I rode and I rode and I rode. With no specific destination in mind, I rode down Telegraph Avenue, from 51st toward the center of town. And I rode, and I rode. But alas, there were no coffee shops.
It wasn’t until just past 37th St. that I found Sidamo (3624 Telegraph), a what a welcome place to rest my tired and thirsty head. For all the talk, Telegraph has no coffee shops along that 15 block stretch. Ok, I’m over it. What I’m not over is the big smile and warm greeting I got from Mimi, proprietor of the 2 month old shop. I ordered a cup of the Ethiopian sidamo blend, which was dark and smooth and just what I needed. “Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee,” she told me with a knowing smile, “and Sidamo, Ethiopia is where good coffee comes from.” And that’s where she gets hers, as evidenced by the bean-skins under the counter display. After a good talk, I sat down to enjoy the coffee, the free WiFi, the jazz on the speakers, and the cushions (in addition to tables inside and out front). I felt comfortable and welcome in the understated mix of African decorations and community flyers. Everyone who came in seemed to know Mimi: there were as many smiles and waves as there were customers, and I even got to meet her beautiful daughter. Open Monday through Saturday from 7 to 7 with a great selection of coffees, pastries, smoothies, and a few well-chosen sandwiches (all under $5), she had my whole morning taken care of.
Reading the headlines today, it seems like the reporters wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote until they found something they could underline. Some rather ho-hum articles about the governent: “Governor orders layoffs, heavy paycuts” and “SF mayor proposes fines for unsorted trash.” What!?! Government workers milk the overtime payscale? When did this start and why wasn’t I told? And people put trash in the recycling bin? Those fascists. I propose that everyone getting laid off by Arnold move to San Francisco and become a trash cop. I’m sure there will be plenty of overtime if Newsom tries to make an actual go at that. Rounding out the front page are articles about the Xtreme Country Make-Over! that is happening in Beijing to prepare for the Olympic crowds. It sounds like the front page took this summer day off and took out the microscope to burn some ant-like stories. At least my scope was macro-enjoyable at Sidamo, where I recommend you take a break from the news when you can.
Enjoy your break slow, dear reader. After all, if the front page microscopes our summer, I’ll be watching reporters throw water balloons at each other with watermelon juice dripping down their keyboards.
Breakfast in the Bay: Making sense of waking up since Tuesday, 2008.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Nomad Cafe
Ah, what a beautiful day of surprises and a day of synchronicity. Jerked awake by a call for work, I walked the dog and inhaled the sunlight. Very domestic, and a perfect segue to the headlines: “The plunge in the price of homes gets worse.” Wow. Am I the only one who wants to reread 1984 lately to see if we’re doing it word for word? It seems like I’m riding a news see-saw between statistics and charts saying the American Dream is foreclosing and the politicians saying we’re all going to be fine, just keep the faith. Makes me want to go to one of the “Extreme Fighting” matches that are “…taking Stockton by storm.” Ok, not really. The looming picture is of the Yosemite fire, reported to be only 15% contained. Group these with a dramatic overstatement, “Last Words: Popular online scrabble knockoff erased” and the lead headline, “Death row cost overrun: $40 million,” and you’ve got the standard apocalyptic cover page: A nineteen-eighty-foreclosure on our sense of safety and belief in happy endings. But wait, what’s that headline tucked gently away in the bottom right corner? No, there’s no smoke in your eyes: “In surprising turn, McCain praises Pelosi and Gore.” Take a moment to sip your coffee. In a political firestorm that is less than 1% contained and has already seen candidates using extreme tactics, from kindness to belittlement, now McCain is pledging to work with Pelosi, someone he says, “…has been an inspiration” and, “in many ways more powerful than the president.” Wasn’t there a book by some guy that talked about how all government figures are really on the same side, manufacturing battles or something… Maybe there’s room on the McCain ticket for a VP…
All of this before I stepped into the Nomad Café, bastion of clarity burning at 6500 Shattuck (at 65th) in Berkeley. For just a few dollars I was able to sit down in a comfortable chair, read the rest of the paper to some amazingly synchronistic symphonic music, plug in, and enjoy what I can only call the American office dream. It seemed like everyone there was working on a laptop, sipping good coffee (I had the Nomad Blend: strong and solid), and wearing flip-flops and either stubble (the well-groomed, 3 day look) or a pony-tail (the I look good even when I act like I don’t care look). If 1984 is the bleak, ashen version of the future, the Nomad Café’s casual business for the entrepreneurial spirit has the sharp yellow-jacketed wave of the future that could put it out. I loved it, and if you need to get out of the house and find a place to work, read, or just enjoy the basic but reasonable menu of coffee to lunches, you will too.
