The Smell Of Morning

I promise that I really do enjoy mornings.
Even though sometimes waking up is the hardest thing, once I am up and about, I usually very much enjoy it. The feeling of a fresh day. The feeling that anything can happen and it's yours to make what you will out of it.
I think this dates back to spending time with my Grandpa Witt. He was great man. He would always get up early and spend time in the Word, drinking coffee, and having some sort of breakfast prepared. I remember times when he would be at our house, or we would be at theirs, and you would walk into the kitchen and smell the morning. This smell consists of coffee, eggs, bacon, sausage, toast and other various breakfast foods. It is still one of  my favorite scents.
Grandpa has since passed, and I miss him greatly. I think that in recent years I would have enjoyed and appreciated his company even more. Not that I didn't in the times we had, but now I think it would at a greater level. It is sad that so often we don't truly appreciate the things we have until they are gone.

After leaving the CGC yesterday, I went back to the apartment and cleaned up a little bit. I worked at one, so I didn't have that extra half hour like Tuesday and Thursday. While straightening things up, I opened up the windows and let the place air out. Huxley enjoyed this as did I and before leaving for Tazza, I threw on a pair of shorts. Yes, shorts in January. I headed in to work a little early and was just in a fantastic mood all afternoon. I worked with Ashleigh who is a newer employee recently moved from Sydney, Australia. She works real hard and is real nice to talk to. Yesterday afternoon we talked mostly about music and different artists that are big stateside and down under. There is for sure a difference, but at the same time there are a lot of similarities. I told her she needs to be my gateway to more obscure indie bands that people over here haven't heard of yet.
Luke came over after work and hung out in the shop until we closed and then we ventured over to the garage, got my car, and headed out to The Bongo Tree.
I don't know if I've said this before, but I love Joe Dunlap and The Bongo Tree. The ONLY thing I have a problem with is this: we all get along so well and are actually friends, that when we go out there we always end up talking to much! Last night we all literally had to be like, alright, we need to stop talking and work. I think this is good problem to have. I think it is going to cause the end product to be even better.
Once we stopped talking, we started tracking guitars for what is going to be a non ep single. I am really excited about this song. The working title is Alive, but this will probably change for it's release. We tracked that until about 8:45 then switched over in to prep mode for Sunday. We talked through what we would need and started compiling all the tracks etc...Then Joe started mixing down versions of the songs without piano and click added for me to practice with before Sunday. Somehow, a miracle for sure, we actually left when we said we would, about 9:30. I drove Luke home and as per usual, the ride home from the studio sparked amazing conversations. The more we get to know each other, the more we share. I don't think either of us wanted to end the night, but with work coming too soon in the morning, we said goodnight until tomorrow. I just realized how dumb that sounded. We see each other like every day.

The Hope of Things To Come

This morning is beautiful once again and I am repeating the same coffee, both origin and brew method, as yesterday. Today is Thursday so that means tonight is IHOP with the boys. Yeah, I'm pretty excited about that.

Oh What A Beautiful Morning!

Two days in a row with amazing weather. Yesterday the temperature was in the 60's and the sun was out for a decent amount in the mid morning and early afternoon. Working at the CGC is nice because I can just walk  outside when it's slow and enjoy the weather. I made sure to do that several times yesterday. Working at Tazza isn't all that bad either when its nice out because we can open the door. Yesterday the whole place was able to air out and it smelled great. By the time I left and was walking to my car, it had started to sprinkle and on my way to Luke's it was actually raining.
In preparation for Sunday's piano recordings we dissected the transition track and figured out the tempos we want for both of them. It took a lot less time than we thought, and we made it an early night.

Yesterday in between jobs, I worked out. I focused on my core and as of last week started a new core regiment. I start with knee to chest planks on the TRX, then jump right into bicycle kicks for 2 minutes, into a jacknife plank bend on the TRX, into a slide down plank with feet sliders, finishing off with a sideways oblique plank on the TRX. I rest for about a minute and a half and repeat. It is all I can do to finish. By the end I am completely wiped out. Today my core is very sore, which is an amazing feeling. I did eat some pizza last night, but then on the way home from  Luke's I stopped at Kroger and picked up Bananas and Clif bars so I can maintain a little better today and tomorrow.

This morning, despite more sleep, I feel increasingly fatigued. But that's okay, because it is coffee time. Today's coffee is a Guatemala Huehuetenango brewed via pour-over method. It is another beautiful 50+ degree January day in Southwest Ohio!

