The floor was an all guys' floor. That meant there were only guys on it. On top of that floor was an all girls' floor. While the guys drank warm  Red Bull in the morning, he went to the cafeteria for hot, black  coffee . At first he would go...

He ended up ordering a black  coffee . That was what he had begun the tale with. Before all the lattes and  cappuccino s. It had been black coffee he started with. He liked the idea of it. Pure. Enjoyable. No complications.

That's what he needed in his life now. To...

He didn't have time for this. More than time, he didn't have the mind. A coffee. He needed a damn coffee. The first one from earlier in the morning had worn off. This he could feel now that the andrenaline of McKayla's accident had worn off.

Max said a sort of...

Drinking  coffee to stay up late into the night was one of her favorite things to do in college. Blayne would probably never guess that she ever went to school. to him she was a cranky, eccentric simpleton. It was an air she put on. She preferred people thinking low...

After getting into the room Imogen went straight to bed and laid face down.

"Ughhh" she groaned.

Jack tried playing along. Acting tired as well. But it seemed like she was actually beat tired.

Perhaps there was a wall between them. Everything felt harder now. Before, when they had ran away together, being...

There's a kind of tired where even coffee doesn't work.

This was one of Imogen's favorite times to drink a coffee. So long as she didn't need to do anything. In this case she didn't. Jack -- acting as Keith acting as an Englishman -- was driving and seemed to have...

Sometimes when they worked late, Carl would make  decaf   coffee in the evening.

Sarah would laugh, scoff. "Why even drink coffee if it has no caffeine?"

Carl and Todd would grin at each other. She would never understand. To Todd, drinking coffee in the evening was sort of like a cheat. But...

It had taken everything in him to get up. But he was suddenly able when Imogen Howe mentioned visiting coffee shops.

Until then he felt like death . Didn't care what the others did. Alan only wanted the time to pass. Time was the only thing that could cure a hangover...

The windows were frosted. The cold came out of nowhere. Larry liked frosted glass. Not fog. The two had a similar opacifying effect, but the latter felt unhygenic while the former felt quaint.

Larry thought decades past when people would sit and talk for hours after eating their food. Laughter and...

He awoke later and later each morning. Soon he realized that he was waking up at 11. He needed to get out of here. HIs parents house. It stirred a laziness in him. Maybe moving back with his mom would be impossible. He began to understand why some of his...

It was a cold morning. Elena's skin was pricked cold during her walk to work. It wasn't a cold that chilled to the bone. The wind was like ice; the cold stayed mostly confined to the surface.

The cold had arrived sooner than expected. She had not worn her wool...

You could give a lot of coffees on the house at  Bloomingfoods . They made  coffee in those large self serve serve containers that customers poured using a spigot. The office tracked how many containers were made and how many cups were purchased. but because employees go to drink coffee...

New York city... where the girls are pretty.

Joey said this to himself for the dozenth time. He took another swig. The coffee was lukewarm now. Barely lukewarm. Could even be classified as cold. What was lukewarm even? Who was Luke?

Maybe Luke wasn't a name. Had a meaning perhaps. He might...

It was the first cold morning of the fall. The summer must be over for good, thought Carol as she tugged her shirt trying to keep warm. Usually she got hot easily. Was the one trying to turn the thermostat lower. But today she had not anticipated this chill. Had...

The work wasn't chaos. In fact Keith liked it. There was some bitter that came with the new fruit. Nearly half his previous coworkers were laid off. And he was doing double the work as before. But he was barely doing anything before. So the doubling didn't affect him much....

When he approached his office he noticed his door was open. He felt a tinge of sweat form. He never left his door open. His feet slowed. His mind raced to find out what had happened. His body dragged out the process.

When he turned the corner of the door's frame...

The new guy. He could pin it on him. His exhale was long, it calmed him. It was better than therapy he thought. Couldn't tell Jennifer that though. He breathed in and out normal air, as he smashed the cigarette into the bin. Keith yeah, he could kick him out...

The contents of the chef pan was thickening into a buttery, cheesy  risotto at half past two.

Godot felt restless when Doug had said they needed to call off their daily call.

"Doug! Can you at least tell me what it's for?"

"Yes. Charlie. That guy who offed himself."