Enjoy your break slow, dear reader. After all, if the front page lights our days on fire, we’ll be out of our homes and switching sides, but it won’t matter who has the last (erased) word when we’re all nomads, walking caffeinated into the 21st century.
Breakfast in the Bay: Making sense of waking up since Tuesday, 2008.
All of this before I stepped into the Nomad Café, bastion of clarity burning at 6500 Shattuck (at 65th) in Berkeley. For just a few dollars I was able to sit down in a comfortable chair, read the rest of the paper to some amazingly synchronistic symphonic music, plug in, and enjoy what I can only call the American office dream. It seemed like everyone there was working on a laptop, sipping good coffee (I had the Nomad Blend: strong and solid), and wearing flip-flops and either stubble (the well-groomed, 3 day look) or a pony-tail (the I look good even when I act like I don’t care look). If 1984 is the bleak, ashen version of the future, the Nomad Café’s casual business for the entrepreneurial spirit has the sharp yellow-jacketed wave of the future that could put it out. I loved it, and if you need to get out of the house and find a place to work, read, or just enjoy the basic but reasonable menu of coffee to lunches, you will too.
Enjoy your break slow, dear reader. After all, if the front page lights our days on fire, we’ll be out of our homes and switching sides, but it won’t matter who has the last (erased) word when we’re all nomads, walking caffeinated into the 21st century.
Breakfast in the Bay: Making sense of waking up since Tuesday, 2008.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Mokka
I enter the headlines of Monday morning with a head refreshed and fingers decaffeinated. For me, the weekend was spent in the Desolation Wilderness, where I enjoyed the silences of the Sierras instead of the bustling of coffee shops – and didn’t enjoy the lack of coffee at all on my final morning. But, that’s what happens when you don’t bring along enough fuel. That, and your girlfriend, with a caffeine headache of her own, gets to say “I told you so” for the 4.3 mile hike back to Echo Lake.
And then the front page shook my hand: “Foreclosures hit a 20-year high.” A friend of mine actually moved to the Bay to work with people in that situation, and it’s no secret that balloon mortgages are popping in everyone’s faces, but the map crowning the front page seems to echo my girlfriend’s headshake. I can’t help but feel like a genius for not buying a house lately… The other headlines look to foreclose on some familiar institutions as well: “Judge hands Cal a big win in athletic center fight” and “Suicide barrier: Emotions high.” That judge’s decision is carried out, the almost mythic tree-sitters of Berkeley campus will have to come down – or get cut down. The suicide barrier debate sounds like it falls into two camps: everyone who has had someone jump or try to jump off the bridge vying for added protection and everyone else saying leave it alone. Behind all of these is the battle for control, and the entire front page seems to yearn for an answer, something or someone to tell us that everything will be ok, that we haven’t run out of fuel and that we can get one more lift in the morning of the 21st century. Perhaps.
Looking to foreclose on my own caffeine headache, I arrive at Mokka, an understated coffee shop at the corner of Telegraph and Dowling in south Berkeley. The simple act of waking up in the asphalt grid was made simpler by their décor: decidedly Japanese in its art and entirely Berkeley-esque in its delivery. Simple, curved stools at a narrow rectangular bar, two-seated round tables out front. A menu that offers sincere, satisfying options: breakfast, coffee, tea and gelato. They do not overwhelm, and they do deliver. With each cup drip-crafted fresh, the large-mouth mug made up for missing Sunday morning. People from all backgrounds lounged, and I was struck by how many smiles and old friends seemed to be enjoying the start of the week together. No bustling business or blue-collar crowd here – it seems that the united populace of retired, vacationing, and underemployed (me?) have found a simple spot to sip their soul-juice with jazz in the ears and bamboo art for the eyes. With coffee, music, and space all this strong and simple, I know I’ll be back. And just before I finished typing, in walked an older woman who seemed to know her coffee. She strolled up to the counter and said, “I get a mocha at Starbucks and I’m thinking, ‘ehhhh’ (her hand tilting back and forth), but yours is great.” It’s that simple.
