THE BOLD BREW

Thanks to Matchstic Alvin!

noreply@blogger.com (JHB) — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 02:41:00 +0000

Pretty excited to be featured in today's Matchstic blog. Thanks Alvin for the feature! Its fun to see more folks 'round Atlanta slowly discovering the legend of drinking coffee naked. Cream & sugar continue to request and require a more permanent vacation.

Since posting last year (apologies for the break), my focus has narrowed to single origin coffees. They are higher quality, directly traded, and of course, exploding with majestic flavor. Kenya & Guatemala have emerged as favorites, with Ethiopian Yirga still a ole' steady.

As demand has grown and cafe de oro (green bean) inflation has hit the wholesale market, my prices are up to $14 / lb. If it's outside Atlanta, shipping is $5 / lb.

If you want to join the movement, post your email in the comments field below.

Thanks Alvin.

#drinkcoffeenaked

Update...offerings, pricing, shipment, orders

noreply@blogger.com (JHB) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:57:00 +0000

hi folks,

been a while...between roasting, managing the ever growing pack of wild children under the roof, and trying to hold down a job, well unfortunately this fledgling enterprise has fallen to third.

i'm STILL working through the first round of orders but beginning to take on new orders / customers. a couple of quick notes...

1) the offerings are expanding! the newest addition is a phenomenal Guatemalan coffee that features an incredibly balanced experience of a fruit forward flavor yet nutty / creamy body all the way from front to back. it might be hard charging my Yirga & Smooth As Molasses for favorite morning brew. i have green beans from Sumatra, Yemen, & new batch of YirgaCheffe that I'm happy to roast for you. Limited quantities of each, so let me know...

2) the pricing i'm moving to a flat rate pricing (from a two tiered pricing structure that varied with packaging) .... $6 for a half pound & $10 for a pound, packaged in compostable brown bags. If you'd like the Ball jar, it is also $10, for 13oz (all that will fit in the Ball Jar). One strategy that I recommend is to buy the Ball jar, then refill with paper bags...a fully sealable container helps keep the beans at optimal freshness.

for shipping, it will be $2.5 per pound. I'm essentially splitting that with you -- so you're welcome! :)

big time FYI, if you placed an order prior to Feb 1st, your pricing will be under the old structure.

3) Ordering will be limited per month! To keep a balanced life (yes, yes, sleep is overrated), I can only take on 3-5 lbs per week at this point. Your best bet is to lock in monthly supply of 1 lb or 2 lbs per month. that way I'll block out capacity for you.

As an fyi, I'm filling up, so one-offs are becoming harder to come by! Lock it up!

Thanks for all the support, patience, and fantastic feedback. This has been such a fun and rewarding experience. Almost everyone has at least tried the coffee naked & liked it! Its a revolution!

Drink Coffee Naked

THE FOUR PROMISES

noreply@blogger.com (JHB) — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 01:01:00 +0000

Each batch of Bold Brew Micro Roast has the following tag:
Direct + 10% + 48Hrs + Hand = Drink Coffee Naked!

What does that mean?

I've found that even in roasting for friends, I have to constantly make critical "business" decisions: how I roast, what "brand" i want to project, what the product will be / become, and for what i want the "enterprise" to be known. In the spirit of my good buddies over at Matchstic, you realize that even in a micro-micro enterprise, you must put stakes in the ground.

- It is through these stakes that values are declared
- It is on these stakes that a house / a culture is built
- It is by the support of these stakes that customers are served and a brand is established

So what are the Four Promises of the Bold Brew?

1) DIRECT: Beans will be procured through direct trade whenever possible. Direct trade differs from Fair Trade in that it generally implies a focused, long term relationship with a group of farmers versus transacting over what can often be an arbitrary price that does nothing more than create market distortions through price-fixing. Starting out, I'm limited in my bean sources, but my commitment will be to start with at least 50% beans through direct trade, growing to 100% in 18months.

2) 10%: 10% of Profits will be reinvested into a farming community. This is above and beyond investments made as a result of a trading relationship (e.g. co-investing in better equipment, processes, or product). 10% is not a maximum, but a minimum that will be re-evaluated yearly to see how we can increase over time. It is a stake in the ground that while profits matter, giving back is a long term personal goal and reflection that life and legacy is bigger than money.

3) 48HRS: All coffee will be shipped or delivered within 48 hours of roasting. The coffee experience is highest 1 - 7 days after roasting, and your coffee roaster should deliver that experience to you. To be clear, 48 hours is a maximum -- the aspiration is that all coffee will be shipped / delivered within 4 - 12 hours after roasting.

