Michael Braun's Blog

First, a quick note. For those of you who have found yourself clothes shopping with a member of the opposite sex (be it significant other or parent, friend or stranger), when trying on clothes, have you wanted that person to be available to give their opinion on the clothes? I have never had a problem following Lauren into a dressing room area to wait outside her room such that I may lend my opinion towards what she is trying on. That is, until today, when we found ourselves in discount store Marshall’s, subject to the scorn of a transgender clerk angrily confronting me as I attempted to follow Lauren towards her room. A brief altercation ensued, and eventually I stood away from that side of the dressing room. But seriously – absolutely ridiculous. Why do you think mall stores like Gap, Express, and J. Crew have non-gender dressing rooms? And who’s flaunting their naked bodies around a Marshall’s dressing room anyway? No one I would like to look at.

On to more mundane subject matter – as per Amos’ encouragement, I once again find myself addicted to caffeine. Amos told me, a number of months ago, when I had switched to tea rather than coffee, that everyone needs a vice (mine clearly being coffee, as I don’t really indulge in anything else). I ignored his advice then, but found that dark, murky brew impossible to resist of late. One cup a day is my limit, but that’s enough to bring raging headaches (actually, more dull and aching than anything else) if I don’t get my daily fix.

Trouble is, I have yet to find an easy way to brew a single cup of coffee at home. I’ve tried coffee makers, but found them to be more trouble than they are worth. And I’ve got a cute, little French Press that works great, but then needs regular cleaning. And aside from my laziness, the real problem is quality. If I want to get a good cup of coffee, I like to grind the beans fresh. And that can be the real hassle, firing up the grinder, et cetera. Ah well, laziness is the true problem.

But having the addiction does bring Lauren and I out to coffeeshops a great deal, where you get from me rambling, generally uninteresting blog posts like this one, as we are sitting in Barriques as I type. For once their internet seems to be working at a reasonable speed. The clouds outside look generally non-threatening, unusual for this wild weekend we’ve had. More storms tonight, they predict, which sounds alright to me, as long as the air temperature is lower than 85% and/or humidity is less than 90%.

I’ve 19 working days left before I flee the coop, and just 25 total days before I am released. It can’t come soon enough.