My favorite coffee shop is the Blue Moon on Lake Street in Minneapolis. Large windows facing an urban street; back-lit hideaways with less light, more cozy. Then there is my favorite table. I have two of them. The one across from the half moon string of lights over the serving bar. And the one right by the front door, up against the cooler. I would sit with my back to the cold white wall, facing the refrigerator wind that blew through the door a Minnesota winter. A writing group I used to be a part of met at the Blue Moon once a month. We called it the Blue Mooners. It has disbanded now.
Second favorite coffee shop? Diamonds in Northeast on Central Ave. The parking is limited but I like the checkerboard flag, that the owners are women bikers, that I can hide away inside what used to be the building’s bank vault. Are the walls green, yes, I think the walls are mint green with vintage lamps and tables. I don’t know how people make it in the coffee business. It was mentioned in the Writing Topic that people get into it because they love the product. We’ve got Caribou’s corporate headquarters here in Minneapolis. I’ve always tried to support them. Who can compete with Starbuck’s? And Starbuck’s may not even be the best — but they have the longest arms.
Kiev is sleeping next to me at almost 1am and I’m writing about coffee shops. She thinks I’m nuts and has left me in the dust with her zzzzz’s. Sometimes she snores her little cat snores. Mr. StripeyPants is more likely to take long, deep breaths. Long deep cat breaths. He does it when he’s frustrated or when I won’t play with him. Cats like three things: exercise (to them it’s play), food, and love. Now that I write the words, those are the same things humans need. Not necessarily in that order.
I’m fond of Tazza in Taos because I’ve got memories there with my writing friends, memories of sitting alone and jotting practices in my wire bound notebook with a fast writing pen. But there’s Taos Cow. I wrote there once, too, after a trip to the D. H. Lawrence Ranch. I have read my writing in coffee shops which, looking back, horrifies me. How in the heck did I stand up there and do that? It was a launching pad of sorts, the kind of thing you do when you’ve got nothing to lose. Maybe I need to get back into it. Coffee shops are forgiving. Also noisy. Writers and poets crammed between fiddle player and ragtime. We stuck it out. It’s important to stick things out.
All of the coffee shops have WI-FI now, which begs the question — how do they make any money? I read an article on how people would camp out in coffee shops for the free WI-FI and not buy any drinks. Or buy only one, then stay for hours chatting with their friends, writing, reading. Taking up tables and space. How do you balance the bohemian slant of a good coffee shop with the real need to make money. They need to make money to stay alive. Just like we do.
When I was a teenager, the coffee shop of choice was Dunkin’ Donuts. There was no Starbucks. No Peets, Caribou, or Java Train. No Diamonds, Urban Bean, or Anodyne. I had a friend who worked at Dunkin’ Donuts one summer. It was 1976. She wore all white (no hairnet but instead one of those creased paper hats) and served me a free cup of coffee when I came in. I’d watch her pluck lemon crèmes off the slanted steel shelves, and place them next to chocolate coconut cake donuts and fry-bogged glazed donut holes. Dunkin’ Donuts coffee smelled good, that old style percolator odor that gets into the nooks and crannies of a place. The price of a cup of coffee in 1970 might have been 10 cents, a quarter. Two bits, four bits, six bits a dollar. For a cup of perked coffee, I’d stand up and holler.
-posted on red Ravine, Friday, March 26th, 2010
-related to Topic post: WRITING TOPIC — MY FAVORITE COFFEE SHOP
That’s a big 10-4 on the Blue Moon, QuoinMonkey. I’m sitting at the Moon right now typing this. I like your two favorite tables, too.
The Blue Mooners writing group was a wonderful monthly writing group. I’ve tried to duplicate it ever since, and haven’t succeeded. Should we start it again?
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There’s a wonderful Blue Moon cafe in Edinburgh too, too far from where i live or work to be my favourite nowadays though
I like your descriptions and the snoring cats
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Teri, it’s tempting to start a group there again, to write in person. I have to think about that. I really enjoyed writing with the last group. Sometimes groups have reached their day, and everyone moves on to other things.
Let me think about it a bit more. I’d have to make sure it was something I could commit to and stick to it. It’s looking like Spring and Summer are going to be really busy. But then, when aren’t we busy? Are you thinking once a month again?
Something I’ve learned about in-person writing groups is that once-a-month can even be too often if people aren’t really dedicated to showing up. What I miss with my online writing group is reading the writing practices out loud. When we get together with the Midwest Writers Group every six months and write our tails off and read the practices…that’s when I really realize how much I miss the reading.
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Crafty Green Poet, ah, I always wanted to go to Edinburgh. You are meaning Edinburgh, Scotland, right? Have you been to the castle there? My mother has almost traced out roots all the way back to Scotland, a Scottish warrior that came over to help settle Georgia. He ended up in St. Simons and eventually in Darien, Georgia. We visited the cemetery in Darien a few years ago. But there are a few missing links at the Scottish end on the other side of the pond. It would be so much fun to actually go to Scotland with her and try to research and trace some info there.
The snoring cats are at it again this morning. I so love having them around. They ground me and help me to stay in the moment. Moment to moment, that’s how they live. 8)
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I would *love* to hear more about your experience reading your pieces in a coffee shop–open mic, right? I think you’ve mentioned something about that on the blog, a long time ago. I recall something about what you wore, and I recall vaguely your motorcycle having something to do with it. (Was it something you wore on your motorcycle, or was it what you wore during the reading? I can’t remember.)
It would be great to hear more. Any pics? What fun a post of that experience would be–please?!! 8)
Hey, just the other day a writing friend and I talked about the possibility of approaching the owner of a local brewery/bistro and asking him if he might be willing to allow open mic and slam poetry. I would do the former but maybe work with the slam coordinators to do the latter. The reason we were thinking of the bistro instead of the coffee shop was mainly because we thought the micro-brewed beer might be a draw. Plus, the new coffee shop is not open at night, yet, and I don’t know that it will start offering night hours unless it gets a large following. I hope it does, but now I think it closes at about 6p.
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QM,
I’m like you. I miss the steady, balancing, grounding practice of writing and reading in a small group. Whenever our Midwestern Writers Group meets, I am reminded of that void in my regular life.
Meeting once a month would be great, but I’d also be fine with once every-other-month. Perhaps it would be easier for a few people to commit to if it was only six times a year.
And, like you, commitment is really important to me. And being on time. And getting right to the writing…saving the socializing for before the start time, or until the end.
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Teri, 6 times a year is a possibility. It’s strange when you think about it, because 6 times a year seems like hardly any time at all. But when you add it up with everything else we all have going on, I find myself having to choose. I was talking about that with a friend yesterday when we were on a walk. About how precious time seems to become when you get older and want to write, do art, have a relationship. Then there is work where we spend most of our time, and sleep the other part. And the daily business of life: taxes, bills, appointments. It’s a wonder anyone has any time to write or do art. About the last part, I agree. I want to get to the writing. I think sometimes people are really starved for personal connection, so socializing becomes a part of group events. But having those Writing Practice boundaries in place helps. I guess we’ll see what develops with the group. I’ll keep it in mind.
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Yes, QM…we have to be discerning with our time. Constantly vigilant or it evaporates. Months or years disappear. I suspect even if a group formed that was every-other-month, the time would fly between each writing session.
I’m going to keep my ears open for like-minded people around this. A good writing group is such a support to all my other writing.
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