Jun 19, 1999, 4:25pm

I think I've come as close to the feeling of giving birth as I'm going to get.

Why hasn't this site been updated in eons? Well, here's the reason. You see, due to some rather bizarre circumstances, I was given exactly 7 days to get this puppy out the door. All 150+ pages of it. All 300+ custom made graphics for it. Up until Tuesday this past week, I didn't think I was going to make it. By Thursday, I knew I could make it... but it depended on how many brain cells I was willing to sacrifice. By the time it was launched at Friday 8am, I felt completely drained.

Over those seven days, I averaged about 15 hours a day on this project. I never really took a break. More like micro breaks. Know what they are?

The MicroBreak™. I've I've perfected the art of the "micro break". These breaks are so miniscule, I don't even leave the computer. How do they work? It's a simple process, actually. You see, I always run my email in the background. When the little bell goes off, time for a micro break! Switch from Photoshop and / or Homesite over to Eudora, and find out who's pissed off, who's happy, who wants something from me at this moment in space and time. 3 minutes later, the email(s) are digested, possibly answered, and back to work I go.

Another micro break I take is opening up Agent and scoping out the half dozen newsgroups I regularly read and contribute to. My fave these days is the coffee newsgroups (natch), since my previous faves, van.general and van.forsale (no, not VANS for sale, it's VANCouver.forsale and general) are full of a lot of trolls and just plain demented people these days. My killfiles are so massive, it takes a noticeable time for Agent to process them everytime I download headers for that group.

Other microbreak activities include stuff like switching from editing a client's picture(s) to editing one of my own snapped on the digital camera. Or playing minesweeper for a round. Or that addictive marbles game that came with Plus98. Or surfing eBay for a few goodies. eBay? Didn't I hate that site?

I also take minibreaks. I didn't really create these, so I can't trademark them. Minibreaks are not full fledged breaks, but any break where I get up from my computer. Most of my minibreaks are taken when I'm working on my notebook computer in the kitchen nook... a lot more distractions than my office. After all, the espresso machine is only a few feet away (I am the original coffee geek after all!). The outdoors right next to me. The telly over in the other room might have the last five minutes of a show I wanted to watch. All mini break potentials.

But no real breaks. I'm going nuts. Wanna know how bad? Well on Wednesday, one of my clients sent me an email that got corrupted. Here's an excerpt of what I got:

UUnnssoolliicciitteedd bbuullkk eemmaaiill iiss NNOOTT iilllleeggaall.. IItt iiss,, hhoowweevveerr,, ffrroowwnneedd uuppoonn bbyy mmaannyy IInntteerrnneett cciittiizzeennss.. YYoouu mmaayy hhaavvee hheeaarrdd tthhiiss pprraaccttiiccee ooff sseennddiinngg uunnssoolliicciitteedd bbuullkk

eemmaaiill rreeffeerrrreedd ttoo aass ""ssppaammmmiinngg.."" ((YYeess,, tthhee nnaammee ccoommeess ffrroomm tthhee ffaammoouuss ccoommeeddyy sskkiitt ""SSppaamm!! SSppaamm!! SSppaamm!!"" bbyy MMoonnttyy PPyytthhoonn..)) IInn tthhee oonnlliinnee wwoorrlldd,, ssppaammmmiinngg mmeeaannss sseennddiinngg uunnssoolliicciitteedd eemmaaiill ddiirreeccttllyy ttoo aa lliisstt ooff uunnssuussppeeccttiinngg eemmaaiill aaddddrreesssseess oorr nneewwssggrroouuppss..

Freaky eh? I think by the time Friday 4am rolled around, as I was doing the final preps for an 8 am launch, my brain was thinking in that manner.

New Dog
We got a second dog. Teddy. A maltese / poodle cross, 11 years old, suffering from a collapsed trachea, shakey, and looking very sad at the SPCA. We figure (along with our vet) this little guy only has a few years left in him, but we also figured he'd be a lot more happy with us in our home than in anyone else's. And because we adopted him, he won't be put down, cuz it isn't his time yet anyway. You can check out little Teddy on my Daily Pics page. And yeah, Mitzy's coping (as you can see).

Holdonasec... did I mention eBay above? Didn't I hate eBay? Well, I still do actually, but I found out that the absolute coolest antique and kitchy coffee stuff is sold there. I've already bought a fair amount of items, which has lead to Canada Customs at Pt. Roberts becoming mighty happy with me and my GST payments. I've bought a couple of 1940s Sunbeam CoffeeMasters (a very cool brewing device), a campfire espresso machine with a milk steamer, and the best thing, by far, is I finally got myself a wood backgammon set!

