Here goes:
Coffee. It’s
ubiquitous in my life. I rely on it. It’s lubricant to the creative mind
(unlike alcohol, which is lubricant to the devious mind). It’s the beverage of great writers. I
mean, whoever burned the midnight oil on a truly great piece of writing whilst
sipping an Earl Grey? I don’t think so. Tea is too dignified. Coffee is for
flawed people: the thinkers, the brooders. Freud needed a strong Viennese
coffee to mull over his theories. Coffee houses covered for Speakeasys. I doubt Al Capone
sipped from tea cup with his pinky in the air. Well, maybe he did. Thugs have a
soft side too you know.
I’m in a café, the
type where all the furniture is replica, in some place that feels like no place.
I’m waiting for the waitress to bring me another latte. I’m staring at my
laptop, that blank white screen staring back at me, taunting me. But the words
aren’t flowing today. I just need a word, one word, but I can’t find the right
one to start with. The first word is always the hardest.
I’ve travelled the
world looking for inspiration.
I’ve been through the Mojave desert; staring at the vast landscapes.
I’ve visited the most bustling cities in the world; Tokyo, where the skyline
stretches to the horizon. I’m blocked. I’ve been blocked for so long, and I am
just looking for a word, the key to open the rusty lock to the left side of my
brain and let the words flow again.
The waitress returns with
my latte. Then it hits me. Coffee.
Love it. "It’s lubricant to the creative mind (unlike alcohol, which is lubricant to the devious mind)" just brilliant.
ReplyDeleteAs you'll gather from the name of my blog.. I'm a tea drinker :-)
So great to see another blogger joining in on short tale tuesday!
First comment! Stoked. No offence intended, dear tea drinker... in tea's defence there are some strong'uns out there :) Many thanks for the appreciation!
DeleteAnd what a flying start! That was really enjoyable to read (despite that I too am primarily a tea drinker with the occasional coffee pick me up as a substitute).
ReplyDeleteI loved how you started the peice with coffee and ended it with coffee. It's hard to do that well and you did - bravo!
"It’s lubricant to the creative mind (unlike alcohol, which is lubricant to the devious mind)" Loved this too. Made me smile. I'm off to share your post on FB & Twitter. Thanks for joining the team!Looking forward to seeing more for you.
Oh Penny, thank you so much! I am a newbie to this whole blogger thing but I have an extensive reading list now thanks to your blog & people in your circle to garner inspiration from.
DeleteAgain no offence to tea drinkers intended... I have no doubt that I am going to be constantly owned by tea drinkers who are also great writers such as you & Catherine. Haha!!
It's okay, took no offense to it what so ever! Perhaps great writers can like Chia lattes too? ;)
ReplyDeleteYou won't be a newbie forever. I don't know much about Blogger but if you ever need any help just ask. I did all the vector art on both my websites so if you need anything(free!)let me know. I do have a family though so it usually takes me a little bit.
I'm just trying to figure out how to put badges on my site... I tried putting the STT badge on but the html just comes out as html text! Sooo frustrating... if you have any tips, do let me know! I will keep trying to figure it out :)
DeleteTea sure but chai lattes I draw the line... .... kidding ;)
Mmm yes chai but also mmmmmmmm coffee!
ReplyDeleteI'll see what I can do. Hopefully I have a blogger buddy out there somewhere (most use wordpress I think). Will let you know. :)
DeleteCoffee for sure...although I switched to decaf a few years ago and save the full strength stuff for when I'm really sleepy. Hey, try www.shortbreadstories.co.uk as a great way to get back into fiction. They have regular peer competitions where you can read the other entries and have a go yourself. It's a really lovely site.
ReplyDelete