Wow its been a while since I have been able to punch characters into this box. I don't know what it is but something is always in the way of social networking now days.

Tons and Tons of cool stuff is going on at the coffeehouse these days, namely the smoothies that Hunt has created. Real fruit, fruit nectar, ice and love are all that's in there so its healthy I think and good so come on and get one.

The music here lately has been really great. Gunnar Backman, Enigma Machine with Doc Dixon, O'brother and Death on Two Wheels have been the outstanding shows as of late and man have their really been some moments in the basement. All that was withing a week and we are all pretty drained. The next show is going to be The Love Willows with Coleman Fox. Should be pretty great.

As always I have Neil Gaiman and Icelandic economic news... They are both bad this time.

Neil Gaiman's Father died yesterday morning and He has put himself out of commission from blogging and Twittering for the next little while to grieve and I don't blame him. That guy is so good to his fans. He basically doesn't stop letting us know every piece of his life and this time should be spent on himself and his family.

Iceland's fourth and final surviving bank, Straumur Burdarás, was nationalized this week leaving the country in a state of non-capitalism. I wouldn't be surprised to see the euro make its way further west to that small island.

On a brighter note the S.C.A.A. (Specialty Coffee Association of America) will be holding its conference here in April and its going to be very educational and tasty for everyone involved. Tickets are $150 , I think, and you will get to drink the best coffee in the world all weekend! The Safehouse Family will be making the trip and you should to. Even if you don't know a mocha pot from tea strainer.

Jacob Danger

Customer Appreciation Night at Safehouse Coffee/The Storm Cellar

I think that we have the best customers in town and we want to show you just how much we love you...

With a KILLER FREE SHOW tonight!!

Our friends, Death on Two Wheels, are on their SXSW Tour right now and are pulling through town for one day, so they called last night and asked if we would do a show with them, Hymns, Ben Ratliff, and just maybe, The Bridges tonight!! Of course, we said no doubt, so tonight at no cost to you, we present them in their full rock glory!

We have a lot of shows here at the Storm Cellar, but doesn't mean that our goal is quantity. No, in fact, what we feel is the best course of action is to focus on the quality of the shows we put on. We really do appreciate all of you who come out, and this is the best way we could think of to show our deep thanks to you, so come out and enjoy a show that will soon be setting the stage of South by Southwest in Austin, Texas on fire!!

      With Sincere Gratitude,

                             Hunt, Jacob, and the whole Safehouse/Storm Cellar Staff

The Music Scene is Larger Than You Know

In writing this, I will exert myself to keep from becoming the bear that some of you have seen from time to time. That being said, I welcome all canings, flamings, and comments of all kinds.

Here at Safehouse and The Storm Cellar, we have become aware of the reality that a large portion of our local music show-goers have a substantial flaw: many of you are closed to new music. At the risk of offending and running off some people, I will go on to say that the dozen or so bands that you go see regularly (and heard, mostly, the same set each time), are, in fact, NOT the beginning and end of quality music in this area. Are they musically talented? For the most part, yes. Are they genuinely passionate about their music? Again, for the most part, yes. I am not impugning the quality of their work or the validity of their fans' affections. What I impugn is the narrow scope of what is deemed "show-worthy" around here. Not convinced? Okay, case in point:

Within the last month, The Storm Cellar has had shows from the following:

* Atlanta phenom and premiere female artist, Heather Luttrel with her family band. Amazing country/rock  show filled with bluegrass undertones fueled by her father and his slide flat top. They pack out venues in Atlanta constantly - we had about 40 people.

* Atlanta powerhouse, The N.E.C. - psychrock pumped out by the best conflagration of vintage equipment we've seen here - so good Jacob didn't even tell them to turn the amps down! Members of a band of past Atlanta fame, Sovus Radio, reformed with top-level musicians to make The N.E.C. It would be a hard show to even get into in Atlanta, but we had about 75 people.

