December 2006

Monthly Archive

coffeehouse lesson

Posted by on 28 Dec 2006 | Tagged as: coffee

So i am reading a book Emily got me for Christmas, Pour Your Heart into It by Howard Schultz. Schultz is the Chairman and chief global strategist of Starbucks. he is the guy who made it what it is today.

So this entry is a brief history of starbucks. When it was founded, it sold nothing but dark roasted, whole-bean coffee and coffeemaking accessories. They did not make coffee. They did not sell espresso. They only sold the beans and the coffemakers to properly make a good cup of coffee. (And no, a perculator does not count as good coffee–sorry.)

It was not until Schultz when to Milan, Italy to a coffeemaker conference that he noticed an espresso bar (or two or three) every block. They were everywhere. This is where Schultz first had a ‘cafe latte’ (coffee milk.) He noticed the baristas were not just making coffee, they were ‘performing.’

That is the start of the coffeehouse as we know it today in America. Starbucks brought it to America. I didn’t know that.

My parents told me they went to coffeehouses when they were my age–Schultz says those were nothing more than glorified diners serving weak, robusta coffee.

There will be more coffee posts to come, i think…

post-Christmas.

Posted by on 28 Dec 2006 | Tagged as: random.

So it’s the week after Christmas…a dreary week, usually.

My wife Emily had the Friday prior to and the Tuesday after Christmas off work. going back to work after a five-day weekend is pretty hard.

Last night Emily and I worked out. I am now one pound more than i was four weeks ago, and a full five pounds more than i was just ten days ago.

I haven’t watch a single bowl game this week. It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s that there are more pressing things to do..

I got a few books for Christmas. It is a weird feeling to have more books than i can read at one time.

Sometimes I think about the way things are. Is it good to have changes, or would it be best to just do the same things day in and day out every day?

scared by a skunk.

Posted by on 19 Dec 2006 | Tagged as: my life.

This past weekend, Emily and I pulled in to our driveway at about 11 p.m., and there was a skunk by the front door. I backed up a little bit to shine my lights on him, and he ran around the side. after i pulled the car into the garage, i was planning on walking out to check the mail, but after seeing the skunk, i backed the car up to the mailbox and then we sat in the car while the garage door was closing, just in case.

Have you ever been scared by a skunk? It’s not really like I’m actually scared of the thing, because I know I could rip the thing to shreds if I had to. But what I’m scared of is smelling like a skunk. I don’t want to take a tomato bath!

So yesterday I went home for lunch, and as i was walking to the front door, i was looking around to see if i could find a skunk nest in one of my shrubs. As i was looking and walking, i heard a rustle…panic. I looked up, i saw a rustle. more panic. i thought, ‘oh no, now i am going to smell like a skunk. my wife is not going to be happy.’

but it was only a squirrel. i was happy.

culture, part i

Posted by on 12 Dec 2006 | Tagged as: thoughts on god.

I don’t think any church has ever been relevant to culture, to the the human struggle, unless it believed in Jesus and the power of His gospel. If the supposed new church believes in trendy music and cool Web pages, then it is not relevant to culture either. It is just another tool of Satan to get people to be passionate about nothing.
-Don Miller

Do you agree with this statement?

Christian mysticism, Part I

Posted by on 11 Dec 2006 | Tagged as: thoughts on god.

You cannot be a Christian without being a mystic.
-Don Miller

Do you agree or disagree?

My reading list…

Posted by on 09 Dec 2006 | Tagged as: my life.

So i am working on compiling my reading list for the upcoming year.

I’ve got in all in one convenient location, my Amazon Wish list (yes that is a shameless plug.)

But one of the things I tried to do was include some books that were in areas i am not real familiar with. I blogged about this recently in Stimulate Your Brain.

So i have The complete Poems of Emily Dickison, but i really didn’t know what else to to add to my reading list. Perhaps you have some suggestions you can share with us?