4) HAND: All roasts will be sorted by hand before and after roasting. All beans are not equal and all roasts are not even. There's nothing worse than crunching into a rotten or an under / over roasted bean. The benefit of small batch roasting is that quality can be pushed to the highest level.

What do the Four Promises add up to? Well, to be fair, that is for the drinker to decide. For me, I've found that putting these four things together led me to re-discover coffee after 17 years of bad brews. I found delight in a naked cup and no longer needed the guise of a dollop of cream and sugar. I found that I wanted to know more about the origin of the coffee -- what made it distinct, what shaped its flavors, and who planted, picked, and prepared the beans. I found that as I enjoyed more, I was driven to know more and ultimately to do more.

Drink Coffee Naked is an aspiration -- not all want to or should want to eschew cream and sugar. But beyond how you drink the coffee, hopefully it becomes a metaphor for understanding what you are drinking and getting excited to pursue the story behind the cup.

Initial Public Offerings

noreply@blogger.com (JHB) — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 03:10:00 +0000

Ok friends,

With much fanfare I announced the Bold Brew house blend this week: The Elephants Danced.

After a week of mixing, matching, and getting user feedback, we've expanded the initial offering to 3 blends and 3 single origins. The Elephants Dance was good, but I've found some different twists that I'm equally excited about.

I'm also excited to offer the Yirga single origin which is a personal favorite as well as single origin from Rwanda that comes via Land of a 1000 Hills cafe here in Roswell. 1000 Hills has developed a direct trade relationship with Rwandan farmers, paying a living wage equivalent for their coffee beans. This type of relationship and investment is an end-state objective for our efforts here and is a value to many of you as well.

We've already had the debate about blending versus single origin, but to recap, you blend to create a unique cup / flavor combinations that you can not get through a single origin. And yes, it can dilute single origin rawness and complexity if you're not thoughtful. But no, it does not mean you're catering to a weaker drinker or sacrificing the purity of your morning ritual. In fact, if done well, it can lead to a more complex, more satisfying cup.

The Blends

The Elephants Danced
This blend breaks all the rules. It combines coffee from more than 5 origins -- 2 Ethiopians, Kenyan, 2 Rwandans, & Brazilian Cerrado, a no-no in any serious coffee roaster's book. But hey, leave it to a rookie to stretch the ropes. This is a medium to full body blend that is gritty yet delicate. The aroma is dominated by the African flavors, coming close to my favorite Chinese tea, "hua cha" (flower tea), but yet by the time it hits the back of your throat, it has transformed into a dark, sweet, acidic earthiness that is not for the faint of heart. It is edgy and a bit unrefined -- eliciting both praise & regret, but hey, no one ever said that an Elephant Dancing would be elegant -- simply magical. It is a Bold Brew.

Bossa Nova (On the Blue Nile)
Bossa Nova grew from an attempt to simplify The Elephants Danced. The end result was a stunning combination of two very different origins -- Ethiopian YirgaCheffe and Brazilian Cerrado. This a medium bodied blend that harmonizes two complex beans, bringing the high-strung YirgaCheffe's bright, citrus zest to the front of the mouth and allowing the nuttiness they both share to segue to a smooth dark chocolate finish delivered by the balanced Brazilian. The signature of this blend is how the flavor profiles remain surprisingly separate and distinct from start to finish.

Blend X -- to be named...(taking suggestions)
BlendX follows the pattern of the world's oldest blend -- the Moka / Java. Much like the Bossa Nova, it weaves the Yirga's bright, citrus-spiced acidity into the Indonesian origins balanced, earthy-chocolate sweetness. However, the astounding difference is that the Bossa Nova features a dramatic shift in flavor from the front of the mouth to the back, while BlendX is creamy smooth all the way through featuring the taste of a molasses, dark chocolate wrapped citrus berry that is underpinned by hints of spice & a well-rounded earthiness. This mild to medium bodied blend is less aggressive than the Bossa Nova purely because no one flavor proves entirely pervasive, rather they weave together from start to finish.

The Single Origins

Ethiopian Yirgacheffe
As you can tell, the Yirga is the foundation of all my blends. I absolutely love this intensely flavorful coffee -- it is incredibly bright with floral, fruit tones that range from lemon zest to orange spice. A mild roast leads to a lighter cup that when poured over ice borders on a refreshing cup of iced tea. It can have slight tones of nutty dark chocolate -- a common profile, but it is very slight and takes a deep back seat to the bright sunrise of East Africa.

Rwandan Bufcafe
This coffee comes directly from a village that has been part of the Rwandan post-genocide reconstruction. An incredible story and a large investment from a cafe right here in north Atlanta - Land of a Thousand Hills who have developed this direct trade relationship. The coffee has a more balanced profile than the Yirga, with fruity overtones, but grounded by a earthy, nuttiness, more akin to your Indonesian Sulawesi or Sumatra. It is a more medium bodied coffee that is worth the great story it represents. The price of this green bean provides a living wage to the farmers.

