Caffeinated Craziness
18/11/2011 11:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
izmeinaJust crossed the 40,000 word milestone over in Nanoland so Izzie figures it's time for a couple of days slacking. Not least due to being back at work tomorrow and staying at Petunia's place tomorrow night. So no online squiggling there.
It has been a strange few weeks. Way too much excitement and drama so tomorrow is the perfect excuse for a long serpent snooze in the morning before slinking off to be at work for 3pm
Last week was the heritage festival where a whole bunch of places were open to the public that are normally kept under lock and key. There was just so much stuff to choose from and only one weekend to do it all. So unlike last November, a Saturday write in at the gorgeous Midland Arts centre was not going to be on the agenda.
The serpent rule is that when faced with a choice of two or more interesting things to do, pick the one you have not done before or will be difficult to do again.
A behind the scenes visit to the Sisters of Mercy convent, a crypt full of dead bishops and a very creepy treasury building simply had no competition. Did make do with a whirlwind tour of the old fire station and a hospital museum in a gorgeous old building on the same street for the simple reason that they are open other days. For the same reason turned down the opportunity to visit the Mint for free and see real gold being poured.
While the Saturday culture vulture events were fun and it was a glorious crisp and crunchy sunny day, Sunday was not so good. It was muggy and sticky but the big black blob on the day was when one of the straps of our black backpack broke meaning the thing had to be carried by the handle all the time. That was a veritable lesson in how stuff weighs you down. It soon got quite tiring
While all the events were fascinating, this little hiccup and the troppo weather made it that much harder to remain in the present moment.
But there were other revelations that the serpent has been too silly to notice until they became beyond the bleeding obvious
It was while drinking coffee in the cavern of kitsch down south that has provided the main inspiration for this year's nanowrimo adventure that Izzie learned a very useful snippet
In most cafes the Izzie always gets a mug because it lasts longer. The owner asked "One shot or two" It makes him sound like some dodgy drug dealer which in effect he is. Dursleyville is filled with crazy caffeine junkies who are so desperate for a fix that they will even pay ridiculous prices for crappy paper cups of the stuff to drink on the run
Vernon the cafe owner probably just wanted to save money on beans but Izzie had not known until he asked that it is standard for a mug of coffee to have an extra 'shot' of coffee and it is the extra beans not the milk that you are paying for in a supersized serve
Yesterday was at Lawley's cafe. Not much atmosphere but they have newpapers, toilets, jugs of cold water at no extra cost and decent coffee. Got two mugs. It was a rainy icky sticky stuffy day so was feeling kind of cranky but it was only later after feeling totally psycho, jittery and upset by the littlest noise that the penny dropped.
Not all coffees are created equal. A bit of a bummer for some one not drinking it for the buzz.
Was on another cafe crawl today, It was gloriously sunny, crisp and crunchy and amazingly mild for a November day in this bit of Oz. This particular place had always been closed on previous encounters. Was more in the mood for munchies than coffee and the menu offering of pumpkin agnolotti with sundried tomato and pesto sauce sounded seriously tasty especially for only nine silver sickles. But it was 2.30pm and the kitchen was closed so made do with a mug of coffee served with a very pretty swirly pattern. Should have been a bit suspicious as the name of the place was "Shots' yesss your typical Northbridge drug dealer's joint
Will try get there earlier next time as their lunch menu seems very reasonable and not the usual greasy spoon rubbish
Next stop was the gorgeous Tarts. This is another cafe around the corner from the seriously crappy Dizzy Witch Cafe. That place is all green and there are cute witches on broomsticks hanging in the window but it is a dark soulless dump with no atmosphere and crap coffee. Remembered it from one visit last November. Seen Tarts after leaving and regretted not going there instead. Was not going to make that mistake this time.
Tarts has civilized opening hours (no closing at 3pm nanny nonsense) and all the other necessaries that make a decent cafe. But remembering last night and the mug of Shots coffee already consumed, played safe and had just a normal cup. Their menu stated that mugs had one extra shot
Just like last Wednesday, had a very inspiring hour or so there playing with index cards, a spiral notebook for offline squiggling and the Victorian Romantic deck. This time did actually look at the deck of cards as well as the lists of possible scenes on the index cards. It made all the difference. The serpent is such a visual creature. Easily tossed off six A5 pages which translated into just over 1,000 typed words.
Writing during the day away from the sceen seems a much quicker and more productive way of doing things. It is also much more enjoyable than staring at a blank screen desperate for ideas.
But an hour after leaving there in search of Dan Murphy's big booze barn, ended up crashing and burning. The Tarts coffee was beautiful - mild and very creamy with no bitterness at all but it must have been the real thing.
Was a blubbering neurotic wreck on the bus back to the Lair. Finally come to the conclusion that if the Izzie wants to drink more than one mug of the devil's brew - best stick to plain old vanilla Dome cafe. It is harmless insipid stuff and they have such lovely locations. Sometimes 'nice' just has to be good enough
There is a cute cafe near Claisebrook Cove called Toast. They have the most enormous fishbowl cups. The very first visit there on April Fool's day, had two of them. They were that good. Well at the time they were. It was later when the headaches hit and the Izzie was so dizzy that even the thought of a glass of red was just two awful to contemplate not just for that night but the next two, that was the first realization that there is more to coffee than that nice nutty flavour, lots of milk and the ritual of watching the world go by while squiggling, reading the paper or whatever.