And finally, last night's show - 

* Enigma Machine. Simply jaw-dropping. Guitar rock-god, Lamont Sudduth, heads up this totally unrehearsed jazz/psychrock improv group. Griffin's own Bo Morgan, with a history of death metal, on very tasteful drums, and Jonathan Drawdy on deadhead bass with Atlanta's consummately sought after jazz saxist, Ollie Patterson filling out the group. Their sets are simultaneously mind-blowing and face-melting. Then, as if that weren't enough already, after EM's first set, something nigh mystical happened. Dr. Dixon, yes, The Blues Physician, walks into our shop and says, "I heard there was music going on here tonight." Heart racing, I ushered him downstairs and introduced him to Lamont. They knew each other by reputation and Lamont invited him to sit in on the next set. Don't bother googling Dr. Dixon unless you have mad google skills because history may hold our country's true bluesmen as national treasures, but this pop-driven music industry doesn't. Dr. Dixon has played blues harp (harmonica) with the likes of Muddy Waters and a whole pantheon of vintage bluesmen that you might know if you listened to your grandparents' records.

Now, I have been in the presence of musical genius more than a few times in my life, but what unfolded over the next half-hour left my giggling like a little boy, and I'm not ashamed to say it. They launched into the most impassioned and skillful blues I have ever stood witness to in my lifetime thus far. Dr. Dixon's harp had conversations with Lamont's guitar and Ollie's saxophone that we will be decoding for years to come. It was nothing short of euphoric, and how many people were here? About fifty. By the way, where were you? What was so stimulating that you missed what will be talked about around here from now on? We had a seat for you and we will next time, too, because Dr. Dixon dug our scene so much, he wants to come back and do a full show.

I am pleased to tell you that we got last night's show recorded in fine CD quality thanks to Shane Killingsworth who gets most of our shows here, even though he just got off of a 70 hour work week. The musicians also gave us permission to put cuts from the shows on our upcoming first release on Safehouse Records, A Safehouse Collective, Volume I.

So that's my piece and take it how you want. In the meantime, you know where we are and we will keep providing you with the finest in local and metro music. Flame on.

Hunt Slade for Safehouse Coffee and Tea & The Storm Cellar

Its raining of course and the ground is slick because its cold and windy. What better time to get a coffee, no answer, would the sun help? Probably not. What would? I tell ya' a long drive through a mountain, the kind where they cut a whole in a tree then the roads turn and turn and you wear your breaks down but it wouldn't matter. I would buy new breaks everyday. Do you know how cold that river is, you shouldn't jump in and then you do and you jump with both feet and just fall and it takes your breathe. One of two things happens when you jump in with two feet. You either have the time of your life or you  break your legs. What an analogy for life. What if the water is too shallow?

The door won't shut all the way without making the most horrible noise. Not a screen door slam more like a wounded animal loud and scared and running away. It wakes up the whole house so you decide to jump in a car. The white one not the blue one and you just drive forever and then you get where your going and its dark so you get a hotel and you spend your last dime on a paper cup filled with African death and you just drink it and think about the cold. In hours, if everything goes right, the sun comes up and it hurts your eyes and your head but what if it didn't come up and it was that one night forever? Yeah what if?

Its hard walking down long wooden steps next to a water fall in the dead of winter at night but you do it anyway and if you had the least bit of foresight you would have brought that blanket. The one your mom made when you were a kid. The one with the wholes in it that makes you feel like Christmas and hard nights. We would spread it on a rock and fumble around until we found the one comfortable place that there wasn't a poker or root or just a sharp piece of rock digging through your bones and we would lay there until it rained then we would sit up and talk about how crappy rain is. The only bad thing is the three dollars we shoved in an envelope to park. We didn't have to but i like the park and we decided it was ok.

