Long Time No Write

Well, it certainly has been a long time since I have last touched this blog, which seems to be the way I start about 90% of my posts: commenting on how much time has passed since the last time I wrote. A new friend of mine made the comment recently that it was "no bueno" that I hadn't composed anything in so long, and I would like to thank him for inspiring me to once again take up my keyboard. Writing, like many things, is a skill that needs to be constantly practiced. As my friend said, you use it or you lose it. Now, in the interest of preventing the ironic situation that I should lose the very skill I am currently going to school for, I write to you again, dear readers. I shall endeavor with my best efforts to commit once again this summer to my writing, and to not only keep this blog fairly updated, but to compose some fiction which has been running around in my head for the past few months.

This morning my thoughts have turned to... well.. coffee. I started drinking coffee at approximately age 17, and my experience has been unoriginal in the fact that college has exponentially increased the amounts and the frequency with which I partake. I love the taste almost more than I love the caffeine. I rarely add anything to my coffee, occasionally mixing in a little bit of milk. I prefer it black, and the darker the better. I think that anything but the straight brew, untainted by flavor shots and sugary sweetness, is a travesty. I'm convinced (probably unjustly and, I admit, very cynically) sugar is an American pop culture twist; an addition of sugary sweetness and glitz to a rich and deep beverage. One of my pet peeves is annoying platinum-blonde high schoolers who are proud of the fact that they "drink coffee". No, what you drink is a soda that tastes about 0.1% like coffee. Drinking coffee flavored sugar and bragging about it does not make you mature or cultured, it makes you an idiot. Yes, dear readers, I am a coffee snob. By the way, I am also proud of it.

The smell is so hard to describe, as many smells are, but it brings me undeniable joy. It is a relaxing, rich smell, full of body and smoothness. I am of the opinion that there is no other smell in the world as relaxing as fresh brewed coffee in the morning or evening hours. I think a cup of coffee in the morning gives one perspective. Coffee is strong enough that, if you drink it correctly, it has to be consumed slowly. It offers the consumer the chance to reflect and think, which is a often neglected in the morning. I have often had bad days, realizing later that the reason why is that I got off to the wrong foot. I was thrown into my day and my routine suddenly, without much warning, and without time to prepare myself. Coffee gives me a chance to plan, a chance to prepare, a chance to get ready. Starting correctly improves your chances of finishing strong.

More than the cliches, I ENJOY coffee. I often wonder, in our obsessive health freak culture if we ever take the time to enjoy things. Yes it may not be the best for me to drink coffee. Maybe there are things that could do differently to increase my life expectency by a couple years. I would ask, what doesn't kill you nowadays? Life kills you. The boogeyman is going to get me eventually no matter what steps I take to prevent it. I'm not advocating for a completely reckless lifestyle, but for goodness sake, let me enjoy some simple pleasures. I enjoy coffee, and anyone that knows me know that I enjoy my tobacco pipes too. Even further, the combination of a relaxing smoke and a good cup of coffee can turn an evening into an extremely enjoyable and enlightening discourse. I pity anyone who has not experienced the subtle flavor of a good English blend, or the oaky bite of  Latakia. I would like to write a book someday about a futuristic society that smells of hand sanitizer and tofu. These people would live tobacco-free lifestyles, go to the gym everyday, never eat meat, and their children would play in McVeggie's Super-Safe Playlands enclosed with padded walls and wearing full body protection. The irony would be that depression rates among this society would run rampant, and the book would end with the main characters committing suicide by overdosing on salad and Purel.

-sigh- One day I will write a rant-free blog... I apologize, readers. My original vision for this blog was to provide a look into my own mind, both for myself and for those who would be interested. In that I feel some measure of success. These are my opinions and my perspectives, even if they may descend sometimes into cynical rants.

Until I take up the keyboard again, I shall finish off this cup of coffee. Tonight, I may also have a cancer-inducing pipe-smoke. It has been a good month since last I smoked, and my smoke rings need some work. One day I hope to be able to blow smoke in the shape of ships like Gandalf.

(An idea is forming in my head for a blog about the relationship between writing and pipes. JRR Tolkien himself was an avid pipe smoker, and of course world renowned for his writing. For another time, readers!)