I Spy Something.....

Fri, 01 May 2009 01:52:32 GMT

It is clearly a different crowd at night. Its too late to be the after work crowd, and too early to be the after drinks crowd... but it is steady in here.

Hugh isnt working. The Lioness isnt working.. Santiago isnt outside. I feel like the outsider tonight.. sitting here.. all in black satin.. curled up in my big purple velvet chair... blues-y vocals pumping through the speakers overhead... there is a man sitting across from me.. in shorts and sneakers.. he has a training guide from a financial institution and appears to be grading papers....
Now he is texting... Not using t9... something is wrong.. he seems anxious... tapping. waiting on another message to come in on his phone so he can flip it open and tap tap tap away some more. I wonder why he closes it after each message.. knowing he is about to type some more.. in just.. a.. second.

he just pulled out a magazine type print that has in big bold letters "learning the hard way" Wow.. this guy screams of black cloud tonight...

Shifting view

Sun, 19 Apr 2009 13:38:20 GMT

So, I am at a new location...   No Comfy chairs here.. All stiff and wooden like the shoppers seem to be as they walk by with their blank stares.
Odd, One of the regulars from the other location is here.. The man who was reading the papers... OR perhaps he is a figment of my imagination like Charles Herman in www.abeautifulmind.com/main.html... just a part of my coffee house experience.

How fascinating ..4 different languages being spoken at the 4 nearby tables.

Watching a weathered old man in a white hat try to put the plastic top on his paper cup. Its so tiny..   I want so badly to help him but Id be afraid to frighten him or that he may think I am up to no good.   Random acts of kindness seem to have gone by the wayside these days and people are offended or annoyed when you 'intrude'. pity, isnt it?

There is a woman who is sitting next to me wearing a smock labled with a cosmetic company's name.. Obviously she sells it. But her skin is bare of any makeup and rather leathery...from tanning it appears... Oh the joys of florida. I prefer to maintain my paleish irish skintone as free from sun damage as possible... I digress..

Lots of families here.. walking past with their young children.. and shopping bags.. I wonder what stores are the busiest here with the recession going on...Obviously people still afford their expensive coffee.. guess there are just some luxuries we allow ourselves..

A woman appearing to be in her late 60s.. and her husband just walked past.. both carrying job applications.. from multiple places..

I think leonardo decaprio just went through a time warp.. turned 19.. and walked past me...Works at fossil...

Behind me, there is a stop smoking kiosk.. called White cloud..    Now, I know that recently Cigarettes went up A LOT... New tax and all... You would think people want to quit.. but the guy at the kiosk is kicking back reading a book... no business today sir..

Lots of tattos everywhere.. is that a florida thing or are they growing more and more common everywhere? Id say i see ink on 80 percent of people walking past me today...

Isnt barista a little femme sounding for a man?

People are strange.. when you're a stranger

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 16:50:28 GMT

I haven't been able to do much people watching, as work duties have called.. But I wanted to welcome the new friends and say hello.

One note though, Have you ever noticed how thunderstorms bring out the strange in people? Or perhaps it just brings out the strange people...

Surrender to the music, surrender to the sea, surrender to coffee!

Sat, 11 Apr 2009 17:59:42 GMT

On the way in this afternoon (yeh I got a late start) I noticed a man I walk past every day but never really focus on.. He is a rather interesting sort- probably in his mid to late 50s he sits outside in the same corner table every morning. Sort of away from everyone else. I havent seen him smoke but his skin seems worn and leathery like a smoker might appear.. Every time I see him he reminds me of the old man in 'The Old Man and the Sea' . If you arent familiar, it is a novella by Ernest Hemingway. So, I will call this man Santiago.

Santiago sits in the same chair at the same table every time I see him. AH HAH he is a smoker. He just lit one up. He always seems to have papers with him. It appears to be blank copy paper and he writes on them with heavy ink. Not always the same pen, but always something heavy like a felt tip and sometimes even a sharpie. I wonder if he is writing letters.. or a book.. or perhaps a journal. With his papers I see a worn large orange envelope. I wonder what he writes about.. what he thinks about.. Maybe Santiago will be the next Hemingway... Maybe he is writing letters to his family far away.. or perhaps thoughts to his late wife.. I just wonder..

