“Mark” has two questions for me, but I’m only going to answer one of them right now because the other one is going to take some more thought. It’s not that I’m opposed to thinking (although many people are); it’s just that it’s going to take more thought than I’m able to give right now after a long busy day.

Mark’s simple, but very important question is – Where do you find the best coffee? This is something I am more than qualified to address, since I am widely known as a coffee snob. And I hang out with a few other coffee snobs. So, “Mark,” if that is indeed your real name, you’ve come to the right place.

For home – Trader Joe’s Organic Fair Trade Sumatra. Or sometimes, Trader Joe’s normal, unfair-trade, Colombian. Coarse grind, French press. There you go.

When you’re out and about, sometimes you have to balance quality with convenience. I always try to find halfway decent coffee, and since I live within a few miles of 3,256 Starbucks, they can always be counted on for halfway decent coffee. Not necessarily completely decent, but halfway decent is better than nothing.

But my favorite coffee when I’m out is still, after all these years, Borders in Torrance. It just seems to work for me.  Sometimes you have to be willing to wrestle some of those over-achieving, Mac ProBook-using college students to the ground to get a table, but I’m OK with that. It’s good stuff.