Tag: coffee

Coffee Date

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It is only fitting to invite you to this morning’s coffee session. No need to pull up a chair, there is plenty of couch left. Yes, I want you to be comfortable. Cream? Sugar? Black? I’ll be having International Delight’s French Vanilla, no sugar. We good? Great, let’s begin.

If we were having coffee this morning, I would invite you out on the town with me today, where we’ll be picking up a few more posters for my upcoming book signing. It’s the first where we’ll be featuring all three Stella Books. The fundraiser is also going well. I managed to raise $700 in one month so far, over half of my goal. I’m excited because this will not be your traditional signing. Not only is it a book signing but it is a celebration for the completion of the series with the release of Book #3 in the Trilogy. We will have video presentations, picture slideshows, conversation and of course food. Oh, and indeed we’ll have coffee too. Open to the public, this will also be my first time in Atlanta!

If we were having coffee this morning, I would ramble on about my recent trip to New Mexico, also a first. I am scheduled to return this summer where I’ll explore many of the things I did not have a chance to take in. This trip was for a slightly different purpose. I was able to relax and refresh my mind; a time everyone needs every once in a while. It was the most peace I’ve felt in a long time. I did however get to do a little research which I am always seeking to do. I learned about The Blackdom Community, the first all-black settlement in New Mexico and of course the alien crash landing of 1947. Despite little green men on every corner I did not get to visit the museum (boo) but that is on my to-do list for this summer time permitting.

If we were having coffee this morning, I would tell you that my patience has been tested. It appears that I have misplaced a very important USB drive. This drive has a lot of critical work on it that I have not had the opportunity to back up. However, I am on a quest for a worry free life so I have managed not to freak out at this point. I know that everything happens for a reason and I am just thankful that my most important manuscripts are safe. Though I do have to re-edit everything I’ve already done to the novel I wish to revamp. The work I started on this particular project is on the drive.

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If we were having coffee this morning, I would give you the testimony of when I met my husband. You’d probably look at me funny and think “Why do I need to know this right now?” I’ll smile big and explain that this year will mark our 9th year together, with our marriage anniversary on February 17th  and our first date anniversary on May 16th.

If we were having coffee right now, I’d tell you that I’m going to be in a Play, my second acting gig before a large audience since High School. Last year my organization and I premiered our Stay Play Production: Blakk Amerika: From Prophets to Pimps before a 400 seated audience at the Dusable Museum in Chicago. Next month, we’ll be presenting at The Riverside EPICenter in Austell Georgia which holds 600 people! I appear in Acts 2 and 4 and I am also selected to close the play with a poem. The name of the poem is “Freedom: The Illusion” and it is my most famous one to date. First written and performed in 2009 for our first documentary, I have not written a poem that has garnered more attention. It is by far my most requested piece. Speaking of which, we’d better cut this date short and begin our day. I have to get ready for rehearsal tonight …and tomorrow night and Sunday night! More coffee please…

Writing 101: Assignment #11 – Update Your Readers – If We Were Having Coffee Right Now

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If we were having coffee right now…I would not take you to Starbucks. Or dunkin donuts. I would instead invite you to my home where our voices would carry from the kitchen table to the living room sofa, where there are no TVs for a reason (you’d have to go in the TV room for that). And after coasting our mugs and dimming the lamp, which we don’t need much of because of the morning sun, I would bring my legs in and dig into the sofa. I’d probably grab the couch pillow and here we would begin.

If we were having coffee right now… I would ask you if you like the way I redecorated the blog. I don’t usually experiment with themes too much but I wanted to move the furniture to the right side of the room and make my pages more visible. I fell in love with this really cute peach and white button theme. If you’re a guy I would ask you why you just rolled your eyes.

If we were having coffee right now…I would ask you about your favorite post and if my quantity of posts annoys you. I think we’ll laugh about this for a while until you begin to annoy me and I change the subject. “What’s your favorite kind of posts? Poetry? Quotes? Short stories?” Speaking of poetry I really miss the Open Mic. I would like to go back to the stage sometime in the near future. You’re welcomed to come see me perform.

