50 beans | a better way to travel

As the summer months are approaching and I begin contemplating summer and fall vacation plans, websites like Travelocity, Wikipedia, and other travel-guide-type sites will often top my history log. A while back, the Dear Coffee, I Love You blog made a compelling argument for coffee tasting as an travel format. The writer lays out the benefits of viewing a city through coffee goggles and encourages the reader to café crawl as the preferred way to travel. The benefits of embarking on a coffee tour of a city are:

Unexpected Places – Many of the independent third-wave coffee shops are not located in large tourist areas, rather, opting to open in art districts and up-and-coming areas around the city, as rent is considerably cheaper. While visiting such cafés will detour you from the typical “must see” landmarks, you’ll get a more localized perspective of the city through an “off the beaten path” approach.

Barista’s Recommendations – Often, if you strike up a conversation with a barista, they will recommend some things to do around town that a traditional tour wouldn’t take you to, such as a local art gallery opening, or a concert in the park, or the best hole-in-the-wall food places.

Energy – Surprise! Coffee keeps you energized! I know, that’s almost a no-brainer, but I’ve discovered that when I travel, I often consume just as much coffee as when I’m in my cubicle slaving away (granted, recently my travels have often included my coffee buddies). The cafés along the way can provide a much needed break, while allowing you to sample the local brew, pick up a snack, share instagram photos via the wifi (or check your email), or even just to relax for a few minutes and people watch.

See Locals – Locals usually stay away from the super-touristy areas, so one of the best ways to get an authentic insight into a place is to see locals going about their daily lives (i.e. enjoying a cup of coffee).

Personally, I would use this only for certain cities where independent and progressive coffee shops have flourished. Often these places are hipster havens, cities like Portland and SF. NYC is also a big coffee town, but the city is so massive that you’ll most likely end up with only a tour of Brooklyn if you follow the coffee roaster trail. This year’s potential trips may not take me to those cities, so I’m still not sure if I’ll get a chance to try this out yet. Maybe in Boston or DC the next time I’m in the area.

frozen jalapeño magic

This morning I made a quick stop at safeway to pick up some food for lunch (trying not to eat out for lunch as much as before). As I was going from the bread aisle to the lunchmeat section (of course they put it in opposite areas of the store), I stopped by the snack aisle, and, much to my disappointment, I discovered that safeway no longer carries the jalapeño cheetos anymore. If you've never tried these before, then you haven't tried cheese powder, pepper flavoring, and MSG yummyness the way it should be enjoyed. My friend dan introduced me to these things last april when we did a st. patrick's day potluck at his place. The funny thing was, it wasn't the fact that he just had a bag of this stuff laying around, but when he asked us if we wanted to try some, he pulled the bag out of the freezer. Now, this was a novel idea for me, but let me tell you, they taste waaayyy better right out of the freezer than when they just sit around at room temperature. I don't know if it's the cooling sensation matching the semi-spiciness, but it was magical. According to frito-lays, these things are still in production, which means I need to keep my eyes peeled (or petition my local safeway to stock them again) for these awesome little thingys. Let me know if you come across any.

picnic day thoughts

UC Davis had it's annual Picnic Day this weekend! This is usually an event that will double the population of Davis for the occasion. As the mobs of people who have descended on the sleepy town of Davis slowly trickle back out of town and the city recovers from the weekend's stresses, I'll bet a lot of Davis folks will be re-emerging from their hiding places (it's a good thing that this happens only once a year). With the events of the last 24 hours still fresh upon me, it's a good time to reflect on this year's picnic day.


Some random thoughts:

Wow was it hot. When we took the tour of the greenhouse (in the morning, mind you), it was exactly the same temperature as outside.

It's interesting that the Examiner's article on Picnic Day almost made UC Davis students and residents seem like victims on picnic day, as if we have no choice in the matter. We have a choice. While out-of-towners do cause a lot of havoc, I'm pretty sure students do the same.