Enjoy your break slow, dear reader. After all, if the front page forecloses our future, we’ll have nowhere to drink our coffee, and my little trip to the wilderness may be a bit more permanent!
Breakfast in the Bay: Making sense of waking up since Tuesday, 2008.
And then the front page shook my hand: “Foreclosures hit a 20-year high.” A friend of mine actually moved to the Bay to work with people in that situation, and it’s no secret that balloon mortgages are popping in everyone’s faces, but the map crowning the front page seems to echo my girlfriend’s headshake. I can’t help but feel like a genius for not buying a house lately… The other headlines look to foreclose on some familiar institutions as well: “Judge hands Cal a big win in athletic center fight” and “Suicide barrier: Emotions high.” That judge’s decision is carried out, the almost mythic tree-sitters of Berkeley campus will have to come down – or get cut down. The suicide barrier debate sounds like it falls into two camps: everyone who has had someone jump or try to jump off the bridge vying for added protection and everyone else saying leave it alone. Behind all of these is the battle for control, and the entire front page seems to yearn for an answer, something or someone to tell us that everything will be ok, that we haven’t run out of fuel and that we can get one more lift in the morning of the 21st century. Perhaps.
Looking to foreclose on my own caffeine headache, I arrive at Mokka, an understated coffee shop at the corner of Telegraph and Dowling in south Berkeley. The simple act of waking up in the asphalt grid was made simpler by their décor: decidedly Japanese in its art and entirely Berkeley-esque in its delivery. Simple, curved stools at a narrow rectangular bar, two-seated round tables out front. A menu that offers sincere, satisfying options: breakfast, coffee, tea and gelato. They do not overwhelm, and they do deliver. With each cup drip-crafted fresh, the large-mouth mug made up for missing Sunday morning. People from all backgrounds lounged, and I was struck by how many smiles and old friends seemed to be enjoying the start of the week together. No bustling business or blue-collar crowd here – it seems that the united populace of retired, vacationing, and underemployed (me?) have found a simple spot to sip their soul-juice with jazz in the ears and bamboo art for the eyes. With coffee, music, and space all this strong and simple, I know I’ll be back. And just before I finished typing, in walked an older woman who seemed to know her coffee. She strolled up to the counter and said, “I get a mocha at Starbucks and I’m thinking, ‘ehhhh’ (her hand tilting back and forth), but yours is great.” It’s that simple.
Enjoy your break slow, dear reader. After all, if the front page forecloses our future, we’ll have nowhere to drink our coffee, and my little trip to the wilderness may be a bit more permanent!
Breakfast in the Bay: Making sense of waking up since Tuesday, 2008.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Away
Breakfast in the Bay will not be published for the remainder of this week. I wish you all pleasant mornings and strong coffee...
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Mama Buzz Café
“Coastal Oil: Deep Mystery.” Splashed across the front page, the dark, murky tease of a headline makes a huge deal out of our uncertainty about oil reserves around U.S. shores. It feels like I’m watching Fox News. Are we seriously talking about where to find more oil? Tell me this is a joke… not some slick, twisted joke.
Also slick and twisted is Mama Buzz Café, at 2318 Telegraph, where I drilled for my coffee this morning. Entering to smooth Roots beats, I pumped out Tiger by the Tail coffee (don’t know what that is but it muddy and does the trick). Mama Buzz is exactly that, the mother of a buzz in Oakland. This is a tangible nexus for the Art Murmur crowd, and I pecked at my laptop with gutter punks, hipsters, artists in stained pants, and felt like I was sitting in the secret breakfast spot of every good pulp novel detective. Free wifi, plug-ins galore (you mean a place that actually wants me to sit here as long as I want???), and a back porch if you want to breath fresh air (or smoke) while you dig into the latest zine. The girl next to me brought in a whole box of blueberries to go with her coffee. As I sat, the music flowed smoothly from Roots to Talib Kweli to Arrested Development. The dining room, with its hipster survey of seats from church pews to 50’s diner chairs, doubles as an art gallery, and the walls are lovingly covered by some of the best, unframed art that Oakland has to offer. Want to know what the scene is producing these days? Come get your buzz on right here.
