Bourbon

Wanted to try bourbons out. Picked up a bottle of Maker's Mark at Costco, they had a $5 off coupon when I walked in so I thought, why not? And picked up a bottle of Buffalo Trace at BevMo.

New Pen and Journal

Saw a post online about fountain pens and how they're collected and decided to look em up. Now I have one and I want to start keeping a journal. I made a journal with some printer paper and already used up a whole cartridge of ink.
One of the recommendations for a good starter fountain pen was Lamy. I picked up the Safari model. Comes in various colors. I liked the yellow one. This one has a medium nib.

Gotta have something to write on so I ordered some journals online. But in the meantime I ran across a post about making your own journal. Seemed easy enough. So I tried it. This one has eight signatures, eight pages each. I wanted to keep it simple so I didn't make a cover. Just going to leave it as is. It's a little loose, but with the newfound knowledge of making this one, the next one will be a little tighter.

After a couple days of writing in the journal, the supplied cartridge was empty. Guess I was a little enthusiastic about keeping one.

Went to a fountain pen store and picked up some ink. I had purchased a converter when I bought the pen so I could use different inks if I wanted to.
Ink is Noodler's walnut. That's how full the bottle is. I actually thought it was a bubble at first.

Empty converter.

After cleaning the pen.

And filled with walnut goodness.

The ink on paper.

Upgraditis

There's a term that folks in the home espresso world like to use. It's 'upgraditis.' It's the obsessive need to get something bigger and better. For me the bug has hit with my shaving experiment. They have a term too, it's called 'aquisition disorder.'

First one is a Best Badger Brush from Crabtree and Evelyn made by Edwin Jagger. I read a post online about it and absolutely needed it. Needed it so bad that I was willing to go to the mall on Black Friday to get it. Got 20% off. Woo hoo! Much softer than the Tweezerman brush.

Next upgrade was a Gillette Super Speed Flare Tip razor. It's from the late 50s and the old school razors from Gillette are highly regarded in the wet shaving community. I also snagged a Fat Boy that should be getting here in a couple of days.

No good razor is gonna do anything without blades so I got 100 Derby Extra DE blades that were recommended. I will also be getting some Israeli Personnas in a couple of days too.

Wet Shaving

Decided to try wet shaving to look a little more professional at work. Follow these simple steps and you'll be wet shaving in no time too!
Go to cutlery store and pick up one of these (safety razor) with some double edged blades. Most regular stores just sell disposable razors.

Go here

Get one of these and a nifty stand for your razor and brush

And do this! At least I didn't cut my face.

Espresso Time

Wanted to make espresso this morning so I went to the Klatch and got a pound of their Sweet 16 blend.

Took the good ole Delonghi out of the cupboard and fired her up. Wanted the first shot to be a sgtraight shot.

Shot came out nice. I think brew temp was slightly high, but it was a nice shot.

Second drink was going to be a latte. Here is the masterpiece.

Dinner 11/6/2009

Hot dog sliders
Dinner roll

Sliced a couple of dogs and fried the slices

Strips of swiss cheese

In a buttered pan I put all the components together and grilled

Voila. I think I'll cut the dogs into strips next time around

Breakfast 11/4/2009

Scrambled eggs, microwave sausage, and rice.

Lunch 11/3/2009

Went to this joint in Chinatown today for lunch with my coworkers.

At the front when you walk in. Duck. And on the bottom trays some heads.

Egg flower with corn and chicken soup.

Barbecue duck

French style beef. I laugh at you like an arrogant french man, haw haw haw

Pork chop with spicy salt. I think this is pretty much ordered every time I have Chinese food.

I think this is called shrimp with spicy salt with shell or whatever their skin is referred to.

And the result after a good meal. It's been more than an hour later, and I'm still full. I don't know where that saying came from.

Lunch 11/2/2009

Tried my hand at being vegetarian for a meal. Trader Joe's mixed greens with pecans, cranberries, and bleu cheese. I liked it. The bleu cheese and cranberries reminded me of a bagel with cream cheese and some jelly.

Dinner 11/1/2009

Fried rice, fried fish fillets with cream corn sauce, and pork chops with spicy salt. Good stuff.

Hot Sexy Mama

Look at that pretty smile.

Breakfast 10/29/2009

Lot 44 Downtown

Coffee and red velvet cupcake. Yes, red velvet cupcake is perfect for breakfast. Just like a bagel with cream cheese except you get a red velvet cupcake instead of the bagel, and awesome sweet cream cheese icing instead of just plain ole cream cheese.