Who'd I Marry?

A few nights ago, I had a dream in which I could not remember or figure out whom I had married. It had the quality of one of those dreams in which you have a big exam or paper due soon and you are stressed out about it but are completely unable to focus on it. The "thought process" went something like, "Ok, it can't be her. I think it must be her instead. But, wait. I would have married her then, and I'm pretty sure I slept with her more recently, so that doesn't seem right..." Much like the exam dreams, I was quite relieved when it dissolved upon waking. I could remember only a couple of the possible "candidates" and neither was anyone I would have remotely considered marrying. I told L about it, and she said she had had the same dream a couple months ago.

brief coffee updates

1. slightly simplified french press method:

Get another small, preferably thin, cup. When you've pre-heated your press and plunger, pour the water into the thin cup and put the plunger in to keep it warm.

Pour all the water in onto the grounds in one pour, in a thin smooth stream. Wait one minute, and begin the tapping. When the tapping is done (30 - 60 seconds later), put in the plunger and use it to press the floating grounds a small ways into the liquid.

Total steep time: 4 minutes.

2. Four Barrel's roasting style strikes me as somewhere between Blue Bottle's and Ritual's. They still keep a lot of the bright acids, as Ritual does, but also bring out more of the coffee richness, as Blue Bottle does. And they have selection of beans I find most interesting these days.

I like the worm (not about tequila)

At that weekend wedding in Point Reyes, a lot of the apples we picked had been invaded by worms. However, since the worms had just eaten the seeds and then left, this worked out fine. I just cut out the usual core, and J and I ate the rest.

In one apple we did finally find a worm. (I think it was not really a worm, but a caterpillar or a maggot.) It was a pretty pink color and was mostly intact. J noticed that it was missing one end, though, and said something to me about my having cut its head or tail, and asked why. I told him I had accidentally cut it off when I was opening the apple. He said, "I don't wan do that again. I like the worm."

Returning from an unplanned detour (long)

On the last day in July, L, J and I went up to friends' weekend wedding in Point Reyes. The surroundings were beautiful and we were glad for a weekend away from the city. There was a small creek behind the hotel which J loved. And I could pick fresh apples and blackberries from the plants on which they actually grow. (Picking and eating fruit -- tropical and NE US -- is something that was a big part of my childhood, but which J doesn't see very often.)

However, that night J woke up around 11pm with a high fever and was up most of the night. We gave him some ibuprofen and he (and we) were able to get some sleep before the ceremony early Saturday afternoon. The rest of the weekend went pretty well considering how it had started.

When we got home to the city, J's breath started stinking and his gums were red and swollen. His pediatrician identified the illness as the initial infection with Herpes simplex, and gave us a over-the-counter remedy for a topical oral anesthetic for when the sores started. He stayed with me instead of going to day care, and for an uncomfortable two-year old, he did pretty well. His appetite and energy started recovering by the end of that week, and he went back to day care the next Monday (earlier this week). The only remaining problem seemed to be that being catered to all week had spoiled him a bit. He was being quite a brat.

But now I had a problem in that I had come down with it. I had assumed that, since I've had cold sores before, that at most I'd get a cold sore. Over the week, often finishing food J didn't want, I got myself quite an exposure, so who knows what happened. Anyway, last Friday, I came down with a high fever and chills which stayed for three days, making me unable to move very much. I am now also recovering energy and appetite, and have been able to play with Jasper more.

Last night, after J said he wanted to play with blocks, he dumped them out of the bag into his dump truck, and dumped them from there on to the floor. But then he said he didn't want to play with them anymore and walked away. I dragged him back and held him screaming trying to get him to put them away. L came by and reinforced the message and tried to get him into family block-putting-away. Beyond telling him he couldn't play us against each other, this seemed to only make it worse, so she left. A few minutes later, he was happily helping me put the blocks away, insisting on putting the last several blocks in the bag himself.

My interpretation is that he was being such a brat not because he was spoiled while he was sick, but because he was acting out in hopes of drawing me off the sick bed. I often play the role of stern enforcer of discipline for him, and I think he was worried about my sudden withdrawal from family life. He didn't really seem to understand that it was completely due to illness, even though he had just recovered from it. So being bratty was the expression of his anxiety about my illness.

Thankfully, those two weeks, of nursing J's illness and then my own, seem to be nearly over.

Nationalize Oil and Gas

Well, maybe. The problem, as predicted on The Oil Drum and now happening, is that the business cycle is not long compared to the oil and gas project cycle. This means that the current low energy prices are causing projects to be canceled that will be needed during the next economic recovery. Failure to invest now means higher energy prices than the last spike once the economy again attempts something like growth. In theory, nationalizing these companies would allow a steady flow of money to needed projects in good times and bad. Probably the same results could be attained by granting lines of credit on favorable terms with lots of strings attached. Matthew Simmons has for some time recommended setting energy price floors at any new high, something that would also guarantee return on investment. Anyway, in much the same way that people are talking about "green jobs to save the economy," there should be stimulus with with conditions for oil and gas extraction, because we're going to need all we can get. Without it, we won't have anything with which to build this "green economy" (which we must build if we can).

