Essay Ally

You’ve probably heard on the news or read somewhere by now that Starbucks plans on closing 600 “underperforming” locations and will only open about 400 new locations in the next year or so. The news is stating this like it is some sort of tragedy. But let’s examine this for a moment.

How many stores does Starbucks actually have? Over 15,000 as of November of last year including their joint ventures with places like Barnes and Noble. That’s a lot of coffee houses. And Starbucks portrays themselves as earth-friendly, consumer-friendly, and an allaround warm and fuzzy experience. But it’s just another corporate beast.

People might like the slightly over roasted and highly addictive extra-caffeinated coffee’s bitter aftertaste, but it’s average coffee at an above average price. The fad is starting to pass. Mom and pop coffee shops are so much better. And I personally prefer Caribou Coffee when it comes to coffee chains. I’m not going to lose a wink of sleep over them closing a few stores (less than 1.5% after they open the other new stores). The economy is in the crapper and I’m happy to see some corporations struggle as much as the common man is.

Will you miss Starbucks?

An interesting use of microsoft clip art:

Please don’t hesitate to respond accordingly . . .

    There really isn’t much point in me writing a journal to extol the virtues of Barack Obama.  You can find thousands of them on facebook, myspace, and any other popular web media out there.  And there really isn’t anyone reading my blog anyway.

This isn’t a self-pity rant, but once again, I’m a realist.  I burn people and nobody really cares what I am doing these days, so why would they be interested in reading about my life?   I am ok with this fact, but I just wanted to say ‘Yay for Obama!’ because he is the first candidate to whom  I donated money and I feel like he has a shot at becoming our next president.

Incidentally, I am seriously considering attending his inauguration with my mother and any other family/friends who would like to attend.  If you feel interested when January rolls around, I have a really uncomfortable fold-out couch, and lots of floor space.  It could be fun. . .  And you’ll be  a part of history.  I’ll broadcast this again in January.

So donate to Obama, register to vote, and please, please, stop wasting your time at my blog.

This is not a moment of self pity, but rather an exploration of reality. It has been months since I started my blog. I post on various pages and network sites where I have numerous “friends” and I have also IM’d it to potentially hundreds of people. Yet, nobody posts. I get compliments and laughs in response to the link but have yet to get anybody actually responding to what I say. So how is this like my life?

I know hundreds, if not thousands of people all over the US and the world. I can talk to a complete stranger and have their life story and their contact information in a matter of minutes, yet nobody ever thinks to contact me back. Am I so offensive that nobody wants to deal with me? Or am I just too intimidating for people to want to reach out to me? Or perhaps I am just plain unpleasant, even forgettable?

This is just a moment of curiosity. I have been told that I am mean, intimidating, abrasive, and hard to deal with at times, but yet I am complimented in the same breath. Being intellectual and brutally honest makes me regarded articulate, fascinating, amazing, evil, hateful, and unpleasant. I have also been told that certain moments of verbal outburst are acceptable in a man, but things that I say are just unappealing from a woman. So tell me, why does nobody post on this blog?

This is not a trick, you don’t have to sign up and post, just take my survey.

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March 5 would have been my father’s 59th birthday. But he never lived past 48.

On December 5, 1997 he dropped me off at school. I was in 10th grade. That morning was the last time I ever saw my father. Tragically, he had a stroke several hours later. While he was on life support for those few hours before they determined his brain was dead, I could have seen him. But I knew there were only two possible outcomes, he would survive or he wouldn’t. If he survived, I would see him again. If he didn’t, I wanted to remember him from that morning.

Now, looking back over ten years, I remember the living moments. And I try not to mourn him too much. Life is for the living, they say. But on Wednesday I remembered a story by Ray Bradbury called “There Will Come Soft Rains” about a house that continues living long past when all life is gone. Life does go on, with or without us. And from that title I also recalled this other poem, a rather morose and suicidal number, that gets to me sometimes. So I thought I would share it

I Shall Not Care

When I am dead and over me bright April
Shakes out her rain-drenched hair,
Though you shall lean above me broken-hearted,
I shall not care.

I shall have peace, as leafy trees are peaceful
When rain bends down the bough;
And I shall be more silent and cold-hearted
Than you are now.

-Sara Teasdale

Share your favorite poem, story, movie, etc.. with me.  What inspires you?  What moments in your life define you?  We could all use a little enrichment and academic indulgence.