 The car tries to crank, it doesn't then it does and the pedal hits the floor and the volume knob gets turned all the way right and then a little bit to the left to keep from being fuzzy and deafening. I drive this time and don't worry about the road because its that song that I scream to on the way how every night. I worry the whole song about missing that one note at the end where the guy singing, the guy getting paid to sing it misses it and everyone thinks he meant to but he didn't and it sells anyway. Yeah that note and you are singing as loud as you can and you are alone in your mind and nothing else matters and the build up happens and you get confident and you think the note is yours and a second after the songs wants you to sing it you go for it and you scream FIX IT you hit it in your mind but not in real life. In real life you just howled and you are happy in that. The person with you laughs and likes it and you feel safe.

Not much of what a blog post should be or exactly what it isn't

all the very best

Jacob

Hey friends there are quite a few really great things going on at the Safehouse and this blog is a part of it. Starting very soon you, yes you, will not be checking this old blogger site because, thanks to Ike, our I.T. guy that we asked favors from and he does it and just asks for free waffles, we have a brand new blog that looks the part a little more. The new blog will be located at safehousecoffeeandtea.com/blog and will be attached directly to the web site, safehousecoffeeandtea.com. This is a note to give Ike some props and say thank you for taking us out of 1972 and into 2009. 

In other news Neil Gaiman just won the Newbery Award for the Graveyard Book. For those that may not know the Newbery is the "being knighted with a sword by an older Queen-like lady" of the childrens literature universe. Not only that but his new movie, produced by Nightmare Before Christmas director Henry Selick, is great and wonderful and most certainly NOT for Ira Hunt Slade. Having said that don't take your three year old but if you have 7 - 109 year old in the family or a half way fun life you should go see it in 3D and feel like a kid again for 150 minutes.

and now paragraph about Twitter:

Raise your hand if you've not run across this annoying and brilliant social networking version of cheap cocaine. The three of you that raised your hands please visit twitter.com. For the rest of us, how wonderful is that someone out there divised a method to take the last little bit of privacy from our lives and post it right there for people we don't know to read at will. This program will most certainly drain us all of quiet, alone, just for me time and replace it with screams of, "Hand me my blackberry so I can tell everyone I know, and some that I don't, about the neck tie my Uncle Bill wore to Auntie Terries third wedding!". Or something like that. Oh and of course please search out all of the Safehouse family and click follow!

Thus ending my Twitter paragraph.

Thus ending my blog entry.

All the very best,

Jacob Orr

When is the last time you really stopped moving and let yourself meet a new friend?

Was it last night? I hope so.

When is the last time you talked until 5 in the morning and still had something to say even though you couldn't keep your eyes open?

When is the last time you had a place and a family that isn't really a real family but very much still a family that can help you and yell at you and fight with you and at the end of the night you hug and feel good every time.

Have you ever given up everything that makes you comfortable? Money, your own place, your freedom and security and been completely satisfied in it.

These are question I never knew to ask myself.

My life kind of asked these questions for me and the people that are now paramount in my wellness are  answering them daily. 

How does this fit in with coffee? Seeing as to how this is a blog about a coffeehouse and written by coffeehouse owners and baristas any one of us would tell you that coffee is a gateway into a moment. The atmosphere of a coffee house is nothing if not instrumental in cultivating lifelong friendships or bolstering a family that will argue and love all at the same time.

I know I am an employee here and as director of sales and marketing it is my job to shed a positive light on the business, I cant help but feel that someone reading this would see my words as a ploy to gain customers. It is not. The joy in my job is watching a first time customer grow into a family member or watching the people that meet here start as acquaintances and grow into real friendships. It has happened to me and a number of people that I pull shots for on a daily basis and if I never make another dime in my life I'll know that our building and our beans facilitated a meaningful breeding ground for new experiences for people.

In other news a bunch of the Safehouse family played a rousing game of D&D yesterday resulting in angry wives/girlfriends and gave us another reason to spend some much needed downtime with the people we can't live without.

