Study of Alexéy Alexándrovich Karénin

        Alexander was a careful young man. He measured up all decisions in his mind before ever taking action. The world of his thoughts was more vivid than the world of forms that danced before him on his cave walls, lit up by the ever-present firelight. Each morning upon rising, Alexander would make himself a fresh pot of coffee. Everyday it was the same amount of the same blend made in the same coffeemaker and poured into the same cup alongside a small amount of the same cream. Alexander measured out 31.8 grams of coffee each day to load into his coffee making machine. That amount was–in his eyes–the perfect ratio for a cup of coffee. Of course, he would only drink a single cup and dump the rest down the sink, but he saw this as a necessary sacrifice in order to obtain the ideal ratio of coffee grounds to hot water in his cup.

When ready to measure, he would place the special scale he got as a Christmas gift from his mother on the kitchen counter, dole out the appropriate amount of coffee grounds onto the scale, and then spend the next 45 seconds adding and subtracting individual coffee grounds until he achieved the perfect amount. Of course, this ritual was painstaking work and depleted him of crucial minutes for the rest of his morning regimen, but he saw this as a necessary sacrifice in order to obtain the ideal ratio of coffee grounds to hot water in his cup. Once the appropriate weight of coffee grounds had been achieved, young Alexander would insert said grounds into his coffee machine and push the button labeled start: sending the machine into a whirl of buzzing, clicking, and grinding noises. A pot of coffee took approximately 4 minutes and 23 seconds–give or take a few–to brew in this machine; so during this down time, Alexander would commence his morning stretches.

It was the same routine that he had been taught as a young boy in his physical education class at the preparatory academy he once attended. The details of the routine ensured the stretching of all major muscle groups of the upper and lower body in a timely manner. 4 minutes exactly. This gave Alexander the perfect amount of time, 23 seconds, to walk to and from his living room where he performed his stretching routine and his kitchen where he obviously prepared his morning coffee. By the time he would arrive back in the kitchen, the pot of coffee would be in perfect waiting.

Grasping the mug, he’d pour the black gold from the pot up to the pre-chiseled line on his cup and then deposit the rest of the pot down the sink. His diet only allowed for one cup of coffee a day, so why tempt himself with the whole pot when he could dispose of it and be on his merry way, he thought. After cleaning the pot and taking the first few sips of his coffee black, he’d add the pre-measured amount of cream to his cup, stir 3 times clockwise and 4 times counter clockwise, and then step out onto the patio to take in the sun and welcome what the day had in store for him. This was the start to his day, everyday.