guilty of being ...

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Wednesday, December 14, 2005

HL,WT (first in a series)

I don't think anyone can explain the appeal, nay, the siren song, of a laptop for a writer.

Not all writers. But an awful lot of them, from J.K. Rowling to -- me.

Why would I want to write in a crowded (or empty) coffee house? Because -- whatever happens there?

IT'S NOT MY PROBLEM.

At home? Surrounded by stuff I should do. (Not that I would abandon my laptop to actually do that stuff -- but just knowing it's there can disrupt my delicate creative psyche, cough-cough.)

At Starbucks?

Plug in my headphones (even if I'm not listening to anything -- it cuts down on strangers asking me about my computer, about the wifi connection, anything else a stranger might decide to ask if they see somebody sitting there WORKING, for pete's sake). See my comfy chair? It's purple. And velvet!

And we're off to the races. People laughing? Talking? Not my problem. People spilling things? Not my problem. People asking for directions? Not my problem.

Now this is my nearby neighborhood Starbucks. Not all Starbucks are created equal, and yes I know you don't believe this, but they do have a different ambience. Which is why this is the first in a series.



Have Laptop, Will Travel.

I know you can't wait for the next episode.

Right?

Um, right.

7 Comments:

At 4:36 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

What a fun idea! Oh, if you were only in Austin. Our house is right near a number of coffeehouses and other establishments with free wireless, including a Dairy Queen. I spent yesterday afternoon in a cozy coffee place where the counter guy made sure the music wasn't too loud for us, then put on Tom Waits and started singing along.

 
At 4:39 PM, Blogger Patricia Burroughs aka Pooks said...

I'm not always at Starbuck's -- it's just most consistentlly going to have wifi available in DFW. But yeah, I think it will be fun to document the different places I work.

Also the clientelle varies. At my neighborhood Starbuck's you are more likely to see people doing Bible study than writing screenplays.

My favorite Starbuck's in LA -- quite the opposite, natch.

 
At 7:26 PM, Blogger Patricia Burroughs aka Pooks said...

Thanks, fixed 'em.

 
At 6:02 AM, Blogger Patricia Burroughs aka Pooks said...

Heh. And never noticed they were apostrophe-deprived.

 
At 3:09 AM, Blogger Jay Ann Cox, PhD said...

My Starbucks have purple velvet chairs, that aren't too squicky to sit in.... TOO!

Praise the Lord.

 
At 11:36 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

By coincidence, I did my own HLWT entry for Holidailies today.

I have an evolving theory that there are two kinds of coffee houses: the library kind and the nightclub kind. I like the library kind--because when I want the other kind I won't be drinking coffee and I won't be carrying a laptop.

 
At 7:11 AM, Blogger Patricia Burroughs aka Pooks said...

Pictures, Chip -- pictures! I'm in a deprived wasteland that doesn't have wifi-coffee shops on every corner (much less Dairy Queens!) and want to see how the other half lives!

 

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