Iceland has official disassembled their government in response to an outcry from their community. An interim government has been put into place to cover the day to day needs of things until the new campaigns and elections can take place. Good job Icelanders for not rolling over to the corruption and fighting for better life. We all could use a little of that spirit.

all the very best

Jacob Danger.

Okay, I can admit when I call the game too soon...

The last band, Just For Kicks, got the place moving for real!! I even had to go downstairs and bust a couple of heads - good times! ~ H

What is this entity in America's youth called "Hardcore"

What is this new hardcore scene, and why is it so prevalent in Griffin? When I was a teenager, we used to go down to Barnesville to The Depot and watch bands like Blue Druids - even then hardcore held the majority position, musically, around here. Back then, we would get in there and let the music pump us up until we were all good and worked up - the air heavy with perspiration and pheromones. The conflagration of bodies in front of the stage would start to churn and slowly come into a common consciousness that began to rotate (usually counterclockwise, for some reason). Gaining both speed and intensity, it became a vortex not dissimilar from the process of properly texturing latte milk. There was an understood respect for one another in the pit - depending on the band, you might've found yourself like a kid suddenly thrown into the deep end of the pool without your water wings - watch out for the younger kids and don't mow down the girls. Then there were the peripherals - the guys that would stand in the corners of the room, face upturned, arms out, palms up, in some kind of grotesque effigy, soaking up the energy that splashed out of the vortex - then, without warning, the peripheral would break loose in that high-kneed run right through the middle of the pit, a maelstrom of elbows and fists. Those in the know would be on the look-out for these types that were especially nasty and would apply a good stiff arm to them as they tried to come by, effectively ending the transitory tirade.

I'm going downstairs to see what the vibe is - be right back.

Okay, that was not what I expected. There was some type of action at the front, but not much. Maybe it's just being in a new, unfamiliar venue, but there was not the vigor that I had hoped down there. I remember going to my very first hardcore show, aged fifteen, and the music and the kinetics pulled me into the maw of unbridled teen expression as if against my will. I was a classic rock kid - I didn't even know it was a hardcore show that night. Nevertheless, I found myself drawn into the vortex even though it wasn't "my kind of music". We all shuffled and milled around to the unnaturally quick beat like the infected of some viral pandemic movie and at the end of the night, we all left as friends and felt, somehow cleansed through our physical exertion and emotionally vulnerability.

This crowd has not these things, from my vantage point. Anger aplenty, but the soul-wrenching vulnerability of honest teenage angst seems to be vacuously absent. I'm not putting these kids down, I just sense a lack of genuine commitment to what's happening down there. Maybe I'm caught in the, "we did it better in my day" fantasy. Maybe I'm not. Maybe the scene isn't delivering what it used to and maybe that disconnect deprives the kids of the release they are here looking for at seven dollars a pop. Maybe they just need a heavy dose of Blue Druids and Hot Water Music. Maybe it's something else altogether.

Ok you caught me, I am listening to Celine and making a new Myspace for the Storm Cellar. Man who knew a month ago when I was asked to do sales and marketing for a small independent coffee roaster and maybe books some bands for shows in a dirty basement that this life changing transition from scared and immature to more scared and satisfied human would begin. This time im scared of forgetting a bands name or missing an important fact on a website. Much better. Less stress. More Coffee.

Zuki needs a coil pack. I don't know what that is but if any of you out there have one let me get it.

So in coffee news Brazil has kicked in the door and made a big impression on us all the way from roast to cup and everywhere in between. If enough of you ask for it maybe we can convince she who holds the money to get us some. I hear she likes Aretha. Mention that in your plea.

One day away from the Reg Barber coffee tamper. If there are no twitters or bloggies or myspace/facebook or phone calls or anyone around at all tomorrow know that we have made it to the bottom of a cave and are coveting the tamper calling it precious.

In Iceland News:

from Alda over at www.icelandweatherreport.com

IWR: You have said that Icelandic democracy is dead. Can you explain?

