security blanket, what works for you?

I've been very busy lately and it hacked me off my time for the blog. And, during the stretch of the week that passed, coffee's been my bud. Yummy.

At duress, admit it or not, we look for help or boost, either from someone we know or from rituals we know to keep us moving – believers pray for guidance and help, married people go to their spouses for some advices and comfort, others perform their ritual or mantra, while some others do a combination of two or all.

Imagine yourself not being able to do your ritual or not having that someone to keep you going. Not that you've been too dependent or won't be able to accomplish the task without your ritual or significant someone, but that you won't be the same. In my own practice, I've seen surgeons do their rituals. Shhh… some lay themselves on the OR table in their theatre minutes or an hour before the theatre is prepped, and the more common is that they eat a lot, while some just listen to their music.

People need to be in tip-top shape when doing their thing, lest they'd perform differently or even less. We probably saw many movie highlights where we see the performance dynamics of the lead actor in a movie who is expecting someone from the audience and finding out that their significant someone not being there, until finally seeing that special someone in the audience or the bleachers and, whoala! - from making a so-so performance to being in the zone. It gives us the needed push to beat ourselves and show our significant someone we're really good at what we do, in basketball, in singing, dancing or anything we do.

Call it just a mind set, but really sometimes we just fold and find ourselves not in our zone without our rituals and significant someone. Life in and itself is a wonder and it makes me think that perhaps we never really shed off the baby in us. I did not mean it to be something negative – just a pure observation and I may be wrong. We need a sort of security blanket. Babies and the young ones do and I guess that can be said also of us who need something and someone before performing our tasks.

As for me, I do a combination of two. I could not start the day without the kick of caffeine, and more of it when busy doing things. I start and end the day actually with it. Call me an addict, whatsoever, but it works for me. More importantly, I pray. It makes me stay collected. I am a believer and I'd say there is an All-Great Power over all things and it's to HIM I come and would come first for wisdom and help.

So, what works for you?

In Love with Life

In love with life?

Taking a break from the coffee salvo here, I noticed this line just recently from a mouse-over quote on an avatar in my yahoo mail home. A short but striking line – well, at least to me. I asked myself, am I? Well, yes I am and why wouldn’t I be?

I am a nurse by profession and my profession calls for the preservation of life and taking care of it. With it, I am exposed back from being just a student-nurse to being a full-pledged professional nurse to the stages of life and its wonders - (I believe in God and I have Him to thank for this wonder) - from conception, the fertilization of ovum of the female by male, to the formation of embryo, to becoming a fetus, to labor and delivery, through human’s growth and development, be it normal and abnormal – or what allied medical sciences call as physiological and pathological stages of growth and development.

Simple to complex

Life’s direction starts as a simple process to a more complex one. Notice that as life goes, we become more and more concerned about complicated things. Pleasure is the general rule of life. As a very young individual, we only concern ourselves with food and elimination. Heck, it is not even our problem but the ones taking care of us. And, as we grow older, we become concern of many more things which define our pleasure. We look for play and leisure, then companionship, accomplishment of tasks. At our productive age, our existence becomes more defined on the utilization of our talents to continue to have our pleasure. We work to live and have our life. Then, we reap in retirement what we sow during the majority of our existence – relaxation and pleasure. We then elude complications, but we become more concerned about the people around us.

Complications

Life is not without complications. Very early in life, the problems posed on us are more of the bodily functions that define food and elimination. It is critical that we are fed only by clean and palatable food for young; otherwise, we develop elimination problems such as diarrhea and constipation – and with it develop infection. Infection and diarrhea must at all times be prevented since young individuals have more fluid percentage of the body than adult individuals. The logic in that young individuals become easily dehydrated and it then will alter the developing body – and the mental development which is very crucial at this life’s stage. Later in life, aside from diseases, challenges posed on us are accomplishment of tasks and the consequences if we are unable to do so. Failure to accomplish any required tasks will have a doubling effect and will only pose more and more complications. Failing grades leading to more requirements and delay in education. It has a holistic effect on an individual – mentally, physiologically, emotionally, spiritually – and depending on the support system that that individual has will define the character of the individual whether to rise up to the situation or not and fail even more.