As for the headlines, there are some amazing stories about eradicating child slavery in Nepal and drug firm buyouts. I can’t take the headlines today. They don’t make sense. “I read the news today, oh boy…” sang those Beatles, and that’s kind of how the morning went. Luckily, Mama Buzz was there to rub the aching head.
Enjoy your break slow, dear reader. After all, if the front page is our mother, we’ll be sliding through the morning on oil, spending our energy pondering corporate takeover ethic. Mama!!!
Breakfast in the Bay: Making sense of waking up since Tuesday, 2008.
Also slick and twisted is Mama Buzz Café, at 2318 Telegraph, where I drilled for my coffee this morning. Entering to smooth Roots beats, I pumped out Tiger by the Tail coffee (don’t know what that is but it muddy and does the trick). Mama Buzz is exactly that, the mother of a buzz in Oakland. This is a tangible nexus for the Art Murmur crowd, and I pecked at my laptop with gutter punks, hipsters, artists in stained pants, and felt like I was sitting in the secret breakfast spot of every good pulp novel detective. Free wifi, plug-ins galore (you mean a place that actually wants me to sit here as long as I want???), and a back porch if you want to breath fresh air (or smoke) while you dig into the latest zine. The girl next to me brought in a whole box of blueberries to go with her coffee. As I sat, the music flowed smoothly from Roots to Talib Kweli to Arrested Development. The dining room, with its hipster survey of seats from church pews to 50’s diner chairs, doubles as an art gallery, and the walls are lovingly covered by some of the best, unframed art that Oakland has to offer. Want to know what the scene is producing these days? Come get your buzz on right here.
As for the headlines, there are some amazing stories about eradicating child slavery in Nepal and drug firm buyouts. I can’t take the headlines today. They don’t make sense. “I read the news today, oh boy…” sang those Beatles, and that’s kind of how the morning went. Luckily, Mama Buzz was there to rub the aching head.
Enjoy your break slow, dear reader. After all, if the front page is our mother, we’ll be sliding through the morning on oil, spending our energy pondering corporate takeover ethic. Mama!!!
Breakfast in the Bay: Making sense of waking up since Tuesday, 2008.
Monday, July 21, 2008
SufficientGrounds
Navigating the obligatory parade of Volvo and Saab wagons, my morning bike ride is a smooth sail through islands of free tabloid newspapers and flyers. Where else could I be but Berkeley campus, searching for the little piece of hope that just may wander between the students in hoodies, coffee-sipping professors with tucked-in bellies, and somehow constantly stunned, ethereally dirty homeless guy with the endless cigarette butt. It’s like caffeine for the eyes. I lose myself in the random reading, both my feet and my eyes wandering for a while.
Evetually I wandered into Sufficient Grounds on Durant. You’ll find the basics: coffee, muffins, fruit -- how is it that bananas are ever-present in North America again? Maybe it’s Obama’s fault, like gas prices – (a short article about a weird ad campaign from McCain’s new commercial, somehow blaming Obama for the rising oil prices..). They’ve got WiFi, and you can plug in, which is a must to keep yourself entertained. The best thing about this place is the jabber-jabber (ok, maybe the coffee is better than I thought…) of the barista, a goofy house dj who spent most of the morning introducing himself to everyone who came in (“I’m really bad with names, but…), pouring dance music knowledge into every cup free of charge, and giving a heart to an otherwise sterile room. If you need a pick me up in the morning, this place is sufficient. If you’ve graduated from college, or just from wearing hooded sweatshirts, you may want to seek new ground.
As for the headlines, it’s like listening to a promotional mix-tape a la People’s Park: “Promoting Racial Harmony” and “Ending Urban Renewal.” Is there a link? We’ll have to ask the wandering professors and homeless. Somewhere between harmony and renewal brews the truth, and it just may come from a dance party run by today’s barista.