NPN: Iceland is no longer a democracy. The Icelandic democracy that was established in 1944 has been reduced to nothing. Iceland today is a state of political party leaders. Its government is not a representative government. It is subject to the dictatorship of a handful of political leaders on a daily basis. The separation of the three branches of government is disregarded, Althingi [Iceland’s parliament] has been turned into a processing and handling institution for the executive power [the cabinet] and even the appointment of judges is subject to the whims of those in power.* This has become evident in the wake of the economic collapse.

The fight for democracy is so strong some places and against it in others. Democracy is todays whipping boy.

During this post I Listened to Celine, Whitney (body guard) and Josh Groban. I was in a triumpht mood.

love Jacob Danger.

Oh and new Storm Cellar Myspace at www.myspace.com/safehousestormcellar

Why Tea?

I get asked a ton of questions about tea and tisanes, but the one that stands out to me is, of course, from Jacob.

"Why would you drink tea when you could have coffee?"

Well, most "Tea People" I know would start with the health benefits. There are so many that my hands got tired before I started writing this today just thinking about it. But being the honest Tea Lady I am - I will share a secret. Coffee is great for you too! Especially men. Now I did say too, which means in addition to tea. Hunt & I have great fun bringing health reports to each other's attention. It goes something like this:

H - "Turns out coffee is also good for the colon"
M - "Well, teas antioxidants are unprecedented"
H - "Coffee is full of them as well"
M - "Yeah, but I have Matcha and Green Tea Pomegranate, so beat that..."

This is a typical if not silly version of how to get bogged down in the details. Of course the truth is they are both good for you. Check out HealthCastle.com and search "benefits of tea and coffee" if you want to read for yourself. Be forewarned they are not as nice about the things we add to our coffee and tea (ie milk, sugar, half 'n half, honey - I can hear Kelly laughing at the computer, head tilted back..."that's why I drink Soy, hahahahaha"). But there are other reasons to love tea. Let me explain...

First is the Forgiveness Issue - Remember forgiving someone is a gift you give yourself.

Being American, I can see why we stopped drinking tea...we were miffed at the British. The taxes were too high...the representation was too low (wait, this is sounding like today - let me be more specific). I am talking about the Boston Tea Party - a bunch of angry Yanks dumping tea into the Boston harbor in protest. It became a patriotism issue. If you drank tea, you sided with the Red Coats. Well, I feel that we have decidedly gotten our revenge over that mean ol' King George - we are a super-power people. So, drinking tea is an act of unity and forgiveness. Don't you feel better about it already.

Next, no other beverage warms or sooths you quite like your favorite cup of tea (I recommend a Margaret's Soother or Lemon Sunset.) When the weather is 27 degrees outside, there is something about a Lemon tea that sooths a throat that has been battered by cold air.

Another is experimentation. Now while we all know that this can go too far, a little experimentation is healthy and vital to sanity in my opinion. Tea is generally used as a beverage at a meal (for us Southerns, that means weak tea, heavy sugar and lots of ice). But tea can transport you to another country or time and place. I've never been to India - I really want to go. But I have tasted some of the finest Assams, Darjeelings, and Chai Spice that India has to offer right in the comfort of the hippie booth or the man cave if I'm feeling sassy. However, tea can also be an ingredient in almost anything. Scones, cakes, cookies, glazes, casseroles, hookah tobacco...if you don't believe me, just ask I'll get you the recipe.

Next, there is the global angle. Safehouse cares deeply( to the point of obsession) about some subjects - direct trade farming (dealing as directly with the farmers as we can) and the global drug trade (stopping it, of course, not funding it)! We realize that the greatest impact we can have on the other side of the hemisphere or world is to pay a good price for a great product. If the families that have grown these teas (and coffees) for generations are paid a sustainable wage then they will not be as tempted to burn their crops and plant poppies or coca trees. But I guess that is a statement for coffee and tea.

