10 & 2

A vague thought

I thought I would be able to take this week off, but after receiving several glowing reviews about Blake's most recent attempt at art criticism, I guess my 200-word think piece on Kombucha will have to wait. Instead, this week I will talk about one of the more substantive thoughts I've had this year.

Like most of my ideas, they come to me while I am running, and my 10 & 2 theory is no different. A vast majority of these ideas begin as a joke but slowly take form into something of substance. In this instance, I remember the run clearly. It was a long run with my friend Taylor on a popular loop here in Austin known as Great Northern. Taylor, like myself, is an aspiring amateur home barista – i.e., we own a Chemex and grind our own beans. During the run, Taylor was regaling me with the news of his recent purchase of an espresso machine and how he wants to get experimental. I obviously scoffed at him, as is my wont, and then boasted about how my palate is now so refined that only gas station coffee will do. I continued to say that if the hands of a clock represented our expertise in coffee (1:00 being a beginner and 11:00 high level expertise), the hour hand for me would be firmly at 10:00. Meaning, that although I have a high level of expertise, the hour hand is technically now closer to that of a beginner (2:00) than when I was deep in the trenches of my coffee obsession (6:00). And this is the seed of my idea: whenever you approach expertise in a hobby or pursuit, you find your tastes or preferences within such a lane you begin to revert to that of a beginner. The best way to explain this theory is the Sophisticated Winnie the Pooh meme.

This idea, which at first was an attempt to big dog Taylor as the resident coffee expert on our runs, sadly has legs (pun intended). The more I apply it to things, the more it seems true.

Looking back, it’s wild that I became such a pretentious coffee snob and later developed the desire for pedestrian diner beans (after that opening, you probably still think I am a snob). Insufferable to be around, back in the day I would scoff at the thought of a Starbucks cold brew or pre-ground beans. This fascination started off small with the innocent purchase of a Chemex at Whole Foods. At the time, I didn’t realize the chain of events that this would start. For the next few years, I would sift through pages and pages of Reddit forums looking for the perfect ratio of water to grounds—1:16 for those asking—while watching countless James Hoffman YouTube videos.

Sadly, it didn't stop there. I spiraled out of control, investing in all the high-tech grinders, attending cupping sessions, and even persuading an ex-girlfriend to tattoo a Chemex on me, as if I were some barista in Tacoma. That being said, I would like the record to state that she didn't break up with me due to the tattoo, but I imagine the detailed review of my new Ode Fellow Coffee grinder, purchased with my stimulus check may have sealed our fate. I even tried and succeeded in roasting my own beans. Mastering my chosen trade, as corny as it may be, felt good. For three years, my mornings were regimented, and coffee-making was down to a science. I knew exactly how long each pour would take and what notes I would be looking for.

As time passed, though, all that fuss just no longer satisfied me. I drifted away from the time-consuming brewing methods and opted for a $20 ($34.99) Black and Decker drip coffee machine (Purchase Here). Now, I never want to go back. The simplicity of the machine is astonishing. You set an alarm for the morning, and boom, just like that, it brews your coffee. No more standing around for 10 minutes wondering if my gooseneck kettle has the adequate flow rate or if I had bloomed the beans correctly. I was now able to get good coffee in a fraction of the time with zero effort. I have moved beyond all the gear and reverted back to the simplest way of brewing. The hour hand had struck 10:00. I had toiled on Reddit forums from 1:00-3:00, bought ceramic grinders from 3:00-6:00, and timed flow rates from 6:00-9:00, all to just find myself closer to where I started in the first place (minus a few hundred dollars). My tastes and desires now had gone back to what they were when I had initially started.

It's strange how unconsciously and overnight our tastes can change. All that fancy coffee just wasn’t needed. I don't want to have my palate challenged anymore; I just want simple, basic coffee.

It’s not just coffee, though; it's happened with almost everything. Take fashion, for example. I consider myself fashionable (though most would disagree). If not fashionable, I have at least tried every trend known to man. You spend all this time experimenting with what you want your look to be. I tried prep, streetwear, Scandinavian minimalism, and even wore Kith (the clock hand was really at 6:00 for that one. Dark times). I was taking fit pics and commenting, "ID on the Pants," on people's Instagrams. My friends and I would send each other photos of other guys' outfits with the simple caption 'sick fit’. (shout out @IAmGalla and @KJP) It wasn't until I discovered a more personal style that I found myself now just wearing a blank T-shirt and shorts. To the untrained eye, I may look like I don't care, but I know I am dressing for myself—or at least that's what I think.

This can be applied to almost everything—the expert guitar player who finds more joy in mastering basic chords over some crazy solo, the tech bro running in some super shoes on the trail beside the old man who has been running his whole life and tracks his running on his CASIO wristwatch, or even the cyclist who has gone from riding in a $1,000 Pas Normal kit to a T-shirt with no clips. Pretentious as this may sound, and I am really putting that philosophy degree to work here, there is beauty in simplicity. As one gains expertise in something, they usually find they revert back to the building blocks—no longer having a need for the fancy bells and whistles. Perhaps it was always some attempt to prove yourself as someone who really “knows”, or maybe I’m just the type of person that needs to waste a lot of time and money to make sure I’m not missing out.

If I take this idea beyond the consumerist and culinary, the same things could be said about dating. At first, maybe you are getting coffee and simple dinners, and then it slowly gets more and more elaborate before reverting back to a night in with a pizza. I now long for weekends where I can just sit around at home doing nothing and not socializing with anyone, an absolutely unthinkable thought for me a few years ago, who needed to be around people or doing some sort of activity.

I think we should be really skeptical of those try-hards because maybe they don't actually have a clue. I mean, look no further than all the hybrid athletes here in Austin who think they need all the super shoes, heart rate monitors, and SpiBelts but just regurgitate things they read when they put “good running tips?” into ChatGPT.

This all being said, I am not trying to poo-poo those who have picked up a new hobby because I recognize that it is a necessary step in order to get from 2 to 10. I think what we find ourselves doing is buying in fully on some new obsession and we fit our lives into it, but as we get a better understanding, we find ways to tailor it to ourselves (cringe). We like to find what makes us most comfortable, and often that is simplicity and things that fit easily into our day-to-day. Something similar is said in Soetsu Yanagi’s book “The Beauty of Everyday Things” where he focuses on household objects that fill our everyday lives that are made simply with great craftsmanship. At least that's what I think the book is about. In full honesty, I bought the book like a year ago and I am yet to read it, but I saw it on my bookshelf literally just now.

I am sure most of you (the two people reading this) will easily be able to pick holes in what I am saying as I do a poor job at explaining it over a blog post. But I guess that's the point behind this blog in the first place, though, right? Trying to get better at writing? I guess if I succeed in that task this blog would become a reflection of my

theory, wherein by post 100 my writing will be fleshed out and simple, but with actual clarity of thought and fewer run-on sentences. A few closing thoughts to end:

1. My coffee palate is still top-tier and better than Taylor’s

2. You don't need an expensive coffee grinder to be “good” at coffee

3. I pinky promise I am not this annoying

4. Yes, my undergrad philosophy essays were also this bad.