Starbucks.
A recent post by Diana Chamberlain at RTB discussed her adventures at Starbucks.
I’m one of those writers*. The baristas have my drink ready when I come in; my regular seat may as well have MELJEAN written on it. I resisted it for a while (didn’t need it for a long time, because I worked at a computer lab desk and pretty much wrote all day — and it always seemed Pretentious) but after I left school and set up my workstation at home I found that I was spending FAR too much time on the Internet. I’d look up something on wikipedia.org or dictionary.com, and the next thing I knew half-an-hour had gone by.
But at Starbucks, you have to pay for Internet access. And I’m cheap**.
BUT — it’s Ramadan now. I’m fasting from dawn to sunset, which means no food, no coffee, no water. Which means that I’m not going to Starbucks, because I’d feel really crappy sitting there without buying anything***.
Which leads to a second problem: after a year and a half of writing at Starbucks, it’s kind of a ritual. I just sit down and write. So when I’m not there, I find myself more easily distracted, writing more blog entries, checking more websites, that kind of thing.
Note to self: THAT’S GOT TO STOP!
Whine to self: It’s kind of hard to write when I’m really hungryyyyyyyyyyyyyy!
Answer to self: Then write at five in the morning after you eat breakfast, idiot!
Whine: But I’m so tirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrred.
Answer: You stupid bitch. Write. Or write after you break your fast. Like right now, idiot.
Anyway, I don’t feel pretentious anymore. I’m just getting the job done.
*I can’t remember what I was going to say on this footnote.
**Too cheap to pay for T-Mobile, but apparently not too cheap to buy a $3.60 (just up from $3.55) coffee and (once in a while) a scone. I’m saving a whole ass-load of money this Ramadan.
***Because the $3.60 coffee and (once in a while) scone are kind of like rent. I’m renting that chair out, dammit! It’s my office away from my office. Or something.
Related to nothing: God, I love WordPress.