BTW, i do encourage you to create your own reading list–because if you don’t know what your goals are and what you are aiming to achieve, how will you ever know when you attain a goal? i don’t want to do my life aimlessly, and i really encourage you to not do it aimlessly, too!

Santa…

Posted by on 08 Dec 2006 | Tagged as: random.

So i came across this little video, and wanted to share it with you. i remember being in that situation…(not really)
Disclaimer: don’t watch if you don’t have a sense of humor, okay? Watch now!

my 2007 goals

Posted by on 07 Dec 2006 | Tagged as: my life.

So i’ve been thinking a lot about making a set of 2007 goals.

My chiropractor, Tyler Chalfant, tells me every Dec. i should make a list of goals for the coming year. if i don’t have a list, how can i ever achieve what i don’t know i’m aiming to achieve? He has told me this for the past three or four years, and I have never actually written down my goals. Last year, i thought about it, and i even had a couple of mental goals, but i never actually set anything in stone.

Well, this year will be different. I am actually going to write down three things i want to achieve in 2007. So i am seeking your advice–what is a good goal for the coming year?

I do want to include more reading. this year, i’ve read about 600 pages. (i want to count pages instead of books, because some books are 600 pages, while others are like 90…). So  next year, i want to double that commitment to 1,200 pages. (that’s like…100 pages a month, or 25 pages a week, or four pages a day) Part of me says i can do way more than 4 pages a day, but i also know i do not have a track record of reading more than 2 a day, so doubling it is a pretty lofty goal for me, i would say.

What other goals would you suggest for me? (and while you’re at it, perhaps you could think about your own goals for the coming year?)

manager v. leader

Posted by on 06 Dec 2006 | Tagged as: my life.

so i’m reading (although nearly finished) with Mark Sanborn’s You Don’t Need a Title to be a Leader, and wanted to share with you a few observations he makes about managers and leaders–what exactly is the difference between the two?

managers have employees.   leaders win followers.
managers react to change.    leaders create change.
managers have good ideas.   leaders implement them.
managers communicate.       leaders persuade.
managers direct groups.       leaders create teams.
managers try to he heros.    leaders make heroes of those around them.
managers take credit.           leaders take responsibility.
managers exercise power over people. leaders exercise power with people.

I started asking myself the question, ‘Am i a manager or a leader’ in all aspects of my life–not just my employment (as i’m the low man, def. not the manager!), but in all things, my marriage, my friendships, the opportunities i have to serve at New Hope…I think in all things, I want to be a leader, not a manager.

How are you doing in the manager v. leader in your own life? are there areas where you can begin to shift focus from you to them?

press the french.

Posted by on 05 Dec 2006 | Tagged as: random.

This past weekend, my in-laws got me a French Press. So if you aren’t aware, a French Press is a type of coffeemaker, generally thought to create the most smooth cup of coffee possible–with absolutely no bitterness. So how it works is you grind the beans course, put them in the bottom of the press, then add hot water to it. it comes with a plunger which has a strainer on it, and after steeping for about four minutes, you press the plunger down, pushing all the grounds to the bottom, leaving the good coffee at the top and ready to pour.

So anyway, yesterday I used it for the first time. I made the worst cup of coffee i have ever had. i took two sips and dumped the rest. It looks more like rusty water than it did coffee! So yesterday noon I made a much better cup, and this morning it is even better. i look forward to it in the future–hopefully it will be so much better yet! woohoo!
The more I use my french press, the better i am getting at it. How many things in your life do you find are like that? the first time, you aren’t very good at it, but as time goes on and you do it, you get better and better at it?

flaming pole

Posted by on 01 Dec 2006 | Tagged as: my life.

Flaming poleright now, as i type this, a telephone pole across the street is in flames…

i’ve uploaded an image taken from my lawn, you can see a distinct glow on the top of the pole directly above the white trailer. check that out. what’s the odds? weird…

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