The cowboy shifted closer to the fire. His mule and horse were tied up not three feet from him. He used an old blanket as a headrest, the night was cool, and the cowboy was tired from his journey.

From the darkness a form appeared. A tall man, in a three piece suit, twisting a gold watch in his hands.

Isaac grumbled as he tore up rotted potatoes from the field. His dad, David, was collecting the ripe crops and tossing them in a cart. Isaac wiped the sweat from his brow and looked across the field. It was the beginning of harvest, and he knew many long days of toil lie ahead.

In the middle of the field rose a scarecrow, adorned in somewhat old armor. Other farmers had their children scare off crows, but there was too much work on the farm for the two of them already. His father had built this knight to stand guard over the crops and ward off roving birds. The droppings that covered the armor were a testament to the lack of effectiveness of this immobile warrior.

Tommy steps out of his beat up blue Chevy Silverado, once a mighty vessel thattransported him across the States from city to city, but was now in constant need of maintenance and a new paint job. His boots hit the ground and he strides into “The Dirty Diana”, the only bar that produced what could be remotely described as a nightlife in this town.

As he walks through the double doors, their metal push bars now leaving a rusty residue on the hands of those who touched it, Tommy smiles and waves a hand in the air. The bartender, Ricky, gives him a half smile and raises a hand back. Tommy hops up on a barstool. The wooden floor, in desperate need of a mop, creaks when walked on. The bar is a mixture of western saloon and modern sleaze, but neither is done well and the end result is a worst of both worlds.

How do I end a blog about drinking coffee I’ve never drank before. By trying the most interesting and wild coffee on the menu of course. I’ve already done that however, when I ordered the staff picks, so I had to settle for the next best thing. A cortado, which is essentially a shot of coffee.

I’ve always wondered who starts on the third entry in a series. Like it’s got the number three next to it. There are two more entries that precede whatever this third piece is. That being said, I would hope that whoever’s reading this has also read the first two blog entries, that way they know what journey I’m on.

I worked at Brookshire’s for a summer, and one thing that the elder customers and workers taught me, was that staying open-minded and being willing to try new things was one of the keys to staying happy, even at an older age. I keep this in mind when encountering situations that I’m not knowledgable in, from academics to the problems life throws at me. This mindset leads us to this series of blogs in which I try different types of coffee, to keep me on my toes and not get used to the same old same old.

I’m an avid coffee drinker. Nearly a cup a day. However, I’m not an experienced coffee drinker. Much like my food preferences, I stick to what I like. This has led to my regular coffee orders being strictly iced lattes. I see this lack of knowledge as a problem.

I recently learned about a word called Ikigai. It’s a Japanese philosophy that can be boiled down to “your reason for being”. There’s a Venn diagram graph that visually explains the concept in more detail. At the bottom of the graph is “What you can be paid for”, the top is “What you love”, the left is “What you are good at”, and the right is
“What the world needs”. Ikigai is the center of all these circles. It combines all four statements and makes them one. I find this philosophy fascinating, and found a book (the book?) That deviled into the word, its origins, and how to apply it to your own life. I’m about halfway through the book, and really enjoying it, but realized something one day. Tetris fits into the concept of Ikigai at its base form. And here’s why.

I enjoy anime. It’s fun, and is more an art form than a genre, which is what I first assumed. Anime has no boundaries, and there’s a show for nearly every subject. The ones I personally enjoy, having only watched a handful of shows to completion, are fighting anime and sports anime. One thing I noticed after watching shows in these genres, is that anime artists are really into sneakers.

One piece of media that endlessly fascinates me is Star Wars, a movie that its creator let be far more critical and forward thinking than it needed to be. I wrote a paper on the subject, and it received a high grade, and I thought it would be dope to share it with the world.

We are in an era of gym culture becoming more popular than ever, especially among younger generations. According to Statista, in 2019, a recored 19.83 million people between the ages of 18-34 have a health and fitness club membership in the United States. What this has led to is an influx in gym clothing brands specifically targeted towards these age groups and their interests.