Rwandan Bukonyan
As with the Bufcafe, the Bukonyan is also harvested through the relationship with 1000 Hills & the investment to generate a living wage for the farmer. The Bukonyan moves even more towards the Indonesian end of the spectrum, retaining a touch of East Africa brightness but bringing a more full bodied cup of rich earthy goodness.

An Empty Seat

noreply@blogger.com (JHB) — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 02:52:00 +0000

I took my first big trip alone this year -- with work to Sydney and Singapore. I love exploration but the first time, the specter of doing it alone hit me like a ton of bricks and all of a sudden it took on a different meaning. The trip led to lots of introspection, and over a fantastic French dinner in Sydney's Darlinghurst neighborhood, I jotted down these thoughts:

-------------------------
"The Empty Seat"

it was an empty seat

it stared with woeful verve
as long as i stayed

it sat still as the stone
that framed the room

it echoed the murmurs
that reverberated as simultaneously none
and yet at once coherent conversation

it blankly withered away time
as fork clanked from plate to teeth

it did not know the lovely tastes
that screamed with exuberant reverence at every bite

it did not care either

it did not ask, smile, pause, chuckle, answer

it was an empty seat,
mocking the delight it willfully witnessed

it was a seat,
i tried to ignore

The Elephants Danced

noreply@blogger.com (JHB) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 02:35:00 +0000

The inaugural Bold Brew Roasting Co "house blend" is called "The Elephants Danced".

Now, let's be clear, coffee at its finest should be enjoyed from a single estate. After all, you wouldn't expect Bill Harlan to blend his fine Oakville wine with a crop of grapes from the Russian River. People don't pay $1000 for a bottle of Harlan Estate wine to get a hodge-podge of grapes. They want the terrior that Mr. Harlan has carefully cultivated on the slopes there in ol' Napa Valley.

In fact, perhaps my favorite cup of coffee is a pure batch of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe. Wow, what a wake-up call! It is pure brightness, light in the mouth, full of citrus and orange spice, with an acute nutty chocolate finish. I'll gladly chill the left overs, pour it cold and naked into a glass at the end of the day, and get a rush of refreshing goodness that would beat the best cup of tea. Holy cow.

But alas, on the path to #drinkcoffeenaked, most folks like a heartier blend that is not so pronounced in one direction. Complex is the Yirgacheffe, but perhaps to distinctive for all.

So, we blend. And to be frank, blending is best for espresso where you need a certain "pow" for the coffee to not be overpowered by our friend, milk. In the espresso-based drink, the last thing you want is a milky, coffee-weak contraption that requires a shot (or 4) of hazelnut to make it drinkable (not speaking from experience of course).

So what is "The Elephants Danced"? It is a blend grounded in the Yirga -- so light & flavorful, I can imagine the sun rising over East Africa & all the creatures dancing at the thought of their bright morning cupping. And why the elephant -- well, they are a signature of Africa of course. But you say, "they are far from light & elegant & bright - they are heavy, saggy, plodding, and dull". Well exactly Sherlock. If you add a bit of weight to the Yirga, you give it a bit more weight, punch, and earthy goodness from the likes of Brazil or Indonesia. And to give it a splash of the tweeners, you toss in for good measure a dash of Central Am or Rwandan. Enough punch to be an elephant, but still enough Yirga to make even a 5 ton elephant dance a little ditty.

And there you go.

Of course, you can always request a single origin. Your choice.

For more on blending, here is a fun page to read from Sweet Marias.

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Drink coffee naked -- its liberating.
Yours truly,
Cream & Sugar

cream & sugar need a vacation

noreply@blogger.com (JHB) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 02:43:00 +0000

a letter to friends announcing the start of something small, but hopefully significant...

----------------------------------------------------------------

friends,

3 years ago I spent time in Guatemala working with coffee farmers, and what had been a passion for exquisite coffee morphed into a bigger idea to one day merge that passion with my desire to impact the world -- particularly the disadvantaged. And as (RED), fair trade campaigns, & most recently Starbucks like to remind us, coffee farmers are disadvantaged.

After talking a big game in the last 3 - 4 years about impact, the world, coffee, etc ... I figured it was time to put up or to shut up and I think I'm ready to start exploring what this looks like. This is not a new niche and I still don't know what this dream / this concept will become. I'm not quitting my day job anytime soon (& perhaps never will) -- because I really do enjoy it & I also think Wells Fargo would like me to honor my mortgage ;).

I'm writing you for three reasons:

1) Each of you have encouraged me over the years. Thank you!

