Ode to the Coffee Shop

August is a hard time for me to write. It is the hottest month of the year where I live. Often, it is accompanied by a smoke fueled inversion in the valley, which makes breathing a gross activity. I hate writing when I am hot (my mom hates to be hot almost more than anything else, so I suspect this is a watered down version of that) and I hate that everywhere I go, it's really freaking bright. Which means glare. So I have to wait till it gets dark to tolerate sitting at my computer and then I have to go to bed because work in the morning.

But I need to learn to deal with these things, so I went to a local coffee shop this morning to work on my story (still untitled. Frustration levels are at maximum on that front). Rembrandt's, on Eagle Road. It's wonderful. Anyway, it got me to thinking about how amazing coffee shops are. So here is a  list of the reasons I personally love coffee shops.

1. They have coffee. Lots of it. That I don't have to make. That they make into a latte with a pretty heart pattern in the foam.
2. It requires extra clicking to get on the Internet, so I can easily convince myself that I can't get on the Internet. Which means I stay in Word. Open Word document=writing.
3. They have really cool tables and chairs. For conversation, they usually have some really comfy couches and chairs. For actual work, there are tables with enough space for a computer, a mug, and maybe a stack of papers.
4. White noise. Other people chatting and enjoying themselves is the perfect backdrop to whatever I have blasting in my headphones. It's amazingly helpful.
5. Having made the trip to a place with the specific intention of writing, I actually write. For quite a long time. This is of course helped by the consumption of caffeine.
6. Coffee shops are super cool. It's just a universal truth. People who sit in coffee shops tapping away on computers are cool. So when I am doing it, I feel cool. Which is nice.
7. They have cool art to look at when I need a break. You can also people watch, but it's creepier to do that when you have a computer, because you are obviously supposed to be looking at you.
8. Mostly though, it's the coffee. Coffee is wonderful. Yes, I know I have a problem but give me some credit. I only had one latte. That, my friends, is self-control. Well, that and not wanting to spend the money.

All in all, it was a pretty good morning.