Austin Coffee Shops

Tom's Austin Coffee Shop Rankings:

1. JP's Java - 2803 San Jacinto Blvd

• good coffee selection, good roaster, good java
• open late; until 1am M-Th & Su, and until 11pm Fr & Sa
• chill atmosphere, good music
  
• lots of study space
• walking distance to UT campus
• wi-fi sometimes unreliable
  
• the HVAC is super loud sometimes

2. The Garden District - 2810 S Congress

• reliable wi-fi after 5pm
• balcony overlooks a nursery; nice view and sweet smells
• nice owner and all girl staff ;)
  

3. The Flightpath Coffee House - 5011 Duval Street @ 51st

• reliable wi-fi
• chill study atmosphere; well-lit tables inside, no annoying music
• hard to find a table or parking spot during peak hours
  
• 3 mins from Tex Burger mmmm...

4. The Hideout Theater - 617 Congress

• really supports local artists and displays their work
• good downtown location
• reliable wi-fi
• seating not very cozy
• there is some damn 'tinging' noise I always hear coming from the refrigerator

5. Halcyon - 218 W 4th St

• two personalities; more traditional coffee house in the daytime, more 'club-ish' in the evenings
• wi-fi unreliable
• loud, often annoying music
• good downtown location
• you can cook smores over a candle on the table
  
• kind of cool to tuck yourself into one of the couches, sit in the darkness and noise, and watch people partying along 4th street

Pumping Iron

OK, in lieu of what is shaping up to be a not-so-stellar performance this semester, I've formulated a plan that I think will get me back on track. Not going to post the details now, but suffice to say that my spirits have been lifted, meaning more posts for the very few people who occasionally read this blog (nerds)

So funny story - as I mentioned, yesterday was a pretty horrible day. Besides the bad test grade I received, I ended up missing two classes because I forgot my lunch and had to ride the bus back home to get it. Perhaps you're wondering why I didn't just buy lunch at school? Well I'm trying to put on some muscle, so my 'lunch' included like 3 meals of protein shakes, pasta, fruit, vitamins, etc. Anyways, when I finally got back to school and realized that I wasn't going to make my last class, I just went to the gym as I had planned.

Now at the UT gym there are many huge guys and many good looking girls, so I already have to fight through the trauma of exposing my spindly white legs and laughable high school freshman strength. On this day while trying pathetically to look tough, I slapped 45's on the bench and psyched myself up to lift. Unfortunately, my arms suddenly went out on the second set and the bar sank to my chest.

I had no spotter and couldn't get the bar off me, which as you might imagine is quite embarrassing. Eventually some guy saw me and rushed over, but for a second he didn't help - he just stood there looking. "Help," I gasped. He then pulled the bar off my chest.

"Sorry, I wasn't sure if you wanted my help," he said. "I didn't want to intrude on your workout."

"Oh, ya, it's cool man," I replied. "That's how I work out."

I Blew It

:sigh: I am disheartened. I received a recent test grade in one of my classes today, and it was bad - real bad. So bad that now there is no way I can get an A in that class, which I was counting on. Getting 3 As and 1 B vs. 2 As and 2Bs is a huge GPA difference... I might be screwed. ugggg horrible :( :( :(

Britain's Got Talent!

First off, I know this is kind of old news, but Susan Boyle - amazing. Humanity needs these sorts of things.

Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent 2009 - Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

Secondly, finals are drawing near! So far this semester my grades have been spending time of the borderline, but as of Monday I'm going into finals mode aka social deprivation status in an attempt to claim my rock star As. Shouldn't be too hard since I only know like two people in Austin.

One of those two people, my buddy Chris from Trinidad, came over Saturday and we changed the oil in our Subys. Man, I love using Wrenchy, the big socket wrench that came with my Craftsman tool set. Pretty sure that if Wrenchy could cook and take a good beating without squealing to the authorities I'd marry it.

Speaking of beatings, what's the deal with the Anderson Silva fight on Saturday night? Mr. Silva, dude, I love watching you fight, but don't act all whiny in the ring if the other guy isn't fighting like you want him to - just KILL HIM! What's so hard about that? Also, if you keep dancing during the fight you're going end up getting KO'd, my friend.

OK it's study time.

Flowers, Eggs, and Satellites

Our crawfish boil a few weeks ago was such a success that my Memaw decided to host her own family BBQ over Easter weekend, complete with bottled Shiner for us grizzled adults and an Easter egg hunt for the squealing young 'uns. At first I wasn't exactly thrilled at the prospect of driving 150 miles from Austin to Memaw's house, but it turned out to be a great travel experience. I first drove to meet my Dad and little brother in Montgomery, and along the way was treated to huge fields of bluebonnets and Indian paintbrush. Then my brother (who's a pilot) flew us from the airport he works at into Houston! When we returned to my Dad's house from the BBQ, I installed a new Kenwood DNX5120 stereo/Garmin navigation/DVD player in my car, which planned a more efficient - and more beautiful - route to Austin than the one I had been taking! Despite the distances I had to travel, last weekend was really fun and suprisingly stress-free.

Getting in Shape... Maybe

One of my goals during college is to gain some muscle. My basal weight is around 158ish, which I'd like to get up to 175. However, since starting this semester I've been so worried about my grades that I haven't even tried going to the gym. Looks like I'm starting to do a little better in my classes though, and if tomorrow's tests go well I may start building a weight gain program. Based on my rough calculations, within six months I should be able to take on all challengers in the octagon.

Smile while you can, Silva

TOGA

Just got done taking my Architecture and Society test. I think I did really well, probably a 95 or above. That class is coming super easy to me, which gives me a little hope that the architecture program next year will come relatively easy to me as well (if I get in, that is). Tomorrow is a U.S. government exam, and next week I have a physical anthropology exam and another physicsDREAD exam. Needless to say I won't be partying this weekend. ...Come to think of it I haven't done anything resembling 'partying' since I moved to Austin. What the heck is going on here, isn't college supposed to be super awesome monkey fun time?? JOHN BELUSHI, WHY HAVE YOU FILLED ME WITH LIES?!??