Living Like an Artist, Part 1

Today I stumbled out of bed, practiced some favorite dance moves in my pjs to get the ol' blood flowing, then plodded over to my beloved coffee maker. Typical weekday morning for me. Except this time when I reached in my cupboard I realized I was out of coffee filters ... then I realized we're on this "budget" thing and we swore we wouldn't go to the grocery store for another week ... Damn. It. No coffee is never an option. Especially on a Thursday morning.

I had to get creative. Toilet paper filter? No, not robust enough -- coffee would end up with squishy lumps of butt-wipe throughout. Pass. Paper towel? Ding ding!

Coffee? Check!

I know I'm not the first to discover this gem, but I was quite proud of myself. "So this is what you get when you're living on a budget," I thought, smugly sipping my piping hot beverage. "Linty coffee. I kind of dig it ..."

Suddenly Elvis' "In the Ghetto" began to fade in. Startled I looked around, but the radio and turntable were off. The music got louder, echoing like some symphonic harmony in an unrecognizable dream. Moneypenny, Lola ... they watched me with baited breath, either because of the music or the fact that I was standing next to a tub of Trader Joe's ginger snaps, I don't know. Confused I leaned in closer to the coffeemaker. Ah, there it was. That's where it was coming from -- my soiled and stained paper towel filter.



(Ed. Note Update: J said "enough with this nonsense, we're not poor" and bought me a mesh coffee filter. No more linty goodness for me -- and just when I was getting used to it.)