2) I've ordered a real-deal coffee roaster that I'd like to pay for, and if you want to be a test case for the Bold Brew Roasting Co, I'll be happy to offer you a hand roasted pound of coffee:

- $10 / lb in my signature (& eco-friendly reusable) Ball jars
- $8 / lb in a plastic bag
- You pick the blend & the roast
- I cover shipping on your first order (for out of towners)
- For taking a chance on these early days, if this ever goes anywhere & I reach the ideal price point of $13 - 15 / lb, I'll lock you into $10 in perpetuity.
- If you ever don't like a batch, its on the house.
- I'm always happy to send small tasters if you're not yet interested in a full pound or giving up your Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, or otherwise mediocre coffee ;).

3) I hope we each step out of our comfort zone and try one idea that's peculating in our heads.

As I perfect the product, build a brand & customer base, & improve distribution, the goal would be to directly trade with specific farmers. And one day I hope to create a physical space in urban areas that draws conversation, ideas, art, personal exchange, and culture in the way that Paris' Left Bank saw in the early 20th century. One day...

As for the subject line...the coffee I've been roasting these last 9 months has converted me from a "cream & sugar guy" to "drinking coffee naked". I figured that my old friends cream & sugar were happy I discovered such good coffee -- they've worked hard for me (& you) all these years & needed a vacation.

I invite you into this exciting step but more importantly hope that we can push each other to take our own personal leaps.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

drink coffee naked - its liberating.
your truly,
cream & sugar

BoldBrew Fall Mix volume 1

noreply@blogger.com (JHB) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:35:00 +0000

1. The Hardest Part / Postcards From Far Away. Coldplay. LeftRightLeftRightLeft.
2. Swept Away (Sentimental Version). The Avett Brothers. Mignonette.
3. So Here We Are. Bloc Party. Silent Alarm.
4. The Sun Also Sets. Ryan Adams. Easy Tiger.
5. Secret Meeting. The National. Alligator.
6. Song About a Man. Deer Tick. Born on Flag Day.
7. To Ohio. The Low Anthem. Oh My God Charlie Darwin.
8. Babylon II. David Gray. White Ladder.
9. The Perfect Space. The Avett Brothers. I And Love And You.
10. About Today. The National. Cherry Tree.
11. The Way That He Sings. My Morning Jacket. At Dawn.
12. Sweet Li'l Thing. Eels. Blinking Lights And Other Revelations.
13. Orange Sky. Alexi Murdoch. Time Without Consequence.
14. Falling At Your Feet. Bono & Daniel Lanois. The Million Dollar Hotel.
15. What a Wonderful World. Innocence Mission. Now The Day is Over.
16. With My Eyes Closed. The Raveonettes. Lust Lust Lust.

volume II, aimed to be the uptempo companion to this decidedly laid back fare, is under construction and has been for weeks now. lacking chemistry. oh well.

music, 2008

noreply@blogger.com (JHB) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 02:27:00 +0000

i'm unabashedly ripping off a colleague's blog post here, but it was a splendid idea ... top ten list of music for 2008. the key here is albums, not songs. it would have been quite an easy task to list my top 10 best songs, but albums are a different beast altogether. to be a great album, you can't have sequential "skip over" songs. top to bottom, it has to be a record, you can hit play at 1 and enjoy it until it stops. it flows, it builds, it interweaves ... well, maybe always and not really, but the picture is fairly straigyou get the idea. with that in mind, here's my list. my one caveat is that these are CDs that i listened to for the first time in 2008 ... not released in 2008.

1. coldplay: viva la vida
eno took them to another level of grandeur. the suburban snob in me tried not to like them, but why resist? it was AWESOME from beginning to end. i bought it in El Paso on June 17 and I'm not sure I changed CDs until July.

2. band of horses: cease to begin
refreshing energy and sound. unique in a derivative world, and South Carolinians to boot.

3. andrew bird: armchair apocryphy
an odd bird, but feels like a cross between sufjan stevens and rufus wainwright. dig it.

4. bon iver: for emma, forever ago
this could have been a top three but not sure it has enduring quality. will revisit it from time to time but it is now more of a mood piece than an anytime, all the time kind of CD. made for a nice soundtrack in Cabo

5. jay-z & dj danger mouse: grey album
BOOM! goes the dynamite. a superb mash-up, phenomenal top to bottom, but as with #4, feels a bit more short term than long term. great for a drive, a run, and a saturday morning (until E can understand the words!). i'm sure i looked like a full air-drumming to this across campus

6. the myriad: with arrows, with poise
how can i not give props to my bro-in-law? the #1 video on MTV is a great song after all. the thoughtfulness of the music and the live performance in SF puts this on the list

7. horse feathers: house with no home honestly feels a bit derivative to some of the hot sounds right now like iron and wine, bon iver, etc, but this group been around almost as long as iron and wine, so perhaps they invented the sound. regardless, can listen to this CD any day, all day

8. ryan adams: heartbreaker
the guy puts out CDs like they are going out of style but this is an old classic that i finally got my hands on. it was a favorite of E's -- we'd dance to it. he rocks with soul like no one else

9. sun kil moon: tiny cities
another chill piece that sets a great mood. the guitar makes it. wonderfully done.

