um... t o g a ?

Pela's first bass lesson

Dad sat quietly and listened to what she had to say. He has to wait until she can talk to learn what this hammer-on is...

happy P

I got to see Sarah and some friends of hers at, uh, Fritz's Train Cafe.  A little train delivers the food on a track above the tables.  Cascading screams fill the room as the coffee is delivered to the last table in the cafe.  May have been a little much for Pela.

a fine sunrise

Our building has a nice view from where it sits.  Sunrises, sunsets, birds, fireworks and traffic jams are scrutable from our rooftop.  

oh my...

I definitely haven't seen it all, but this is moving me closer, and perhaps you too.  

nice portraits

here

especially this one

the thumb

the weekend

Not a bad weekend we had.  I toured a local brewery, and we had some good folk over on Saturday night.  Othernat, we sat around and looked at Pela.  She's a cute one.  

Solid.

what ever happened to Mike Donovan?

my brain's not big enough yet~

Michael Manring has some ability. This should be an easy cover for you bass players.

Pela's friend, Moxy

olive oil

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Have you ever had an olive oil you could enjoy sipping from a glass?  

I wondered that question for the past year.  I heard a program on the radio, featuring a fella speaking of such a thing.  He said you are not using high quality olive oil if you wouldn't want to sip it from a wine glass.  Knowing I may never be complete because I likely will not achieve this, I proceed.

The parent company of the coffee project I am with is a specialty food dealer.  They import and distribute pasta, meat, sauces, olive oils and cheeses that we would have to sell some stuff to afford.  I get a free hunk here and there, and we enjoy them thoroughly.  I would say instead, we relish them.  We enjoy the cheese (I)they compare to drinking Folgers in the specialty coffee world.  

That said, I tasted some olive oil off a spoon that was complex and intoxicatingly decadent.  Big words, I know...   Truly, it tasted like I had taken a bite of lip balm, but that's beside the point.  This stuff was unfiltered and hand pressed.  As you can see in the photo, the oil thickens at the bottom.  

The process of creating olive oil is not that different from the process of blending coffee or wine at origin.  The goods with coffee are sometimes single origin and even single varietal lots.  You want control over what you are tasting from the start.  Some green coffees that come from large mills are blended from different farms with different growing conditions.  You get a homogenized product.  That's not necessarily bad, it's just okay, and you know what you're getting, and it's easy to substitute areas with others if something goes wrong.  The same thing holds true of olive oil.  

Check your bottle, and you will likely see olives from three or four different countries.    Like standard orange juice from grocery store, we are tasting, well, orange juice.  Now tasting the place it comes from is where the excitement of coffee comes in, and in this case olive oil.  

This particular stuff I am talking about comes from one place in one country.  (It might be two places in one country to achieve the flavor profile, I can't remember)  The process of cold pressing, extra virgin etc.,  I don't know enough to even speak of.  

All this to say, buy a few different olive oils if you are interested in trying something interesting.  Or check the bottles at the grocery store and see where the olives come from and how that might be related to the price tag.  Or, you can just forget the whole deal and eat some lip balm; same difference...

yesterday's session

'sup world?

climbing again

we hit the climbing gym again this weekend.  We have met a few people motivated to climb.  It's too cold for us to climb outside, so we make the best of what's inside.  Pela's getting used to the grunting and flailing that comes with that activity.  She has a future friend, Layla.  She's a one year old little girl who was trying to get pela to come to her when she patted her leg.  Works for the puppy, why not a baby?

3 faces of P

'ey, ahm naked eah...

the weekend so far...

Not much to report; just cuteness.  

little P

Looking forward to a weekend with the ladies. The weather is inhospitable, being around 5 to 8 degrees. Glue ourselves to a little hibernating TVontheDVD. Then we have a holiday party to go to for my work tomorrow night. Fine cheeses, fine meats, and I don't know what else is going to occur. Maybe we'll let Pela loose and she can practice her yank the table cloth out from under the table setting routine. She'd like that.

the look

"you shall obey..."

Trucker's nightmare #12

ow.

So, today, I had a special moment. It involved six hundred pounds of green coffee, a pallet jack and my foot. It dropped from a dock plate a couple inches on to my toes and up on to my arch. Thankfully, I don't think it's broken. Just a wake up call.

ow. Busy times in the coffee world. Got to open my eyes and slow down, or up, depending on where the reader lives.

Oh, and Pela laughed for the first time today. I stopped home quickly and found Sarah and Pela upstairs. We were just sitting there staring at each other, so I picked up a few balls to juggle. She started up with a little mini kind of donkey laugh, " hee - eeeeeeeeeyh!". I smile just thinking about it.

That's it. We love you.

What can we say?

Warning: only for devoted fans...

the first of a few

This is a test. It's just a tour of the house in pela's last few waking moments Sunday afternoon. Fascinating...

a fine weekend

So, Pela visited a climbing gym for the first time this past Saturday.  She did pretty well.  She got tired quickly, but it's to be expected seeing how she still so young.  I enjoyed the smile on her face alternating with a concerned frown when her mom was dangling from 40 feet up.  

It felt good to be doing what comes naturally to us again.  Other than that, I enjoyed being able to spend two days with Sarah and Pela.  Girls are good.  

Luchador!!!

With a calendar like this one, it's got to be a good year.

this city

the Kansas City skyline has been growing on me lately.  Really, just the architecture around town in general is satisfying my senses.  It's special in its own way.  I don't know much about it, however I am starting to feel a stir in inside when I catch certain views.  

At Last...

Well, Sarah and I finally learned who owned the block we live on.  I mean, it's been months, and we never knew who we needed to thank for such a safe and pleasant neighborhood.  

Last night, there was some loud action outside on the street a few houses down.  Drunkish dudes were scrapping and swearing at each other.  I looked out the window to see a conversion van(which replaced the previous van we called the locust) illuminating the asphalt in front of it.  There was a case of beer in the street, and above it a fellow stood gesticulating and instigating some kind of confrontation with another nice man.  

The large man that was doing the most yelling moved the beer towards the curb and began taking off his jacket, and then his shirt.  As he stood, apparently ready, in a tank top in the night, it looked like a lickin' was going to be given.  

Instead, a neighbor approached.  Apparently he was annoyed by the yelling that had been going on for almost half an hour.  He said to the stripped man, "Yo, people are tryin' to sleep around here.  Watchu doin' making noise like that"?  "Now go on home!"  He punctuated his sentence with the ultra-recognizable sound of a shot gun being cocked.  

Now, Sarah and I are heavy heavy into season 5 of 24.  The sound of the shot gun sounded like the 9mm we always hear from the stereo.  Either way, my attention increased.  "Where is this going"?  I thought.  Well, the fellow with the gun had apparently made his point and turned towards home, stowing the tool inside his jacket.  At this point Sarah decided to move out from in front of the front window.  

"Ohh, you brought your piece"? the now clothed man inquired.  I think the nice fighting men were as surprised to hear that sound as I was.  Some yelling down the street followed, as well as some slow walking in the middle of the road with arms raised in some form of communication  Then, in a sing songy voice, the slow walker said, "I know where you liiiiiive".  

There was a moment of silence, then a fella comes down the sidewalk in front of our house to yell, "Hey!!  I don't know who you are..." " This MY block!"  That was followed by a "Luuuunnnnaaaaahhhhh!!!" and "Emmmppuuuuuuyaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!"  

At long last, we know who runs our block.  May the days of Empuuyaaah be long and profitable.  

Today's Flashback

honeymoon in Utah: ahhh...