The starbucks in the davis Target is still the emptiest coffee-shop in town, even on picnic day. If you need a quick caffeine boost, I'm almost certain it's faster to drive from U-Mall to target, get your coffee, and drive back, than it is to wait inside the U-Mall starbucks on picnic day. Thank you 2006 voters for selling out to big-business!

orange, seen here running in circles

I have to admit the dog races are pretty fun, except, I realized that I am absolutely the LAST person you want picking your winners for you. After 7 prelim heats, I picked the winner in exactly 0 of those races. As a matter of fact, my go-to lane (orange) seemed to be perfectly content with chasing his own tail. The one time orange didn't, he practically took a serene, almost zen-like approach to reaching the finish line.

Big thanks to Yingnan for guiding us through the mobs of people. There were times where we lost you, but nevertheless you managed to track us down and alleviate the lost faces we occasionally wore.

5th Street road diet...

Late this afternoon 5th St. was at a standstill (it took me like, 35 min to go 4 miles). Awesome. If you thought this year's traffic sucked, you don't want to be around for next year's picnic day (after the 5th St. road diet) when there will be half the lanes. Funsies.

The shepherding dog never fails to amaze me. The fact that, through a series of whistles, he knows exactly where to guide the mass of sheep, through obstacles and across open fields, and finally, into a pen for keeping. We should probably hire the dog to herd acacians from friday night fellowship over to OTH with the same efficiency.

They now sell personal-size bottled asian soymilk at the MU Coffee House. Where was this accommodation when I was in college?!

I will never understand the two guys next to us that have chosen the shepherd dog's owner as the object of their heckling. Really guys? You really want to mock the guy who's decent sized overly-protective dog answers at the slightest whistle? Smart.

Anyone outside of the Davis/Sac area who decides to do a google search on Davis will inevitably uncover the following three items: the recently released findings on the pepper-spray incident (where UCD cops get reprimanded), friday's traffic/manhunt fiasco (when the causeway is shut down for 6.5 hours), and this weekend's picnic day event (where all news outlets report cops cracking down for the sake of public safety). Boy, we are really putting Davis on the map aren't we?

Of course I'm being a bit facetious, but this was a pretty fun picnic day overall. I am grateful to see so many cops out to make sure people are safe. Though it was hot, we were able to walk around safely and see people on campus enjoying the entertainment, shows, exhibits, and activities. Even though at the end of each picnic day, I usually vow never to go back into the mob again, this year was pretty fun. I'm kind of looking forward to next year.

50 beans | the canister

Hario's done it again: a new manual coffee mill. I came across this today on amazon while searching for a v60 pour-over dripper. The Hario coffee mill Canister C features the same recognizable Hario mill on the top (ceramic burr) mounted over a classic flip-lid glass container for storage. While the internal guts are probably the same as the lower-priced and more modern looking Hario Skerton (the mill I have), this mill does come with a decidedly classier look. While I haven't tried the Canister C, I'm almost sure that in addition to the amped up aesthetics, this is sure to feature some cool under-appreciated features like the skerton has, including being compatible with existing easy to find containers (the skerton is compatible with pint-sized mason jars). While the Canister C is priced considerable higher than the Skerton (considering the functionality is the same), the enhanced look does make it more appealing for some people who care about how their mill looks.

gettin' along.

Can you think of a time where you had a petty disagreement with someone at church? It maybe be about how the worship set should go, or who leads the next study, or whose small group brings drinks to the next potluck. What if, many years from now, your role in that disagreement about fellowship refreshments or who does the vaccuming on friday night is the only record of your existence?

This is what we see in Philippians 4 - Paul calls on Euodia and Syntyche to stop fighting with each other (incidentally the only mention of them in scripture). Since he didn't mention the actual argument, or take sides, I'm guessing it wasn't very important (if it was a matter of faith or theology, he'd probably pick a side or set them straight). What was important, was that their behavior was creating a distraction within the church in Philippi. Of course, Paul being Paul, handles this with tact. He urges them to agree in the Lord, asking a yokefellow (awesome...) to assist in mending the rift.