Character

Our character defines what our life will be in general. If you’re a person who is strong willed and goal‑oriented, chances are you will have a better life. But, if you’re a person who is fixated and easily contented, you’re life will easily plateau and may not reach many milestones. And, if you’re at the extreme, which is easily discouraged and defeated by challenges, you will more than likely have a hard time in life.

At both extremes, I believe that whatever our present life is gives us more than enough reason to love it. After all, as long as we still live, we still and always are conferred with the chance of making it better - because conceding that life will not get better is tantamount to killing yourself. It is the person who owns life who gives chance to life to get better and not anyone else. We make our own lives. Love it and it will be better.

Life is a coffee of unknown greats

Again, am I in love with Life? I have billions of reasons to be. I am surrounded by good people – my family and friends and more friends. Life is a coffee of unknown greats. It is bitter and sweet at the same time and while you’re at it, there are more and more unknown greats to discover and experience.

coffee with a meowly kick!

Famous for its unappetizing secret that gives it a unique taste, civet coffee, or what is famously known in the Philippines and neighboring countries as “Coffee Alamid,” is regarded as one of the most expensive coffee in the world.

Unappetizing secret

For some of you who still do not know how civet coffee is produced, here’s a brief explanation. Civet coffee is actually made from excreta or droppings of wild civets after ingesting coffee cherries – Arabica – which grew in forest floors of mountains. Wild civets are nocturnal animals which belong to the family of mongoose. The civets visit the coffee plantation at night, eating the ripe coffee cherries and excrete them as they leave the area. These droppings then are collected very early in the morning and dried to produce the civet coffee beaneries.

Unique taste

Researchers explain that as the beans enter the civet’s digestive system, an enzyme which breaks proteins into smaller parts interacts with the beans. The smaller protein will then react with the bean’s carbohydrate or sugar during roasting, exuding that chocolaty, fruity-musty aroma. Some say though that civet coffee has an unpredictable and inconsistent taste owing to the wild civet’s wide array of diet which includes rodents, fruits and eggs.

Expensive

A kilogram of civet coffee costs as much as $100 to $125, and perhaps even more pricey than that number. Unroasted Arabica civet coffee even sells for up to $500 per kilogram – five times more expensive than the Jamaican Blue Mountain. Surprised? Perhaps, it is because of the tedious work collecting droppings entail. Gatherers climb mountain and gather droppings very early in the morning and could only gather a good 1 kilo on a good day, going through 300 kilograms of civet coffee beanery on a good season.

While a sip of it would be considered golden, because people are curious about its magical taste, they don’t mind paying that much.

The kick

I, myself, have fallen for the magical meowly taste of the civet coffee. It has a strong dark chocolaty taste which really gives your vein a rush of caffeine to help kick your day.

If you’d ask me how often I drink this blend of coffee, well, I am not Richie Rich to afford me a daily dose of it, but hey, I would if I could. And while it is a poop-drink, I am all desirous to give myself that catly alertness to last through the day.

Meow - Yumm!

the Rights in brewing

Call it brewing 101 or an introduction. In the reads I’ve run so far, learning where coffee beans come from and how it is roasted are of paramount importance in understanding how the coffee will taste. There basically are four Right’s in brewing coffee – grow it right, buy it right, roast it right, brew it right.

Factors that make growing the coffee plants correctly include the soil, climate/altitude, planting and harvesting.
All coffee experts are one in saying that the best soil to grow coffee plants is the that of which is rich, loamy and volcanic. Elementary science tells us that volcanic soil is the richest of all soil and the richer the soil where plants grow, the richer the plants become, and in essence, making the coffee plant exceptionally rich.

Higher elevations and cool night temperatures should be considered as these factors are more likely to produce the finest hard bean coffees with the depth of flavor. To consider too is that only carefully pruned and nourished rootstocks of coffee plants should be used. Harvesting of course should be given much attention, hard work and love, as you don’t want to get your coffee be adulterated and lose the depth of its flavor.

