Do you want something to drink?

A friend recently asked for advice on how to enjoy coffee, especially in the business world. Other than the fact that I am a coffee lover, I'm not sure how my History/Comm degrees qualify me for explaining the importance of coffee in the business world, but I am an ardent coffee drinker, so I guess that counts for something. So I'm going to try to explain what you should/ should not order while having coffee in a business setting.

The most important thing to remember while enjoying your coffee is that even if you hate coffee you are enjoying your coffee. That means no making faces, no adding insane amounts of cream or sugar, and above all else no ordering tea instead.

Part I: Sending someone to get your coffee.

If you are sending Intern Rick out to get coffee from a coffee shop, keep your order simple. Ordering an iced half skim/ half 1% soy decaf no-foam fat-free vanilla latte is far too complicated and most likely Intern Rick will have some sort of nervous breakdown trying to remember it and you DON'T want to be the guy/gal who had to write their order down. My golden rule for asking ANYBODY to go get me a drink (which is rare) is this: you can make ONE personalization. If you are ordering a vanilla latte, you can make it skim, soy, decaf, no-foam, OR fat-free. Pick one. Having a personalized order beyond one degree is both difficult to remember and makes you look more than a little pretentious.

Finally, it is nice to keep your order the same from day to day. If your drink is the skinny vanilla latte, then each time someone goes out for coffee, you should order a skinny vanilla latte. It just makes things easier for poor Intern Rick.

Part II: At the Coffee Shop

Okay, so you are at the coffee shop. There are a million choices and personalizations you can choose from but be careful because you are only as strong as your drink. If you are unsure of what you want to order, then I suggest you enjoy a house blend with max 1.5 tablespoons of cream/milk. If you use milk you may have at max 2 packs of sugar but do not use more. Be careful with the amount of creamer you use because your coffee should be at the lightest the color of milk chocolate.

If you want a fancier drink, then stay with the espresso-based drinks and do not drink anything with "frozen," "iced" or "Frapuccino" in the name. Also remember that if you order a straight espresso you do not get a lot of beverage but it is incredibly bitter and very caffeinated. Be wary of the lattes and when in doubt, mochas are your friends.

Most coffee shops have some sort of food available but as a general rule, you don't want to be eating while you are having your meeting. You're going out for coffee, not lunch.

Part III: In the Break Room

Okay, so this one is pretty easy because unlike the coffee shop, there are not a million options. There's the Mr. Coffee which might be out of filters this morning. In this case, you will enjoy whatever coffee it makes and follow the same milk/cream/sugar rules as stated before.

So quick recap:

1) No matter what, you are enjoying your coffee.

2) You can have it your way, but don't get crazy.

3) Your drink should never be lighter than milk chocolate.

4) Be Kind to Intern Rick.

This is what my Week/ Fall Break is going to Look Like:

So, as we all know it is that time of year again (whatever that means....I'm pretty sure "that time of year" happens every couple of months) which means that we are all insanely busy and things are getting backed up, friends are getting neglected, and life is just spinning wildly out of control.

Okay, so it isn't that bad.

Right now, I am taking a break from studying for my (second) American City exam. What do you mean by second? Well, we had one on Wednesday, too. And we're going to have a "take home" exam due on Monday. I love my American Cities professor but sometimes I wonder if he is aware that some of us have other classes other than his...oh well. It's his last semester so I guess there's no real reason to bring it up now. I also have a paper due tomorrow which I haven't started but will and it will get finished tonight (hopefully by 8pm).

Tomorrow, after my exam and I turn in my paper, I will head down to the GAA to pick up not one, not two, but three assignments. I have a sneaky feeling that they're going to want these back before Fall Break (which as we all know starts Wednesday), so this will most likely shoot all of my weekend fun out the window. I'm pretty sure if I plan it right, though, I can definitely finish all three by Wednesday.

After my GAA meeting I will then go to work. 2:30-6. Followed hopefully by our traditional sushi dinner and then off to the Dean Dome for Late Night With Roy. I've never been and I don't care how busy I am, I am a SENIOR and I WILL be going! Nothing can stop me. Nothing.

Somewhere in all of that, I will also hopefully be sleeping. I've already let my parents know that when I get home, I'm probably going to just pass out for a day or two and that they shouldn't really expect anything of greatness from me until Friday at the earliest.

I wonder if I could finish my script over fall break....it's an interesting idea. I'm certainly going to try, if the writing juices are flowing properly.

Goth.

It's not about wearing black eyeliner and chalk white makeup. It's not about the devil. It's not about death.

