The Coffee Chronicles

Ah, the coffee break.

There is something inherently American about this ritual. Something very standing-around-talking, hard-hat-wearing, thanks-a-lot-buddy, gotta get-back-to-work kind of fundamentally proletarian about it. And I like it - how it drives the course of the day.

How much more significant it is even than the classic lunch break, longer in duration and accompanied by larger amounts of food; yet lunch pales in comparison. There is an almost work-like tension hovering about the lunch break: where to eat, what to eat, how long do I have?

Ah; have a cup of joe, and relax. Here's to you, the working class.

That last post was never meant to be as ominous as it seems, given the long delay until more current news showed up. Earthquakes aside, thigs around these parts are fine, thank you very much. You'll notice, though, that I'm still working on my non-functional comments section.

Sorry about that; I've been busy. I can say that there have been some changes around here, and yet some other things have remained the same. More on this news later.

Which isn't to say, that is, that life has become boring. Far from it, in fact. Why, just here in my small swatch of America we have wildfires, high-speed car chases and the means to watch them, and countless other, less obvious sources of socio-cultural entertainment. And of course, for all of us, there's our hapless President Bush threatening to "...beat everybody up" if they don't leave us alone. I'm paraphrasing, of course.

So, rest assured, there's more irreverent irrelevancy due from my neck of the woods. But first, my morning coffee.