Recap

This is my Monday.
The actually day, Monday, has become almost like a day off, and I must say I rather enjoy this. Alright, lets dive in to a weekend recap.

Thursday Night.
You know what that means...IHOP. This weeks attendees were Chaz Rice, Luke Taylor, Tytus Planck, and Adam Widecan. I don't even need to say this but, it was a great time.

Friday.
Deliveries in the morning which included stopping my Chris Arnet's place where we ate lunch and talked about all things Tazza and life in general. These times have become a highlight of my week. Leaving West Chester, I headed over to the Espresso Guild in Norwood where I picked up a piece for a pour over set to use at the CGC (I broke ours earlier in the week). From there I headed back to the apartment, where I got ready and walked over to the CGC to prepare for the show.
Adam (Widecan) was waiting in the parking lot as I walked up and we immediately started unloading the PA, into the main room. While he was setting up the PA I started working on getting the room and coffee area ready. After this was pretty much ready to go we turned our attention to getting the fire going outside. This proved to be a test of our manliness and I think in the end (with a little help from Brian) we got it going. Maria (Carelli) and Jaki (Howser) arrived around 6:45 ish and people started trickling in shortly after. Jaki led off the night with around a thirty minute set. Adam played a killer set next, and Maria ended the night with a great set.
And what a night it was. I feel that it went extremely well. If I had to guess I'd say there were about 40 people through the night. I worked behind the counter and really pushed the pour-over coffee. I basically just made those all night, and could not have been more pleased. Mom and Dad showed up, along with Bish, Stuart, Chaz, Karina, Luke, Sarah, Paige, Brian, Ali, and Tytus, to name a few.
The "after party" was at my place, and we had a decent amount of people show up. Caitlin was in town so she stopped by and we all just hung out, playing various games and enjoying each others company. Of course pizza was ordered and me and Bish split a large. This was fat move number one the weekend.

Saturday.
Waking up around 10:30, Bish, Stuart and I headed over to First Watch, where we met Caitlin and Breanna (Bish's girlfriend) for breakfast. This was followed immediately by me heading to work downtown at Tazza. I really did not want to be there, but the afternoon went by pretty quick and it didn't end up being too bad.
I arrived back at the apartment around 5:30 where I proceeded to sit around and do nothing. I had intended to do laundry while I worked out, but as it happened, I did not. This was fat move number two.
The plan for the evening was to go to Mayday (a bar in Northside) to hang out and eat/drink to support our friend Paige (Jesse-Geary) who's work was putting on a benifit "Rock Notes for College Hopes". I ended up getting ready and heading over with Jarrod, Paige, and Stuart. We dropped Paige off around 8 and then headed over to Shake It Records where we browsed the vinyl bins in the basement. Then we headed back to Mayday. A great night was had.
Mayday serves up gourmet hotdogs, I must admit that through the night I proceeded to eat two of them. Each contained a pickle spear, grilled onions, banana peppers, mustard, and sport peppers. Delicious! This also represented fat move number three.
About halfway through the night my friends Chris (Bauchle) and Tyler (Yentes) arrived at the bar with their friends Mitch and Josh. Chris and Tyler are from Indianapolis and were in town to hang out for Mitch's birthday. They left around midnight to hit up a couple other places before ending the night at our apartment.
A bunch of us actually re convened at the apartment with loads of junk food from various fast food establishments. Evan and I rode together and we chose Rally's. It was greasy and delicious. This was fat move number four.

Sunday.
Morning came all to quickly as I had to be at church for worship band run through at 8:45.
Kevin was out of town so Luke played guitar and we were done with run through by 9:30. In case you didn't know this is quite the miracle as Kevin normally doesn't even roll in until almost 9:15 most Sundays.The service went great and we nailed the set which included Yes You Have, Cannons, Empty Me, Live Like You're Dying, and All For You.
We went to lunch afterwards at Westshore Pizza in West Chester with a newer couple from Journey, Justin and Annie. There I proceeded to eat two pieces of pizza, which, as you already know, was fat move number five.
Luke and I headed back down to my apartment where we got ready for our Canoes "photoshoot" with Tyler (Yentes). They arrived at the apartment around 2, and Luke, Stuart and I all piled into the backseat of Tyler's VW and headed out. We shot at Ault Park, in Mt. Lookout, and in O'Bryanville. This was nothing short of a great afternoon. Chris and Tyler are a couple of great guys and made the whole process super fun and less awkward. When we arrived back at the apartment, we hooked up the camera to the tv and looked through all the pictures in HD. There we definitely some really great shots. I am excited to see the final products. Tyler and Chris left shortly after and Luke took me back up to my car in West Chester. I headed over to the parents house, where they were just heading out the door to go to church. Bish and I watched some of the Australian Open (DVR'd) and I fell asleep. After waking up I hung around for a bit before heading down to my place. I proceeded to crash pretty hard.

