last night at lola's...

probably lasted far longer than it should have.

sweet, wonderful coffee

so after my semi-victory of my local starbucks hombres 1. remembering my drink and 2. remembering that i am a regular customer, my need for over-priced, over-roasted and over-flavored coffee beverages has been satiated.

I finally grinded the tasty yet neglected coffee beans from Porto Rico Imports, much to the dismay of my cat. Who hates the sound. But loves when I make my own coffee because he knows that somewhere, somehow, there is milk in store for him.

I forgot how delicious regular coffee is. Yes, still with milk and sugar but at least it's a start. Once the weather warms up consistently, I will do my best to switch to black. It is going to be warm today, though, so off on my bike I shall ride. I wish Spring Break could last until Summer Break.

Just what i needed.mp3 The Cars

8 days of nothing

today marks the official start of spring break. which was unhappily punctuated by a call this morning at 7:45 from my realtor:

"Rebecca, is it a good time?"
"I guess so," I replied sleepily.

I want to make sure that you are aware of this, this, this and this, and also this differential that and everything else in the world, here it is."

"Um, I lied. I'm actually sleeping. I have no idea what you just said."
"I'll call you later."
Click.

Anyway, from this weekend, tator tots and whiskey. Beat that.

restoring faith

can faith be restored when it never actually existed to begin? maybe it just becomes a lack of disappointment.

anyway, i went into starbucks yesterday morning--yes, every single day I continue to pay way-too-much for an unfair and inequitable flavored coffee beverage, despite my home delivery of the best coffee beans around (Porto Rico Imports). But this day would be different for I had forgotten to bring my mug.

So when I got to the counter, the manager breezed by me and said, "Rebecca, where's your mug?" Stunned, I explained that I had forgotten it. He smiled and questioned,

Will you still have a grande* vanilla latte?"
"Um... yes," I replied slowly

As I left the store, the man behind the register called out,

See you tomorrow."

Mission accomplished. Thanks, Starbucks.

I remember.mp3 Damien Rice


*I always order a medium and refuse to call a medium by any other name just because some corporate giant has trademarked an otherwise inaccurate description of the one in the middle.

the hierarchy of internet safety

streaming_media

r rated

pornography/adult content

dubious/unsavory

Dubious slash unsavory? By far the best denial of all.

on the rocks

taking a night off from whiskey drinking to post some pictures about whiskey drinking.

whiskeybreath.mp3 Devotchka

almost there.

On hold with my mortgage company. I once loved my mortgage company. That is, until they put me on hold for 22 minutes and forced an instrumental eight-minute version of Lisa Stanfield's "If I could change the way" upon my unwilling ears. Still on hold. New song. This one sounds country. I can't quite place it. Oh, I'm off hold. Michelle, my loan associate, does not know what is playing on the instrumental channel. And no, they don't give her a playlist. Anyway, I love my mortgage company again because they approved my loan and I am One Step Closer to growing up. On a related note, I spent yesterday afternoon hanging out at the denver art museum with my niece. And llama riding. Which was purely coincidental. So all day she had been talking about her new friend Maddy and how excited she was to have a new neighborhood friend and Maddy this and Maddy that and when I dropped her off, I got to meet Maddy who, after I smiled and offered sweetly but not condescendingly in that tone that adults use with children whom they know should be kept on their good side, "It's so nice to meet you; I've heard so much about you," gasped as her jaw dropped and said, "you're Aunt Becky? You are not what I was expecting." And so of course I asked her, a little bemused, exactly what she was expecting. She thought, from the stories that Lily told her about me, that I was Lily's age. Lily is five. I'm not sure what to make of this.

2 + 2 = 5.mp3 Radiohead Baby Rock

growing up, part two

Having my second go-round at real estate. Rather than the 19th century fix-me-up residential jalopy I was sure that I was craving, I decided to heed my infinitely-wiser brother's advice and consider a condo. So I did. And when I walked in, and saw the shiny wooden floors, granite countertops and stainless-steel appliances beaming newly with pride, I was sold.

Tomorrow the contract headaches begin anew.

Here it goes again.mp3 OK Go
Here I go again.mp3 Whitesnake

why starbucks should fail

i enjoy coffee as much as the next girl. i have my beans delivered to my house, even. but i keep forgetting to grind those beans.

so for the last two months or so, i've been stopping by my neighborhood Starbucks for a medium vanilla latte. Every single morning. Same time. The same people wait on me. Every single day for eight weeks.

And every single day, they ask me what I'm drinking. Every day.

Here's the thing is that it might be nice if they just tried to guess. Even if they were wrong. It might be nice.

Here's the other thing is that every single day I bring in my own cup: a bright orange cup with a sticker of a horse on it. There's a fucking horse sticker on my cup. And nobody notices that I come every day.

It's not like they're completely aloof. This morning, the younger girl barista told me I looked like a movie star in my sunglasses. On Friday, the older lady barista told me she liked my hair in a ponytail and asked me if I was ready for spring. Christ, that same lady once asked me if I knew who won the Frontier Airlines Denver's Favorite Animal contest. "Ummmm, no..." I replied slowly. The customer behind me thought it might have been a penguin.

Every time I have to remind them at the register that it's a personal cup and I get a ten cents discount (whoo!). Today, the young girl barista was ringing me up and, as she rang up my order, I remind her that it was my own cup.

Personal cup, you mean?"
"Yes," I reply, "every single day."
"Oh, good for you!" she offers in mock enthusiasm.

Last week, the flamboyantly-friendly guy barista, after I paid, commanded for me to hold on a minute. He then reached into his tip canister, grabbed a dime, and exclaimed, "Oops! I forgot to give you your personal mug discount,"as he dropped the dime into my hand.

I think this began to officially annoy me on Thursday, after I went to my local hipster pizza place for the third time in two weeks. I walked in and, without even looking up, the guy behind the counter said, "Greek salad, right?" Three fucking visits and they know why I'm there. Because it's their job. And they didn't even try to upsell me, like they do every single morning at Starbucks. I don't want your crappy pastries, Starbucks. I don't even want your crappy coffee, it's just on the way and I keep forgetting to grind my beans. And when I get to the counter, and you say to me, "any pastries today?" and I say, "no thanks," do not accuse me with, "are you sure? I saw you looking in that pastry case." Yeah I was looking in your pastry case. What else am I going to look at while I stand in line? Shall I whip out my phone with defiant self-importance, confident that everybody in the entire store wants to hear my business at 7:30 in the morning (loudly, at that)?

I'm going to go grind me some coffee.

...although the masochist in me wants to go back to Starbucks for as long as it takes for them to remember my drink order. Or, at the very least, let me know that they know that I'm there every morning. I'm a regular, dammit! Notice me.

Music for morning people.mp3 Kid Koala
Fucking alone.mp3 Iggy Pop

ending the day with a song

Sentiments of love and hate.mp3
(right click on link + save as to download file.)
Total playing time: 32.14.

Late-night music-compiling feeling-sorry-for-self sort of mood.

1. Tom Waits - 2:19
2. Grizzly Bear - Shift
3. Decemberists - 16 Military Wives
4. Modest Mouse - Satin in a Coffin
5. Deerhoof - Flower
6. Simon & Garfunkel - Only Living Boy in New York
7. Uncle Tupelo - Still Be Around
8. Deerhunter - Lake Somerset
9. M. Ward - Chinese Translation
10. The Boy Least Likely To - Warm Panda Cola