coffee

Westcity
the next pot would be the usual as reply to Something Like That

Abraham Kim
decaf coffee blue
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...

Westcity
the chill breeze as reply to Like Death

Abraham Kim
Imogen Howe death hangover coffee cold showers
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...

Westcity
larry as reply to Say a Word

Abraham Kim
coffee time diner
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...

Westcity
in the future, he'd remember as reply to Choose Here

Abraham Kim
coffee Westcity winter break Imogen Howe
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...

Westcity
elena shows up to work as reply to Normal Person

Abraham Kim
Bloomingfoods coffee slow
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...

Westcity
the beginning of marc love as reply to On the House

Abraham Kim
Bloomingfoods coffee Bloomington, IN
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...

Westcity
stuck as reply to Big Apple

Abraham Kim
New York 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...

Westcity
jared's therapist as reply to Man

Abraham Kim
coffee Espresso Royale Baker Ave. body heat espresso cappuccino cold showers Keurig
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...

Westcity
appreciate slow coffee as reply to Something different about it

Abraham Kim
coffee cafe to-go cups Spacecity LinkedIn schedenfruede
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....

Westcity
reasons to move keith as reply to Coffee

Abraham Kim
anxiety coffee Americans
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...

Coffee as reply to back to the nasty habit

Drew
coffee
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...

Doug 13: the risotto thickens as reply to Doug 12: The Plot Thickens

Abraham Kim
risotto coffee
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...

Westcity
cigarettes on a walk as reply to His Head

Abraham Kim
coffee Ethiopian vape cigarette cough sentimental Marlboro
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 as reply to Bounce

Abraham Kim
coffee caffeine
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...

Gunna do now as reply to frail casey

Drew
coffee
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...

Westcity
feast for two as reply to Some Coffee

Abraham Kim
coffee beer credit cards Ethiopian
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...

Some Coffee as reply to jimmy the man

Drew
coffee
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...

Westcity
pee as reply to Fake Lemons

Abraham Kim
urine coffee asparagus
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...

Walked as reply to what you pay for

Drew
coffee
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...

Toast and Coffee as reply to bread

Drew
toast coffee
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...

Westcity
see you later as reply to Tip Jar

Abraham Kim
coffee cafe service industry
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...

Westcity
an accident as reply to Leaving

Abraham Kim
coffee hospital shave
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...

Coffee as reply to answers

Drew
coffee
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...

PO Box 915
food as fuel and beyond as reply to Too Fast

Abraham Kim
coffee pizza Heat food risotto relationship meal hierarchy of needs millennial
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...

Westcity
worse as reply to The Beans

Abraham Kim
Spacecity coffee
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...

What If? as reply to what are the chances?

Drew
Spacecity coffee coffeemachine cafe
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,...

A Call as reply to no data

Drew
coffee
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...

Westcity
fake as reply to Croissant

Abraham Kim
coffee Spacecity
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....

Dirty Dishes as reply to both sons gone

Drew
coffee Spacecity computer
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...

Westcity
both sons gone as reply to The Last Day

Abraham Kim
loneliness coffee phone computer Spacecity magazine
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...

Coffee as reply to terms

Drew
Spacecity coffee
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...

Westcity
the den as reply to Some Water

Abraham Kim
chess coffee
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...

Westcity
machines as reply to Silence

Abraham Kim
coffee space tea smell coworkers machine floating
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...

Westcity
a final coffee

coffee final
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...

Westcity
rogue mugs as reply to What did he get?

Abraham Kim
coffee ceramic cafe sex Starbucks condom
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...

Westcity
sam and his wife run a cafe as reply to Right on Time

Abraham Kim
cafe Apartment winter snow caffeine coffee laptoppers suburbs flaneur
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...

Westcity
in the afternoon

coffee Westcity IPO circadian rhythm
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....

Westcity
civies as reply to No Doubts

Abraham Kim
Westcity library cafe coffee
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...

Westcity
extermination as reply to The facts

Abraham Kim
coffee Blockchain crypto detective eggs murder evil authority
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...

ai mimicking writing as reply to "I see"

Abraham Kim
coffee
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...

notebooks as reply to Take good care of the plant

Abraham Kim
2010s bitcoin coffee fiat ETH money laundering criminals ledger whale alert
"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...

idling as reply to Chill

Abraham Kim
cortisol deadline coffee caffeine Work lunch boring Twitter Netflix
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...