10. honorable mentions
strays don't sleep: self-titled
sigur ros: hvarf-heim
gotan project: lunatico

krugman calls me from sabbatical

noreply@blogger.com (JHB) — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 02:42:00 +0000

i suppose i've been on something of a sabbatical from blogging. why not come out of hiding for a brief peak?

knowing my friedmanite tendencies, my father-in-law brought to my attention this article from Paul Krugman for a good email discussion. as we might expect, PK serves his usual dose of pro-government rhetoric.

the topic got me so inspired, that it brought me back to blogging. here is a general summation of my thoughts...

"interesting article. i find it intellectually dishonest on Krugman's part however to judge the Fed's liquidity actions a failure. economists know that there is a significant lag in the real economy catching up with both monetary and fiscal policy. His judgment on Bernanke's actions (at least the more drastic of the actions), which have only been in effect for less than 3 months seem a bit premature. [though] Krugman is an unapologetic Keynesian, his arguments certainly hold water on some fronts. Gov't action is likely needed, but as [we] discussed about racial progress [i.e. should the legislative focus be on quotas or on perhaps enabling opportunity through a more fundamental, albeit long term approach such as ensuring high quality K-12 education, building / encouraging social role models inside minority communities, something else, or a combination of all the above -- and over what time period], often gov't spending / action addresses the symptom versus the root. For example, in the current crisis, at least some of our national problem is that we need to re-educate our a significant portion of our populace. we need more people in the services industries, technicians, skilled labor -- essentially a move back to professional blue collar and less of the white collar back office functions that can now be largely outsourced. What if we focused money here -- on specific, targeted education programs? Injecting money into infrastructure projects will indeed provide immediate impact on crumbling roads, waterways, and bridges; however, these projects print money (threatening inflation) without structurally changing the economic landscape of America -- a landscape that is currently not optimized to support a 21st century growth strategy. If you want to get really philosophical, we could debate the question of not just "re-educating" our population but changing education altogether so that not all Americans have equal access to 4 year education. this question has bubbled up on the margin, being discussed in the editorial pages of influential papers such as the WSJ; however, it flies in the face of the opportunity of the "American dream". Even so, is this a more efficient way to reduce the tax burden and help people not overshoot their talent? Don't know, but worth a look perhaps."

Bottom line: come on Krug; i would have thought your Nobel prize would have qualified you to recognize that it takes time for the economy to integrate the full impacts of policy change. It is exactly the impatience of shrill voices like yours that leads our government to execute ill-fated actions and over-correct a necessary period of desert wandering which if allowed to run its course will force us to address the real questions of the hour.

hilarious

noreply@blogger.com (JHB) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 01:20:00 +0000

i'm a self-admitting big fan of tom cruise -- yeah yeah, his antics are weird and over the top, but he is an incredible actor and his movies are generally high quality entertainment. this cameo in a movie that i'm dying to see is no exception...

mini-blogging

noreply@blogger.com (JHB) — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 22:02:00 +0000

well, blogging has tapered off with the addition of a job in my life :). however, i'm starting to mini-blog or micro-blog, if you will, at: http://twitter.com/theboldbrew

i will have to approve you; i'm locking down security on these more personal updates...otherwise, i would post my twitter updates here live.

will try to post here more often as well...

being Javert

noreply@blogger.com (JHB) — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 19:17:00 +0000

my favorite book is the unabridged Les Miserables.

i will not lose you in setting up details on the story's plot and characters. for the purposes of this post, it will suffice to know the following: the protagonist is Jean Valjean -- a convict hunted his adult life by the antagonist, an officer of the law, Javert. Valjean's life had been transformed by the unwarranted pardon of a priest, and in the climax of Victor Hugo's novel, Valjean has the chance to vanquish Javert who had fallen into the hands of a group of rioting rebels during the days of the Revolution. Instead, he lead him into an alley and freed him. After a lengthy pursuit through the sewers under Paris, Javert reclaimed his nemesis only to inexplicable let him go. Javert, we must understand is a man bound to duty and justice. And it is here that we pick up his thoughts:

