{ Coffee Thirsty | Refill }

aight … i know this place as Cafe Algiers … knew about it since growing up right around the corner in Watertown … and the place is perfect for getting together, brainstorming, plotting + planning into the midEvening … you need to get 2 rounds of coffee, i suggest 2 cappuccinos, and some sort of pastry accompaniment { or a hummus and veggie platter, maybe more of a midday in Harvard Square stop off at Algiers } … upstairs, that’s the best spot, maybe tucked into the corner off near the ladies’ room …

friendly but casual service { don’t expect to just get in and out, that’s not what Cafe Algiers is about at all … think conversation + a slightly extended stay for $10, maybe a little more } … gotta love the stairway up and the view down into the lower | first floor … and to top it all off, the revolutionary graffiti in the men’s room adds to the philosophy espoused by a visit to this essential hotbed of Harvard Square conversation + coffee

a little psychotrance hip hop number gently traipsing along in the stratosphere here at The Javaroom

a little recent Javaroom memory for you … from yesterday … i pulled up, a little later than i wanted to be there, parked right up front { SO easy to get a spot }, walked in + started to chit chat w/ Dawn as usual, just the common back + forth of the day … a little ‘how was your weekend? what’s goin’ on?’ + all … she’s preparing something @ the bar + i’m assuming someone is gettin’ something good + i’m the next contestant, ya know? well, low + behold, Dawn asks me what flavour i’m gettin’ today { i typically get a large latte, w/ some continually varying flavour added to it … raspberry, caramel, vanilla, white mocha, you name it } + i was completely shocked | surprised | superHappy to see that the drink before me was my hot beverage, pretty much waiting + ready to go … it was like walking up to the counter + getting just what you want, no worries, no hassles … pretty cool …

{ yesterday was caramel … today, coconut … i trail off to some mellow, singersongwriter piano tappings w/ vox }

thank you very much Dawn … nice way to start the day …

I remember being in Vienna the other day, or maybe it was the other year. I was sitting in Cafe Hawelka sipping an espresso, doing my best to look nonchalant, but nothing could be further from the truth. My insides were pulsating at the prospect of what was to be, what was to happen at some point in the not-too-distant future.

I down my coffee and motion for another. I look down at the journal that I paid $14.95 for at Barnes & Noble before my trip. My great unfinished novel is nothing more than a fresco of incessant spraypaint graffiti. Still, it’s something. There is ink on the pages before me. It is the ink that came from my pen. (Incidentally, I had a nice pen with gold ink that I bought in London that was really cool). It is the pen that touched my hand. It is the hand that lifts the cup that holds the sumptuous, frothy coffee that is set before me by the man who looks like David Niven. I nod appreciatively. I am not Johnny Cash but I feel like him suddenly, surveying the room in my caffeine-induced way – alert, yet nonchalant.