When I was young, I was of the opinion that disagreements within the church body was to be avoided, since we're meant to love each other aren't we? However, the more I observe fellowships and church folk, the more I realize that disagreements are a natural part of any community, churched or not (yes, we're still meant to love each other). We are a community made up of people of all different lifestyles, experiences, temperaments, etc. With these differences, there is bound to be friction. I feel Paul is pointing these two ladies toward commonalities rather than differences. The next verse changes direction, extolling the two to rejoice in the Lord. He points them to the joy we have in Jesus Christ and the peace of God which will guard our hearts and minds in Jesus. In view of the joys we have in Jesus, the petty disagreements (whatever they may be) don't seem as big. Finally, in one of the most oft quoted passages in Philippians, Paul exhorts the church to focus on the good:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8)

In the midst of prepping for this study on Phil. 4, I've started a new book called Team of Rivals (Doris Goodwin), which dives into the background behind Abraham Lincoln and the men that make up Lincoln's cabinet, particularly William Seward (secretary of state), Salmon Chase (secretary of treasury), Edwin Stanton (secretary of war), and Edward Bates (attorney general), all accomplished men in their own right. It's fascinating to note that these men that Lincoln chose to surround himself with, the ones that are to become among his closest friends and most trusted advisors, were all his political rivals only a few months before their appointments. Seward, Chase, and Bates all ran for the 1860 republican presidential nomination, and were all expected to place above the dark horse Lincoln. Set during Lincoln's presidency, the book focuses on Lincoln's process for reconciling conflicts and bringing together these men and their political differences as the country is thrown into the midst of the Civil War. The book brings out the internal friction within the administration, and the growing pains that occured in order for them to function together in running the country.

I see similarities in how Lincoln resolved the conflicts among these men and how Paul resolved the conflicts in the early churches. He holds together the group of men (and their personalities) by soothing egos, appealing to their sense of duty, and dealing with the numerous challenges to his leadership, all for the sake of the greater good. I'm still on the earlier chapters of the book (it's a looonngggg book), but I look forward to finding out more about how he dealt with conflict internally while dealing with the larger conflict that threatened to pull the country apart.

This post is a bit of a mish-mash of random thoughts, which help me go through the frustrations of prepping for the study (shameless plug: tomorrow - 7:30pm at dccc), especially in dealing with the tyranny of the blank page. Hopefully I'll have a sheet filled with questions, a general direction to follow, and a keen sense of timing (i'm horrible at keeping track of time). We'll see how it goes!

soldier, scholar, horseman, he...

Teddy Roosevelt was a man, but not just any man. He was the very model of a guy's definition of a masculine man. He was both politician and cowboy, soldier and peacemaker. He holds the distinction of being the only man to ever earn both the medal of honor as a soldier, and the nobel peace prize as a statesman. He wrote books, hunted in the jungle, and explored nature all at the same time. He was the original Chuck Norris. During an assassination attempt at a campaign rally, a man put a bullet in his chest. Since he wasn't coughing up blood, he surmised that his lungs were ok, and proceeded to deliver a 90-minute speech before going to the hospital. History has generally accepted all of this as part of the rough rider Teddy Roosevelt persona. Only, don't call him Teddy. Apparently he found it vulgar and felt it was "an outrageous impertinence" (yep, he even used big words like impertinence). Yes, Roosevelt was a man, much like how John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, and Chuck Norris are men. I'm reminded of a piece of the poem by W.B. Yeats, written in honor of a friend (and from which the title of this post was borrowed). I sometimes wonder if the poet had men like Roosevelt in mind when he penned these words:

Soldier, scholar, horseman, he,

And all he did done perfectly

As though he had but that one trade alone.

When I read stories and biographies about guys like Roosevelt, I tend to think that this guy's amazing, that he must be what a lot of guys aspire to be; basically, the model of manliness. I'm not sure if girls look at other women and think, that's a woman. She's the definition of what being a woman embodies (I don't think so?). For a lot of guys, we instinctively see others that may be more manly, exhibit more masculine qualities and think, woahhh, that guy's crazy. I think that's why guys like Bear Grylls (man vs wild) and Chuck Norris get the majority of their fans. Of course, not every guy thinks this is the ideal manliness, and so for those guys there are the Hugh Grants and the John Mayers, ones that can showcase the sensitive and/or musical side of guys. Of course we must not forget the funny guys and the sad-but-determined guys. With the world giving us so many different (and often times conflicting) images of what guys are supposed to be like, figuring out what kind of guy characteristics to espouse is pretty difficult.