Monday.
Sleeping in never felt so good. I think I woke up around 10:30 but didn't get out of bed right away.
On the agenda for the day was to pay my parking tickets downtown, drop off keys and boxes at Tazza, get my registration renewed and meet Luke at his place by 3:30 so we could head out to The Bongo Tree to record.
I must interject here and make note about the amazing weather. It must have been 55 degrees and the sun was shining through beautiful white clouds. It made the entire day that much better.

I arrived at Luke's house at 3:45 and we headed out to Fayetville to record with Joe. Upon arrival we poured ourselves some coffee and stood  around outside, soaking up the amazing weather and each others company. It is safe to say I was with two of my favorite people yesterday afternoon and evening. We then migrated into the lounge continuing our conversations and coffee before making it into the control room to start tracking. We added some guitar to track 1 and then moved onto guitars for track 7. It was a very productive night. We are heading back out there Wednesday night and possibly Saturday night as well. Sunday marks the big day that we track all the piano up at The Recording Workshop in Chillicothe.
After dropping off Luke, I headed home stopping at McDonald's on the way. This was my sixth and final fat move of the "weekend".

Today it is back in the saddle, working both jobs and working out. I am looking forward to a great week. Cheers.

Of Coffee and Passion

Over the past year my relationship and knowledge of coffee has grown considerably. From the knowledge of different beans, roast levels, brewing methods, to my love for new varietals and sharing things with other, 2011 marked a lot of growth. This is, for the most part, all thanks to one person. That person is Rob Hoos. 

I first met Rob back in the days of the West Chester Tazza Mia. He was an aspiring preacher, working barista/roasting shifts with Bish and myself. After some time, he left Tazza to head up a west side coffee shop called Refuge. During all of this, Rob starting to develop his passion for coffee, learning practically everything there is to know about all things coffee. 

At a certain point, Bob, the owner of Tazza Mia, realized we needed Rob back on board so, after much discussion (and most likely loads of bribing) Rob came back to Tazza. 

Since then, the West Chester store closed, and Rob took on the roles of head roaster, QA, and head trainer at the Taz. 

Through weekly training's Rob helped develop our knowledge and passion for coffee and the surrounding culture. He has been a great trainer, co-worker, and friend through all of this. 

Two weeks ago, Rob broke the news that he and his wife Amanda, are moving to Portland where he took a job as a roaster for a larger company. Rob leaves Monday to continue in following  his dream. While I am sad to see him go, I couldn't be more excited for him and Amanda. 

Last night we had a company wide meeting where we went over a load of changes that will be happening in the next week or so. Afterwards, we all went out to Rock Bottom where Bob bought everyone two rounds and appetizers. It was a lovely send off. 

Friends and Such

Standard day yesterday. Double work, Thai for dinner, tv with Stuart, Ep piano practice, and bed.
This morning Chris (Gilmore) stopped into the CGC where we shared conversation and pour-over coffee. Chris and his wife Amanda are moving up to the Cleveland area this next month. I met them this past year at our mutual friends Kevin's birthday dinner. It was one of those encounters where you feel like you have known the person forever even though you just met. I will miss them (and their crazy, stupid cute dogs) very much.

Just another night at with the kids.

This morning we talked about friendships and how, when rooted, can outlast distance and absence. It got me thinking about friends I've had through the years. Plenty of them have come and gone, while some last through really bizarre situations. Some of the people I have connected the best with through the years, I see less than 3 or 4 times a year. Others that I hung out with daily, lived with, played music with, and traveled with are almost completely absent from my life. Who knows what makes them last? The one thing that I am sure of, is that there has to be intent and effort on both ends. 

Hello Cleveland, I don't know if we've met....