"All sorts of questions flashed before his eyes. He asked himself questions and gave answers, and his answers frightened him. He asked himself: 'this convict, this desperate man, I have pursued to the point of persecution, and he has had me beneath his feet, and could have avenged himself, and ought to have done so both for his revenge and for his security; in granting me life, in sparing me, what has he done? His duty? No. Something more. And I, in sparing him in turn, what have I done? My duty? No. Something more. So is there something more than duty?' Here he was startled; his scale feel out of balance; one end slipped into the abyss, the other flew up into the sky, and Javert felt no less dismay from the one that was above than from the one that was below. He was not in the least what is called a Voltairean, or a philosopher, or a skeptic; on the contrary, respectful by instinct toward the established church, he knew it only as an august fragment of the social whole; order was his dogma and was enough for him; since he had reached the age of a man and an official, he had placed almost all his religion in the police. He had a superior, M. Gisquet; he had scarcely thought, until today, of that other superior, God. This new chief, God, he was feeling unawares, and he was perplexed by that.

"He had lost his bearings in this unexpected presence; he had no idea what to do with this superior; he who was not ignorant of the notion that the subordinate is bound always to yield, that he should neither disobey, nor blame, nor discuss, and that, in presence of a superior who astonishes him too much, the inferior has no resource but resignation.

"But how manage to send in his resignation to God?

"However this might be, and it was to this that he kept returning, one thing overruled everything else for him, that was, that he had just committed an appalling infraction. He had closed his eyes on a convicted second offender who was illegally at large".

Unable to let grace and justice co-exist -- he knew he must serve only one -- he lept into the Seine. For me, raising children has exposed my ironclad pursuit of what is right, or what is just; and I look into myself and realize that I am being Javert. I frantically do not want to be Javert but I see in myself this driving, overriding, 29 year old legal bind -- and it lurks from a long shadow of seeing not just the world in this lens but holding myself tightly confined within these gnarly knots as well. To learn from Javert, is to accept, as did Valjean, the priest's commission: "Jean Valjean, my brother, you no longer belong to evil, but to good. It is your soul I am buying for you. I withdraw it from dark thoughts and from the spirit of perdition, and I give it to God!"

Understanding that position of inferiority to grace and mailing in a daily resignation accordingly enables one to accept the commission, release the security of a balanced scale, and refuse to be Javert ... easier said than done.

dead heat

noreply@blogger.com (JHB) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:09:00 +0000

well, i owe you guys a verdict on my voting direction as many of you have asked, but for now, i was shocked to wake up this morning to the largest poll movement yet in this campaign. and no, i'm not talking about Gallup, Zogby, Rasmussen, USAToday, etc ... but rather the Intrade Market Odds. this market-based system always people to buy future contracts on each candidate's odds of winning. it has been the most accurate predictor of election results in the last few major election cycles. as of yesterday it was still 57 - 43, Obama. This morning, it moved all the way to 50 / 49. money talks...

spirituality in the south

noreply@blogger.com (JHB) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:29:00 +0000

observations on the spiritual state of the South

- "Religion" happens on Sunday when lip-synching, tidy patrons fill the pews.

- "Worship" happens on Saturday when the loud voices of passionate, arms-a-waving fan(atic)s descend on stadiums from Tuscaloosa to Athens to Gainesville to Baton Rouge.

- "Prayer" happens every time Nick Saban panics at the thought of Alabama losing 7 games in a row to Auburn.

this neighborhood stinks...

noreply@blogger.com (JHB) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0000

if you're looking for an easy run. this old dog tried his first run in over three months and came back whimpering like a scolded puppy. at least fall is encroaching on the stranglehold of Southern heat -- otherwise i would have arrived home looking like a school teacher who got dunked at the county fair.

Coast to Coast v1: You're a Grand Ole Flag

noreply@blogger.com (JHB) — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 22:45:00 +0000

"Coast to Coast" is a series of blog posts created at the behest of a GSBer who loves to confound me with interesting questions and derives pleasure out of my alternatively smallish & biggish perspectives. and yes, to be fair, i always exaggerate the questions.

---
Dear Bold Brew,

i am utterly at a loss to understand this obsession with ye national flag. seriously, it might be the most boring flag i've ever seen yet people persist to post it everywhere -- i mean everywhere -- on their front doors, on the lapel of their suit, on the shop around the corner (except in Berkeley), before / during / and after every sporting event, and most assuredly in front of every major office and metropolitan building. WTF?!?! it is just a flag!