Westcity
the stranger in the woods as reply to Mark

Abraham Kim
coffee high school pizza Grand Canyon modern camping nature people fast food
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...

Westcity
caught at the cafe as reply to The Cafe

Abraham Kim
laptop Macbook Pro Apple Google Zoom cafe friends Work newspaper coffee people watch computer science web development
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...

Westcity
marcin as reply to Chapter 4

Abraham Kim
coffee Frankfurt wife
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...

Westcity
foul play as reply to Old Coffee

Abraham Kim
coffee email boring barista Grand Canyon video game
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...

Westcity
a lecture as reply to November Blue

Abraham Kim
glasses coffee TikTok murder BPSL
"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...

Westcity
all along as reply to blueTok

Abraham Kim
coffee to-go cups influencer soul work life balance air conditioned master
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...

Westcity
masala chai as reply to Tim

Abraham Kim
Heat tea coffee chai pumpkin spice latte
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...

unexplainable as reply to Something

Abraham Kim
rain coffee school shooting newspaper Westcity condensed milk white people superstitious horoscope
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...

Westcity
welcome

hackathon email website cafe coffee Westcity sans-serif laptop whiteboard
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...

just like the first time as reply to Different

Abraham Kim
Vietnamese coffee rain pho spring rolls
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,...

warm as reply to Soup

Abraham Kim
Vietnamese coffee belly broth
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...

a dumb man

McDonalds coffee Twitter school report card paychecks startup
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...

Westcity
some things take time

coffee girlfriend tea signal
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...

Westcity
The Bitter End

coffee summer cafe barista 24/7 The Bitter End
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...

Westcity
the future

best friend driver's license college cafe coffee school district
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...

Westcity
moving as a non young person

college peanut butter parents House of Cards coffee Bialetti Westcity student budget Indeed neoliberal subreddit
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...

Clarity as reply to Heat

Drew
coffee clarity
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....

Weekend

paramedic coffee sleep vaccination KISS Vienna
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...

Abe's Blog
Compression

beer coffee roadtrip life resolution
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...

Flash Fiction Practice
Greco in the Night II -- the diner

cigarette eggs coffee diner toast peanut butter perfume hashbrowns onions sunny side up rye office beatnik
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'...

PO Box 915
too tired to fall asleep as reply to Mysteries never end

Abraham Kim
birdsong sun coffee post office teeth boxer-briefs
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...

PO Box 915
in the center as reply to Uncertain about her role

Abraham Kim
cigarette fiction coffee urban claustrophobic white glove Rolls-Royce Prius
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...

PO Box 915
it would continue as reply to Large toothy smile

Abraham Kim
coffee
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...

Solo Echo Practice
no rumination required

coffee caffeine
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...

PO Box 915
lies as reply to Going out

Abraham Kim
coffee TV duffel bag hangover nurse shitty boyfriends
"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...

PO Box 915
gravity as reply to Johnny Timberland

Abraham Kim
post office cafe barista coffee hipster college package coat decaf gravity
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 ...

PO Box 915
ruffled as reply to Morning

Abraham Kim
coffee email post office key
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...

A Coffee

coffee
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...

Flash Fiction Practice
SSD as reply to The great reveal

Abraham Kim
weekend Instagram TikTok American coffee Facebook shooting range waitresses glock-18
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...

Abe's Blog
Simple

Taylor Otwell coffee screensaver Todoist basket weaving to-do lists Hello World quotes
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...

Westcity
Untitled Shared at Mar 24, 2022

coffee sleep new year winter break Christmas
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...

Abe's Blog
Thoughts about my favorite college cafe

cafe college coffee laptoppers newspaper first dates
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...

Flash Fiction Practice
Wrinkle

coffee history index funds hope wrinkle
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...

Flash Fiction Practice
Old man tries to keep up with young Alex

notebooking coffee apprentice morning routine exercise Bialetti mentor
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...

Flash Fiction Practice
Outage

cafe sun coffee barista caffeine credit cards Ginger Dragon ginger lemon honey World War II
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...

Westcity
In the back of the cafe

cafe coffee Writing ceramic early bird 9 to 5
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...

Westcity
Real designer

coworking space coffee Zoom Microsoft Outlook designer design donuts wanna-be
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...

Flash Fiction Practice
Spot

cafe coffee sunglasses college happiness anxious glum people watching
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....

Westcity
Circle Park

Westcity coffee Thursday American freedom weekend
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...

Iced coffee with almond milk

coffee
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...