Going off a previous post, I've been learning about how a man made in the image of God ought to be, while at the same time retaining a God-equipped sense of what it means to be a man. The problem is (at least for me), how do I fend off that impulse to want to be more like those particular men, to return to what the world has deemed to be the model of what a manly man ought to be? Every once in a while I'll watch man vs wild or any Denzel Washington movie and feel inadequate about myself as a man. Those guys are out there doing some pretty butch stuff, and I sit in a cubicle and work all day in front of a computer. Not exactly inspirational stuff.

The thing is, that isn't how God created me. Sure, I could try to pursue that kind of masculinity by attempting to be more like that guy ( maybe...Roosevelt's pretty crazy...), but it's not what God may have intended for me. How do I know? I don't know for sure; however, my (occasionally flawed) logic is this: for me, trying to be masculine in the way like the guys in tv/movies (Denzel charging on the fort in Glory, Bear Grylls getting water from his own poop, etc.) the main motivation is to look and feel better about myself. It's a self-centered motivation to become more masculine. Basically, it's in some ways trying to glorify myself, whereas God wants us to glorify Him.

Of course, coming to this realization alone is only maybe the first 10% of a lifelong journey. In essence, it doesn't really mean squat if I can come to this realization. What I choose to do with this realization is much more important than actually having the realization itself. It's like the Israelites in Egypt. It took them so long just to be persuaded by Moses to trust in God enough to get up and leave Egypt, and even that took ten plagues and some serious arm-twisting. Then it takes the Israelites another forty years of wandering in the desert for them to learn to obey God fully and make Him the center of their lives, and even then it was a constant struggle to keep them in line.

For me, trying to discover what God has intended for me to be as a man is something I should have done a long time ago, but the journey itself is what I would characterize as the full measure of the experience. It's not like I'm going to finish this book, and there, now I know what it means to be a man. No, I don't think that's the intended purpose of the book or the journey. Rather, it's intended to make me aware of the journey that I'm already on, and to make me understand and take and active part in the experience. Ok this isn't exactly chapter three from the book, but rather something that's been on my mind recently.

RIP conversation.

Ohh no. I didn't mean to do it. There really wasn't any choice, it was an unfortunate turn of events. Upon boarding the red-eye flight to Atlanta, I moseyed down the aisle with my kindle and boarding pass in one hand, backpack in the other, eyes peeled for 18E. Oh great, E. Of course, for the five hour cross-country leg of the flight, it'd be middle seat (granted it was exit aisle). As I came upon the row, I notice a nice older gentleman with salt/pepper hair sitting in 18D, striking up a conversation with 18F, a businesswoman that looked like she was headed straight for an early morning meeting. I'm assuming these two had just met since they were shaking hands, and as I approach the row, I could overhear them taking about work and why they were traveling that day.

They seemed to be having quite the da-ba-doo time, looking slightly nervously at the oncoming line of people, secretly hoping that nobody would be sitting in the middle seat. How do I know? I perfected the look on southwest - slightly disgruntled face while arm slightly hanging over into the middle seat to make it seem less attractive to other passengers. Sorry folks. As I arrived at row 18, I quickly stuffed my backpack in the overhead bin and motioned that I was going to be sitting in 18E, right between the two. I don't have a choice, it's the seat they gave me. I sat down, careful not to bump either of them. They both smile politely, gave each other a nod, and that was it. The dynamic shifted - silence. No continued conversation, no talks of work or travel, just silence. Weird. That was the moment the conversation died.

It wasn't like I could really help it, I had to sit down, but at the same time, I knew it was going to be a little weird, since they were talking so nicely. I offered to switch with one of them, but by then the conversation was dead, and talking to me just wasn't the same, so both politely refused. *sigh* deep down I knew I had conversatory blood on my hands, I was responsible for the end of the chitchat. As the plane taxied down toward the runway, the headphones went in and the e-book came out. This was going to be a long flight.