addictions old and new
an old addiction reignited:
several months ago on a saturday morning i was driving and listening to NPR, cup a joe in hand. i love when saturday morning rolls around when i’m on tour cause it means i get to listen to “This American Life”, “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me” and “Hey What Do You Know” while the miles fly by. i’m an admitted NPR junkie. anyways, that morning after “This American Life” i happened to catch a program on cooking/cuisine called “Good Food” and they were interviewing this guy named Phil of Philz Coffee in San Francisco. Phil is a coffee-phile who spent 7 years creating his first blend which he calls “Tesora” or treasure, and has since gone on to craft many other unique blends. he has a single store in the Mission district which coffee lovers flock to. there’s something very special about Philz…he makes each cup of coffee by hand, one at a time, right in front of you while you wait, mouth watering. they say once you try it you can never go back.
so of course being the coffee addict that i am, i looked it up online, found the address and counted the days till my tour would take me back to the bay area so i could find out what all the fuss was about. cut to me this past wednesday. i had a gig the night before in Marin and knew i would have some time in the afternoon to stop by Philz before i headed over to my next gig in Santa Cruz. fighting caffeine withdrawal and crankiness i held off on getting my morning cup in anticipation. by 3pm when i arrived at 24th and Folsom, i was a woman in need.
imagine the richest coffee you’ve ever tasted, but without the bitter, dry aftertaste. full and dark roasted with just enough cream to cut it and Philz calling card, a fresh mint leaf on top. the caffeine entered my bloodstream as smooth as the coffee itself went down. no jolt, no jitters and no spacey-headed anxiety when the caffeine wore off. quite simply the best cup of coffee i’ve ever had. so good that i’m thinking about quitting cause nothing since has measured up. it’s ok, i’m only *thinking* about it.
a new addiction:
later in the day my touring buddy and dear friend, Adrianne www.adrimusic.com, and i pulled into Santa Cruz, bladders about to burst. (coffee does run right through you) we surveyed our prospects and settled on Toys R Us as most likely to have decent restrooms. we shoulda known better because 20 minutes later we were still browsing the aisles like two 12 year olds, enchanted by Lego AT-ATs, Lite Bright, stuffed turtles and Sudoku board games. long story short, Adrianne got me addicted to a board game called Othello which is some kind of checkers/chess hybrid with little black and white reversible game pieces. i have my own copy now and i’ve played enough that my game strategy is pretty tight. i know exactly what i have to do to win, every step of the way. but watching the pieces defensively, deciding on the best move and predicting how the tables could turn still eludes me. it hurts my brain sometimes so i have a beer and try not to take it so seriously and just have fun playing the game. it’s like a little metaphor for life. 