Kahve

Coffee Cof.fee (noun): The magical drink that gives Alex productivity.

I started consuming caffeine when I was about twelve, drinking large amount of orange pekoe. As I spent long amounts of time preparing and drinking it, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was a better way to get homework done than brewing six separate cups of tea every day.

When I worked as a dishwasher, a position I will soon be resuming, I got free access to coffee in the mornings. It was a contributing factor to my fond memories of that job. It was the cheapest coffee money could buy, like most of the products in that bakery, but it was a good start. I found out months after I left that job, that my old boss had changed the brand of coffee they served, only because 7-11 started serving it.

There’s just something magical about the process of making coffee, the grinding, steeping, flavouring, and drinking it. I love it. People have been doing it for hundreds of years, tradition, almost. Or it would be if we made it ourselves still. These days we let machines do all the work.

Whenever I make coffee, it’s always with a french press. It’s a more romantic way to drink coffee, the same way listening to a vinyl record is a more romantic way to experience music, or using a typewriter is a more romantic way to type. It just feels more authentic than just pouring some brown powder into a machine that filters hot water through the mystery powder and produces this murky juice that lets you working at your desk job without falling asleep. Sure using a press or a separate filter over the mug takes longer, but in my opinion, food tends to taste better if it takes some effort to make, but that’s just covering a topic I’ve already talked about.

All I’m saying is that there is value in doing things in a way that most people think is outdated. A metal and glass press has more soul than a white plastic panelled coffee maker. Doing things romantically isn’t redundant, most people have just sacrificed it in favour of saved time. I know I’m being unfair to the people who have early morning jobs where they need to make coffee quickly so that they can get out the door and support their families. There will always be those people who are constantly strapped for time, but we all shouldn’t be those people if we don’t have to be.

Or maybe I’m just biased, seeing as I’m the teenager who collects antiques and uses a french press.

-A

Thoughts From Downtown Vancouver

This morning I woke up with an unreasonable amount of sleep under my belt, drank the coffee that I sorely needed, and got a ride to the ferry terminal. I live on an island, in case anyone was wondering, and the only cheap way off is by boat.

My mom and I were half asleep while she drove me to the dock, so we got lost twice on a route that we’ve been taking for nearly nine years. Eventually we got there, and after a two-hour boat ride, I got to Vancouver. I love this city more than I can say. It’s clean, the people are nice, enough said.

I try really hard not to look like an out-of-town person. For some reason I assume that if I don’t look like I live in the city I’m in, people will laugh at me or look at me funny. I guess it’s all part of the normal human desire to fit in. I’ve gotten the hang of looking like I live in Vancouver pretty good. There are a bunch of business/modern people who walk around and look really self-important, and if you try to look like them you’ll end up looking arrogant. The trick to looking like a Vancouver person, is to look mildly content, yet at the same time looking like you have a lot on your mind. It’s a careful balance.

Anyway, I searched for an hour to find a coffee shop that wasn’t a Starbucks or a Blenz coffee, and I was successful. Not that I have anything against those establishments, but I’d prefer to give my money to a coffee shop that needs my business to stay afloat.

I’m also pretty sure that that paragraph confirms the fact that I am in the process of becoming a hipster. Fuck.

I’m preparing right now to start my next book. Writing while in a brand new city can be an incredible pain in the ass, because you need to write a lot, but there’s a whole new place out there that you need to explore, distracting you. But it can also be an incredible opportunity to get your mental gears turning. It’ll be an adventure.

I’m going to sign off for now, Vancouver demands some more exploring before I fly tomorrow. I’m going to leave a note on this table with the address to this blog. So if you’re reading this because you found my note, good job.

Next post will be from Antigua. Thanks for reading.

-A