• One mother’s bravery

    (This article also appeared at The Express) “If you ever decide to start smoking weed, let me know,” my mom beamed. I was sitting on a barstool on one side of the kitchen counter while my mom sat across from

  • Gratuity in the time of corona

    I have this one regular customer who’s been on my mind today. Prior to the coronavirus, prior to the shelter-in-place order, he may or may not have left a tip when he came in to my coffee shop—I, honestly, have

  • Making better coffee: chapter 2

    After procuring quality coffee, there is a bit of work involved in getting a great cup time and time again. There are a few variables at play that can make your life either easier or harder, and until maybe five

  • A Tuesday with Punch

    My grandfather passed away in December of 2019. He was one month shy of 96. I was named after him, in a way—while he was born Alexander Christopher, and I gladly carry on his middle name, everyone called him Punch.

  • Western evocations

    When I moved to Oklahoma around the age of 10, I was a certifiable Yank in many ways, thrust into this foreign world of horse ranches and pickup trucks. It didn’t take long after we first arrived at some unincorporated

  • Making better coffee: chapter 1

    If you make coffee at home, then there’s a pretty significant chance that you, dear friend, make bad coffee. But that, in and of itself, is not necessarily a bad thing—bad coffee is better than no coffee, much in the