mmmm. coffee

I have posted before about my love for espresso based drinks. I have to go on the record and say, for a fact, that the best coffee in Kansas City is at the Broadway Cafe & Roastery . Granted I have not tried coffee at EVERY coffee shop in KC, but I have tried a lot and Broadway coffee is FAR and ABOVE the others. I cannot imagine another cup even coming close. I am sorry to go on about this but I will. It is not only the care taken in the roasting of the bean (done in the cafe) but also in the grind (much more important than you think) and then in the extraction of the espresso, but also in the presentation of the cup. For instance, this morning's cup:

try a cup. You won't be disappointed...I promise.

warm weather

This past Sunday was a day well spent working in the yard. The previous owner was a fantastic gardener and left us a beautiful assortment of flowers that are beginning to really sing. the down side to her gardening was that the yard seemed to play second fiddle as they say. So, my next few months will be spent prepping the yard so that when this time next year rolls around we have a thick, lush yard. Hopefully.

a new look

All right, now that this little site has had its "once a year face-lift" maybe I will start keeping up with this thing.
All has been well in my world. Abbey and I are very happy in our little home with our big puppy. Huxley is now a striking 47 pounds at 6 months old. It seems just a couple days ago he was only 20 pounds and just a few days before that, I could hold him in the palms of my hands.
The house renovation is still moving forward at a snails pace. There is so much to do that I feel like I cannot focus on just one thing. I feel a little bit like I have ADD. I started the back patio renovation, it is going well, about ready to start leveling the aggregate fallowed by a 2" layer of sand then the laying of the brick will begin. I really want to push on that so I can get it done but it seems other projects keep popping up that get in the way. Oh well, one day this will all be done...right???
At work I am doing a design study of a stadium for a professional football team, I am not yet allowed to disclose which team that is (office rules) A pro stadium is a difficult scale to comprehend and really wrap your mind around. I am beginning to understand the project more and it has allowed my to really explore some of my own ideas and creativity. It has definitely been keeping me busy. I am building a 3d model of it and eventually will have a short animation. Hopefully I will be able to post it on here for you to see.
Well, that is all for now. I will close by attaching some random images of our house for your viewing pleasure. (no one likes a post that has no photos)

coming soon

Please excuse the mess of this site for now. I am in process of renovating. I am hoping that a new look might inspire me to share more with you all. I hope to have the new and improved bkroll.blogspot up soon. I will see yas when I see yas.

For T.

I had a conversation the other night with my dear friend Tessa and I promised I would post something soon. I decided I would post some images of the progress, slow I might add, of the patio in my backyard. The last images I posted of this project was the demo work Dustin and I had done one afternoon. These images show what the current state of the patio is in. I will be working on it feverishly over the next few weeks so to get it done in time to enjoy it for most of the summer. Hopefully. Anyway, enough gab...here are the photos.

Also, I have finally joined the Flickr society. So, if you find yourself at work and want to kill a little bit of time, ( I don't have many photos up yet) click here.

My weekend

To say that this weekend left my body sore and abused is an understatement. Let me recap for you.

Friday

A typical Friday night for me. Drinking with buddies, finally falling asleep at around 2am.

Saturday

Dustin ended up crashing at my house on Friday night as to avoid a DUI on his drive back downtown to his place. So, Saturday morning I decided to put his presence to good use. For those of you who have been to my house or more specifically, those whom have been in my backyard, you have seen that large decrepit brick bbq. Well, I have recently decided to tear up our back brick patio and relay the bricks so they are level and nice looking again. Along with this I decided to tear down the brick bbq and turn it into a table element with a fire pit in it. In order to tear this down we equipped ourselves with a sledge hammer and eye protection as to avoid eye irritants and went to work. Here are some images that begin to tell the story.

Sunday

I let my wife talk me into running the Brew to Brew road race. This is a relay race that starts at the Boulevard Brewery and ends at the Free State Brewery in lawrence. My leg was the 6th of 10 and was 3.4 miles straight up hill into about a 30 mph wind. Ok, ok the first 2.5 miles where straight up hill and the wind was only blowing about 20 mph. It was tough, but a great sense accomplishment was felt when I finished. I finished my leg in 34 minutes and I am proud of that especially because I have only ran about 4 times in the past year and the longest of those was only 2 miles. Anyway, I may continue this running thing...but probably not.

