Saturday, February 28, 2004

I am prickly.

Ornery.

Possessing of a temper thats often fun to watch.

I cuss a blue streak at times.

Independent to a fault.

In those respects, Kate and I are a lot alike.

We are both Dragons.

We are who we are.

She worries that the things she doesnt do makes her a bad friend.

I could care less, for its amzing sincerity and warmth of the things she DOES do that makes me glad she's my friend.

Happy Birthday, Kate.

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Also

.. a happy birthday to my buddy Lily in Jax.



Near and dear to my heart.
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I miss 'em.






Wednesday, February 25, 2004


Hi. Im Joe, and Im 2 weeks gratefully recovering from my last cup of coffee.

Ive been to
several recovery meetings (This is California. Trust me, you will get to know many, many 12-step folk who will eventually insist on dragging you to a coupla meetings. And no, protestations of "I dont drink or toke or smoke" wont do you any good.) and Ive noticed that:

A) They serve copious amounts of STRONG coffee.

B) The participants invariably are heavy smokers.

What was my point? Oh yeah..

I was segueing to "replacing one addiction for another".

So, like, people have been all supportive of my decision to Quit Coffee, even tho theyre all a bit skeptical.

They try to be helpful tho..

"You can drink decaf."
"What's the point?"
I'll moan all dramatic.
"Well, you can still drink coffee without the caffiene. Yeah." they'll point out brightly.

*sigh* They try. :-)

Invariably the discussion will turn to tea.

Im ambivalent about tea, frankly.

Regular tea has much caffiene.

Green tea I used to drink lots of, till I found out it will jack you up just like coffee can. Withdrawl from Green Tea can be brutal.

Herbal tea is... cute.

Nah.

Do they do decaf espresso, Fred?

Yeah, I know. Whats the point?

Tuesday, February 24, 2004

Farewell tour

It's ironic. I cant STAND the taste of coffee, black.

Didnt even drink it into adulthood, not until - *counts*- around 1992.

That year I had to be awake to support users at the job, so I needed to something to clap me awake by the time I walked into the door at AT&T..

20 oz Maxwell House cups from the GATE convenience store. A lot of mocha creamer. A lot of sugar.

Voila.

Coffee addict.

3-4 Venti Starbux a day at the height.

I would start my day with the requisite New York 10 oz cup at the donut or bagel shop or cart, then rush out to the Starbux (Deloitte Headquarters had Starbux ground roasts at every machine too), then an afternoon Starbux to relax, then one at night.

Minimum.

But in 1997 (and earlier if I had been paying attention), physical complications from high-blood pressure started becoming apparent.

I ended up in the hospital.

I didnt slow down.

In 1999 however, one fine day.. it felt as if my fingertips were about to burst.

Hypertension is a funny word for some serious shytte.

Thats when I made the connection.

I cut back on sodium, sugar and caffiene.

Specially coffee.

I cut back to one cup a day. 2, if I cheated.

And thats been my pattern till now.

The past few weeks, Ive been sick, and the thought of coffee made me queasy, so I didnt have any for nigh on 2 weeks.

Ironically, even with the hacking, coughing and phlegm.. the tell tale signs of hypertension abated.

Whoa.

Messages dont come any clearer.

Give up coffee.

So, I am.

Or, if I cheat.. I will get one of the smallest cups.

Hey, once an addict, always an addict.
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Losing my religion


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All the coffee Ive loved before...



Little Italy



Borders @ WTC #7



Timothy's Coffee, Times Square

Didnt I read somewhere that Timothy's went bankrupt?



Somewhere on Broadway and 89th, Upper West Side



Bayonne's Pride Bakery, Bayonne NJ

I went less for the coffee, and more for the love from the Sicilian Ladies.

They took care of me.



Garment district



Donut shop, Nostrand and Empire, Brooklyn.





43rd and 7th Avenue



On the A Train, one fine morning.



A 7-11, South Florida



Nooo, never been THAT bad. (Riverside, Jacksonville Florida)



Birthday Breakfast @ Midnight@ Baghdad Cafe, SF



Coffee with the Kellys @ Au Coquelet in Berkeley.

When George first took me there, I didnt even have an inkling that this would subsequently be a major hangout spot for me.

All he said was "I have to take you to my favorite coffee shop".



Ironically, I never had ANY coffee in Seattle. Didnt have time.



I wanted to check out the coffee shop Kate had worked at once upon a time, but it was shut down by the time we got there. :-/



Rainbow Donuts, Berkeley



The prototype Coffee and a Donut, recommended by cops everywhere.



The Cafe Macchiato that killed Stella.

Cafe Meditarranium, Telegraph Ave, Berkeley



The typical morning scene at Au Coquelet



Cafe Roma, North Berkeley



Barnes and Nobles, El Cerrito

(For people unfamiliar with the layout of the East Bay, go North, and the sequence goes Oakland > Berkeley > Albany > El Cerrito > Richmond as you go North along the water.)



Touchless Gas and Car Wash, Berkeley - between downtown and The Campus



Berkeley Espresso, North Berkeley

My current coffee hangout joint.

Well, no - the current joint is Peet's. But no more.



Man, its been a lotta coffee.





Monday, February 23, 2004

This just in...

Im
giving up coffee.

Yes.

Maybe.

Further details as they come in.

Sunday, February 22, 2004

Randoms from 2002

That's the year the train pulled out of the station. Literally.



Last dinner in Brooklyn



Cat in Orlando.



Checker's Burger in Fort Lauderdale



Dreams personified in Fort Lauderdale



Caught in traffic on Sunrise Boulevard



Backyard dock in Wilton Manors. My backyard dock.

I wanna do that again. :-)



Dawn on a South Florida Beach



Irony in Fort Lauderdale



Eighth Street, Miami (aka Little Havana)



Heaven (aka Cubana Chica and Coffee) in Little Havana



Yacht in the Backyard, South Florida



Yes, its fine in South Florida

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Oh yeah

Happy Birthday Gabz

I remembered, this year. :-)

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