There is a young couple sitting outside .. they are playing cards.. Every time one of them lays a card down the table wobbles back and forth..back and forth. If I were to choose a table, I probably would have ended up there. I tend to choose the awkward tables or the shopping cart with an odd wheel that tap tap taps as I push it around the market. At first it seems an annoyance but at some point it oddly becomes almost soothing.. that tap tap tapping...

sidetracked.. one of the other regulars just walked in. The guy on the second day who was reading the obits. he seems to b4e a regular here too. He has been here every day that I have. Sometimes he brings a friend (an older gentleman) sometimes he doesn't. He usually buys one of the bottled frappucinos. bought some type of pastry .. no drink.. sat down to eat it.. and left. They seem to like him here. He is a tall heavy man. Not fat.. just heavier than skinny. Looks in the direction of his feet a lot.. and doesn't seem to talk much. I wonder.. is he as lonely as he appears or is that just a judgment that someone like me, who has the need to have people in my life.. would pass thinking that everyone needs people.. Perhaps he is quite happy in his life with his routines.. I wonder. I will call him mark.

The music in here isnt grooving or jazzy today.. Its sweet surrender by Sarah Mclachlan.

It isnt as busy as I would have expected it to be. Hugh isnt working either... neither is the Kitten/Lioness.. it is so bare in here today... I wonder what everyone is doing..

This entry is a few feet long!

Sat, 11 Apr 2009 03:57:12 GMT

And so I promised to explain feet. I really have no way to spin this- other than to say.. I took pictures of feet all day. I cant even explain why- except that I was amused taking the pictures.. right there out in the open.. and no one seemed to notice or to care. While starting to explain this foot photog, I mentioned to a baud-buddy that I had a plan for my next photoshoot.. What might be? Well let me explain...

At some point during the day, while I was focused on feet- a certain FK drew to my attention a man who came into the cafe who strangely resembled a cross between a walrus and a persian cat. No kidding. Really. So my next venture in bravery with the camera shall be... MUSTACHES!

Now, below the cut.. are feet. Dont ask. I have no logical reasoning for this. With some of the feet may be comments, and I ~~expect~~ encourage your comments as well..

this is the first pair of feet...   tell me if you can figure out the oddness that is this picture.. :D

This would be the guy with the white ankle socks. I had to zoom in to make sure yo could see.. He kept looking at me. but not in the "why are you taking picture of my feet" face. just creepy odd.    Mr anklesockfeeet, if you are reading this, I mean no ill will. just please.. stop looking at me like that.   please?

These look like they could be comfy feet.. but perhaps a little excessive in this heat..

typical florida feet!

i think this guy was trying to look taller than the other guy.. or maybe he was trying the 'i can hover' illusion..   whats with all the jeans in tennis shoes. its HOT outside!

Not sure why but this one just looks sassy... kinda sexy pic. Not just the boots.. but the whole image..    Hey, I never claimed sanity.

hey its heavens gate shoes!!! stay away from the jello pudding dude!

and finally,.... (i took more but i thought I would spare you the rest...)

MY feet!!

Now, didnt this post just complete your life???

spying

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 18:20:11 GMT

Still here among the caffeinated... population is waxing and waning.. but it seems pretty steady at least. I feel the liquid crack running through my veins... two shots of espresso..
I have company today. Makes for a pleasant distraction of the norm.

I spy many feet...

More on that to come..

