the three volume abridged version that I have, I'm picking up some nuggets along the way.

"Antonius diffused order and tranquility over the greatest part of the earth. His reign is marked by the rare advantage of furnishing very few materials for history; which is, indeed, little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind."

It appears that Gibbon, one of the most esteemed historians of his--or any--time, believes that "history" is just a record of humanity's errors. Maybe I don't want to be famous, after all. I've spent 28 years trying my best to make a way into the books--without much success--through positive actions. Maybe that's just the wrong approach. From now on, I'll focus on failure. That's the ticket...failure.

birthday boy...ho hum

Yesterday was my 28th birthday.

While it was a good day, it is plain that it no longer carries the same pizzaz that it once did. I remember witnessing my parents birthdays as a child and wondering how it is that they were able to conceal their extreme excitement. Surely they must be exploding with glee inside but need to maintain some sense of maturity since they are old. Really, what's better than your birthday?

Apparently, I've gone to join them, crossing over that line where birthdays don't exempt you from working, even working longer or harder, and don't bring piles of exciting toys and knick-knacks and baseball cards. Just checks.

Maybe next year, I need to have a child's birthday party to relive some of the emotions of my youth. Gift packs for the guests, a big disgusting cake, streamers and balloons. Or I could have an adult party like last year, with Belgian ales and international cheeses. For some reason, I decided to bypass the get-together this year. Just leave me to get old and die, thank you very much.

Either I'm starting to understand whatever it is that my parents have understood for years or maybe everyday is so festive that it's difficult to muster additional energy for party days. When you are already running at such a high level of positive intensity, how can you raise it up another notch?

In no way do I feel like I'm entering some sort of "big fade" where the rest of my life boils down to boredom and varying amounts of depression and crisis, which must be the fear of every slightly aging young man or woman. Maybe not boredom so much as simplicity. No crisis...I'm not wired for crisis. I'd be more prone to boredom, I'm sure. Honestly, though...Life is good. Birthdays are strange.

spring turns to summer

...
Hot midsummer’s petted crone,
Sweet to me thy drowsy tone
Tells of countless sunny hours,
Long days, and solid banks of flowers;
Of gulfs of sweetness without bound
In Indian wildernesses found;
Of Syrian peace, immortal leisure,
Firmest cheer, and bird-like pleasure.

Aught unsavory or unclean
Hath my insect never seen;
But violets and bilberry bells,
Maple-sap and daffodels,
Grass with green flag half-mast high,
Succory to match the sky,
Columbine with horn of honey,
Scented fern, and agrimony,
Clover, catchfly, adder’s-tongue
And brier-roses, dwelt among;
All beside was unknown waste,
All was picture as he passed.

Wiser far than human seer,
Yellow-breeched philosopher!
Seeing only what is fair,
Sipping only what is sweet,
Thou dost mock at fate and care,
Leave the chaff, and take the wheat.
When the fierce northwestern blast
Cools sea and land so far and fast,
Thou already slumberest deep;
Woe and want thou canst outsleep;
Want and woe, which torture us,
Thy sleep makes ridiculous.

excerpt from "the humble-bee" ralph waldo emerson

funny how these things work

ha.

so i make this post about returning to the blog. and then, well...

in some sense, i suppose it doesn't make much of a difference. currently, there is just a porch, some rain, obscure norwegian acoustic music. maybe that is enough.

it appears that our vegetables are doing well. i really need to spend some time with them, but it's been raining nearly the entire time i've been home since getting off the plane yesterday afternoon. i'm looking forward to eating something that i've grown-a salad of my own birthing.

ten days in france and italy behind me but i'm still processing the experience.

for now, a picture of my neice, linnea. i'd like to think she's named after an espresso machine, but a flower will do.



notice the floating $50 bill. don't worry, it was recovered.

i don't know how i got suckered back in

The other day I found myself getting strangely nostalgic about the days when I used to maintain a blog. Well, maintain isn't really the right word for it, I guess, considering my frequency.

