Taking My Laptop Out For Coffee
So one of my odder quirks has been that I've never been a laptop-in-public kind of guy.
Part of it is paranoia; I'm worried that I'll drop the damn thing, or that someone will swipe it. Though I'm way too careful for either of those to happen, so it's all rather senseless.
So I've had this new laptop for about a year, and bought a bag to carry it in with it, but I hadn't used the bag at all, except when I moved the laptop to the new apartment.
But today I finally sucked it up, and took the laptop out with me. Actually put it on a table in a place that serves coffee, and let it live off its battery for a while. Knocked out about 10 pages of my rewrite. Felt nice.
It helps that I've finally found a great place to go in the afternoons, when I get stir-crazy being in the apartnent and need to get out.
I've been prowling my new neighborhood in my car, looking for the perfect coffee shop. Generally in the past I've often wound up sucking it up and going to a Starbucks or a Coffee Bean, though I don't really like the coffee at either.
And though there are two Starbucks within a half mile of my apartment, both have terrible parking.
My needs are small. I don't really need a place to plug in my laptop. I don't care about being on the Internet in public (it's nice to be away from the distraction).
All I need is a place where I can camp out for a couple of hours without feeling rushed, where the music is low but not too low, where there are enough people to make people-watching interesting, but not enough to be too distracting. Good coffee is a plus too.
So anyhow, I found it. Ironically, it's a place I've been in before, a small place that specializes in gelato, but which also has great coffee and tasty baked goods.
A place that's fairly dead in the afternoons, so I can camp out at a table in the window, read and write without being disturbed, and occasionally watch the people passing by.
Today, as a bonus, totally randomly, I looked up to realize that they were playing the new Rilo Kiley CD in its entirety. Quietly, but not too quietly.
Nice.
posted by Scott the Reader @ 5:05 PM
12 Comments:
Ha, Scott, I know exactly where you're talking about. Love that place. Haven't tried writing there, but that's a great idea.
Hope you're enjoying your new digs.
10 pages in one sitting IS a very productive day.
You and I very much in our likes/desires in a coffee getaway place. I retreat to the Bonney Lake Starbucks for an exteneded session of rewriting using my labtop, or sometimes I just read a hard copy draft and redline edit. BUT, like you Scott, I don't really like Starbuck's coffee, though they do have a large, sticky cinnamon roll that is to die for...
How are your finances managing during the strike? Hope it's not crimping your roll to much.
- E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA
Dude, your life is cush! I know you haven't "made it" yet, but if this is your typical day, you're not in too terrible a position. I'd love to have screenwriting-- in any form-- be the major focus of my day. And this part kills me:
"A place that's fairly dead in the afternoons, so I can camp out at a table in the window, read and write without being disturbed, and occasionally watch the people passing by."
I know it's completely mundane, but that's what's beautiful about it. If only all our days could be spent thusly.
Congrats my friend!
Well, keep in mind that when I say "read" that's work. And that I have time to write because business is slow.
But yeah, no real complaints.
in noho?
I've been looking for that sort of place is mid wilshire/weho/los angeles area for over a year now. Haven't quite found it yet. I'm jealous.
I don't much care for having a laptop in the first place (typing on them hurts my hands quite a bit, and I don't like carrying things around).
However, once you take the plunge and own one of those things, you might as well take it out and about every chance you get. Finding the right place for that special date with your laptop, however, can indeed be a challenge. Glad to hear you managed.
What does it matter if the two Starbucks 'have terrible parking' if they're less than half a mile of your apartment? Walk!
You've got two Starbucks less than half a mile away, but you won't use them because there's no parking!
Didn't your maother ever explain what those two long appendages attached to your hips are for?
And the exercise'll do you good.
OK, so Jimmy beat me to it.
Well, I might walk to the Starbucks eventually. But I'm still waiting for my ankle to heal completely.
Plus, all other things being equal, good coffee matters, and since I'm a guy who just drinks regular coffee, Starbucks' coffee just doesn't do it for me.
Starbucks does have great toffee bars though.
I'm no fan of stereotypes but the few times I visited L.A. I did notice a reluctance to walk anywhere including, somewhat bizarrely, a ten minute walk to a health club for the sole purpose of using a treadmill. And to think Angelenos are always bitching about the traffic. Steve Martin nailed it in L.A. Story.
In the three years since I've had my laptop I've only taken it out once. I don't know what it is; but I certainly understand your issues.
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