Mr. Young

Man oh Man...it seems like every time I decide to post something I have to start it off by saying how sorry I am for leaving my last entry up for so long. If any of you are like me, you check your friends blogs at least once a day and when you continue to see the same image day after day after day...it becomes real annoying. Sorry about that.

Anyway, I wanted to take today to write about one of my favorite musicians of all time. In fact he may well be my favorite if forced to pick one. I am of speaking of Mr. Neil Young. There is something about his unique high pitched voice that seems so real. I don't feel like he is singing to make money or a career or even to entertain, however, singing because he has something inside to say that only singing can express. Almost like it is fighting it's way out and his voice is the medium for which it travels. I love music from this generation. When I say that, I mean music from the sixties and seventies (not referring to "classic rock"). It has so much feeling in it. The musicians were not hand picked by a panel of judges being judged on how "pitchy" they are or how they look. They were people who had something to sing about and that is exactly what they did. They sang. Whether it was about love, politics, sex, drugs, loneliness, and happiness...they just sang it in a way that makes me close my eyes and wonder how great it must have been to hear it live.

I did have the chance to catch Neil Young a couple of years ago with my dad when Greendale came out at Starlight amphitheatre. It was incredible. To watch someone sing and play his guitar with such passion is a great experience. I will never forget it.

The reason I felt it necessary to write this today is because I recently purchased "Neil Young live at Massey Hall 1971".

This is one of those albums that is so good you almost cannot have it on as background music because you will find yourself just sitting an listening to songs like "Cowgirl in the Sand", "A man needs a maid", and "Don't let it bring you down"....it is silly how good these songs are. Oh, and the version of "Old man" on the live at Massey Hall is the best I have ever heard. If you have an extra 14 bucks, go ahead and visit the itunes store in download this album. It comes with two pretty cool videos as well. One of which is Mr. Young on his ranch with footage of the "Old man" he sings about. Anyway, if anyone actually reads this and buys the album...let me know what you think.

I will first start off by saying that I still do not yet have a list in response to my last post...I know that you all must be crushed. However, I do have a good reason, his name is Huxley. Recently Abbey and I added a new little guy (soon to be big guy) to our family. One month ago today we drove out to Marrysville, KS and picked from a litter of 10 boxer puppies. The decision wasn't an easy one, but after some time we chose a brindle (light brown with dark stripes) boy. Of the two brindle boys in the litter we decided on the smaller of the two. Seeing that his dad was quite large we thought the smaller pup was a good choice. After we had an idea on which one we wanted to take home with us it was time to meet their parents. While the owner was putting the puppies back into there part of their house, out of the ten puppies, the one we had chosen snuck out and came running back over to us ready to offer some more licks. It was at this point we knew we had made the right choice. When we brought him home he was 7 weeks old and 8 pounds. Now, at 11 weeks he is around 16 pounds and his personality is really starting to come out. I will post more about this later as it is getting late. I just wanted you all to meet our Huxley.

a list of tens

I had this idea on the way to work this morning. It may be a good one or it may be a dud, we shall find out. I would like to ask the few of you out there who read this to participate in a little study. I want everyone to choose 10 songs from any time period or genre. You can choose any songs you want. The interesting part will be that you have to organize this list using some sort of methodology and then explain your list and why it is the way it is. This is sort of
High Fidelity-esque but I think it could be fun. Let me know if you are interested in this and if so, post your responses on your blog or my comments link below. I myself have not yet done this so stay posted for my list in the coming hours/days.

Christmas time

I made the decision a long time ago that I would never adorn any residence of mine with colored Christmas lights. I have never liked them, will probably never like them and could never understand why other people have such an affection for them. I am no Scrooge, I just prefer the plain white lights. Having said that, I will flash forward to present day.