Those of you who have read my Tunsia story, elsewhere on this site might know of my love for traditional backgammon. In North Africa and the Mediterranean, people take backgammon seriously, and I really missed that. Part of that atmosphere was the board itself - all wood, with intricate patterns. None of this felt, "faux" briefcase look that seems so prevalent in North America.

I searched for years in Vancouver for a decent all wood backgammon set. The only one I found suitable to what I wanted was prohibitively expensive - close to $200. A criminal rate, considering that you could buy the identical board at the street markets in Morocco for $3. Someone was making a ton of money, and it wasn't the original person who hand crafted the boards!

So a few weeks ago, I saw my dream board at eBay, bid on it, and won. It's the most amazingly detailed board I've ever seen. I'm a happy puppy now. In fact, Jean helps me on my mini breaks by playing a quick game with me from time to time. I just love the sound of the dice hitting the wood, clackity clack.

And on that note... till next time... thanks for stopping by!

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Mixelania

Photos from Algonquin Park
Photos from my trip to Algonquin Park this fall with my Mom and two brothers.

War Stories

Making Snow for the Fortress
One of the worst jobs I ever had... till I got out.

Webiffied

Tools I Use
The tools I use to build websites and lead a tech life.

iPod and iTunes Offline

iMark's iTunes and iPod isn't iPlaying anything right iNow.

Most Recent Songs

Fiddlers Green by The Tragically Hip

Around The Bend by Pearl Jam

Here With Me (Rollo's Chillin' With the Family Mix) by Dido

With arms open wide by Creed

truffle pigs by Matthew Good Band

In the News

Burundi and Beyond - NY Times
Great article by Peter Meehan - provided some background.

St. Petersburg Times
Side mention in an article about good machines

AP Story on Espresso
Background and information provided

NY Times - Grinders Article
Especially proud of this one - got the reporter to focus on grinders

Globe and Mail
LOL - showing bad reporting, dude says I'm an American-based site!

The Olympian, WA
Talks about my love for the El Sal Siberia Pacamara

Seattle Times - Clover
Interviewed for comments on the Clover brewer

NY Times - How it Works
Background and information for various espresso machines

Time Mag Article
Just a brief mention, article about roasting beans.

NY Times
Front page article about consumers getting into specialty coffee.

Washington Monthly
Quoted reference to what I wrote in an article at CoffeeGeek.

USA Today - Barista Jam
Intereviewed for my thoughts on what the epitome of espresso is.

WSJ Article
The Wall Street Journal has interviewed me 3 times. This is the first time my name got in a story.

Reuters Interview
Interview with Reuters, Jan 2 - this is the USA Today version.

My Other Stuff

CoffeeGeek
Launched Dec 22, 2001, this is THE online community for espresso and coffee fanatics.

CoffeeKid Website
It's all new, as of March, 2002. My personal coffee obsession site.

WebMotif Services
My company's site - needs an update!

Amazon WishList
Hey, if you feel the need to buy me something, check here!

Daily Visits

enGadget
Great gadget site run by the guy who used to do Gizmodo.

Google News
This is how I get my daily news fix.

DPReview Forums`
The most active forums for digital photography online today.

Daily Zen
Need my Daily Zen fix!

Jalopnik
A blog about car stuff. Vroom Vroom.

MoCo Loco
An industrial design blog. Very cool stuff.

Friends and Family Plan

Beata Blog
Beata's got her own blog! She updates it most days.

Riddla on Flickr
Matt Riddle's flickr account, updated regularly

Irdy Photos
Irdy, my friend from Jakharta, on Flickr

Recent Acquisitions

Canon EF 24-105 f4 L Lens
The best lens I've ever owned. Super sharp and quick.

Canon 5D
A full frame dSLR, with luscious colour reproduction.

Alzo Digital Lights
Some amazing florescent cold lights for product photography

Canon Xsi dSLR
Amazing technology and image quality in a tiny package.

Canon 40D
Latest prosumer camera from Canon - a much better upgrade than the 30D

Fujitsu P1610
Great 2.2lb computer that does most of my travel / writing needs

28mm f1.8 Lens
A great lens for closeup work and full picture photography

Foodsaver Advanced
Finally got the right tools for freezing green coffee.

Canon 50mm 1.4
Most amazing lens I've ever owned. Produces stellar photos.

Canon 10-22mm
Super wide angle (full frame fisheye) zoom for my Canon 20D