Monday, January 31, 2011
Portland ranked 4th on list of Top Foodie Cities | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram
Portland ranked 4th on list of Top Foodie Cities | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Resolving that these will be the best resolutions – ever
Here I go again writing down resolutions for the new year.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I know, I know! I’m posting this very nearly on the last day of the first month of the year. Resolutions should come before the new year or very soon after the start of the year, not at the end of the first month.
I mean, after all, most people have made and broken their resolutions a dozen times over by now.
But I was tied up on the job search and other projects so I could not get to it the way I wanted.
And, yes, I considered making “improving time management” one of my resolutions. … But I ran out of time.
Each year most of us look at what we have done during the past year, perhaps cringe a bit, and vow never ever to do those things again.
We vow to stop smoking. To drink less. To work out more and drop those nagging 20 pounds. We promise to take more time for our families, for ourselves. We pledge to be better in everything we do.
But it hardly works out the way we plan.
That is OK. We are human. We are not perfect. A few flaws are part of our character.
And so is trying to fix those flaws.
Here are my resolutions for 2011. Well, my resolutions for 11 months of 2011, anyway:
1) Find fulfilling, meaningful, suitable work. I have been out of work since March 2009. That is much, much too long to be out of work, trust me. It is has been financially and emotionally devastating and demoralizing and frustrating and disheartening … you get the point.
Not long ago I saw a television news story about the passage of the extension of unemployment insurance benefits as part of the continuation of the Bush-era tax breaks. A fellow was interviewed who had just been laid off and said that if he did not have a job after a year, then he did not deserve the benefits.
Of course, he was JUST laid off as the economy seems to be making a move upward. It would have been interesting to talk to that guy if he had been in my situation.
I want to work and work soon. I have been working since I was a teen. I worked a green chain at 16 or 17 and held down three part-time jobs while going to college fulltime. I know how to work. And I want to work. I just need a chance to prove myself to others.
2) Be more diligent at updating this blog and my for-fun blog, “Coffeehouse Observer.” I wrote in an earlier blog entry that was going to be my No. 1 resolution for 2011 (“Vowing to be a better blogger … I promise,” “Letters From Away,” Jan. 1, 2011), but then realized there is nothing more important to me than finding work, as it has been for nearly two years. Being a more diligent blogger will have to be No. 2.
A head cold sort of derailed that effort for a while, putting me behind in other things that are of higher priority, such as finding a job. I blogged about that, too. (“Polishing up vow to be a better blogger – I promise … again,” “Letters From Away,” Jan. 13, 2011)
3) Which all sort of brings me to Resolution No. 3 – stop putting off eliminating procrastination from my life. Yeah, perhaps it should be No. 1 – especially since we are into the third week of the new year and most people have already broken their resolutions – but at least it made the top five.
Most years I make at least five resolutions. I can prove it because I’ve written about resolutions in the past as a blogger and before:
This year, three seems plenty.
I resolve to do my best to follow the spirit – if not the letter – of these resolutions and perhaps dip into the old resolutions that have gone unfulfilled. And as with most things, better late than never at all.
Coffeehouse observation No. 270
Green Day “Nimrod” ... Loud. ... Because a Bozo in the coffeehouse is talking on his cell very nearly at the top of his lungs. He must be nearly deaf or the person on the other end of the phone is because he is NOT using his inside voice.
Go to Coffeehouse Observer for more coffeehouse observations.
Coffeehouse observation No. 269
A woman who looks very much like Joan Benoit Samuelson just walked into the coffeehouse. Cool! … By the way, Joan Benoit Samuelson is a Maine native and woman’s marathon legend. She won the first ever Olympic woman’s marathon in 1984 (Los Angeles) just 17 days after arthroscopic surgery on her knee. She’s a big deal.
Her website is at http://www.joanbenoitsamuelson.com/.
Go to Coffeehouse Observer for more coffeehouse observations.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Coffeehouse observation No. 268
I was saying the other day how you just do not see Greek fisherman hats anymore. Weeeeellll, I’m sitting in my backup coffeehouse and in walk two women and both are wearing – wait for it – Greek fisherman hats! Makes my day!