But I thought I'd try to revive it and see if I can come up with something more interesting this time around.

prettty preeety

129602-004
Originally uploaded by phrenologist.

soon the streets of missoula will be covered with snowy snow. and then they will just push it into piles in the middle of the street rather than taking it away. it is great fun to hurdle the mountain when trying to get from break espresso to worden's market to get the fine cornucopia sandwich. that's the one with the turkey and cream cheese and dried cranberries, sunflower seeds and all kinds of yummy-yummy.

happy thanksgiving.

one month to go

DSC_5529
Originally uploaded by restingmusic.

again, i apologize. well, not really. it's hard work preparing for a wedding. but well worth it. on the 17th of next month, i will be wed to a beautiful and wonderful young lady. afterwards, we will fly far far away to ecuador for a week.

please check out the wedding site. it's quite great.

sorry i'm so lame

so this has turned into the lamest blog ever...
http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
i apologize.

but, in the meantime, please check out www.jillandryan.net to see what i've really been up to in the last month.

speaking of which, i was at the nats game on saturday and sat one row behind "steve" from the jerry springer show. i really didn't know who this person was, but apparently he's famous.

the washington nationals

so...

i've been to four nationals games so far this season. i watch on tv if they are on. i listen to the radio. i read the box scores. the team site is my home page for firefox.

...

i never thought i'd be hooked again.

they got me.

i lived in montana for four and half years and thought that i'd escaped the lure of professional sports, but having a pro baseball team within walking distance of my apartment has changed everything. i thought i'd given my life over to coffee and all things artsy and alternative, but, still, there it is, plain as day. i'm a sports fan.

i was raised a sports fan, and though i tried to get away for so many years, i've come back around. i have the fitted hat. i keep a scorecard at the game. i root, root, root, for the home team. it's over

feel free to check them out yourself at www.nationals.com.

downtown missoula

downtown missoula
Originally uploaded by mandapanda191.

oh, Missoula, how i miss you at times. i long to be back in your arms, even just for a moment. to feel your breath on my cheeks, your colors surrounding me. the little things, the sunshine, the railroad tracks, the blackberry muffins at bernices. one more cornucopia sandwich at wordens market.

i love you and hope to see you soon.

the best news of the week

go here for some fantastic news...

http://www.artsjournal.com/aboutlastnight/

scroll down a little and read about how the idaho state house of representatives passed a resolution about the best friggin movie ever.

!!!!!!!!!! that's right, baby.

such sadness

so today was danielle's last day...

that makes me sad. i don't want to get all sappy here on the internet for everyone to see, but i know that i'll miss danielle. i have enjoyed the last--actually, i can't say that i know how long it has been that we've worked together... it seems like i don't remember her not working at the shop. i've learned a bunch from danielle and, hopefully, have helped her to learn a thing or two. although i wish she didn't have to go, i'm excited for all the adventures she'll have out in san fran. travel, experience, good stuff.

vota por summer. in other news, i'm watching napoleon dynamite in spanish right now. i was told that it must be done. i don't speak spanish well. at all. the entertainment comes from the voices they chose for the characters in the movie and how these other actors interpret the script. yeah, it is a very strange must-see for any napoleon fan.

jill says to the world:

"by the way, if i could add to your website, i would say: 9/17 or
bust! we're getting married regardless of rain, monsoon, guests,
dress or hall. if we have to, we'll meet at the courthouse. that's
it and that's all, whether you like it or not!"

that's right, we're getting married on september 17, 2005. and that's final.

excited but puzzled

so i was on low's website, wondering if they may be coming back to the area soon. (they were just here in february) it turns out that they are coming to baltimore in june and i was super pumped. !! but then, i looked to see where the show is...and it is at the rams head live. there is a bar in annapolis called the rams head that i've been to before, and it's good food, nice space, etc, but never a place that i would expect to see low. the place in balt is their other location.

while i'm sure it is a fine venue, i had to wonder quite a bit when i read through their upcoming schedule. while they featured some pretty cool acts including the roots, earlimart, medeski martin and wood, and pinback, they also have coming up: Dwight Yoakam, KC and the Sunshine Band, Europe (the final countdown...now you remember), third eye blind, and steve winwood.

when they were just in town, they played the black cat, with pedro the lion opening. now they are playing six days before winwood (who is playing on my birthday). this might be kind of an odd show for them, but i'm sure they will pull it off. they are playing with a band called no wait wait, who i am not familiar with. find out more info on them here. see low's website to your right with the other links.

hooray for the best band in the world!