Abbey and I are new home owners, working on about 4 months now. When we bought the house it was a bit run down and completely out of date but with enormous untapped potential. So, for the past 4 months we have been ripping wallpaper off the walls, tearing old walls down, putting new walls up, and basically re-doing every part of the house in some way or another. I am very, let me say it again, VERY fortunate that Abbey is as understanding as she is. When it comes to the house she has pretty much given me free reign. She has let me do everything to this house that I have wanted to with little to no resistance. Don't get me wrong, I run the ideas past her to make she doesn't hate them, and then with her approval I move on. (I will post before and after photos after we get the flooring done, estimated completion date: 2.1.07)

So, back to the beginning. In the spirit of Christmas, Abbey mentioned the other day that she wanted to decorate the house with Christmas lights. I became excited because I love this time of year and what better way to begin the Christmas season than by lighting our first house. This is about when she said that she loves the colored bulbs and then asked which ones I love. She could tell by the way I looked at her that her colored bulb comment didn't sit well with me. She went on about how they always had the colored bulbs as a kid and everyone in her neighborhood had the colored bulbs and it wouldn't feel the same without them. I was thinking there is no way I am putting those awful gaudy colored bulbs on our brand new (built in '53) home. The conversation didn't go much further than that and I kind of forgot about the whole thing. That is until I was at Target the other night wondering around seeing what else I could spend money on. I was walking through the Christmas section and up to the lights. I decided at that moment that since Abbey has been so understanding through this whole house renovation and I love her, I will surprise her by decorating the house with colored Christmas lights. So tonight while she was at Starbucks studying, I went out on the windiest night in history and hung colored Christmas lights on our new home. She was very happy, and you know what? they don't look too bad.

The Cappuccino

So for the past two years I have been nursing a slight obsession with the cappuccino. I must say though that my taste for the coffee bean isn't solely limited to the cappuccino. I enjoy many other forms of the drink: the latte, the macchiato, the frappuccino, and I consume about 4 cups of the stuff in its pure brewed form [black] each day. However, nothing can top the perfectly brewed Italian espresso mixed with just enough milk to make it creamy and then topped with a healthy amount of perfectly steamed froth. Truthfully, making a good cappuccino is an art form. I can't tell if my love for the breakfast drink stems solely from the taste and delight one feels when sipping on one while reading a book or the paper, or if there is something stronger or deeper there. I feel there is a great amount of romanticism involved with making a really good cappuccino. It is unlike most drinks in that a great amount of time and dedication goes not only in to making each cup, but in learning how to make your first cup. The first time you steam the milk into a rich froth, or attempt to pour a design into your cup. Learning how much milk to seam or how hard to tamp the espresso before extracting it. You know that when you order a cappuccino at your favorite coffee shop, a lot of hours have gone into that very cup.

About 3 months ago, my parents bought Abbey and me an espresso maker for a house warming gift. I am just now getting the hang of it and I must say, I make a pretty decent cappuccino. The only problem with that is, I cannot stop drinking them. Here is an image of one my cappuccinos. I have not yet mastered the artful pour of the milk, but as mentioned above...it takes time.

the new blogger

I attempted to get on the computer and blog tonight, only I ended up spending the past 45 minutes playing with all the new settings. Funny, with all of the new toys and options blogger is offering now, I seem to have come up with a layout that takes no advantage of them. Oh well, I like things simple. Sorry for the false alarm as I am now too tired to write anything worth while [not that anything I write is worth while anyway]. I was thinking earlier of what my next topic should be. I think I am going to write about my obsession with cappuccino.

And for those who have been asking about our wedding photos:

enjoy.

check back soon! I feel the need to post is upon me. When? soon.

a quick tease.

Sorry to those few (maybe no) readers I have out there for the lack of posting especially with the amount of interesting activity I have had in my life lately. It is however, this activity that has kept me from blogging. So in tradition of not blogging I will end here and leave you with these.

http://www.lemonlimephoto.com/sessions/abbeybarrett/

and these.

A quick stop on a 3 hour drive

Our new cottage

Beautiful Storm

I had to post some of the shots I got last night of a storm clipping the edge of the city. These were taken out of my bedroom window. The storm never amounted to anything, not around here at least, but it definately put on a great lightning show.

