A CAFE IS SORTA LIKE AN APPLE DISGUISED AS A LEMON
One more than arbitrary day not long ago I finally got put on the “Quote of the Day” board.
For the longest time I’d thought of things to say that might be considered [by the old keepers of the board] worthy of such a profound space shared by the likes of Einstein, Eastwood and Estrel (Eric, that is…). But, when the day came I was unprepared and while engaged in some exchange I cannot recall, expelled something half-conclusive like, “Well, context matters…” And, so it did that day, mattered enough to take a spot on the blackboard. It might’ve been there for a day, or two, but in that time while I sat in a corner of the cafe I thought “okay, that’s ambiguous, but context determines why I do a lot of the things I do and inhabit the spaces I inhabit”.
All things considered a Cafe seems to be a befitting context for me. I’ve been fortunate to have lived in places known for the coffee culture, and within those spaces, sat on chairs, benches, and stools of vintage, custom and uber-hip color and form. Yet, to me, the true defining quality throughout is the human element, for better, or worse. ”People”, I’ve thought countless times whilst in a cafe, “….are so ridiculous, …so weird, …so interesting, …so predictable, …so (fill in the blank) “. I’ve sat in arms reach of break-ups, business deals and more neurotic tirades than I could throw a Frappuccino at, but it’s all important in some strange way. Much of it I consider potential creative content worth it’s existential weight in single-origin beans. Somehow comments and people become subjectively twisted around into more of a caricature taken “out” of context by yours truly…
Hence, “Gluten Free Socks”…
…I don’t know why, perhaps it’s a combination of things I overheard. I think it’s funny, but am in no such position to explain why, so I’ll just guess that it causes simultaneous firings in the brain that essentially have the same effect as being tickled, so in the same way somebody is ticklish and then miraculously “not” is probably about the same thing as being tickled by the concept of Gluten Free Socks one moment and being offended by its stupidity the next.
Some folks are just incapable of being ticklish.
“Apple Disguised as a Lemon”
This apple, here, is disguised as a juicy lemon. I don’t know why. I don’t know how the apple got there in the first place and why it’s necessary for it to be wearing glasses (apple astigmatism though little known is a budding epidemic). But, I’ve learned that neither of these things matter. There is a concept here that arguably every person can relate to regardless of whether apples or lemons are familiar fruits to them. That’s more, or less what my goal is…
These are merely excerpts from what truly churns within whilst sitting, ruminating and sipping and whether it’s magic, caffeine, or planetary alignment I should be thanking, I cannot honestly say. The fact is this space we call the cafe is just a little slice of life, or an intersection of of many lives, a microcosm, context within context. I wouldn’t, for now, choose to go work, play or laugh in a more luxurious space with a view because my preferred view is street level at the intersection of 1st Avenue and Pike, “The Zoo” in summertime and “The Wash” in winter, where I peer from one of those corners of SCW and simply tune in…and sip probably the best cup of house coffee under the rain shadow.