The trouble with any subculture is that the mainstream community usually has some sort of misconception about it, and because human nature is what it is, these misconceptions usually lead to trepidation, misgivings, and fear. So, let me take a moment to tell you what goth means to me, your humble closeted goth girl.

Let us look first at the history of the word "goth." A goth was a term used to describe anything "non-Roman." The Goths were a tribe of people who did not take to being "conquered" by the Romans in the early part of the first millenium. The Romans brought with them a new way of life which stood to undermine every part of the Goth's heritage and culture. If this would happen today, people would be outraged and white girls would probably host a 5K.

But that was thousands of years ago. The world was different. How does this pertain to the "goth" subculture of today? It might sound super cliched, but the goth subculture is to an extent an attempt to fight back the "Roman" (read mainstream) influences on our lives. It's a mindset, not a fashion, though we often use fashion to express ourselves. What's the easiest way to show that we do not go along with the mainstream? Dress against the mainstream.

But Goth is much more than a reactionary effort. My experience with goth has led me to believe that it is about honesty. The type of honesty that people are afraid to admit. It's that honest little voice that tells us life is hard and the same voice that tells us it's okay to be sad sometimes. Our society has had this obsession with happiness ever since some guy who wore knickers declared that we have a right to it. But sometimes, it's okay to be unhappy. Bad things happen to good people because that's the way life works.

I think a major misconception that a lot of people have about goths is that they are sad people, but if you ever meet some, you will find that a lot of times they are in fact incredibly happy individuals who love life. Part of this love I think comes from the fact that they accept the good and the bad that comes their way.

Another misconception is the notion of religion. While yes, there are many among the goth community who are either atheistic or worship some form of "pagan" religion...there is even a satanic church, many goths do not. Worshiping the devil is NOT a requirement to being Goth. I am a perfect example of that: I consider myself to be a closeted goth girl, yet I am a devout Catholic.

And finally, we don't all wear black. I wear Carolina Blue and paint my face on game day. I wear reds and purples and a few teals. I do not wear all black. I don't need to in order to fit into the mold of being a goth. There is no formal dress code.

So there you go...I know that from that little blurb there is a lot left unsaid about the goth subculture, but hopefully some misconceptions have been corrected.

So....last week I wrote a pretty hateful Post...

about all the things I hate. Today I'm going to dedicate my post to all the things I love.

1. My Peter Pan Coffee mug. It holds the perfect amount of coffee and is really pretty. I'm a big Peter Pan fan and I like carrying with me a reminder of being young at heart. I think holding onto a youthful spirit is one of the most important things you can try to do in this life.

2. My giant gothy wall clock. This is literally a wall clock. It's a wall which has become a clock. Actually, it's a wall with a giant clock sticker on it and a small clock hand thing in the middle, but it's still REALLY cool. And, now I know what time it is in my room without having to find my cell phone!!

3. The air on the first days of autumn. That almost cool, crisp air and sort of wakes you up in the morning and makes sweaters required...that air is heavenly. I love it. Especially when there is a slight breeze to go along with it. Not too strong, but just a sort of "hi, how are you?" type of breeze. This brings me to...

4. Sleeping with the window open. I can't really do this in Chapel Hill for safety concerns, but when I was a kid in the summer, I would sleep with the window open which was amazing. This practice was partially because I liked it and partially out of necessity (we don't have A/C out there). The only downside was if I had my lamp on, bugs would come in and that was bad news.

6. Alice in Wonderland. I guess this ties back to the whole Peter Pan thing again, but I love the idea of keeping a sense of wonder about you. Yes, I know that Lewis Carrol is a little strange/ druggie/ might have been Jack the Ripper? But I like the idea of imagination.

7. The way Swain Media Labs smell. It's comforting and familiar now...whenever I stumble into it at 2am to get some work done, it makes me feel glad to be back. This was never more true than when I got back into Swain after a summer of being banished to the MRC "media lab." It was good to be home.

8. Extra-Crunchy Leaves. Yeah....I'll go out of my way to step on one.

9. Gothic Novels- Because they are ridiculous and amazing. Because they are som completely a break from reality. Because so often they are rather poorly written but the stories will pull you in better than anythign I know. They are simply fun.

10. Last but certainly not least (and actually possibly most): My friends. You all keep me sane, or insane, whichever it may be. I really can't imagine my life without you guys and in all likely hoods, it would be far less interesting without you all. It seems so weird that we've only known each other a few years because honestly it seems like a lifetime.

So there you go...ten of my favorite things to go along with my list of things I hate from last week. Time to go get my laundry from downstairs.