An Annoyed Scot
---
Dear Annoyed Scot,

i confess that i don't naturally bend towards the level of demonstrative enthusiasm towards the flag that many of my compatriots do. i can sympathize with Barack the Rock who isn't sure what the whole "patriotism" fuss is about not wearing a flag pin on his suit. i mean, if it is in our hearts, then why do we need an external display? really, do we need to?

so in typing this post, i started then stopped and then started again, trying to get all philosophical on you (in the spirit of your own David Hume) ... but then i sat back and decided to take the touchy-feely path: where's the energy? why do all those American Olympian athletes (and boy, there were quite a few weren't there) get tears in their eyes when the flag rises and the national anthem soars into its climax: "the la-and of the freeeeeee". or using the "i" phrasing: why do i tear up as well?

on my emotional journey i began noticing a new flag-raising 'round town: those of the college football flagships: Auburn, Georgia, Tech, Bama. flags with school logos rose from the top of car windows, from the tippety top of CB radio antennas flying high above good ole 4 wheel drive vehicles, and of course, from front doors. it was the spirit of "my team" -- identification with everything that has gone into making "my" team great and association with the hope of all that will make them glorious into the future. it is not unlike my scarf from the Real Madrid -- of course, soccer bums don all sorts of garb to go crazy for their team.

but back to the flag .... why do we marvel at the sight of a flag being raised over battled grounds -- be it Saratoga and Yorktown, Iwo Jima, or even the WTC? why do we walk the fields of Gettysburg and feel as if we stepped into the sanctuary of the holiest church? it is us reaching out, finding our small place, acknowledging our hope to be in the larger story, the broader context of a history, a fight, a collective effort. about ownership, about land, about principles and ideals, and about independence from whatever present tyranny is impeding the enjoyment and establishment of these realities. and when that flag rises -- it harkens the emotion that comes from the pride of identifying oneself in that context.

silly me. i couldn't get away from that deep stuff. let's keep it simple: next time you visit the grounds of Stirling and Falkirk, Mr. Wallace might provide a word or two of insight... but more likely he'll whisper just one word, one last thought: "FREEDOM!"

Bold Brew

Here Yesterday, Gone Today

noreply@blogger.com (JHB) — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 22:45:00 +0000

News happens every day and often it is more bad than good. It seems tragedies strike more often than not. I don't remember paying too much attention to tragedies on TV prior to 9/11. Or perhaps, it is that I have a hard time remembering what came before because its shadow is so long -- exceptions being the likes of Oklahoma City and Columbine.

I think the significance of these "remote" tragedies began to sink in when I got married but they really took their toll when we had our first child. Seeing the tsunami or the Madrid plane crash or the Sichuan earthquake -- you feel that remote panic, pang, and horror -- what if that child was mine? what if i was on that plane and left a wife and two children?

It isn't often that you see tragedy - on any scale - up close. A few weeks ago we awoke at 4:30 in the morning to a neighbor's house burning down. very very fortunately no lives were lost, but there house was with most of what was in it. i woke up stunned that "this could also happen to me". so what's the response? how do you soak up every day with your loved ones? how do you shape a legacy each minute of every day -- what if you don't have a chance to "catch up" in the future? this life is indeed transient and we are "strangers" in this land -- does that mean we minimize "home" and "family" as physical structures and emphasize "home" as the collection of moments that make up the essence of our individual souls?

in the face: we are only guaranteed what has occurred, not what is to come...

leaving Stanford behind

noreply@blogger.com (JHB) — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 01:50:00 +0000

well, i'm on the hook to explain to the Great White Scot why Americans are so proud of their flag -- hanging it on their homes, waving it in the streets, and pinning it on their lapel. i'll hopefully get to that soon enough, but i realized last week that i've been avoiding the big elephant in the room -- leaving Stanford.

i haven't wanted to write about it precisely because i didn't want to think about it. i didn't want to think about it because i don't really know what to think about it, and to explore that topic might be more than i want to handle. so i've buried myself in life at home, moving in, getting settled, getting life in order, games of Warfish, trips to Home Depot, working in the yard, decorating the house, and yes, changing diapers.

to say that i've been somewhat reclusive would likely be an understatement. i find myself wanting to invite guys over to have a beer, but when it comes to actually initiating or attending a social event, i feel entirely emotionless about the prospect of being present and even at times utter dread at the thought of actually engaging other people. turns out that once i'm there, it generally is refreshing, even uplifting to be with people new and old. but it is that inertia that i fight. it is a sense that i don't have the emotional or mental space right now to invest in relationships, but to be completely honest and realistic -- it is that i don't want to have the emotional or mental space. to actually create that space would be the admission that what occupies that space right now -- Stanford, the people, the ideas, the experiences, and the energy -- is over. over. over. over. the power of that word. it feels like "done" or better, like "death". that is the feeling that it stirs in admitting the word into my psyche. when i chew on it, when i contemplate it, when i allow it to reside and i begin to contemplate the idea of creating new space -- i see a brief ray of sunshine: yes, maybe something more can be out there, even something greater or better. that the last two years of my life might have been two of the best yet, but perhaps that it is only the beginning. it was a higher mountain than ones before, but yet only one mountain in what will be a flight of increasingly taller climbs.

