Science fiction, fantasy, mystery and what-not
Had a doughnut, thought about having another. The little devil on my shoulder started singing, “Go ahead and do it, do it, do it till you’re satisfied.” Now the 1974 B.T. Express song, “Do It ‘Til You’re Satisfied”, is stuck in my mental stream, distracting me from my writing and pushing me toward eating a second doughnut.
The doughnut does complement the coffee, though…
Out yard working yesterday, tidying, clipping, trimming (killing time). I kept thinking, it feels like rain. More than that, it looked like rain might be on the way, and it smelled like rain was out there. It was out there somewhere, but not in my area. The rain never came but a Buddy Guy song (written by John Hiatt), “Feels Like Rain” (with Bonnie Raitt) 1993, slipped into the music stream like morning fog coming into the valley.
A simple, mellow song for this laid-back Tuesday morning. Good tempo for sipping coffee while gazing out the window and drifting the net.
Floofrobics (floofinition) – Exercise done by chasing or interacting with an animal.
In use: “Although she had an hour commute and first needed to shower, dress, and put on a face (she was a bank director, after all), and take care care of the children (well, they were of an age when they were mostly taking care of themselves, getting ready for school, eating, etc.), she always took a few minutes at the beginning for floofrobics with the puppies, Borg and Seven. It lifted her energy like two cups of coffee. And then she made coffee.”
They thundered in on loud, glittering machines (Harley motorcyles), ostentatious in their efforts to be cool and tough, shattering me with their numbers and volume.
It was the muses, awakened, returned, and energetic.
Six thirty AM, I’d just finished reviewing my dreams and wasn’t ready to get out of bed. I’d stayed up late watching “Ozark” on Netflix. A cat (Tucker, black and white, long-furred) was nestled against me, warm and purring. Yeah, no need to get up.
I began going through my manuscript in my head. I’d finished reading it. It was okay. Satisfactory.
Yeah, satisfactory and okay weren’t what I was looking for, damn it.
So the muses began riding around, revving their engines and hurling ideas at me. Do this, write this, what about this?
No, that’d be a much different book and not the one that this book is. Ah, but what about doing this? Hmmm…that makes sense. It’s attractive. Appealing.
Time to write (well, edit) like crazy, one more time.
But first, I really need coffee.
I was just settling into place, unpacking my laptop and stuff at the coffee shop corner community table. (Saint Seata had rewarded me again — thank you, Saint Seata. Now, if the muses will cooperate (yeah, they’re even required when editing and revising.)
A young woman approached. “Are you expecting someone else or saving these seats?”
“No, join me.” I indicate the rest of the table.
“Thank you. I like working at this table.” She’s unpacking her computer as she speaks. “I get a lot of work done here and it has a plug.”
Yeah, people call it a plug, but it’s an outlet, innit? Whatever; she’s young. I reply, “Yes, I notice that people who work in this corner tend to be focused. I call it the corner of concentration.”
“The corner of concentration, I like that,” she says with laughter. “You have a good vibe. I like it.” Before I can do anything more than smile, she says, “I’m a writer.”
“What are you writing?” I ask.
“A cookbook.”
“Oh, cool.”
“It’s for women and will have recipes for women to help them manage their energy for different situations.”
“Sounds like an interesting idea. Good luck.”
“Thanks. What’re you doing in the corner of concentration?”
“I’m a writer, too.”
“Oh, what do you write?”
“I’m working on a novel.”
“Is it fiction?”
Isn’t a novel by definition a work of fiction, I don’t say, because I’m non-confrontational and I don’t want to spoil my good vibe. “Yes.”
“What’s it about?”
“It’s a speculative novel about life and memories.”
“Interesting. I think I want to write a novel someday.”
She goes off to get her coffee. I sit down, take my first sip, and settle in.
Time to write like crazy, one more time.
Preparing to depart the coffee shop yesterday, I bused my table. Looking into the roasting room, I saw one of the Noble employees back there. My jaw dropped.
He’s a spitting image of Chuck Negron of Three Dog Night back in the late 1960s.
Negron, Wells and Hutton of Three Dog Night in 1969
Thinking about that as I walked the town, I went through a few TDN songs – “Eli’s Coming”, “One”, “Joy to the World”, “Mama Told Me Not To come”, and “Liar”. The song that arrived to stay in the stream was one where Negron was the featured lead vocalist. That would be TDG’s cover of “Easy to Be Hard” from Hair.
Not only was it fittin’ to have Negron, the secret coffee roaster (maybe he cloned himself) singin’ a song, but the song whose lyrics fit these times of rollbacks in how we treat one another to the point of open hostility and cruelty.
How can people be so heartless
How can people be so cruel
Easy to be hard
Easy to be cold
How can people have no feelings
How can they ignore their friends
Easy to be proud
Easy to say no
Especially people who care about strangers
Who care about evil and social injustice
Do you only care about the bleeding crowd
How about a needy friend
I need a friend
Cheers
Love the bumper stickers in the video.
Noble Coffee Shop baristas wear long black aprons, which lend them the appearance of coffee wizards as they slip around behind the counters and cases, brewing drinks, dashing out to the roaster and grinder to create more.
Judging from this cuppa, it’s wonderful magic at work.
Michael Seidel, writer 