"But what about--" Godot realized...

Keith needed a coffee . The Ethiopian place looked closed from the look of it. He thought about suggesting they try opening the door to see if maybe they were still in service. Immediately after the thought he decided against it.

The two continued their walk. The wind was no longer...

Doug managed four paragraphs. He re-read them twice. Decided to change things around for ten minutes. After, he thought he knew what he really wanted to say. Wrote it down. But now there was only one paragraph. He reread that. Decided it was garbage and closed the browser tab.

He then...

Dick was just rolling out of bed when Casey arrive. Rather when he first knocked Dick didn't know if it was his dream or real. Then by the door bell ringing and more knocks. It was real.

"Dude Casey's here" Jimmy said looking out the window he pushed Dick practically...

Jimmy took a sip of the  coffee with his yes closed. Mid grade. Decent. not good. Not bad.

He kept his eyes closed and took another long sip. Then he opened them and saw the branding on it. It was his favorite cafe. Suddenly the coffee tasted better.

"you got any plans...

The walk back to the house was 5 blocks. Dick liked this part the best as he saw the beautiful streets. A few down from his were these magnificent houses, more beautiful in their prime sure. Now some were dilapidated, aged, windowsills missing but you could still tell. Some were...

As the  urine flowed, the lemon smell was replaced by the smell of coffee. His piss smelled like black caffeine. Of course he knew coffee and caffeine weren't one in the same. But given that his only source of caffeine was from coffee, in his head, caffeine smelled like coffee.

There...

Dick had been studying for nearly 4 hours. He was focused, the looming deadline had him stressed. He had to create a game, solitaire. He couldn't even spell the name right. He first noticed he felt anxious, his eyes tired, and then he had to leave. He packed up quickly...

Every so often Love was reminded of his past. Today spreading butter on toast, and listening to his coffee brew in the pot. He was reminded of his wife. How many mornings did they spend together, and different orientations they sat, and mugs they broke and cleaned.

She liked sandwiches...

He thought about the tip jar. Guesstimated how much was in there. Tried distracting himself until his mind brought back what he was really thinking about. Back at the mansion. With Mr. Green.

He looked for him. He never stayed at the cafe long. But Stan had never seen Mr. Green...

One time it was a Saturday morning. Marc Love had woken up a little later than usual. And since he wasn't going to work he didn't need to shave. The kids were still asleep. And he wasn't feeling so tired and thus wasn't craving  coffee first thing in the morning...

Love arrived at the motel. The manager didn't even glance up when he requested his room, its vacant still. Great, yeah, cash is fine sure. Appreciate it. Marc walked up the stairs there was a certain smell to gas city that he was surrounded by now, a mixture of heat...

His days moved slow since the explosion. Still avoided the desert. He avoided running into people he knew. Avoided getting to know someone too well. Being a ghost had been his preference. A fact unobvious to him until he fell into enjoying someone's company.

He caught himself waiting by the...

The HR guy had decided to re-bean the employee cafe. The decision was made after running the numbers. Seeing what the balance sheet would look like if Cal was to get on disability as well. The two of them. Cal and his friend Keith could begin causing a lot of...

Cal waited for another assignment. At first he thought about asking them immediately. Like Yo my guy disappeared can I have another. Then for some reason he didn't. He imagined Spacecity wouldn't care if he didn't have a guy. As long as he seemed to have a guy. He waited,...

Whats your guy like Keith? Chris asked to change the subject.

My guy, uhhh. He looked around, no other groups were looking at them so he assumed they couldn't hear.

My guy is doing better, at least he didn't die, but usage definitely different. Way lower. Calls a lot of...

Cal understood not why Keith went to the machines. Why not enjoy the morning coffee at the cafe?

"I never enjoyed those on earth either."

"Cafes?"

"Right. Always thought they were. Fake."

Next time Cal went to the cafe in  Spacecity he wondered whether he himself thought it felt fake. It was obviously fake....

Mom,


Made it. Not much to report right now. Warmer than I thought. The first night I had to sleep in isolation, so there now. Its fine so far, met some people on the ride up. The guy next to me was from Washington. The other guy from Miami. Though...