If we were having coffee right now…I would tell you how excited I am for my end of the year road trip. I’ll be visiting a mom of mine in Roswell New Mexico, a place I’ve never been. I will tell you that we’re planning a sleepover and that I’m very excited. I’ll probably start smiling really big because going to see mom means I have an excuse to be a kid again. You would probably smile before rolling your eyes because I am now reaching for the photo album. This could go on forever.

If we were having coffee right now… I would tell you about the 3rd Installment of my short story trilogy called Stella, which releases in February. I would take you back down memory lane, passed the cotton fields of the first Stella and beyond the colored line of her granddaughter the second Stella and smack down in the middle of the road where we look at the life of Joseph McNair, Stella’s son. (Please see the home page to see what this book is about). I’m excited  to get my book over to the editor before I conduct my final proofread. I’m still trying to decide on a venue for the release party and book signing. Speaking of book signing, I intentionally decided to wait until after I finished the series to have one for Stella.  So I’m looking to do an event where I can discuss all the books. I’m really behind far as planning goes but I hope to have more event details prepared by next month. I’m also planning to attend the Black History Month Parade in Atlanta in February. So now I’m not sure if I want to release it there or here at home. In any event, I have to finish counting up the cost so I can start my fundraiser. I am also still working on my business plan. Time permitting I can get that finished by next year as well so I can get the ball rolling on looking into some grants.  We’ll see where that goes.

If we were having coffee right now… I would offer you a business card and thank you for hanging out with me and offer you more coffee before we wrapped things up. We stand, laughing like two college friends because your funny. We’d stroll over by the coat hanger and, if you’re a woman, we’ll both have our hands on our hips with our heads tilted slightly to engage in more conversation. By the time we do make it to our jackets we only just open the door. We’ll probably talk a bit more before actually walking through it. If your a man who is married to my new lady friend I’d ask you if you would mind warming the car. You’ll do it. We all know this could go on forever.

If we were having coffee right now… I would wave goodbye to my new blog friend who was so kind as to meet me in person, in my home, over a cup of coffee.

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Obsessive Compulsive Coffee Cream Disorder

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Ok, confessional: Who else is addicted to Coffee Cream??

I did not always like coffee. As a matter of fact I thought it was the most disgusting drink ever. That is until I discovered that coffee can actually taste good. It was back in 2010, and a sister of mine prepared me a cup of the most delicious coffee I’d ever tasted (which I admit isn’t saying too much since I didn’t really drink coffee before then but we don’t really have to bring up old stuff). I didn’t even notice the caffeine rush at first, it was just about the taste, the milky creaminess that pulled against the strings of my taste buds. If I could view my mouth under a microscope, I imagine little taste buds were dancing circles around my palate, slapping high fives with my tonsils and wondering where Coffee’s been all our life.

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Now granted I don’t think I qualify as a real coffee drinker, at least that’s what my husband tells me. He says I don’t really drink coffee (he silly lol). But he has somewhat of a point. That point being my obsession with coffee cream. I just can’t drink coffee without cream. Call it OCCCD (Obsessive Compulsive Coffee Cream Disorder), it means you’re addicted to coffee creamer. That is, even if you have milk and sugar you can’t drink coffee unless there is some kind of creamer involved. No joke, this is serious business. Even if there’s sugar and milk and all that extra stuff, no cream? No coffee for me. (Blame the sweet tooth). My favorite is the French Vanilla version of the famous International Delight. This creamy goodness intermingled with the strong dark roast of Folgers is delicious. And let’s not talk about those cool mornings, where the warmth of the coffee wraps its hands around your throat and send heat throughout your entire body. The low temperatures of outdoors against the warm liquid makes coffee a must have during the winter (aside from tea).

Coffee and Car Keys

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Two things always made me think of adulthood when I was a kid: Coffee and Car Keys.
I always loved holding the keys in my hand after returning from some car visit I was sent to by relatives. It made me feel adult, as if I was actually the one driving. I think mentally I associated it with adulthood because every time adults came around they had car keys in their hand! Or maybe it was because it gave them the freedom to come and go. In any event, I came to hold my head up a little higher whenever I could walk around with those keys.

Coffee also reminded me of adulthood. It seemed that it was something that only grown-ups were allowed to do. If they weren’t drinking coffee they were drinking liquor lol. All this represented adulthood for me.

 
Feel free to list some of the things that reminded you of adulthood when you were a kid.

 

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