Ode to the DBC

For those of you who don't know, we are lucky enough to have a Dunn Bros Coffee in northern JoCo. For this reason alone, JoCoSOB, I strongly suggest you reconsider ceding from everything north of 95th Street. Now, DBC is a chain, make no mistake. There is nothing wrong with that in my humble opinion IF in the process of being a chain, you don't lose grasp of product quality and the integrity of your business model. Back in oh, say '97, I was a minion of Ed Dunn back at one of his hometown shops in Minneapolis. I could sling a superior hazelnut latte with the best of them. Back then I also realized that you can most certainly taste the difference in beans that are roasted on premises. The Bros. Dunn had decided early on that they would spread their bean knowledge far and wide. This afternoon when I walked into the location here off Metcalf I was overcome with the aromatic nostaligia that a brewed DBC bean elicits in me. God, if this isn't the best coffee on the face of the planet AND free wi-fi (which I'd forgotten about). The other thing I love is that this is an actual coffee shop. They don't have giant glorified Slurpee machines. You want a Frappacino? Go over to those amateurs with the green logo across the parking lot (yeah, they moved in about 6 mos after DBC opened its doors here in the strip mall next to Half-Priced Books). You want iced coffee? The people in the green smocks ask you what flavor (um, COFFEE flavor?). Here, they tap the vat of cold-pressed coffee that, once you taste, you will never again settle for some hot-brewed-over-ice-bitter POS.
Ed Dunn, you delicious owl-looking bastard, these many years later after a voice mail message informing me that my services were no longer needed, you've finally won my respect. No, not with your "Got time to lean; got time to clean" mantra, but by staying the course of treating your customer like they know a thing or two.

viva los praters

Who, I believe, are probably on a plane to somewhere where free drinks fill fountains and people with sexy accents stroll the beach. Scott and Katie, I'm happy to know you. That was the rip-roaringest wedding we've been to in far too long. I wish you a lifetime of happiness together.Even Lady Preutopia tied one on with abandon on this night for the Bombay Sapphire was flowing like, well... free gin! No, not just any gin, but gin of the gods. I heart you Bombay Sapphire, heart you like you will never know.
Old friends were found. Ladd, Jay's friend from the frat, was located and determined to be still a cool motherfucker. They talked old skool hip hop with abandon.
Meanwhile, family members drank and got merry on the dancefloor. I've never seen a more organized group of tipsy people when that Cha Cha song came on. While only the truly professional wedding dancers knew the Charlie Brown, everyone calmly awaited further instruction and it came a second later.

Later, I grabbed drunk pix of Jay and I. He stated his balls itched. I caught the formation of the word 'balls' on camera.

We went home. Tucked in the tots and called it a night.

hopped up on caffeine and free wi-fi

Panera. Home of all things mediocre barring the exceptionally fast free wi-fi. Also, here in Olathe, second home to entrepreneurs, pharm salespeople, political operatives, realtors and housewives in search of respite.
this guy next to me in a full suit. older white guy with matching white hair and beard, tall and angular in his summery beige get up with the fine wale. reminding me of the modern version of a mad men character. unloading all he knows to his wet-behind-the-ears accomplice in a pink striped button-down re: all the latest in the pharm sales community, who's where, who's moving, who's selling, who's buying. If only he were enjoying a cigarette and highball instead of a large pink and yellow icy thing with what appears to be a small pvc pipe being used as a straw.
Good god. Skinny guy, are you really putting that in your willowy body?
I think a pack of unfiltered camels might be only marginally worse for you. and really, the enjoyment factor, soooo much greater.

spiritual jujitsu

“Zen means ‘attain “don’t know” mind and save all beings’. Show me this 'don’t know' mind.”