Susie drank a big cup of coffee. She didn't need it. It was already three. She usually didn't drink coffee after 1. Today felt different. Both her sons were out of the nest. One was way out west. Had been for awhile. The youngest was now in space. She was...

Before the arrival day Keith found it extra hard to sleep. He found his work book decorated in circles. He'd start day dreaming and just start drawing. When he was in school one of his teachers would call them grapes. He'd ask him how many grapes he harvested today. Oh...

When he couldn't sleep he went to the den. That's where the insomniacs hung out. Always a few  chess players. Few lively but soft spoken conversations. Even some crazy people drinking coffee . Maybe as some display of their eccentricity.

Each person hanging out in the den too long knew they...

The  smell was why used the machine. That and the hum of the machine as it poured the stream of the black extract.

The machine cost half the salary of an entry level watcher. When Keith first arrived this appalled him. Many coworkers quipped about it still. Now Keith understood...

At the cafe they always met, he knew this would be good bye. The last time they saw each other. Scenes of Jordan Belfort screwing his wife.

There was no reason this had to be their last time. In fact they might very well run into each other in the future.

But...

Roger got his coffee in ceramic mugs. He understood why someone taking their coffee togo would defer to paper. What he couldn't understand were those who sat at the cafe drinking from a paper cup.

No way he was going to pay big bucks to drink coffee without his lips...

Sam ran the  cafe like a home. It was made easier by the fact that he and the wife ran the cafe together. That along with the fact that their  Apartment sat on top of the cafe. Growing up in the  suburbs , Sam had never imagined he'd be living...

In the afternoon he went to Roger's. No matter how busy.

Even in the midst of the  IPO and he was working 16 hour days, he made time for  coffee at Roger's.

By that time he'd already had double the average coffee consumption of a normal man in  Westcity .

He was abnormal....

Carl waited at the cafe alone for about 20 minutes. Nervous.

He had a lot to tell his supervisor. He had researched at the  Westcity public  library all weekend. Old newspapers. And now he had a thesis. But then ten minutes past. His coffee cup was empty. He wanted another, but...

It's not about what you know. It's about what you can prove.

The thought rolled in his mind as he continued chewing onto the last remaining skin of the apple. He wouldn't swallow it for another ten minutes or so. Not until he arrived at the cafe and he could wash...

The car continued to drive. It was raining. The man stopped asking questions. He thought of things. He was sad. The world was out to crush him. It was had. But now it had crushed him harder. Who were these men? They were scary. He was scary. More than sad.

He...

"In the early 2010s people assumed bitcoin would be used for money laundering , which is reasonable given that bitcoin used to be this obscure entity dwelling in the dark corner. It's not farfetched to believe such a thing would be used by criminals to hide money. But today with...

Hector watched the cortisol infused rats scuttling around.

People had places to be. And they had to have been there ten minutes ago. deadline s were past due. And the  coffee was no longer hitting. Though they still needed the coffee. That was not up for discussion. Even when the  caffeine...

The forest rustled as the sun set. This was when you were screwed if you weren't already almost back. People living  modern lives never knew this. On the odd  camping trip they might feel it. Mother  nature 's signal that night is upon you. But such lessons were easily forgotten...

The young man in the hoodie pounded his laptop . He still had an older model Macbook Pro , the ones with the graceful yet sturdy keyboards. One could get a lot usage out of those keys, and the guy in the hoodie had.

In college he had imagined himself becoming...

The man had giant hands, but his figure wasn't large. Most likely he had the genetics of a large man, but grew up in a famished environment. Still he walked around with the air of a giant. Not a gentle giant who wouldn't swat a fly, but the kind who...

Derick was thinking about  coffee . He had already drunk three. In the past drinking three, four cups made him excited. Information allured him. Replying to email s felt like a  video game . He could be doing the most boring thing, and it'd enthrall him.

The other day his barista...

"It's fascinating," the man with glasses sipped his coffee then took a long breath before continuing, "that we as a society have gotten so hung up about this one fact. Did he in fact kill that girl?"

The students waited. Usually this classroom was filled with kids watching TikTok or falling...

He enjoyed his new work life balance . They no longer forced him to spend long days and late evenings in air conditioned studios and board rooms, drinking bad coffee out of to-go cups , reshooting the dances over and over until they were just perfect. But perfect according to...

