I’ve had this idea for a while and have shared it with a number of friends. Everyone likes it that I talk to about it, but I’ve done nothing with it to move it forward. So, I figure I’ll throw the loose idea out here to see if anyone gets inspired to get it started. I’d love to help if you want to do something about it. At one point I thought of calling it Taste Station (and had the URL, but no longer) do. Anyway, here goes..

I’m sure you’ve seen the publicity for the “taco trucks” that twitter where they are and people show up for lunch — Jamie Oliver has the Green Truck in Huntington now. I’ve thought that be leveraging a network of farmers a lunch-styled cart could be used for a lunch time crowd. The idea is this: make 50 lunches (or whatever number is right) using locally grown/sourced foods to create lunches for $XX everyday ($5/lunch sounds good, but don’t know the costs).

Anyway, there would be no choices for the patrons, just a set lunch where you get what it is we made. So one day it could be a pbj made with locally produced bread, peanut butter and a cherry jam with a glass of milk and carrots. Another day could be a huge chopped salad and fruit flavored water or a pulled pork sandwich with a veg and iced tea. Anyway, the point is we’d use local produce and farms and whatnot to produce a set menu lunch daily (M-F) for a set price for set number of lunches.

That’s the quick idea. I’ve thought we could get a street cart/airstream to park somewhere, advertise via email/twitter/facebook the lunch of the day and when we sellout we’re done for the day. We’d need a kitchen which I think we could find, we’d need food and customers.

I’d love to build this/invest in it; I believe it’s scalable to different cities. I’ve got a few great contacts in different areas that I’d share should someone be (seriously) interested in working together.

I saw Michael Pollan speak last night and his lecture got me thinking about my food rules. I love food and do my best to eat in a healthy manner; however, I love many food(-like edible substances) that are not healthy. In my mind there’s a time an place for bologna (how about lunch everyday!), but realize those times and places should be few and far between.

These are in no particular order and I’m not going to really explain myself unless someone asks. Also, I do my best to practice these, but do find myself falling off the wagon (rather) frequently. I need to do better and plan to.

1. Eat quietly at a table.
2. If you want something, have some, just not a lot.
3. Try everything.
4. Eat until you’re no longer hungry.
5. Eat real food.
6. Make your plate colorful.
7. Khaki colored foods should be served at tailgates.
8. Being full is not comfortable.
9. Don’t forget we eat for reasons other than health.

I’m sure I’ll have more as I continue to think about this, so stay tuned.

If I ever start a clothing company, I’d like to call it Artfully Disheveled. That is all.

I’ve long wanted to own a coffee shop. The past few days I’ve been wrapping my head around a “curated coffee house” (apparently a few already exist). Meaning, I don’t have one specific roaster to supply beans, but a number of high-quality roasters to offer my patrons a selection. I’m terrible with remembering everything I think of on a whim’s notice, so I’m going to start my business plan (term used loosely) here.

I chose the name CurrentBlend for the possibility of this type of shop, so we’ll stick with it.

After you read this, let me know if you want to invest. I’m dead serious. I want to do this. Just need to figure out where…

DECOR
Charcoal grey walls – almost black. Wood, high-standing tables, standing mostly with a few spots to sit. Small patio out front with a few chairs. We’re going for a European vibe, so I want a small space. I’m not interested in having patrons stick around for hours. Frankly, I’m going to continue my consulting practice and will use this to compliment the business. I view it more as a place to stop in for a quick beverage, read the paper, have a chat and go. Speaking of reading the paper, there will be the Financial Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and others, tons of magazines and other periodicals I find to leave out. Much of the look will be rustic with re-purposed items used throughout. Tables of reclaimed wood, jars as coffee cups, copper piping as magazine racks (bathroom?), pink, grey and black accents. Travel cups are going to be pink (maybe grey or black).

ROASTERS + MACHINES
Curated by CurrentBlend, we’d select the different roasts we want to serve and price accordingly. Similarly, we would have a line up of machines to make both coffee and espresso in anyway a patron would want. Possible roasters to feature include: Stumptown, Ugly Mug, Intelligentista, Blue Bottle, Dunkin Donuts, Cafe Bustelo, Chock full of Nuts, Gimme!, Cafe Du Monde. We can offer regions, specials, etc.

I would love to be able to offer coffee from different machines. Drip coffee, chemex, handpresso, perkalator, french press to name a few. And, same with espresso. Can you imagine a whole lineup of espresso machines and you say “Stumptown roast, hand pulled espresso, two shots”. Oh dear I’m getting excited. Too much to think about and link to right now. Check out my delicious feed and my tags (coffee and espresso) for more.

MENU
Espresso or coffee. Short or big cup. Stay or go. Sugar (rock candy!) and milk available. Warm or cold milk. No steaming, No frothing. No mocha. No whipped cream. Coffee, like it should be served. Maybe a cappuccino if you’re nice. Debating on having a pot of steamed milk available that way you can order espresso or coffee and do the rest your self.

One thought I’ve kicked around for a while is the $1 coffee. I think the model works and here’s how I’d recommend. A constant pot of coffee brewed in the shop off to the side. Cups, sugar, milk setting there with a Square or honor system jar. Customers who are in a rush and/or want a quick cup to go can serve themselves for $1 and be on their way. Nothing fancy, just a quick cup.

Other thoughts: cold brewed coffee with real coffee ice cubes, irish coffee, coffee to go, featured recipes (affogatos, shakerato and cowboy coffee for example), complimentary mint with your coffee, and figure out a way to make these little dudes.

There’s a ton more, but that should give you the gist. I think the idea fits the name, CurrentBlend! Let me know if you think it could work or you want to help!

To anyone that has heard me state what my ideal computer is, please speak up now for verification that I’m not just basing this off the rumors we’ve been hearing coming from Apple.

