A quick note

It is cold out. I think something like this might be needed.

A new addiction?

Forget coffee drinks. I've been spending more and more time on campus and as a result have become addicted to Freshëns smoothies. I'm a fan of the Strawberry Sunrise (which is 153 calories). Mmmm. I don't add what they call "boosters" to my smoothies because I'm not sure if I need them. Although I tried an energy booster once, and was buzzing with alertness for the rest of the day.

Pretty cups of coffee

I picked up a latte from The Ugly Mug the other day. Ironically, the mug was anything but ugly:



However, I threw away the latte after a few sips. You see, The Ugly Mug is one of the few coffee shops around that allows smoking. This means when you walk in it's a bit like walking into a smoke cloud. My lungs just can't handle it. My preference for breathing too strong, I guess. Coffee beans are very sensitive to absorbing what is in the air around them, which will alter the flavor of the coffee bean. I see no reason why cigarette smoke wouldn't be absorbed by the bean. As my mind pondered this I decided it wasn't worth it, and threw away the latte. Maybe this sounds incredibly snobbish but if it wasn't for the smoking issue, I think I might enjoy The Ugly Mug. Also, if I was a smoker then maybe The Ugly Mug would be like finding my own coffee shop paradise.

Looking for daily strategies

New York magazine has included an intriguing Guide to Inner Peace. The content is in their current issue but is also available online. The notion of "inner peace" might seem a little cliché, but I'm always interested in strategies to improve daily living. (And maybe, just maybe, I like clichés.) My favorite article from the guide is Move to a Fantasy Island by Vanessa Grigoriadis.

Vintage children's books

Photo from flickr member, redcoulter.

I didn't find a children's book blog, but I did find the wonderful flickr group, Vintage Children's Books. I like the illustration of the walrus on the page above. He looks a little sad but the artwork is beautiful.

Chocolate lover

I spotted this a few days ago and have been meaning to the post the link here: 25 gourmet chocolates were tested and the results are in. (Link found at Megnut.) I am the kind of person who loves chocolate. My favorite might be Chocolove, which I pick up at Whole Foods for $2.

Top children's books for 2007

The American Library Association announced the top 2007 winners for children's literature. The Caldecott Medal went to Flotsam, illustrated by David Wiesner. The Newberry Medal award went to The Higher Power of Lucky, by Susan Patron. I found this information while reading my local library's blog.

When I was a teenager I worked in the children's room at the library. What I miss most about the job is reading all the children's books while at work. I had responsibilities at the job that didn't include reading but there was always time for sitting down with a book. I would shelve a book, stop, browse through its pages, shelve the next book, stop, read a little more, and continue this pattern until my cart was empty. It wasn't a hectic job and everyone on the staff had time for reading, so my actions weren't exactly rebellious.

I've been looking for a good children's book blog but haven't found one. I guess the search must continue.

To do

Write essay on Her Kind by Anne Sexton.

Finish Anthropology essay.

Stop getting parking tickets. The amount of money I've paid in parking tickets this month is getting a little out of control.

Stay awake in order to complete items 1 and 2 before tomorrow.

Fix the crazy spacing issues related to the new layout. But only after I've dedicated myself to my studies.

Staying warm in January

Looking for healthy restaurant options is not an easy task. However, the local Zoup! seems to be a little better than most places. It’s been a cold January and so enjoying a hot cup of soup with the company of my oldest sister, T, is a perfect way to spend an afternoon.

Here is a description of how the soups are made from the official site:

These hand-crafted soups always start with stocks made from triple-filtered water, to which we add only the freshest and highest-quality vegetables, meats, herbs and spices (but never any additives or MSG). Each small batch is then cooked and simmered to the perfect level of doneness, and quick-chilled using an ice-water-bath method used in French cooking since the 1800s. This chilling method stops the cooking process at the peak of freshness and helps marry the flavors of the various fresh herbs and other ingredients. Just prior to serving, the soup is gently double-boiled, resulting in robust, flavorful, fresh and nutritious fare.

According to their official site, they have 200 soup selections. Very impressive.

Preaching on the street

Sometimes when I walk around downtown I notice scribbled messages or posters that broadcast a particular point of view and/or cause. I always wonder who goes to the trouble to make these public announcements. After all, it has to take a certain amount of time and commitment. Individual broadcasting impresses me the most.

So, this is a poster I walk by often and seeing Medusa always makes me smile:



I like the artwork and if you scan the poster you won't be able to find a corporate logo or organization's name attached to it. Maybe this poster was a student's art project? The poster reads: "Beauty must be defined as what we are, or else the concept itself is our enemy."

Reconsidering lunch selections

I had a tuna sandwich for lunch, which means I now smell like tuna. It’s a horrible, horrible smell. Maybe I should reconsider the foods I select for on the go.

When the holiday season is over

There is a flickr group devoted to Christmas Tree Carcasses. Whenever I see discarded Christmas trees out at the road I feel a little sad. Maybe this is the reason why I think using real Christmas trees is wrong. I'm not an extreme environmentalist but I do think cutting down real trees for a short one month span is a little wasteful. But more importantly, seeing old Christmas trees out at the road, stripped naked of their holiday decor, is too much for my fragile heartstrings to bear.

Spiders attack

I don't know how it happened but I now have four spider bites in the center of my back. These bites are in circular formation, clustered together. They look very unattractive (despite the fact no one will see them) and they itch. So I will probably scratch at them, which will make the bites appear far more grotesque.