Patricia stormed through the hall holding a paper cup. Four minutes remained until the scheduled time. Usually she arrived at least 10 minutes before. Anything less made her nervous. But she had walked this hall a thousand times now. Enough times to not feel a gram of sweat while making...

People couldn't stop talking about the  rain . They couldn't remember the last time it had rained this much. Not that it had rained everyday. But that it had rained every week. Was it ever like that before? Rain at least once a week? Hop Tsing thought about this as...

Entering the hackathon was exciting in itself. Andrew Cook sat toggling between two browser tabs. One his email where he re-read the welcome email . The other the event website . An hour passed with him toggling these two tabs. He was seated at a table in his favorite cafe...

He began visiting the Vietnamese restaurant regularly. They had good pho ,  spring rolls , and skewered meats. The owner, when he'd given the kid his first meal for free had known what he was doing. Knew the kid would be return. Spend all his discretionary money on the satisfying,...

He went to pay for his discounted meal but was surprised. On the house, the owner said, his eyes closed, head down in a slight bow. He had even had a Vietnamese coffee after his meal. Why were they not making him pay.

"Please, let me pay."

"No it is okay. You...

He was a dumb kid. That's what everyone said. Rocks for brains. And they were probably right. He'd given up on school by the time he was ten years old when his  report card started coming home with Ds and Cs rather than just Cs.

Not all of them, but several...

When he came out to the living room finally after washing up she had a  coffee waiting for him. He gulped. She never made him coffee or tea. It was always him doing that. She must be upset about something.

This was the cost of being at fault. Having done something...

I didn't drink  coffee until that  summer KJ and I became best friends. My entrance was not the usual morning pick-me-up.

Instead KJ and I, being underage and not knowing anyone who would buy booze for us, looked for some kind of social stimulation that resembled a bar. We really wished...

When I was 16 my best friend was an 18 year old who lived two school districts away from me. Until that summer I had never thought it possible to have a best friend that was two years older. There had been childhood fantasies where I'd look up to someone...

He thought he could move in one day. He had always been able to move in one day before. This is not to say that he'd have his entire place unpacked, but everything from the truck would be unloaded into the new space.

This was the first time he couldn't empty...

Today I started work early while writing and it was a nice way to start. No one in the lab, a cup of coffee . Lately I have been writing a lot about clarity , and I feel like in professional life that is the reason I have been writing....

On Saturday, I started a 12-hour paramedic shift. As I walked into the standby room, I encountered an emergency doctor I hadn't seen in a while. Right after breakfast, we were called to our first trip, so I couldn't talk much to him, but later on, we got to play...

Stories and memories get condensed. Like Jake might say he's going out with Mike for a  beer when in fact there was a lot more they did than just get a beer. But we can communicate with each other by saying these symbolic meanings.

Went out for a beer.

The person we...

It was late. The time a healthy person wouldn't eat. Let alone be awake. But he had slept all day and had nothing more than two slices of toast with peanut butter rubbed onto them. As soon as he stepped out into the thick summer air the scent of alcoholics'...

He returned to the apartment while it was still somewhat dark. Morning was just around the corner. The birdsong s scattered the noise into the air, and anxiety into him. An excitement. He wasn't even replaying the sensual scenes back in his mind. Instead he was replaying an idea of...

Outside a service access backdoor stood Justine holding a cigarette , her upper back leaned against the brick wall. All felt calm, honking and engines floated peacefully, muffled through the large alleyway between the Historic Center and the National Hotel.

The ordinary urban alley had a bad association. With trash inappropriately...

When he called, Jasmine knew it was bad news.

She had not responded to him since the night he was over. That strange night. With the blue package. And that awful, unexplainable, humming.

She had said nothing about it and neither did PT. She hoped that it would make it seem less...

There was a man who loved coffee so much

he drank three, four, sometimes five cups a day.



He would feel his day unworthwhile,

when that buzz of caffeine not bubbling within.



When the chemical was not driving his engine,

all the information on the websites and books

would suddenly feel so uninteresting.



One day he no...

"Mom! Mom! Wake up!"

The day struck her on top of the head. Sleep threw her off the soft bed and onto a concrete floor. 