Flash Fiction Practice
Andes Blue

cafe college coffee cigarettes Baltimore Patagonia The North Face campus hemp thermostat Andes Blue puff vest
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...

X Series [1]
A curious customer

barista coffee Final Friday small talk
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...

Abe's Blog
The #1 writing app

Adagia tea Japan coffee face the page writing app green tea
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...

Shark Swim
IV, V

consultancy coffee software website hosting email 2010s 2020s IPA landline clients
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...

X Series [0]
VII

Berlin Westcity coffee Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoevsky dopamine Facebook tea Louvre October uncanny popcorn movie theater seltzer water St. Petersburg
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 ...

X Series [0]
IV

barista coffee Facebook college beer Imogen Howe Westcity service industry blue chip
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...

X Series [0]
II

cafe Imogen Howe Jake Raynor coffee barista smartphones gps beet juice
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...

Flash Fiction Practice
Untitled Shared at Dec 28, 2021

Westcity Jean Gras cappuccino coffee cafe Christmas Eve
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...

Flash Fiction Practice
Untitled Shared at Dec 24, 2021

email Facebook Telegram coffee social media tea News Feed addiction cigarettes
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...

Flash Fiction Practice
The Bill Collector II

software coffee Wednesday Jakub Gold
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...

Flash Fiction Practice
Driving

coffee Toyota Camry
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...

Flash Fiction Practice
Heavy

coffee beer whiskey
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...
A Barszcz Recipe
Ah the grand old original feature "lens" 

What do you like about the dark, 
dealingwith
?

See this is a key attribute about reading -- and any other activity -- that we often overlook. Often times the coffee is not just about the 
coffee
. There's that walk to that cafe. That talk with the 
barista
. The sights of the trees swaying in the winds all brightly hitting the back of your retina as your feet move. 

Interestingly if I ever had an intern who brought me coffee I'd tell them to drink it themselves, I'm going to get myself my own coffee.
Abraham Kim

Flash Fiction Practice
The Bill Collector I

coffee zloty
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...

Abe's Blog
Water -> Blood -> Urine

Hyundai coffee blood kidneys reverse-osmosis water
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...

Abe's Blog
The 4th Decade

coffee starry-eyed milk Kurt Vonnegut
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 :). 
...

Flash Fiction Practice
October's Formal - 2

cafe coffee Creative Class Red Bull
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...

Flash Fiction Practice
Rooibos

rooibos college coffee beer Europe
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...

Flash Fiction Practice
A day at the cafe

cafe coffee rooibos college Jean Gras football
"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...

Flash Fiction Practice
Black Blood

coffee blood Jo Nesbo urine kidneys
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...

Flash Fiction Practice
Matthew McConaughey

Westcity coffee Matthew McConaughey Hollywood Austin
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...

Flash Fiction Practice
Crooked Schedules - 3

Baker Ave. Facebook coffee Chipotle honeybush caffeine
"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...

Flash Fiction Practice
Crooked Schedules - 2

coffee cappuccino Macbook Pro cafe-smooth Norah Jones
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...

Flash Fiction Practice
Crooked Schedules - 1

coffee cappuccino Crime and Punishment The Shins Baker Ave. zucchini bread
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...

Flash Fiction Practice
White Lips. Pale Face

coffee McDonalds Ed Sheeran
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...

Fiction Snippets
1

Jeannie Hammond Berlin coffee American Spirits MIA
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...

Flash Fiction Practice
Big Red

coffee Audi Brock Lesnar phD
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 found the Diaries of Greco
Buk

coffee beer Bukowski Urban Dairy tallboys
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...

Jeannie Hammond
Anybody interesting has their String Story

coffee Jeannie Hammond Imogen Howe diner enamel Sam Harris teeth
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,...
Missed a Day
BTW I remember you saying that you would think it's cool to have notetaking features.

If you're using a 
Google Chrome
based browser like chrome -- obviously -- or 
Brave Browser
, then you can use the characters [[ to invoke 'topics'. For example I've written a lot about 
coffee
 as a topic. You can click any of these topics and see the linked posts/coments.
Abraham Kim
Some Kind Of Way
This is a good fucking stream of thoughts and ideas that had me guessing and imagining the entire time.

Probably my favorite post about
coffee
here. And I love coffee
Abraham Kim

Echo and Narcissus Writing Club
Lunch -- Play, Perspective, and Narrative Voice Assignment

Westcity Instagram arugula coffee Leo Michael Douglas devil's advocate Ryan Gosling Jonah Hill Matt Damon
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...