Don’t Know mind is as commonplace as a shrug. It’s the save all beings part that gets complicated.

i'm an asshole

this isn't news, really. and i'm just saying, that i know this.
i said some tough stuff today. but i said it out of caring and an attempt to be helpful. it wasn't received this way and i'm not surprised. however, no one can ever accuse me of not carefully considering what i'm saying. that's not to say it's said well. but it's coming from a deeply considered place and a sincere wish to make things ok. and yes, i realize how arrogant it is to imagine myself as being able to heal a situation that is essentially out of my control.
i guess i'd like to know more people like me. :) heh, or maybe not. it's not pretty. it's not fun. it actually sucks. and i hate my lack of positive emotional boundaries.

that whole thing made no sense. crap.

just one of those unecessary things

a friend sent over a forwarded email about the hazards of ubiquitous plastic bag usage. it's not news but i thought we were doing well because we recycle our bags. heh. not so much. apparently it's something like $4k to recycle a ton of plastic bags which can then make about $32 worth of new plastic bags. jeez. apparently some countries have banned them all together and some U.S. cities. San Fran of course, but also a rather surprising Google entry belonged to Baltimore, where a ban is also being pushed. And, this actually makes more sense. San Fran, you ppl are preaching to the choir... now, Baltimore, YOU have balls. I'm pretty sure in some neighborhoods, bag boys could run the risk of getting a shiv to the gut for not producing a plastic bag for a patron with a short fuse and lacking a strong re-use ethic. So...what do I care you say? Well, if my family can go to cloth, so can everyone else here in the 'dotte. That's right KCK, let's make this a plastic bag-free zone . It makes more sense for us because seriously... it could actually have an effect on our neighborhoods (does meth traffic as well in tiny canvas bags?). I for one would love to never see another bright yellow Dollar General bag hanging from a street sign or blowing down State Ave like an urban tumbleweed. You passed a 'green city' plan last year. How about adding this initiative to the list?

gratutitous

Yeah, I officially take photos of myself to post online. At least my kids are in them so the narcissism quotient is slightly mitigated.

one (or two) or these is not like the others -- or -- come on ride the train, it's a poo poo train

I suppose I should count myself lucky. He hadn't picked them up yet and put them on the track.
Also, Jay cleaned carpets during college.
Doubly lucky.
Wish us luck with potty training!!

postscript: my friend Ky-ro suggested that Ro simply wanted some cargo to pull. heh. i wouldn't put it past the little rogue.

happy birthday, ro (the sequel)

The party for Ro's 2nd bday was a blast. The house was packed to bursting with all his little homies. He continued to sing himself Happy Birthday well into the following week and has a new-found fascination with watching videos of himself. We had the ever popular Poo 'N' Choo Choo theme. Below are samples of my #2-themed party treats (yes, those are indeed candy corns).

one way to kill the mystery

,
using the phrase "puking out of my asshole" to your husband.

sooo hawt.

has a ring to it doncha think?

nature's most complete conditioning treatment! and, though i didn't grab a snap of the ingredients list, trust me there was the dubious entry about half way down: "placenta".
placenta of what, who's to say?

cat splatters

are filling the house these days. mysterious splats of some form of cat loogie. then, not so mysterious, Kung Fu's urinary tract infection that causes him to piss anywhere but his litter box. thankfully, he seems to favor one corner of the screened-in porch. Which at least can be disinfected.
but, i have to say, it seems we've come to a crossroads. the end of an era, if you will. i really can't keep a cat who costs me furniture, carpet cleaning and a good night's sleep (up wondering if you're going to be pissed on).
I'm sorry for him that he's peeing blood, but really, he's gotta go if this is going to be how it is. I kinda wish we hadn't declawed him because at least then he could be an outside kitty. Now, however, his future looks bleak.
If you have a heart (unlike me) and a home covered floor to ceiling in plastic (also unlike me), please drop me a note.
Selling point: The pee usually only comes by the thimble-full!

spam for the brainwaves

i love quotes. i prefer a well-chosen quote to actually reading any given work by an author. like letting someone else do the sorting of diamonds from the coal.

"Romance is the deepest thing in life. It is deeper even than reality." -- G.K. Chesterton

I want to believe this, and I'd like to think that's because my definition of romance, or the ways I can actually be romanced, are diverse. And I love the honesty there...romance is not reality. It may be deeper, and thus more valuable even, but it's not reality. You can't hold on to it. It is meant to ebb and flow and be inconstant. For us marrieds, it's not a goal. An entry in the good marriage ledger. It's a choice. It's a skill. It's a rarefied gift that is appreciated all the more for its temporal nature.

eh, maybe i'll never get this romance thing down. i'm too practical.