Everything in Perfect Rythm Everything in Perfect Motion

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 16:03:32 GMT

The chair bekoned again. I obliged. Oh wait who am I kidding, I oblige on a daily basis. Today is a holiday isnt it? Hah- how long has it been since Catholic classes? Good Friday .. yes, that explains the buzz around here, No one has any real work to do today. Its 11:40 in the afternoon and there is only one purple chair left. The non-ass-friendly chairs are almost full.. People keep looking at me for longer than the quick glance. I should have known better than to wear the collar today. How can you people watch and be walllflower with a crystal studded kitty collar on? What can I say, I was feeling feisty this morning.

The music is Jazzy today. Almost makes me want to sway back and forth with the sax. Almost...

The guy to my left is writing sideways. Seriously. I know lefties write sideways, I am one of them. But he isnt. and it looked like the backward kind of sideways.. Ok that barely makes sense. Shifting view.

The guy with white ankle socks keeps looking over his shoulder at me. seriously.. is there something on my head? I am feeling a little peculiar. "whats going on??" (ok that was bad)

Seems to be a lot of new staff in here today. I wonder whats with that.

My favorite female barista just walked in.. shes neat- you never know what to expect. a playful silly kitten like charm or a mother lion about to pull last ngihts dinner out of your gut. I look forward to the challenge of trying to call it before I get to the window.

today reminds me of a gwar concert I went to years ago. As I was going into the show I noticed there were people ranging from their late 40s down to adolescence.. and some were punks, some were skinheads, some were dirt rockers.. basically all genres and all ages that you might think could never coexist in the same square mile without rioting.. were getting along in perfect harmony. Ok it was gwar so it wasnt perfect harmony, but you get my drift.

Same sort of thing in here today. People you might not expect to be socializing with one another.. odd couples, the danny devitos and arnold schwartzawhatevers.. its neat. its comfortable.

going to soak it in a bit.

recognizing the fly on the wall

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:10:35 GMT

So It is day two of my come in sit down visit to my favorite Java Joint.. and I walk in- they tell ME what I want.. now granted, I am a regular in the drive through but I figured I flew under the radar here. These guys are good.

The music is on today, its got a nice groove. Masks the caffenated voices talking over one another, and the frothing every couple minutes.

Mr Penetrating Eyes isnt here again.. but I still recognize the whole staff..

To my left there seems to be some top secret public meeting going on. They are tucked away in a little corner damn near behind the counter.. its business... paperwork... charts.. man I wish I could get paid to sit here.

in front of me is a man reading the newspaper. he is alone.. probably mid 50s. Looks like he is reading the employment section. How contrary to the group to my left. God I hope that isnt me anytime soon. ..and now he reads his horroscope.. Maybe he finds out its a good day for capricorn to stabalize .. Pick up the phone.. make a few calls.. a good lead or two. damn he looks so defeated. Just crumpled up the employment section..walked outside with some of his paper.

Shifting view... hah the meeting off to the left.. US Census Bureau... they just walked out. ...

The man with the newspaper cant decide were he wants to sit. Took his paper outside for about 4 minutes. Now hes come back inside and sitting in one of the big comfortable chairs next to me still flipping through his paper. reading obits now.

Shifting view.. Black turtleneck and IMac cant figure out how to connect to the internet here. Barista wasnt sure how to help.. I brought my own internet with me. Yay for Wireless Broadband USB modems!

Welcome

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 23:08:06 GMT

So I came back up here to my favorite coffe joint to start my people watching. There is one person who works up here that intrigues me... not in the 'I want to approach him and date him' kind of intrigue.. but that he seems so different from the rest of the staff here... and he has these piercing blue eyes which make him look like he is staring deep into you.. penetrating eyes .. and he looks like Hugh Laurie..seriously though? He's just making my coffee.

Well, usually anyway. He isnt here today. Time to find someone else to observe. The lobby is full of people.. but everyone seems to be alone. No 8-5ers here today. Its Monday Mid morning. so all of the reg business hour office workers are busy.

Tall blonde lady just walked in. Shes so skinny shes almost transparent. Wow. Oh here comes a few people... sounds like a business meeting. . . But they are both talkng at the same time. So fast. So loud. How do they get anything done? Are they really listening to each other?

people seem so non motivated... today.