Update: This post makes the same point:

But as those in the oil industry already know, low prices will lead to a reduction of new supply in the future, a reduction that could cripple any attempts to restart economic growth. And, failure to provide adequate supplies of the world's most essential fuel will not only stifle growth, but also impede attempts to create the renewable energy economy that we will need as oil supplies decline due to geologic constraints. We need the energy from fossil fuels and especially from oil to help make the next energy transition. That calls for a massive change of direction for energy investment that simply cannot take place in an environment of low energy prices.

The implication is that we now need to put a floor under fossil fuel prices so as not to discourage the development of alternatives. That means new taxes, but ones that could be offset with reductions elsewhere. We need to discourage what we don't want, namely, wasteful use of fossil fuels, and thereby encourage what we do want, namely, carbon-free energy technology.

UPDATE II: And in this post, with more detail.

How to Make French Press Coffee

I've been making french press coffee for about 1.5 years now, and I finally feel like I've arrived at a method I'm happy with. It'll probably change more, but it seems to be very good and robust. I'm writing it down in attempt to put it out in the world for anyone interested. The most important things will be in italics, and I put in a bunch of other detail that may or may not be important. You decide, and I may update it after more experiments.

If the beans are frozen, take out what you want to grind and let them thaw.

This method uses a microwave to heat the water. I put the amount of water I want for coffee (usually about 1 US cup = 8 oz) into the glass beaker (Bodum 12 oz) and heat it to boiling. Take it out and put in the plunger to heat it (see Blue Bottle Coffee, under "Preparation"). (1) Start heating another cup of water to boiling in a cup with a good pouring spout. I use an OXO Good Grips angled measuring cup. Grind the coffee on a gently (not very) coarse grind (you need a burr grinder), not all that much coarser than you would for a flat-bottom filter automatic drip. (2) When the second cup of water is boiling, take it out and put in a cook's thermometer. When it gets to about 203 F, dump the water from the french press into your cup to warm it. Put the grounds into the beaker, evenly on the bottom, and pour about 1/3 to 1/2 of the water -- which should be about 200 F when it hits the coffee -- onto the grounds in a quiet, non-splattering stream. Try to wet the grounds as completely as possible. Stir the mixture thoroughly with a wooden or plastic implement. (3) This should cause the mixture to foam up a bit, which will continue for several seconds after you stop stirring. When the "bloom" seems to stop, start gently tapping the press vertically down onto the counter, until you see bubbles (sort of pock marks) begin to emerge on the surface of the coffee. Put the rest of the water back into the microwave and heat it for another 10 - 15 seconds (or whatever you think will bring it back to about 200 F), and keep tapping the french press until no more bubbles emerge. (4) The surface of the mixture should now look like a dull sludge, instead of like coffee grounds in foam. Now pour the rest of the water over the coffee in a solid stream so it punches through this sludge, wetting down all of the sludge. Put the plunger back into the beaker, with the strainer a little above the surface of the mixture. (5) After 45 seconds, swirl the mixture so the floating grounds sink. In another 1 minute 30 seconds, press the plunger and pour your coffee. I like my coffee cooler ("neko jita" or "cat tongue"), so I let it sit to cool for several minutes before drinking it. This also allows the sediment to settle some.

What I like about this method is that it consistently produces coffee with an expansive coffee "center", a full extraction of complexity, and a rich mouthfeel, without sourness or bitterness. No dairy or sugar needed.


(1) I took my Bodum beaker out of its metal holder with plastic handle and made an insulating jacket for it out of cardboard. I place the beaker of boiling water into this jacket to warm the jacket.

(2) Ritual's regular coffee is french press coffee, made in large presses. I got a sample of their ground coffee and matched it as best I could on my grinder at home.

(3) This idea of stirring the coffee half way though the pour was in this video. I believe Robin may also have suggested it. Other parts of the video, such as drinking the coffee from a paper cup with cream, strike me as a bit wacky, but each to his own.

(4) As far as I know, this is my innovation. It stemmed from my observation that the times I poured the water and produced the least foam made the best coffee. I suspect that the foam interferes with fully wetting the grounds. So I wet them once with the first pour, twice with the stir, knock down the foam, and wet them a third time with the second pour.

(5) From first pour to this point takes me about 1 minute 15 seconds, for a total steep time of about 3.5 minutes.

Update: The extraction level seems to be well controlled by the amount the grounds and water mixture is stirred. More stirring = more extraction. You will want to adjust the extraction level to get the balance of flavors you prefer in each coffee.