"Mommmmmmmm."

She used to sleep in all the time. She didn't begin waking up early for the sake of Cameron, although that was one benefit. Instead Victoria...

He left the room in a hurry. With each step he wished he had stayed. But it was too late now. Leaving had made a statement, a statement that would become meaningless the moment he returned. So he kept storming along.

Once he was far enough from the room his steps...

His stomach sank. He thought once more, this trip is going terribly. He was sweating under his winter  coat . He took it off and the wind made him shiver. He looked around trying to spot his bike. Filled with determination, he started to walk the perimeter of the entire ...

He already felt it. He didn't want it to be true, but it still excited him. He couldn't focus on his work. He couldn't focus because he felt it was true.

After the mysterious lady left he had tried buckling down on his laptop and get back to answering emails and...

We arrived I think tired the weather was worse than expected especially for a beach. The water tossed and turned and the waves brought sea weed in piles so big that you would have cross it like a small gate in a field. Around the wind moved sand into your...

He hadn't been to SSD since he got his puppy. But before that he used to spend all his free time, weekday or weekend s, at the SSD. He liked the first S the best. It stood for  shooting range . It was not that he found pleasure in shooting...

I was thinking of an app Taylor Otwell espouses.

Todoist .

Very simple, and that got me thinking while I was making today's coffee about simple.

A to-do list is considered one of the simplest user interfaces, so much so that people akin it to basket weaving of programming. This perception of...

When he found out he had to stay on campus for  winter break he imagined he'd be alone in a ghost town. He was a little bit disappointed when he found there were in fact people walking around, driving around, and that most of the businesses were open. Sure there...

After leaving her job, she didn't view time the same. Instead of using the 24 hours she began segmenting each day into six markers. There was no concept of seven o clock anymore.

This was her system:
The rooster crowing in the morning -- 1. The coffee -- 2. The first meal...

Almost everyday, my favorite cafe in college drew a crowd. The only days it'd lay bare were holidays when almost all the students went home. Besides that it was a squeeze, and I'd often have to share a table with a 'stranger' during peak hours.

I did my work at the...

They lived in a wrinkle of  history . Where there was peace for just a bit. But then it was back to the script.

They bought  coffee and walked around big cities wearing photographer's pants, and the only thing they needed to worry about was stocking 12 grand a year into...

His  apprentice excited him, but made him feel a little bit uncomfortable.

Each morning he'd go downstairs to see young Alex already eager to tackle the day. He wasn't sure what his apprentice's morning routine consisted of but he was sure that there was some intense  exercise there and some  notebooking...

When he entered the  cafe , it was shadowed. Not dark, the  sun 's light made its way, filtered, to the main area where people were seated.

People were conversing, in hushed tones, now that the music was off. The person at the counter couldn't buy their coffee . The  barista...

In the back of the cafe there is a space that has been my favorite place to write.

Only thing is that it is hardly ever open. Still the cafe is my favorite haunt. I'll go there for a cup of coffee and sit around sipping it in the thick, white...

I am excited about going to the  coworking space today.

Last night I've washed my hair so that I could wear it down rather than tied up like I usually do.

I wonder if Derick will be there. We talked once at an event for designers called Design Donut Day. But since...

In college, happiness never felt more than a coffee away.

No matter how anxious or glum the day, he knew that if he were to sit down at a cafe , order a  coffee and people watch for a couple hours he would be back to his regular old self again....

There's an imprisoning feeling that comes with the American car culture, although I bet when cars were becoming a mainstay of life, it was all about  freedom .

Drive whenever, wherever you want. Don't get stuck in crowds and be chained to public transit's timetables.

Because driving has been the default travel...

I become addicted maybe for a week maybe for a month to a specific food item. It is usually small like a coffee  from a specific place or a yogurt drink that was on sale. 

Sometimes this makes me worried I am just in their demographic and the advertisements are...

The first time I saw Patagonia was when I got to college. Back during high school my small town the cool kids wore The North Face .

There was a store specializing in outdoors' apparel on the main shopping strip bordering the northern edge of campus . I'd pass by...

You asked about the  Final Friday party, just like so many other customers.

But your question felt heavier, like I could feel your curiosity.