Go to Coffeehouse Observer for more coffeehouse observations.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Maine Gov. LePage ‘bureaucrats’ memo stirs up more controversy | Bangor Daily News
[Maine’s new governor gets scarier and scarier every time he or someone on his staff puts their foot in his mouth. – KM]
Coffeehouse observation No. 267
Kinda weird. The coffeehouse pretty much emptied out a little while ago – just me, another patron and the baristas looking for patrons to caffeinate. But things are back to normal. Lunchtime beverage consumers are arriving as they should – in a steady, orderly manner. Drink on!
Go to Coffeehouse Observer for more coffeehouse observations.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Coffeehouse observation No. 266
A woman just walked into Exotic Java and talked as if she had been sucking down helium! I swear to the coffee gods that she talked as if she was a cartoon character.
Go to Coffeehouse Observer for more coffeehouse observations.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Coffeehouse observation No. 265
I might be hanging out at the coffeehouse a bit too much. A guy just came up to me and asked: “Do you work here? You look like you work here.” … Yeeeah, I might be at the library a bit more from now on.
Go to Coffeehouse Observer for more coffeehouse observations.
Coffeehouse observation No. 264
Hip-hop being played just now in the coffeehouse and I’m pretty certain a good bit of it was in French. … Or Haitian Kreyol, perhaps. ... This is what I know -- I cannot understand most hip-hop or rap lyrics in English, French or Kreyol.
Go to Coffeehouse Observer for more coffeehouse observations.
Coffeehouse observation No. 263
Two women just walked into the coffeehouse with balloon flowers. What type of soil do you use for balloon flowers, anyway? Full sun or shade? How often do you water balloon flowers? I’m not gonna even ask about balloon flower food. …
Go to Coffeehouse Observer for more coffeehouse observations.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Coffeehouse observation No. 262
I’m brainstorming a possible business idea – Emergency Mobile Coffeehouse. Pick up an old ambulance. Pull out the medical equipment – maybe not the gurney – and put in an espresso machine, coffee urns, folding bistro table and chairs, etc., and then follow the most popular roach coaches to stake a claim on the coffee trade. Could even show up with the siren blaring. … It’s just an idea.
Go to Coffeehouse Observer for more coffeehouse observations.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Coffeehouse observation No. 261
An old Norton Commando is parked outside next to an old Thunderbird. Cool.
Go to Coffeehouse Observer for more coffeehouse observations.
Coffeehouse observation No. 260
Forgetting that you’ve fully opened your coffee mug can lead to coffee on your chin and the front of your shirt. I know these things, because they happen to me! Why, oh, why? …
Go to Coffeehouse Observer for more coffeehouse observations.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Coffeehouse observation No. 259
A woman in the coffeehouse is using flash cards to study. I didn’t even know they still made flash cards.
Go to Coffeehouse Observer for more coffeehouse observations.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Coffeehouse observation No. 258
I think the WordPress metrics must have gone a little haywire yesterday. It registered 302 visits to my Coffeehouse Observer blog yesterday. (That blog is hosted by Coffeehouse Observer.) That’s pretty good for a tiny blog I barely promote, but I’m not letting my head swell. Before yesterday, the blog metrics registered about 1,366 visits in the entire year since I started commenting on the things I see in the coffeehouse. I have no illusions that somehow the world suddenly “discovered” Coffeehouse Observer. It must be a glitch. But a fun one.
Go to Coffeehouse Observer for more coffeehouse observations.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Coffeehouse observation No. 257 -- Starbucks’ Trenta: Everything you need to know about the 31-ounce cup | AOLNews
Coffeehouse observation No. 257 -- Starbucks’ Trenta: Everything you need to know about the 31-ounce cup | AOLNews
[Seriously, anything this big really should come with a lifeguard. – KM]
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Coffeehouse observation No. 256
I just spotted a woman at the coffeehouse pull out an 8-inch long propane grill lighter to torch her cigarette. ... And I think perhaps her eyebrows.
Go to Coffeehouse Observer for more coffeehouse observations.
Monday, January 17, 2011
LePage makes unscheduled visit to King Day breakfast | Bangor Daily News
[While this may seem like a step forward, it also seems a bit politically motivated. The new governor of Maine may talk like a tough guy, but he also needs to learn to walk softly. He needs to learn statesmanship. – KM]
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