The Weekend

Well the ice storm mentioned in Friday's entry proved to be pretty crazy. I was scheduled to work at Tazza Saturday morning, and since I could see through the window that everything was covered in ice, I went out a little early to start working on my car. After finally getting door open and car started, I realized that my door would not latch when I shut it. After calling work and letting my car warm up, it did finally  latch and the day went on.

Work was boring and slow. When I got off work, I headed home to work out, shower and clean. Caitlin was coming over so naturally I wanted the place to look nice. She actually got there before I was done cleaning. We decided that we were going to go see the new Underworld with Rob, Abi, Stuart and Bish. Caitlin and I went to Panera to grab some food first and then went back to the apartment where we met Bish and made coffee before heading down. Stuarts car was still frozen so we took Caitlin's. We met Rob and Abi at the AMC theater in Newport (KY). We ended up seeing the imax 3D version and let me say this was one of the most entertaining movies. Werewolves getting their heads ripped in half, vampires slashing people, and general mayhem. We ended up standing around the theater talking about stuff for almost 20 minutes after before heading back to the apartment. Jarrod and Paige came over and we hung out till almost 3am.

Sunday morning came quick and I got to Journey at about 8:55, where we jumped right into run through for Sunday morning. The service went well and there was a decent amount of people there, despite the parking lot being covered in ice. After church Caitlin and I went out to lunch with Adam, his wife Jess and Kevin. We went to City Bar B Q (one of our favorite places). After we finished, Caitlin and I went back to my parents house where we introduced her to the fam, hung out, drank coffee and watched Babe with Karina and Chaz. 

I want to go on record to say that I really love that movie. Often times when I go back and watch movies that I liked as a kid, they are really ridiculous or have horrible acting/camera work or terrible props/sets. None of that can be said of Babe. It has really stood the test of time. I need to own this movie. 

At about 7:30 we headed over to her house where her parents had just arrived home from a trip west (Vegasss). We hung out for a bit which was mostly her dad and I talking everything from football to hunting. We left at around 9:30 and headed to my place where we hung out for a little bit before I went to bed. 

Monday morning I woke up around 8:30, showered and then somehow ended up back in bed with Huxley and we fell asleep next to each other. I woke up at 12:30 and then went back to sleep until 2:30. I then ate cereal while listening to Everything In Transit (on vinyl) followed by running through the EP songs on the piano. Luke came over after work and we hung out talking about where we want to get band pictures taken on the 28th when a friend of mine comes over from Indy to take some. I think we are going to shoot for Eden or Ault park. We messed around with the video camera (which we determined is now broken) and watched some of the studio footage on the tv. We walked across the street and grabbed a sandwich from Potbellys and then watched the new(est) Kevin Smith movie, Red State. It was sooo intense. It is loosely based around the ideas of Westboro Baptist Church. A cautionary for sure. Luke then left and Stuart and I watch 3 episodes of How I Met Your Mother, a show Caitlin and I started watching two weeks ago. 

Needless to say I had trouble sleeping. I guess I finally did. 

Things that I want to read into (and then maybe blog about) The 2012 Presidential campaigns and what really happened at Penn State.  

Two in One (Day)

Stuart, Bish and Evan are playing Call of Duty. I am laying on my stomach on the floor. I am trying to re format my external hard drive so that we can use it to watch videos on the X box.
 After deliveries today, I met Alex from Tazza and Bish at Rock Bottom Brewery downtown where we ate a nice lunch. Alex and I then delivered some coffee to various places including Essencha Tea House in Oakley. The guy working the bar, Chris, used to come in to Tazza a lot. We ordered two matcha green tea shots. This was my first time having this and it was very interesting. It had a grassy/seaweed taste initially but after I was done it kind of had a fruity flavor. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
I then stopped by The CGC and picked up my paycheck before heading home. I started practicing piano for the EP, but when Stuart arrived home from work, we watched the new Office and New Girl. Then Stuart went grocery shopping at Whole Foods while I attacked the piano again. I played until about 8:30 then I walked over to Potbellys and got a sandwich for dinner. I hoked up my video camera to the tv and watched some of our studio video clips while I ate. Now I am on the floor typing this blog listening to the guys banter back and forth about the game while The Appleseed Cast's Middle States Ep plays. There is a pretty rough ice storm outside apparently. My solution is just not to leave the apartment.
I go back and forth with how much detail I want to put in this blog. My purpose for having it is simply to record the every day things of life so that, at a later time, I can go back and recall what was going on. That being said, this is a public blog. Maybe it shouldn't even matter.