Retiring from competition...... for now.

It's official. I just registered to be judge at the NERBC/MARBC in first week of February. Needless to say, i'm super excited.

Competing last year was very educational and i wouldn't trade it for the world. I almost beat Lem for first place in the SERBC (short by 8 points), i won Millrock Latte Art Competition, i bombed at USBC, but my teammate Danielle made it to semi-finals and placed ninth! The competitive coffee world has been good to me, so now i'm going to try to give back.

As fun as competition has been, there's a lot of work to be done around Octane in the next 4-6 months, and i'm looking forward to the lack of stress competition usually brings. It also frees up time for me to help my fellow Octaners who are competing in their training.

I think it's going to be a good year.

"So shouldn't you be in Finland by now?"

So a lot of people have been asking me about Finland recently, and why i'm not there yet.... Pretty understandable. I've only been talking about it for 2 years straight. In any case, here's an update on that front.

I still adore Helsinki, and would love to live there one day. The dream is not dead. My heart is still there, if you will. However, i have decided to put it on hold for a while for a few different reasons. The main reason is that Octane is looking to grow in the relative near future and if a certain set of circumstances took place, i could find myself in a dream job type of situation.

Additionally, i have recently taken on the position of Southeast Chapter Rep for the Barista Guild of America. And if i remember correctly, i think Heather threatened bodily harm to me if i bailed. How do you think she's done so well in competitions? Intimidation. Fear. (Just kidding, Heather, you're great)

To sum up, there's a lot things i'd like to accomplish before i leave Atlanta. I'm invested in a lot of things here, and i can't abandon them just yet.

Also, it'd be nice for my girlfriend, Brooke, to be able to visit there at least once, before i drug her there for a few years.

Time for a change

So i don't know if it's not cool to have a background that doesn't scroll or not. I think it might be a design no-no, but i don't care. The background picture is one i took near Saila's parents house in Espoo, and it makes me feel good.

I think everything is just a whole lot less ugly. Which is what i was going for. I hope it's not as painful to visit this site now. The old one was pretty brutal....

Life Update

I haven't posted in a while, so i figured i'd do a quick update.

Just helped teach a latte art workshop in Charlotte this past weekend. And facilitate a throwdown. It was a lot of fun. On the way back to Atlanta, Tony, Diane, and I stopped by Coffee and Crema where we had amazing cappuccinos made by Shannon. After the caps, we stopped by the blog-home where we were served chili and cookies lovingly made by the blog-wife. I've never left Greenville heading home without a full stomach of Michelle's great food. Thanks, guys!

Octane is keeping me pretty busy. Danielle and I are working really hard and are getting a lot done. We're serving Intelligentsia teas now, which is exciting. The customers are really digging it, which brings me joy. We're certifying two new baristas, Mike and David, and we can't wait to get them on the machine. They're going to kick ass. We're also working on a coffee certification that will be rolling out soon that all the employees will have to take. It's going to consist of a triangular cupping (have to get 5 out of 6 flights right), completing a cupping notebook, and taking a written test based on a manual we've yet to write. It's going to be good though. Everyone's knowledge of the Counter Culture coffees we serve is going to skyrocket.

That's about it for now. Gavin's waiting on me to help him start closing up the shop, so i will help him.

Oh! Also, if you live in Atlanta, come to the Indie Craft Experience this Saturday! My girlfriend is selling her environmentally friendly and stylish wares. They're pretty rad.

Suomi is on my leg

Suomi is on my leg
Originally uploaded by benexhale

So for those who don't know already, my friend Scott is an apprentice at Timeless Tattoo and I'm helping him out by letting him practice on my leg. He's done 8 or so on me now. Mostly Sailor Jerry flash, but we've also done some random stuff as well, like a can of Diet Coke.

Well, today we were flipping through the Sailor Jerry books and saw a flag tattoo. Like tattoos a sailor might get after visiting a place. We switched it up a bit and now I have the Finnish flag with a banner that says "SUOMI", which is pretty great. It's as if I were a sailor whose travels took him to Finland and he fell in love with the country. Which is minus the sailing part, is completely true.

::Update:: Here is a better shot of the "Finnished" product.... if you will.... sorry that was lame.

Kukushka

The other day, Brooke rented a movie for us to watch called Kukushka or in English, "Cuckoo". The story takes place during WWII, right before Finland is about to drop out of the war. Through a series of circumstances a Finn, a Russian, and a Lapp are thrown together, they can't understand each other, and warm-hearted hilarity ensues. I won't ruin anything, in case you want to see it, but Brooke and I enjoyed it, and most importantly, it was nice to hear some Finnish. I hadn't heard any in a while, and it always does my heart good. And even cooler, i was able to understand a few words! Specifically "ymmärrä", which means "understand" because the Finn kept saying things like "Do you understand me?"

I haven't studied my Finnish in quite a while, so it was nice to know i hadn't lost too much. Even though, at this point, there isn't much to lose...

You know you want to...