There's nothing wrong with customers asking about an upcoming party for the sake of being nice. I don't mind. Most barista - customer chatter is this anyway: Small...

Each morning I wake up and face the page .

The next blank sheet on my notebook.

Using pen, I ink thoughts and feelings onto paper with no expectations of turning it into anything.

Not trying to plot a story. Not trying to develop a character. Definitely not trying to brainstorm a product...

IV This would be a boring story if it were just of me running a software consultancy and hanging out with my startup founder friend for  coffee here and there. That is not what this story is about. Today I'm no longer involved with that old devshop. My partner and...

As he grew older he found it harder to recognize people. He still could recognize everyone, but there was a time in high school when he couldn't imagine not being able to see and old classmate and knowing it was them right away. Even if they were to meet in ...

She thought she might be able to be a  barista forever. So long as she owned the cafes one day. Making 12 bucks an hour plus tips was just not going to cut it for the rest of her life.

The people and their tips were nice. They meant well, but...

In front of the cafe they were greeted by Imogen Howe who was standing outside as if waiting for them old school style like people used to for someone at the train station before smartphones and gps .

Jake Raynor didn't know how to approach the greeting. He didn't actually...

So nice to see you, Jean greeted me with a hug.

After our pleasantries and a moment of silence where the both of us looked outside at the gentle snow fall she asked me something. Something real. Definitely the first real statement of our conversation.

I'm surprised to learn you're in  Westcity...

The email from  Jean Gras asking if I'd be down for a coffee was the first time I'd heard from her since college .

Back then we got coffee a lot. I think whenever she asked, except for one occasion I said yes. That one time I had wanted to say...

email is a great method of communication. You send off your message and you kind of forget about it. No waiting around to see if the other person checks it and replies right away. You just go about your day.

At least that's how I use it. Maybe you do sit...

Jobs were simpler back then. No high resolution tracking  software . No way for the supervisor to see very little break you took.

This didn't mean he slacked off. Though people these days might call it that. But in his head he didn't.

He made every stop promptly and maintained a brisk...

During their drives, he spoke and she listened. It made sense this way. 

She never found ideas arise from within her. Sometimes he'd share something about himself, something sincere, and she would suddenly feel an urge to share something about herself. 

When she asked things about him she would reveal...

He spent much of his afternoons on walks.

Around campus and along the main strip. The early part of the day when he could nurse a coffee were his favorite part. Once the sun started going down feelings grew heavier within him. Have to find someplace that he can call... he...

First job out of college was for the national gas company. Went around reading people's meters and making sure we collected the right amount of money. Most people did pay the right amount, but you always ran into some troublemakers.

Even these troublemakers weren't that bad. You just had to catch...

For all our drinking and cooking, we use reverse-osmosis   water . We get this through three three gallon refillable jugs that we take to our little grocery store. Most times we only refill two jugs at a time. Some days it's one. Rarely it's all three. But most times a...

I originally began this with the phrase in the old days, but this wasn't long ago time-wise. Instead I should use:

In the far days,  I didn't know the value of respect. And when someone doesn't know something so deep and systemic, it's always the case that they don't know...

30s are tough from a lot of my reading. A lot of significant events tend to happen then. The one that becomes stressful is that you are expected to make very long term decisions. Like a partner, career, house and maybe even legacy :). 

...

When I arrived at the cafe , my mystery date wasn't there. I mean maybe she was, but she never approached me. I stood around flipping between checking my phone and examining the guests, until eventually I grew anxious about loitering in the cafe without buying anything. It didn't look...

They bonded over rooibos tea. In college it would've been late night coffee or beer , but by this time, they were more responsible. So uncaffeinated rooibos it was.

The sun set early in that time they first met: transition into late autumn. Even though the days would become shorter in...

"Jean. aren't you supposed to be in class?"

She hadn't expected to run into anyone, but she wasn't displeased by the encounter. She had decided to take the entire day off and instead spend it at the cafe doing nothing at all, besides for drinking large volumes of coffee and  rooibos...

She sat there sipping black coffee , so much of it that she wondered if it would turn her blood black. Black blood was a thing. She read about it in a Jo Nesbo novel. If you stabbed someone in the liver you would watch the blood pour out black.

Apparently...