Finally, there is simply nothing better than sharing a pot of tea with a friend. Forgetting the laundry or the party that you have to plan and just being with a friend and telling stories, catching up (okay, I totally realize this is a girly moment- indulge me - I am after all the only female of the Safehouse baristas). At that moment, smiling, laughing, passing the honey...time stands still and relationship takes priority over the rat race. That is why I drink and love tea. Don't get me wrong - I love a Hot Chocolate Mocha or a mug of Happy Monk as much as the rest of you, but once you experience great teas (not the garbage in the grocery aisle), it is hard to keep the passion inside.

So my question to Jacob is, why not?

If you head over to http://www.flickr.com/photos/10704206@N08/3197774896/ you can see a really fancy picture of our new reg barber tamper that the Safehouse family saved our tips for. It's ok if you don't really know what it's for. I will explain it here.

In making espresso in an espresso machine it is very important that the ground coffee is packed at an exact pounds per square inch. If it is too loose the coffee will under extract and taste weak and watery. If the coffee is too tight, your coffee will be over extracted and bitter. This is the end of the tutorial.

Anyway this tamper is the most important and acclaimed tamper on the market and helps the barista create the finest espresso possible. At $122 for a stick with a metal plate you may be thinking we are crazy but just wait until you taste the difference.

Iceland is still hungry more on that in the days to come when we see what the government does about the demand for resignations and such.

Very cool barista-y guy came in the shoppe today to talk coffee... he ended up running the bar... we are terrible hosts. This distraction also caused a break down in the space/time continuum resulting in forgetting to send a box of goody treats to http://journal.neilgaiman.com/.

Was just informed that the post office was closed today... SCORE!

Any last but not least the twitter bug is suffocating the whole Safehouse family in mind warping pleasure and you should all get one and follow us and we will follow you.

If you head over to treehugginglunatic.com you will find a great article on Dr. Bronners. Kelly is also one of the kindest blog writers I know. Its almost frightening but her blog is always insightful and prone to making you want to live a little more wisely.

In other news its 19 dollars to go see a movie at night with a companion. What planet are we living on where that is acceptable. Its like we are tithing to these actors for letting us look at them. I now declare that I will wait to get all movies until it is 5 bucks somewhere. We should start a website for the movement.

Ok so, some of you may or may not know that Iceland is on the verge of revolution. Long story short, the Icelandic Krona is worth as much as their steel industry** and people are creating what seems to be, from reading what I can find about it, a civil uprising against the banking system and government. This is all untold in our media mostly because we seemed to be more involved in Britney Spears' troubled existence and American Idol rather than whats really important, which I believe is the human living condition. From what I gather it is getting harder and harder for the Icelanding community to buy food. This is not a knew thing seeing as mostly everything in Iceland is imported and a 4 million dollar trade deficit is the norm. Sure these people will survive and prosper. They are a fully function country with some of the brightest minds in the world far from a third world country, but one of the pushes by their government is to join the European Union and adopt the Euro bringing it ever closer to American soil. If this doesn't frighten you it should.

On a brighter note the coffee industry is thriving and people lives in desolate places are being made better daily by the realization of good coffee equals great lives for people all over the world. Now I just need to get an Icelanding fish store opened and make it as trendy as possible. Thats a tough road.

I love you all,

Jacob Orr

** Iceland has no steel Industry. Aluminium is on the rise though!

Dear readers,

The very best of the best of the Tea Treasury is bagged and labled and in a nice old box with a handpainted logo in the lid. Well on its way to Neil's where hopefully he will drink it and love it and order more when it is all drank.

Fingers crossed

Also a great read over at icelandweatherreport.com about what to do if you have kids in iceland and a great picture of the most very important places to wash before entering a community swimming pool. Something the Icelandic community is much better at than we here in America are.

By the way tasted the new harvest of India Monsooned Malabar and its exemplary of the Malabar region. Come get it!

The shoppe is a tad bit cold and with a press of a few buttons I managed to make the thermostat imply that it was going to be warmer but well just have to see. Pizza is here.

