Thankfully, Coffee is an Essential Service.

Even with the 'stay at home' executive order, Peet's is still open for takeout. Thankfully, coffee is considered an essential service.

Karate Clubbuccino (Take 2)

Here is take 2 of the Karate Clubbuccino, which is otherwise known as using a cappuccino embedding to depict the Zachary Karate Club network. (Thanks to Sofia Piltz for making this happen.)

Karate Clubbuccino, take 2.

(Thanks to Sofia Piltz for making this happen.) pic.twitter.com/Gi0vMbfNQs

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) December 7, 2019

Below is take 1.

In case you ever wanted to see the Karate Club network visualized using a capuccino embedding.

(Thanks to University of Michigan postdoc Sofia Piltz for trying this out for me at BeanBerry Cafe in Ann Arbor. She'll try it with a higher-contrast and more circular picture later.) pic.twitter.com/nqLpcJrfmY

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) November 10, 2019

Visualization of the Zachary Karate Club Network Using a Cappuccino Embedding

In case you ever wanted to see the Karate Club network visualized using a capuccino embedding.

(Thanks to University of Michigan postdoc Sofia Piltz for trying this out for me at BeanBerry Cafe in Ann Arbor. She'll try it with a higher-contrast and more circular picture later.) pic.twitter.com/nqLpcJrfmY

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) November 10, 2019

Sofia found this picture in one of Petter Holme's presentations, although it reminds me of one of them from old papers and t-shirt designs.

"NSA Vanilla"

In the latest installment of 'Here's the straight line; you provide the joke', we have the following situation:

Coffee Bean has a powder with the label "NSA Vanilla". As you can see on this website, there is a secret ingredient that goes by the name of "NSA Powder". I wonder if it's anthrax?

What Are We Waiting For?

At Peet's Coffee a day or two ago, I asked an old man if he was in line, as I didn't want to accidentally skip ahead of him.

He answered me that "No, I'm waiting for Godot."

So I responded in deadpan with "You're probably going to be waiting for a very long time."

He didn't answer. I hope he at least appreciated that I got the reference. (In retrospect, I think a Petty-themed "The waiting is the hardest part." would have been better, but timing is everything when it comes to wit.)

A Brief Note on Bratty Children and Their Bratty Parents

There ought to be a special place in Hell reserved for people who seem to be perfectly content with their children bothering strangers in a cafe (e.g., ones who are trying to work) just so they can scroll through the messages on their phone.

I don't need to be distracted with a child crashing into my leg with the bicycle that he's riding indoors.

Believe it or not, I actually like children and can be very good with them, but at least tell your brat when this happens that he's not supposed to do this! That's why the kid is a brat.

(OK, I'll stop now.)

Stick a Fork in It

One of the windows in Green's Cafe was messed up and wasn't able to close, which was rather unfortunate, as it's rather cold and somewhat rainy outside. The solution? Simple: One of the workers used a fork to jam the window closed. I approve!

P.S. The weather sucks ass right now.