I Love Coffee

I. Good Morning

Woke up this morning with a massive headache. I felt as if I slept on a rock all night. My head throbbed like it had its own heartbeat. Figured it was just stress -- had lots of to do for just two workdays, squeezing everything to make sure the market's happy. When afternoon came, hours after every corporate requirement was ticked off the to-do list, brain was still complaining. Asked AD to do wonders on my head and shoulders (he doubled as the office masseuse), good thing he agreed. Call it best friend benefits. Had a bonus ten minute rub session, but the pain was still there.

Told to this to my mom this evening (the headache, not the massage). Asked me if I had my coffee today. No, I said.

Ah, that must be it, she said. Happens to her too. It's a withdrawal.

Currently stirring my midnight cup. Headache's gone, but I need caffeine now to keep awake. Editing duty calls.


II. Issues

Am not really a starbucks girl in the sense that I would complete those holiday promo cards to get a free planner. I don't usually order frapp (on the rare occassion that I do, it's usually on those treacherously hot days). I can't appreciate their drips (when I taste them they're all the same and it must because they've overheated the coffee). Most of the time I order the same ol' same Short Cafe Mocha with a Shot of Raspberry. It's my whole life in a paper cup -- I take it all/most of the time because it works for me. Tastes great. Makes me happy. Fuck calories.

If I wanted my own cafe americano, I'd be mixing nescafe at home. (Btw, the "new taste new aroma" nescafe tastes WORSE.)


III. Parentology

The irony is I hate it when my dad drinks coffee. He drinks it five times a day. When we're there at home, he asks us to make him a cup, even if it's eleven in the friggin evening. He's been doing this since we were ten? twelve? some odd child age. Well, better this than alcohol. And we love him anyway. Anything to make him happy.

IV. Marketing

Must admit, the devils at Starbucks are genuises. I can't imagine we ALL fell for the comfy chairs, the wifi, the coffee bean story, the brew aroma (which, I have just found, they did on purpose, like a sampling ploy), the mug merchandize, the flavor stories, even the baristas who speak perfect english (so conotic an accent that I suspect they're rich bums) ... Their coffee's a killing at atleast 80 pesos a cup. Margins margins margins. Brilliant!

V. Love

Coffee bars took over dinner as a relationship starting point. Probably the trend now is friendster/myspace>> email>> text >> phone >> coffee >> dinner >> etc. In the old days, people actually met face to face THEN asked each other out to dinner. This generation's added too many steps in the courting process. Time to streamline.