Welcome to Gaia! ::

My name is Kevin James O'Toole Jr. and im not just going to introduce myself but also give you my testimony of why I believe in what I believe.

It starts with when I was young, I always saw my mom pray when we were poor Ive even been to a few catholic churchs here and there but never understood, My mother never really taught me much about him at all all she said was, "knowing him was enough" so all I did was just live I wasn't popular, I didn't go out and party, I didn't have any real friends, I was horriable in relationships I was in a very dark place. Then one halloween day my parents told me to go hang out with the people living in the same street as me and told me to trick or treat with them little did I know I didn't trick or treat that night but was tricked into a bible study with a bunch of kids my age who were learning about God, I gave it a chance thinking this way the way to God but I was wrong. It was good at first all praising God and holding hands and singing but as soon as it was over everyone went back to their little clicks I was abandoned. And because of this I thought this is what "church" was I thought all churches were the same even the tactics like getting beautiful young girls to persuade you to go to the church but I did not listen, I left i didn't get baptized their and lucky for me we moved and so long again I was lost. Until one day I met the most beautiful girl whos faith was unshaken, pure, and awesome. I saw in her eyes the light I so needed at first I thought I was attracted to her but it was both, at first I resisted hard i thought she was only trying to get me in her church but as soon as i finnaly accepted and gave my will to God I have learned more about him ever since, my love for him ever so deepened and now Im with that beautiful faithful girl and she is a Catholic.

Welcome to our new members!

Sorry that came so late. Our welcoming committee has really slacked off as of late.

Welcome, we're happy to have you!

Welcome, Alex!

What are some of your favourite foods to eat and/or cook? Do you have a favourite kind of coffee and/or coffee preparation? I loveloveLOVE coffee, and I enjoy cooking, too. My mum taught me how to cook when I was a kid, and she's an absolutely amazing chef.

Have you tried kopi luwak coffee? If not, have you heard about it?

In the past decade or so, as its gained more advertising and popularity, it has become little more than a touristy gimmick, but back maybe 10 or 12 years ago when it was relatively unheard of in the west and there were only maybe two or three small companies that exported it worldwide, I think the quality was considerably higher (and it was certainly more expensive). I had it once in a restaurant shortly after I arrived in London, and at that time I think it was one of only two places that offered it in the city. To be perfectly honest, I wasn't nearly as much of a coffee drinker then as I am now, so I couldn't really tell you if it was anything special. It was ordered by my very affluent date at the time.

Now that I am a lot more into coffee, I'd like to try it again, but there are so many vendors for it these days that I have no idea where to start.

I usually prefer darker roasts. There's a coffee shop near where I work that has an excellent dark roast, so I buy my beans there pretty exclusively. It has a wonderful, slightly chocolatey taste to it, and it's not bitter, even when brewed very strong. I usually keep things simple and just brew coffee with a press pot. Fancy coffee makers are overrated and overpriced in my opinion.

I always drink coffee and tea black. For some reason, I don't like sweet hot beverages. Cold sweet beverages are fine. I love fruit juices and even drink soda from time to time, but it has to be cold. If it's hot, anything sugary just starts to taste...I don't know, too sweet. In a bad way.

I've actually never found coffee to be bitter normally, but my partner is...I guess more sensitive to bitter flavours than most people? He's far pickier about coffee variety and length of brew time, claiming that it gets bitter if it's not done right. It is true that different people are more sensitive to certain flavours, so I guess it's not that unusual. He finds certain citrus fruits to be bitter sometimes too (besides grapefruit, which actually IS bitter, save for the sweetest varieties).

I'm fairly sensitive to caffeine, so I have to be careful about how much coffee I consume unless it's decaffeinated, which is a huge bummer, because decaf coffee always tastes like it's missing something, and if I had my way, I'd drink coffee pretty constantly. I used to be able to without the caffeine noticeably affecting me, but as I've gotten older, my body has just become less tolerant of stimulants in general. More than one normal cup of coffee these days makes me very jittery and anxious.

Tea actually does the same, although many teas have more minimal caffeine content.

Herbal teas are fine, but I don't like them as much as as general rule.

Caffeine migraines are strange to be because caffeine actually aids in getting rid of headaches and is in most OTC migraine medication. But everyone reacts to substances differently.

Thankfully caffeine doesn't give me a migraine. Loads of other things do and they're absolutely miserable, but caffeine just makes me super jittery. I'm a very anxious, fidgety, jittery person by nature anyway (always tapping my foot, drumming my fingers, picking at threads on my clothes, etc.), so you can probably imagine how insufferable I become after ingesting some sort of stimulant. burning_eyes

I agree that decaffeinated coffee is a sorry substitute for the real thing. The kind I've been buying recently is better than most, though, especially when brewed very strong. Still, I really wish I tolerated caffeine better. emo

And yes, I know that herbal teas do not actually contain tea, but "herbal infusion" just sounds so fruity and pretentious to me. lol