I’ve been dying for the following setup for 5+ years. My fingers are crossed that Apple meets (or exceeds) all of my criteria. I’ll go with it bullet-style to keep it quick.

Before I jump in, it may make sense to read the Smart Home | Kitchen post. Now, on to the “requirements”.

• 9.5″ x 7″ x 1.5″ dimensions. Basically I want it the size of The Book of Basketball or netbook-sized. Thicker than what most people probably want, but I want a keyboard option. I want something sturdy and that I can carry similarly to a book. Additionally, I’m hoping the thicker setup will allow for a more powerful battery.
• Clam opening option. Similar to the other tablet computers out there (ones with the pen – but I DON’T want a pen). I want the option to be able to sit and quickly type out a few emails.
• Screen will be multi-use. I can have it like a typical laptop or in a Kindle manner where I can read while sitting. I also want a touch screen keyboard like the iPhone for thumbing out websites, etc. The utility of a screen that folds both ways seems like the game changer. I can watch TV on the subway or type emails at a coffee shop.
• Software will remain very similar to any Macbook. I want most all of it. Maybe not some of the hardcore software I use – I do plan to have this setup as a portable (what I believe is the key word in this equation) option to my home computing, so all my files, settings and light-weight programs will travel with me.

Lastly, my view of the home computing system will be a smart home like server that will control media, electricity, etc where all portable computers link up to the server and sync all the way down to our mobiles. Daring Fireball has the best description of what I want so I’ll just close with that.

Put another way, let’s say instead of a MacBook and an iPhone, you’ve got an iMac and an iPhone, but you also want a portable secondary computer. Today, that portable from Apple (portable as opposed to the iPhone’s mobile) is a MacBook. With The Tablet, you’ll have the option of a device that will more closely resemble the iPhone than the iMac in terms of concept and the degree of technical abstraction.

TurkeyTwitter got some press from Techcrunch.

Today is launch day for www.turkeytwitter.com. It’s a way to track what everyone is thankful for this Thanksgiving. Visit the site, tell us what you think and, most of all, tweet it!

The site was thrown together due to an obvious time crunch, but it’s working pretty well to track what you’re thankful for (especially if you say “I’m thankful for INSERT HERE #turkeytwitter” or use the field on the site to tweet.

The site is based off using the #turkeytwitter and #thanksgiving hashtags to track. We also added a few graphs and tag clouds for visual reference.

Follow @turkeystats if you’re interested in seeing the top-10 thankful items tweeted out.

This is a quick experiment. Advanced apologies if there’s something that doesn’t go well. We just want to see and track what you’re thankful for.

More to come…

How have I not mentioned Dress Josh before? In my quest to live a sponsored life, I think this is the idea that triggered me to start thinking about things this way. Here’s the thought.

I create a website where I post my calendar and wardrobe online. Then each day, the general public can come, see what I have going on (for the next day) and vote on what I wear; basically assembling my outfit.

The schedule comes into play as if I’m attending a wedding, the application will require a tie, etc. This will prevent me from wearing gym shorts to a black tie event and vice versa.

My thought is then to have different sponsors of the wardrobe. So, say the Gap has a new line coming out, maybe they take over my wardrobe for a week and only allow options to be Gap that are worn. Similarly, if On the Fly sponsors me, only items would come from their store.

I just remembered this idea I’ve had (since 2006, FWIW) after reading Weardrobe is being bought. There are two other examples I’ve seen done that are closely related: I Wear Your Shirt and Dress Kevin.

I’m thinking now that there could be a simple widget app built for individual blogs, etc and it can tie in to SponsorMyStatus.com

Here’s my thoughts on what sort of newspaper I would like to have delivered to me daily. This little thought of mine was largely triggered by Don’s posts on the topic (I may even offer my commentary on his iPhone magazine).

For starters, I do not want the newspaper to die. I love the feel of the paper on my fingers and looking at baseball box scores (tangent: is it just me or are radio and newspaper the only way to take in baseball if you’re NOT at the game?).

I do believe, however, that the model for newspapers needs a bit of an adjustment. Here’s my biggest wish: I want a different paper on different days. I’ve spent some quality time flipping through the pages of different newspapers and know that I like the Washington Post on Thursdays, The Wall Street Journal on Fridays, The Sunday NYT, Financial Times on Tuesday, etc.

Can you see it? I want subscription model where I am able to select the paper I want on what day. I think I’d spend a bit more and with the ability to print anywhere (I mean can’t they just email the stories to a local printer?) I should be able to pick (and change weekly if I want) what paper I want on what day. Here’s what I want:

• Sunday: New York Times and Local Paper (coupons, obvs)
• Monday: USA Today
• Tuesday: Financial Times
• Wednesday: Local Paper
• Thursday: Washington Post
• Friday: Wall Street Journal
• Saturday: International Herald Tribune

It can’t be that difficult to pull off. And, I’d bet there are others who would be interested in the model (if not, I think the point is that “old” media needs to be flexible and give people the content the way they want).

Another idea I’ve had, is maybe delivering in the morning doesn’t make sense anymore. What about offering an evening edition? I think having my paper in the evening is more likely to offer me news I can’t get on the internet during the day (I’m willing to bet that more often than not, we spend less time on the computer in the evening versus the day).

And, what if newspapers focused more on a magazine style format? Meaning, not focused on trying to get immediate news out the door and more focus on the editorial work. I wouldn’t mind seeing the local paper print 0nce a week with very detailed and well-thought out content. Then use the internet (Don’s iPhone magazine would be perfect) for the more immediate publication of stories?

I’d like to be an investor in a company that makes these with discarded cardboard. I think a basic stamp would be rather easy to make to cut these.