Second right is buying it right. It is common knowledge that Arabica coffee is conferred by nature with the finest of all tastes in coffee, so buy only Arabica.

While robusta is a good alternative because it is cheaper and readily available, it does not give the finest taste that Arabica gives.

Thirdly, beans should be roasted correctly. The degree to which coffee is roasted is critical. Roast only when you are to use it! Otherwise, the coffee will lose its great wonderful taste.

Lastly, the works, it should be brewed correctly. Let me share some of the points I gathered from some of the experts in brewing.

- Begin brewing using water that is cool, fresh, and clear.

- As mentioned above, only recently roasted coffee bean should be used and remember to

use only high-quality coffee selection.

- Grind coffee just before brewing and make sure the grind corresponds to the method of brewing. The recommended ratio is two tablespoons to every eight ounces or one cup of water. Measure coffee and water accurately: do not guess.

- Boil water to 195 to 205 degrees.

- Use only a clean brewing equipment.

- Serve immediately!

as the experts say, “Good coffee is unbeatable but never reheatable.”

coffee anyone?

Sooner or later, I will be asked why this blogsite has the touch of coffee, and before that happens, I am now taking it upon me to ask myself why. Why?

Well, first is that I am a coffee lover. I cannot get through the day without drinking five or six cups of coffee in a day - one or two upon waking up and three or four cups in the evening to end my day.

Still why coffee for a blog with much of the articles posted in the site involving personal and random thoughts? Well, I actually plan to read and study the art of brewing coffee in depth, the differences in the taste of different beans, the aroma, and the documented physical and psyche effects each coffee bean has to the human body.

Coffee is a great part of my life. I started drinking at a young age, thanks to my dad and older brothers who themselves are coffee lovers. With numerous café shops popping like mushrooms in the country in the late 90s, it further introduced me to different tastes of coffee and beanery. Then, the coffee mania run and continues to run in the veins of the working genre, both old and young – including me. I have yet to answer the question, have I? Briefly, in answer to my preemptive question to myself, I actually plan to make this site a notebook of my pursuit to further my knowledge of the art of coffee brewing and the coffee’s benefits to the human body, to include also its adverse effects.

Coffee anyone?

i am on a blogrush!

Lately, I’ve been so engrossed with overhauling this blogsite as I’ve said in my previous post and much of that involves trying out and adding some blog elements into the site. On the course of doing so, I’ve come across a blog element which is designed to increase traffic of your site, the BLOGRUSH. As a ?new blogger, all you’d want for your blogsite would be for personal diary only, but in this tech savvy age, it would not hurt if you perhaps try earning using your blogsite. There are many blog elements out there to attract traffic, there’s the ADsense, the technorati, to boost your interesting posts and articles. But, these would practically mean nothing without the traffic. Referral from friends would not suffice to give you the needed traffic, and that’s where BLOGRUSH steps in, it’s a blog syndication thing – increasing your traffic views exponentially. To best help you with the mechanics of this, you can view the video tutorial here , BLOGRUSH. sign up now and enjoy.

Whoah! I guess my mind is literally on a blogrush.

brewing the site to your taste

although no one has ever visited this site and while this site has been created back in 2005, what happened today still merits my touchpad. this, because today i did a major overhaul of this site - from the template to the elements. i am not really big on blogging and doing stuff which the public can easily access, but hey, i must say i really enjoyed doing this. well, ahh, not much on the blogging (?yet), but the tweaking of the site. what i did may be simple stuff and more of a dummy thing, but for a moment, i felt like an IT savvy. thanks to the abundance of help the world wide web provides and of course, thank you to the real internet savvies out there. thank you. it really felt like brewing the coffee to your taste, adding a little of this and that, previewing the site like tasting it, and then finally sitting back on your coffee chair while enjoying every sip of it.

invitation

I am supposed to be asleep now, but hey, here I am still working. I am the only person awake now in the household. The bed is very inviting, what with the cold breeze brought about by the monsoon rain. Yep, the bed is inviting me and my eyes are prodding me to indulge. But, nah, I still can't, I still have about four tracking numbers to clear.

Gotta get going, so I can finally be one with the calm subconscious me.