Leon at the Voodoo Lounge

Growing up, I spent my weekdays at my mom's house and weekends at my dad's house. During those weekend days we had developed a bit of a routine. Friday night we almost always played monopoly, ate twizzlers and went to bed late. Saturday morning though was when my education occurred. My father, a product of the '60's has absolutely fantastic taste in music. I grew up spending my Saturday mornings listening to some of the greatest rock bands in the history of the world. Bands like Poco, Crosby Stills and Nash, Neil Young, CSN&Y, The Band, Joe Cocker, The grateful Dead, Loggins and Messina, The Eagles, Yes, The Souther Hillman Furrey band...just to name a few. A few weeks ago I got a call from my step mom mentioning she had a great idea for my dad's birthday present. Leon Russell is coming to town. Would you want to go with your dad if I bought the tickets is what she asked me. "Oh I would have to check my sched_of course I would like to go!"
Well, last Thursday was the night of the show at the voodoo lounge in Harrah's casino (which is actually a great venue). The opening band was Dave Mason whom was a founding member of a little band called Traffic ( also, a phenomenal band). Anyway he rocked the stage for a while and I must say sounded equally as good now (60 years old) as on his old albums.

Then it happened. After Mason's stage crew had retrieved all of there equipment and Leon's had set all of his up...he appeared. A man with about 2 feet of stark white hair hanging from his head and an equal amount from his face. He made his way across the stage with the help of a cane and took his seat behind his piano. The rest of his band made there way on stage and they began to rock. They began playing Hummingbird, and that unmistakable voice of ol' Leon kicked in and still sounds fantastic. He sounded just as he does on all my old albums of his. I stood there like a little kid in awe with a smile on my face the whole time. I must be brutally honest though, he looks like he is about 152 years old. My dad said it best when he said it looks like old Leon died about 10 years ago. I consider myself very fortunate to have been able to see a musical icon like Leon Russell rockin on stage in my lifetime.

Throughout the course of my life I have developed quite the affection for food. I love preparing, cooking, smelling, and eating food. I would have to say that My favorite type or genre of food is Italian. I love how simple it is. With such a small palate of ingredients the Italians have a way of creating some of the biggest flavors and diverse dishes. Ever since my stay in Italy I have had this no food will ever taste as good as it did in Italy attitude. The same attitude I have towards coffee, wine, and pretty much everything else. That is until this past weekend. My grandpa came in town to celebrate my dad and my aunt's birthdays. In celebration we decided to go to 40 sardines . Now I must preface the rest of the story with a quick description of my grandpa. He grew up on the Chesapeake bay eating oysters and lobsters. He now lives in Chicago and has enjoyed the culinary delights of the rosebud and other highly respected restaurants. What I am trying to say, he has eatin some really good food and when he puts his seal of approval on it, you know it is good.

Now back to the story. We arrive at 40 sardines and immediately choose a bottle of wine. My family knows the affection I have for the fruit of the vine so they let me choose. I decided to go with a bottle from the 20 wines @ 20 dollars list, the Santa Rita Cabernet Sauvignon. They have a really fantastic wine list with bottles ranging from 24-350 dollars a bottle. Rather then choosing an expensive bottle I have never tasted, I chose a lesser expensive bottle that I knew was pretty good.

A glass later it came time to order. The special: pan seared scallops with a gruyere potato cake and lightly steamed spinach leaves...I'll take it! But first I would like the house gnocchi. Others ordered things like ahi tuna steaks, Alaskan halibut, roasted chicken, and Parmesan pork sirloin. When the food came, it was just like that scene out of what about bob? All of us where making the mmmmm, oh my, this is de-licious sounds. and eventually dinner turned into everyone passing forks back and forth accompanied by the words, "You have got to try this". Everyone's meals where equally as delicious as mine. The creme brulee I had to top off the delicious meal may have put me over the edge though. Upon returning home I headed straight for the couch to lie down, not raising again for a solid 45 minutes. I was so full that movement of any kind was strictly prohibited. The only other meal I have had that left me as satisfied as this one, a lunch in an Italian town called Piensa. I think of few of you may remember that. I tell you this story for one reason. In hopes that you too will go and experience the fantastic tastes of 40 sardines and when you do, please, tell me what you thought.

Kansas City on the Fly
So for the last week I have been putting in a few extra hours a night at work. While I don't necassarily enjoy putting in the extra time, it does allow me to enjoy some fantastic light on the way home. I have been inspired as of late to shoot some pics of KC while on my drive home, sometimes shooting from my car without so much as even slowing down. Having said that, here are a few of the images I have added to my library.