with that as context, i was in church two sundays ago. a guest speaker delivered a sermon packed with an extra dose of emotion and inspiration, and needless to say, a window into this corner of my soul cracked open. as they played (of course) a soaring song to close, i stood in the next to last row of a civic center size auditorium paralyzed with an onrushing sense of the GSB's finality. i realized how tired i was from so stubbornly resisting that reality and trying to push through pretending that life was going on as normal and that i could engross myself -- however tediously -- into the next phase of life. i wanted to / needed to surrender and give up running. everything came unbottled and standing alone (then sitting), i predictably lost it.

and frankly 10 days later, i don't know where to go with this next. admission is a start. taking initiative into this new world is a next step. getting my hands around how to honor the memory of these two years -- it can't be in continually reliving those memories and never moving forward, but it also can't be in forgetting and not living in the new realities i experienced in that time. it is somewhere in between. it is as a friend said -- being a Master of both worlds -- the one we've left and the one we're entering / re-entering. taking what we've learned, how we've changed, and living fully engaged at a new level in a new or even old place. we can't return to who we were before the GSB and we can't relive what we had while we were there at the GSB -- we have to forge a new reality that entwines the best of both. to use a word that i hate for its utter overuse and flagrant abuse ... it is a journey. i'm learning to be eager about that road and the place(s) it will lead.

it's frickin 95 degrees...

noreply@blogger.com (JHB) — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 00:04:00 +0000

...and 100% humidity. It feels like we must be burning in the fires of hell. No wonder so many Southerners claim to be Christians -- who in their right mind would want to live in this for all of eternity?

Africa on the Ground

noreply@blogger.com (JHB) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 16:52:00 +0000

For an insightful traveler's view of what is happening now in Africa, including Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Ethiopia -- check out this blog. Terrific read from a great friend at school.

$10 Billion Dollars Doesn't...

noreply@blogger.com (JHB) — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 03:27:00 +0000

...even buy a loaf of bread in Zimbabwe (not US dollars, but their currency). such is the state of the hyperinflation.
what will it take for Mugabe to go?
why are our heads in the sand over the state of Africa?

swampland v2: war on the pest

noreply@blogger.com (JHB) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 01:41:00 +0000

here we again compare the South and the West, or more specifically the Deep South against Silicon Valley. i have come to learn that if you were to name a category, each place would likely have its distinct flavor (prone to mass-generalizations, but nonetheless interesting). for instance, climate: the Deep South is humid, Silicon Valley is dry. try another, lifestyle: Deep South is sedentary, Silicon Valley is active. as an extension of the swampland post, here is another category: PESTS.

The Deep South and its pest are virtually indistinguishable. it is almost a visual form, a physical manifestation of the "swampland" phenomenon. i give you: the honorable mosquito. the mosquito is both pervasive and invasive. to walk out of the house and to stay out of the house for longer than 90 seconds requires a thorough bathing in some version of OFF - the equivalent of washing yourself in pesticides. what a lovely thought.
Method of pest's attack: Physical.
Method of primary defense: BioChemical.

in contrast, the pest of Silicon Valley is much more sporadic, even i should say only to be seen or heard from less than a half-dozen times a year. but the mere site, the effect of knowing that they are there, that they have been there, casts a pall over an otherwise enjoyable livelihood. instead of leaving the door open or sitting out under the stars on the back porch, you retreat to the interior, behind screen or glass. I give you, the mighty rat.
Method of pest's attack: Psychological.
Method of primary defense: Brute Force or Total Retreat.

now my friend, which would you prefer to fear and to fight?

no more poems, but more odes to family...

noreply@blogger.com (JHB) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:26:00 +0000

a very Happy Birthday to Karen & Randall!!!

Karen, sorry for being late, i know you're true feelings on being left off the Bold Brew for two days are accurately reflected in this photo...

yes, these pictures were hard to resist...

a new life

noreply@blogger.com (JHB) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 01:31:00 +0000

new life springs around us;
tickled and speechless we look to reason.
it seems we start to play life like a game
with a beginning and an end
and a longing to keep the score.
but does this give life its due,
or see it as if only we want to?
i imagine if we tried, we'd stumble on more;
we'd stretch to meaning not easy to defend.
quieted by doubt we'd likely return to more of the same,
oft wondering aimlessly from season to season,
losing the chance to make a silly but opportune fuss.
new life has sprung again
perhaps this turn, the miracle will sink this smallish rationale within.