As some of you may remember, Animated Meat first came to life in 2008 as a way to document some sights that managed to slip through the cracks of most popular travel websites. You may also remember that the original website was built on Apple's now defunct iWeb. From there, it migrated over to WordPress where it met an untimely demise at the hands of Russian hackers. Many of those old, pre-2012 entries have found a new home here in the Before the Now section. I would consider these posts as my starting place as a writer, probably comparable to a musician's first demo tapes. They are very rough, but I took them all seriously and wrote each one with passion. While I would like to believe that I have matured in my abilities as a writer, it is my hope that I carry this same blind passion into all of my new efforts.

Paul's Coffee Shop - Originally Published 2010

March 1, 2019

Lessons learned from the school of life: You can tell how good a breakfast place is by the number of old folks there. It’s true. Say what you will about old people. Blame them for the state of affairs in the Middle East. Laugh at their choice in threads. But don’t you dare knock them for their knowledge of a good breakfast place.

If you go to an eatery in the early hours and it’s filled with guys who are more concerned with the lineup at Coachella than Medicaid, get out. It’s not worth it.

On a recent Sunday morning, Paul’s Coffee Shop was filled with seniors. And it was also filled with really good home fries. We played it safe and ordered the breakfast classics. As a recommendation, get there early. Since Paul’s was discovered by Guy Fieri, people like me have been showing up and creating a line out front.