Dance on, everyone, and enjoy your break slow. After all, if the front page dj’s the next party, it’ll be finger pointing and broken hope. Perhaps the barista has some ideas where I should wander next…
Breakfast in the Bay: Making sense of waking up since Tuesday, 2008.
Evetually I wandered into Sufficient Grounds on Durant. You’ll find the basics: coffee, muffins, fruit -- how is it that bananas are ever-present in North America again? Maybe it’s Obama’s fault, like gas prices – (a short article about a weird ad campaign from McCain’s new commercial, somehow blaming Obama for the rising oil prices..). They’ve got WiFi, and you can plug in, which is a must to keep yourself entertained. The best thing about this place is the jabber-jabber (ok, maybe the coffee is better than I thought…) of the barista, a goofy house dj who spent most of the morning introducing himself to everyone who came in (“I’m really bad with names, but…), pouring dance music knowledge into every cup free of charge, and giving a heart to an otherwise sterile room. If you need a pick me up in the morning, this place is sufficient. If you’ve graduated from college, or just from wearing hooded sweatshirts, you may want to seek new ground.
As for the headlines, it’s like listening to a promotional mix-tape a la People’s Park: “Promoting Racial Harmony” and “Ending Urban Renewal.” Is there a link? We’ll have to ask the wandering professors and homeless. Somewhere between harmony and renewal brews the truth, and it just may come from a dance party run by today’s barista.
Dance on, everyone, and enjoy your break slow. After all, if the front page dj’s the next party, it’ll be finger pointing and broken hope. Perhaps the barista has some ideas where I should wander next…
Breakfast in the Bay: Making sense of waking up since Tuesday, 2008.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
EspressoRoma
Apparently I am living Italian week, as this morning I found my boots walking up to Espresso Roma, at the corner of Ashby and College. Weaving my way through morning, I brought the sun out with a little caffeine. Outside: two men sat silently staring at the street with their old man eyes, a slight, model looking girl with sunglasses bigger than her face painted her nails bright orange, and three women crowded around a table scribbling business-plans and copiously nodding at each other, emphasizing words with seeming randomness. I sort of loved it. Like yesterday, the people-watching was a highlight, but, unlike yesterday, the coffee wasn’t. Dark, yes, but not smooth. Smoother, though, than the guy at the next table who spent five minutes explaining the intricacies of his master’s program to his date. It’s the best place I’ve been in a while to sit down and enjoy a long breakfast. If you’ve got a friend in from out of town, it’s perfect.
The headlines today felt disjointed: “24% likely to drop out at state’s high school” and “Newfound genetic clue to HIV rate among blacks” both point to major issues in the black community: dropping out (it’s 24% overall, but 42% of African-American students) and a theory that says there is a gene that makes people of African descent more susceptible to AIDS. Early 1900’s eugenics comes to mind, but who knows where the front page is coming from. Stuck into the bottom corner is San Francisco’s #1 ranking as the “most walkable” city in the country. With that, I’m off to walk myself home.
Enjoy your break slow, dear readers. After all, if the front page sets our route, we’ll be walking around talking about drop-outs and disease, chaos and fiscal crisis. Something good to have coffee to.
Breakfast in the Bay: Making sense of waking up since Tuesday, 2008.
The headlines today felt disjointed: “24% likely to drop out at state’s high school” and “Newfound genetic clue to HIV rate among blacks” both point to major issues in the black community: dropping out (it’s 24% overall, but 42% of African-American students) and a theory that says there is a gene that makes people of African descent more susceptible to AIDS. Early 1900’s eugenics comes to mind, but who knows where the front page is coming from. Stuck into the bottom corner is San Francisco’s #1 ranking as the “most walkable” city in the country. With that, I’m off to walk myself home.
Enjoy your break slow, dear readers. After all, if the front page sets our route, we’ll be walking around talking about drop-outs and disease, chaos and fiscal crisis. Something good to have coffee to.
Breakfast in the Bay: Making sense of waking up since Tuesday, 2008.
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