She regretted coming back before new year. She could've stayed in  Chicago . The people at the house wanted her there. Liked the way she made coffee. Thought she was respectful enough. Plus she played guitar better than the bozo who was supposed to be the best player in the...

"That's a funny saying."

The first thing Dave noticed about the kid beside him were khaki pants. The beige draped the long legs not too snug, not too loose. He wore a polo of mid bright green, its cotton almost thick as a thin sweatshirt. The fabric looked soft. The kid...

They hadn't planned a meeting spot before heading out. They agreed to call each other and triage live. But his phone was about to die. So he sent a text saying ' meet at the corner of Jacob and Penny '.

When he arrived at the intersection there were about seven...

Jack went to the Vietnamese cafe, it was a restaurant but to get more seats filled it became a cafe during certain times. You couldn't get soup, but espresso. The sign outside said espresso yourself written in chalk. And Jack chuckled to himself, not because he liked the joke, but...

To do great work one must get going before it's late.

Great work requires time in flow . Frequently beginners struggle to get into flow. So much that they will take the flow whenever it comes, even if it arrives too late.

When is too late for flow? Too close to...

The  fat man wasn't actually that fat. Apparently  Homer Simpson was once considered morbidly  obese . But with changing standards he was no longer considered morbidly so. The fat man felt the same way. One day in his 30s he looked at one of his old suits that he wore...

I hadn't seen Imo in years. She told me she was in town for a conference nearby, but I was pretty sure she had signed up for the conference only because it was in my town.

We had been best friends. Even after we were no longer that, we had held...

Two years had passed since the  school shooting . That event changed her whole life. She and her gang of friends had been the most popular kids in school. Seniors enjoying their high social positions. Slated to do great things. Graduate with high honors and attend great universities afterwards.

She had...

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...

Once it was not so late, but it felt like night, on a Wednesday during the purgatory between Thanksgiving and  winter break , when the semester was still technically ongoing, but everybody had already begun studying for finals.

I hadn't realized how early the nights came until crossing that bridge. I...

When I was a  sophomore I roomed with a guy who slept only four, five hours a night. If I were to hear of such a guy nowadays, I would think that that's unhealthy and unsustainable. But back in  college , not sleeping was seen as cool. Not because not...

They are at the same college . They do not meet in real life or even speak, but out of the blue she adds him on Facebook . Even though he hasn't thought about her in months this excites him. She is attractive and feels familiar. They both went to...

I had saved a hundred dollars for the final weekend of September . The plan was to buy a  quarter ounce for around 70 and then a  30 pack for a little over 20. The little extra left over was just a buffer. Some  liquor stores charged you more for ...

Having a lot to say, is a young person's game. Although may old people can't stop talking.

I guess it's more accurate to say, that having a lot to say, is an un illuminated person's game.

I remember in college when I was the most lost and confused, I was the most...

I'll never forget, for years after  college graduation I feared  hunger so much that I had no mindspace to be worried about anything else.

This is why I could never get on board with what everyone else seemed to be upset about. All I could think about was how I'd get...

I can no longer count how many times I've tried to coordinate some type of Writing group. I remember each iteration I'd begin thinking "this is the time" as in I would believe that some in the group -- including myself -- were going to be writing 'here' 'together' until...

He couldn't enjoy the walk until a few minutes in when he finally gave up checking his phone. He had wondered if maybe Jasmine had woken up and texted him, but there was nothing but silence on her end. Surely she couldn't still be a sleep? She had been on...

I could finally understand why he had wanted to write a  graphic novel back in  college . They were like a  Netflix show, but on paper. I thought of him while flipping through the pages, feeling the sheets against my fingers.

---

"I can feel what you said."

"That must mean it was...

Today I got something to work!

It's been six weeks since I've gotten something to work! That's a long damn time to not get anything to work, especially when one's getting paid. For six weeks I've felt at times like the most hard headed, incompetent newb. And at times I...

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 began tapping onto his screen. The message. What had just happened at the  post office . He had already told his group chat about it, but now he was going to tell her. But after it was all written out, he didn't feel it was right to send it....

Before my friend died, he always talked about starting up his own  catering business. He really liked to cook, and he really liked to serve others his food, no matter how broke he was, I'll give him that, but I don't think there was any support structure for him to...

Every year... somebody would have the place, the entire gang gravitated towards. Parties, never planned, would simply materialize there. On nights when the was a party elsewhere, there was no question wondering where the pre-game would be. Finally, when the night finished, and your Apartment felt too far and you...

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...

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....

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...

V. The first time around Imogen Howe didn't treat  college seriously. She blamed her  depression . This time it'd be different she said.

But she was still depressed. So she looked back again hoping for other reasons for her failure. With each recall she could't find anything unrelated to herself and...

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...

They drove west in an Orange Saturn VUE . The driver was smoking a  cigarette although they usually didn't smoke. But today was a special occasion so he had specifically went to the store to pick up a pack of  American Spirits Blue the day before picking up his passenger.

She...

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...

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...

When you're 23, the most exciting thing on your mind should be the new features you are unveiling to users this Friday. The most exciting thing should be that trip to Boulder next month. The most exciting thing should be how one day the startup you've just joined will make...

When you're little you can call somebody you've known a year your best friend, but once you're at college there's some criteria before you can call someone a  best friend . Ask anyone and they would tell you that their best friend is someone from back home. But thing I...