Okay, here's an amusing one. Jacob came in to take over for me while I went across the street to Traffic Court. About three months ago, I got pulled over three times within a week for the same light being out. Well, I have an import, so the headlight lamp had to be ordered, and I didn't have time to put it in before the blue lights flashed me in rapid succession. The first ticket I had to pay (70 bucks!), but the second two had mercy and told me if I bring them (the officers) the receipts of having the light fixed, that they would break the tickets down to warnings. After wrestling with the lights for what felt like days, I got it done, and went to the police department on Poplar to be exonerated for my blatant disregard for both the law and the safety of others. The first one was taken care of immediately, but the other officer wasn't in and I was told to show him the proof at traffic court. It seemed more than a little inconvenient, but being the upstanding citizen that I am, I waited and went this morning to save myself another 70 bucks. So I go in and there is a gigantic police officer facilitation passage through a metal detector to get into the court room. I knew instantly that I had made a potentially costly judgment in error. If you know me at all then you probably know that I usually have an unusual amount and variety of things on my person at any given time. On approach, I already have an apologetic look on my face as the officer says, "Please empty any loose items into the container, sir." Most of us probably leave certain items in our pockets when we go through such checkpoints, knowing that they will not set off a metal detector, but a mischievous desire to cause a bit of reciprocal inconvenience crawled over my ears and tugged at the outside corners of my eyebrows. "Oh, wow," I said,`"I should have thought about that before I came," and proceeded to both produce and commentate on the entirety of the possessions in my pockets. They were as follows:
three pens from three different pockets - one of them, my favorite
two lighters, again from two different pockets
a contract from the shop that had given me no end of consternation
the ticket itself and accompanying receipts
two packs of smokes - yes, different pockets
a money clip with mess of lunch receipts
a cigar cutter (it's enclosed, I don't think you could really cut someone with it)
one cherry chapstick (I like the way it smells)
assorted change in two different pockets
sunglasses (only one pair today)
three single keys form three different pockets
and a guitar capo

A line had formed behind me as I relished the moments, then the officer grinned at me and said, "Come on, Mr. Bionic Man - get through the door." I think he enjoyed a minute to be not-so-serious.

I was instructed to go to a table in the back, right corner and sign in, so I did, and was met with the vague disdain reserved for the lawless and the fornicators. I explained the whole situation and was told to report to a small office across the room marked, "Attorney." Whoa, I don't need a lawyer!, I just need to see Officer Headlight, so I can be on my merry. "Oh, Officer Headlight is no longer with the department, so you'll have to come back next week and file as not guilty.

I'll let you know how it works out next week, but it looks like the joke is actually on me for now. ~ Hunt

Right now, I can't believe that all of the coffee I roasted yesterday was sold after I left the shop. I'm still trying to adjust to the new standard of what is a normal day of production here at the new store, and so far, I have only underestimated the totals. I love getting here at 5:30am. The city is still asleep and I get to see it wake up and come to life - better than that, I get to help it wake up. There's something about the air before the sun comes up as well. It seems cleaner somehow. Well, customers coming in ~ Hunt

The First day of the rest of our day?

Ok so who knows if this will ever work out. Im writing this now and have no idea if anyone is on the other side of a computer about to read it.

Very cool however:

"Dear Jacob,

that's astonishingly kind of you.

I like black teas in the morning, like experimenting with all teas but don't much like earl greys.

You can send them to (edited for privacy). And I've copied this to my assistant Lorraine... 

all the very best

n"

This was in response to a very delicate and wordy email I sent to a scary Neil Gaiman FAQ line and actually got a reply from the man himself. Very excited I must admit. If you don't know who Neil is or what he does visit him at neilgaiman.com for the best blog on the interweb.

Your friendly neighborhood coffee and tea joint may very well be on its way ,in a small wooden box, to one of the finest literary minds in the world.

Wish us luck