Matthew McConaughey had an office in a building I helped manage right out of college. His was one half of the third story to an unassuming brick building in a quieter, yet still urban part of Westcity . It was one of those neighborhood urban spots rather than the main...

"Hello, Jake."

It was Riley from back in the day. We'd both lived in Williams Hall, and we'd often go eat and try to study together. After moving off campus it got hard trying to see each other, and I guess we just found our own ways. 

"So you're living off...

The next morning I went to the cafe just like I did every Wednesday around 9AM. The music was cafe-smooth Norah Jones . I ordered a black cup of house roast coffee , just like I always did when Norah was playing. Something about her made me enjoy that dark...

In wintertime I saw a woman in her 50s more often than not anytime I went to the cafe. Besides Sundays, I went everyday so she noticed me as well. Go to the cafe that often and you begin recognizing who comes regularly. Begin to notice out of those regulars...

One winter afternoon he got on the wrong bus on the way home from the field trip downtown. At first he thought he was in big trouble, but the teachers didn't notice. And to his surprise he enjoyed talking with the kid in front of him who had his head...

On her smoke break she wondered where all the black from the  coffee went. Sometimes when she drank a lot of coffee, especially strong coffee, her urine smelled of it. It delighted her actually. But she never saw any black coming out. And she didn't have black skin or hair....

The first few times you go to coffee with somebody are almost always quite exciting. Both people listen to each other and it turns out to be an exciting exchange of ideas and theories. After a few times this excitement fades. You both begin to realize that in fact all...

Jeannie Hammond thought of the perfect way to spend her day off. And she did something else.

There was a doner truck that sold the best kebab in Berlin two corners away from his apartment. He went and got a loaf of bread from a Kaiser mart instead. 

She came home...

He crossed Lexington Ave to enter the design district with just a slight layer of sweat. Although he ran the second largest design + strategy agency in the city, he had chosen to work out of an office on the other side of Lexington, which technically put them within the...

I hadn't spoken with him since college. I managed to graduate while he dropped out. This didn't seem to matter though, seeing as how he drove to our lunch in a slick Audi .

"Nice ride, am I right?"

"Yeah for sure."

Although we hadn't spoken in a decade we caught up real...

I thought of the last time I felt pain.

It happened before I stuck myself into a 27th floor apartment on top of the downtown Whole Foods . I remember when I came in, telling myself I wouldn't leave until I felt better. And I haven't left since.

Inside this tower I...

Night always fell, no matter how good or bad the day. This was advice she spun in her head on bad days.... while trying to ignore on the good ones.

This day was going particularly well. She hadn't woken up with too bad of a hangover. And by the time she'd...

I spent the first few weeks of that job reading  Bukowski . Besides for Post Office, I read all of his books. His stories fit in with this job, because I felt like I was having one over on 'the man', and this was exactly what Buk valued. Living on...

She began her story slow... and then it went fast. I suddenly felt like I was sucked into her high school self. But her story reminded me so much of mine it felt uncanny. Like she was speaking for me. Telling my story.

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Imogen and I became friends during that...

Lately I've been hearing a lot this quote from Sam Harris: you might have done something for the last time today. We go through our lives thinking we have endless horizons. That we will have yet another shot at everything. But this isn't true. Sometimes you tell a friend goodbye,...

The first face Rodia saw that morning was Mark's. 

"Hello, good morning." Mark said with a smile. "Breakfast?"

"Good morning. Thanks, breakfast sounds great."

Rodia sat down. Mark's face, which was peaking in from the kitchen into the dining room was smiling. His smile always communicated things without words. Today Rodia knew...

Well given that John was an artist by trade and not a chef, I really couldn't sanely feel upset about him not cooking for me. But that's how it was. Maybe it'd be more precise to say that I was let down, having spent the weeks leading up to our...

If you're not writing what you want... what you need to write then you're going to quit.

This is because writing isn't great. They do a good job of selling you the status of a writer but the isolated task of writing is nothing to write home about.

Like most...

The error is nested so deep within the stack trace he feels cortisol flood out from his capillaries. After a few seconds of leg shaking he shuts down the laptop, shoves it into his messenger bag, and escapes.

Outside he is cast Instagram Blue. Bad day for perfect weather he thinks...