So looks like it's time to count the beans or else end up being a burnt out psycho neurotic nut case. Such a pity that no one in the two major supermarkets seems to stock the very delicious and kosher Nerada organic chai anymore. It was half the price of the competition and most likely twice as good.
It has been a strange few weeks. Way too much excitement and drama so tomorrow is the perfect excuse for a long serpent snooze in the morning before slinking off to be at work for 3pm
Last week was the heritage festival where a whole bunch of places were open to the public that are normally kept under lock and key. There was just so much stuff to choose from and only one weekend to do it all. So unlike last November, a Saturday write in at the gorgeous Midland Arts centre was not going to be on the agenda.
The serpent rule is that when faced with a choice of two or more interesting things to do, pick the one you have not done before or will be difficult to do again.
A behind the scenes visit to the Sisters of Mercy convent, a crypt full of dead bishops and a very creepy treasury building simply had no competition. Did make do with a whirlwind tour of the old fire station and a hospital museum in a gorgeous old building on the same street for the simple reason that they are open other days. For the same reason turned down the opportunity to visit the Mint for free and see real gold being poured.
While the Saturday culture vulture events were fun and it was a glorious crisp and crunchy sunny day, Sunday was not so good. It was muggy and sticky but the big black blob on the day was when one of the straps of our black backpack broke meaning the thing had to be carried by the handle all the time. That was a veritable lesson in how stuff weighs you down. It soon got quite tiring
While all the events were fascinating, this little hiccup and the troppo weather made it that much harder to remain in the present moment.
But there were other revelations that the serpent has been too silly to notice until they became beyond the bleeding obvious
It was while drinking coffee in the cavern of kitsch down south that has provided the main inspiration for this year's nanowrimo adventure that Izzie learned a very useful snippet
In most cafes the Izzie always gets a mug because it lasts longer. The owner asked "One shot or two" It makes him sound like some dodgy drug dealer which in effect he is. Dursleyville is filled with crazy caffeine junkies who are so desperate for a fix that they will even pay ridiculous prices for crappy paper cups of the stuff to drink on the run
Vernon the cafe owner probably just wanted to save money on beans but Izzie had not known until he asked that it is standard for a mug of coffee to have an extra 'shot' of coffee and it is the extra beans not the milk that you are paying for in a supersized serve
Yesterday was at Lawley's cafe. Not much atmosphere but they have newpapers, toilets, jugs of cold water at no extra cost and decent coffee. Got two mugs. It was a rainy icky sticky stuffy day so was feeling kind of cranky but it was only later after feeling totally psycho, jittery and upset by the littlest noise that the penny dropped.
Not all coffees are created equal. A bit of a bummer for some one not drinking it for the buzz.
Was on another cafe crawl today, It was gloriously sunny, crisp and crunchy and amazingly mild for a November day in this bit of Oz. This particular place had always been closed on previous encounters. Was more in the mood for munchies than coffee and the menu offering of pumpkin agnolotti with sundried tomato and pesto sauce sounded seriously tasty especially for only nine silver sickles. But it was 2.30pm and the kitchen was closed so made do with a mug of coffee served with a very pretty swirly pattern. Should have been a bit suspicious as the name of the place was "Shots' yesss your typical Northbridge drug dealer's joint
Will try get there earlier next time as their lunch menu seems very reasonable and not the usual greasy spoon rubbish
Next stop was the gorgeous Tarts. This is another cafe around the corner from the seriously crappy Dizzy Witch Cafe. That place is all green and there are cute witches on broomsticks hanging in the window but it is a dark soulless dump with no atmosphere and crap coffee. Remembered it from one visit last November. Seen Tarts after leaving and regretted not going there instead. Was not going to make that mistake this time.
Tarts has civilized opening hours (no closing at 3pm nanny nonsense) and all the other necessaries that make a decent cafe. But remembering last night and the mug of Shots coffee already consumed, played safe and had just a normal cup. Their menu stated that mugs had one extra shot
Just like last Wednesday, had a very inspiring hour or so there playing with index cards, a spiral notebook for offline squiggling and the Victorian Romantic deck. This time did actually look at the deck of cards as well as the lists of possible scenes on the index cards. It made all the difference. The serpent is such a visual creature. Easily tossed off six A5 pages which translated into just over 1,000 typed words.
Writing during the day away from the sceen seems a much quicker and more productive way of doing things. It is also much more enjoyable than staring at a blank screen desperate for ideas.
But an hour after leaving there in search of Dan Murphy's big booze barn, ended up crashing and burning. The Tarts coffee was beautiful - mild and very creamy with no bitterness at all but it must have been the real thing.
Was a blubbering neurotic wreck on the bus back to the Lair. Finally come to the conclusion that if the Izzie wants to drink more than one mug of the devil's brew - best stick to plain old vanilla Dome cafe. It is harmless insipid stuff and they have such lovely locations. Sometimes 'nice' just has to be good enough
There is a cute cafe near Claisebrook Cove called Toast. They have the most enormous fishbowl cups. The very first visit there on April Fool's day, had two of them. They were that good. Well at the time they were. It was later when the headaches hit and the Izzie was so dizzy that even the thought of a glass of red was just two awful to contemplate not just for that night but the next two, that was the first realization that there is more to coffee than that nice nutty flavour, lots of milk and the ritual of watching the world go by while squiggling, reading the paper or whatever.
So looks like it's time to count the beans or else end up being a burnt out psycho neurotic nut case. Such a pity that no one in the two major supermarkets seems to stock the very delicious and kosher Nerada organic chai anymore. It was half the price of the competition and most likely twice as good.