I imagine the spider did his/her work while I was sleeping. Of course, I don’t know of any spider webs in my room and so I don’t know how I will find the culprit. I think I received the bites on the same night after I had purchased this bedding from Ikea. Did the spider follow me home from Ikea? And, could the spider be Swedish?

In my old apartment I also had a brief encounter with spider bites but it was very short-lived. I hope this isn’t one of those things that follows me wherever I go.

A discussion of Fair Trade coffee shops

Recently I found an awesome new blog, The Worsted Witch. What is even cooler is that the author of the blog includes a section on Fair Trade & Organic Cafés in NYC & Jersey City.



I know one can always use Delocator.net to find the nearest non-Starbucks coffee shop, but I’ve noticed their recommendations aren’t always the best. Delocator often includes franchise coffee shops or misinformation. For example, when I last checked for my area I noticed they have a coffee shop listed that closed over two years ago! I know this because I was the only person alive who went to this coffee shop until the doors closed one day. My other critique of Delocater is that Fair Trade or Organic information isn’t always included.

So, I’m considering starting a list of Fair Trade and Organic cafés that exist in my neck of the woods. (I know, it’s totally copying another person’s idea but it’s also for the good of humanity.) The tricky thing is, many coffee shops do offer Fair Trade and/or Organic certified products but in very limited numbers. I’ll have to take this into consideration as I put together my list.

Coffee talk

I started this blog to talk about tales from the bean. Meaning, the coffee bean. I haven't talked much about coffee lately and so here is an interesting read I thought I would pass along.

All Hail the Mighty Coffee Bean! by Lore Sjöberg:

"I scoff at people who pay a hundred dollars for a speaker wire, or who are convinced that they need a $4,000 dollar PC to send e-mail to grandma and read Funky Winkerbean online, but show me a $50 pound of coffee beans and I'm sore tempted. In the past 10 years I've gone from drinking whatever my employers provided in the break room -- with cream-mimicking, nondairy dust product, no less -- to carefully grinding my beans with a burr grinder and brewing them in a French press for exactly four minutes. There are Cirque du Soleil acts that are less intricate than my morning cup of joe.

What I'm trying to say here is that I give up. I am a love slave to the premium coffee industry, paying for the privilege of waiting for my arabica lover to come and have its way with me."

I found the article slightly amusing because like the author, I often scoff at people who make outlandish purchases. For example, I won’t spend money on quilted toilet paper or bottled water, and yet I have no trouble spending somewhere between $3-$5 for a single coffee drink. Unlike most consumers I have the luxury of free coffee drinks from the café I work at, which probably saves me hundreds of dollars a year.

(I’ve often thought of making the switch from coffee to tea but even with tea, I would be a total snob about what I would and would not drink. Only the best tea would do!)

Of course, I have to admit, I like paying for coffee drinks because I love supporting fellow baristas and the coffee shops I love to go to. So I’m not just paying for what is in my paper cup, but for the experience that goes with it.

I became very excited when I found this entry from Lifehacker: Learn a language with podcasts. Go to the iTunes Music Store and for free (yes, free) download language lessons in Russian, French, Chinese, etc. To get there go to the iTunes Music Store > Podcast > Education > Language Courses. I'm looking at French lessons right now. I had French in high school for three years but never paid enough attention to become efficient in the language. I like the idea of downloading the podcasts onto my iShuffle so I'll have something new to listen to as I walk across campus.

I’ve made no official New Year resolutions but have found myself organizing things and cleaning like crazy. I want to be ready for when the semester starts and for when I return to working at the café. Not working has been nice. Not dragging myself to the ugly building that holds all my classes is even nicer.

I’m also in the process of switching my life over to digital (or so it seems). No more day-planners, post-its or paper calendars. I’ve fully customized my Google homepage and have fallen in love with Google calendar. I know these aren’t exactly new features but I usually am the last person alive to catch on to the newest trend. For example: I became a Harry Potter fan years after the books were out and I didn’t buy an mp3 player until December 2006 when I finally picked up the Ipod shuffle.

However, I had to pick up the 2007 Japanese Woodblocks calendar from Cavallini & Co. for my room. It’s purely for décor but I love how it looks on this blue wall:

The Kim Family Benefit Art & Craft Auction begins today. Bidding will end on January 7th. From what I saw, the items look beautiful.

While doing my holiday shopping this year I made the mistake of stopping in at a local pet store. Once inside, I discovered the cutest bunnies in the world: the Holland Lop. They look like this and this. I reached down to pet the bunnies (fearing they would bite, after all, I’ve watched Monty Python enough times to know what these furry creatures are capable of) and surprisingly, they let me pet away. This gentleness completely melted my heart and I began debating: Do I need a bunny? The apartment complex I live in doesn’t allow cats or dogs but nothing was said about bunnies… Bunnies are quiet and clean, they would do no harm… and can’t you litter train a bunny just like a cat?

I walked away without a bunny for several, responsible reasons. I looked at fish while at the pet store, thinking they might be a substitute. Then I remembered even with fish it’s necessary to clean their bowl every so often. I would love to have a pet but I’m happy to be free of pet responsibility. Today I spotted this book and actually laughed when I read the title. Maybe my life is better without a bunny, after all.