The GGA Project -- Day #168 "Sitting In"

After work today I swung by Nicole's house to pick up Raul.  I'd been wanting to pick his brain about some things I know nothing about but would like to, and he was generous enough with his time to agree to it.  We ended up going to his favorite haunt, one of the most successful independent-like (it's not a giant company, but there are 8 locations now--so they're growing) coffeehouse stories in San Jose.


Today's New Activity: The Philz Experience


I know I'd stopped in at Philz once before, but it was just to buy a cup of milk for The Monkey.  This was the first time I'd actually ordered coffee.  And I didn't think anything about coffee could make an impression on me at this point, but today's experience truly did.


I was a little confused at first by the ordering process.  You order directly from the barista, which wouldn't really be that confusing expect that a bunch of people are just kind of standing around the bar and it's difficult to discern if there's a line, who's already ordered, or where your place is in the scheme of things.  Luckily the barista was used to sorting through the mess and seemed to have a good idea of who'd arrived when.


I ordered black tea with cream and honey for Raul (first time I've ever been to a place where the barista adds these fixings during the preparation), and an Americano for myself.  He said that they don't make Americanos there but that he'd happily make a coffee for me.  I didn't quite get at first how he was going to make a coffee just for me--just one cup of coffee, but after asking me a lot of questions to get to the bottom of what exactly I wanted, he said he'd do just that.  This was great!  The only reason I ever order Americanos (which I usually do any time after about 11am) is that most places stop brewing coffee very often once the morning rush is over, and I can't stand old, bitter coffee.  But it's definitely a trade off.  Americanos aren't nearly as strong or flavorful as brewed coffee.  And plus you have to wait 45 minutes for them to have cooled down enough to be drinkable.


So it turns out all cups of coffee are brewed to order there, and I have to say the difference was evident.  Drinking that fresh and super flavorful cup made me wish there was a Philz near me.  And apparently the feeling is mutual.  I looked the place up on Yelp: the reviews, given the high volume of reviewers, average out to the best I've ever seen I think.  418 reviews at the time I'm writing this and 4 1/2 stars.  That's pretty amazing.  I read a lot about their flavored drinks, but I'm giving them a rave review of my own on black coffee alone.


I also really liked the atmosphere--the multiple couches reminded me of the coffee shops I remember as a teenager, before they all got homogenized.  Also, the Fanime Con convention was going on downtown, leaving the area teeming with kids dressed up as all manner of Anime, comic book and just general character.  At one point, Raul exclaimed "Jesus Christ!"  I turned around, thinking he was commenting on the pouring down rain that had just started.  What a surprise to see Jesus Christ!  Or a really good, costumed version of the illustrated Bible versions I've seen of him anyway.  The whole thing made for some great people watching.


And that is all.

The GGA Project -- Day #117 "Taking on Goliath, Latte by Latte"

I think I've mentioned Starbucks on this blog more than anything else, with the exceptions of my immediate family members and two best friends.  It's not that I'm a freak for Starbucks, or not THAT much of a freak.  I just love that they're everywhere, or wherever you need them to be anyway.  I love that you know exactly what you're gonna get when you go there, and that it's the same whether you're in a standalone store anywhere in the world, in an airport or grocery store, or, ahem, Target.


This consistency is what often makes people choose chains over Mom & Pops in general.  It can be hard to take a gamble on something new, when you could instead spend your money on a sure thing.  Still though, I do like to support small businesses, and a few weeks ago my friend Huong mentioned a hidden gem of a coffee shop that I actually pass on the way to work but had never known about.


Today's New Activity: Afternoon Coffee at Paddy's

What appealed to me about Paddy's, when I looked it up on Yelp, was that they were a coffee shop with actual personality (imagine that).  There were events listed on their website, one of them being an open-mic, which are incredibly hard to come by these days, especially in the East Bay.


On the way in I noticed these two fliers announcing upcoming events:

I love the idea of a local comedy show, and book exchange?  Of course!  I also like that they're open late (website says their hours are 5am ish to 11pm) and that they're located in the middle of the quaint, historic downtown Union City.


The best part of a small business such as this, however, is the absolute localness of it.  The walls inside were decorated with art made by children of schools in the neighborhood.

This one, by a 9-year-old boy, caught my eye :)

And I couldn't resist taking a picture of this thank you letter:

Too stinkin' cute.  Now tell me if you'd ever see something like this in a Starbucks.


I don't have too much to say about today's activity except that it's just nice support David and throw a pebble at Goliath once in a while.  And I think I'm gonna have to check out one of those comedy shows, though the intimacy of it may make me squirm a bit unless the comedians are super funny...it would be an experience anyway...


Oh, and you should know that Paddy's makes a mean Iced Soy Latte!

The GGA Project -- Day #80 "Baby Snoozing, Mama Buzzing"

Ok, I've obviously been to Starbucks before.  I've even been to this Starbucks before, 2 or 3 times maybe.  But tonight is a different thing altogether.


Today's New Activity: Post-Sleepytime Starbucks Outing


In case it wasn't obvious, I love coffee.  And like many people of my generation, I also love the coffee culture.  I love that there are places to go besides bars where friends can meet and hang out, especially when the places are open late.


When I was in high school there was exactly *one* coffee shop I knew of, period.  I went to high school in Phoenix, AZ, so we were probably a bit behind on the coffee movement, but I'm quite certain there weren't widespread coffee shop hangouts happening anywhere outside of Greenwich Village or Seattle back then.


The Coffee Plantation near ASU was a sprawling joint with cushy chairs and wobbly tables, and a menu full of sweet coffee drinks for those of us whose young palates had yet to appreciate the taste of coffee itself.  I remember going there with my friends and feeling absurdly intimidated by the whole thing...way out of my league among all the smoking, sexing college folk whose territory we were surely invading.  And back then, we were.  How nice that today's youth don't have any such concerns.  How nice that they aren't forced to hang out in arcades and parking lots, unless they're just dying to.


Tonight I decided to do my blogging (still had yesterday's post to finish up) outside the house and away from the t.v. which--even if I'm not paying attention to it--almost always manages to leave me feeling a little bit sad, like I just wasted a little bit of life (unless it's a show I just love, which is rare, and which I would be watching on DVR anyway).


To be out here among other laptopping fools at 10:30pm is to feel like the time after The Monkey goes to sleep is more than just a slow downward spiral to my own bedtime.  Rather, it's a new phase of the day, the entering of a new kind of consciousness.  A gift, really.


It's not something I want to do everyday.  Believe me I feel incredibly fortunate I can do it at all.  My parents are wonderful to encourage me to do things like this, or to go to the gym (so therapeutic) after the baby has gone to sleep.  And I am lucky The Monkey and I are living in their home, where I know he is sleeping safely and in the presence of two of the people who love him most in the world, should he awake while I'm away.


I used to wonder why my friend Nicole--who was a mom 7 years before I ventured into mom territory--was always up so late and always up for super late night hangouts.  And why was she always going on about how amazing it was to be talking to adults?  Gee, they're just giant versions of your kid with slightly better vocabularies (?)


Uh.....no.  I get it now.


I will sacrifice any amount of sleep in the interest of experiencing stolen moments in which I am not telling a little half-pint to take something questionable out of his mouth, not changing or feeding anybody, not taking on the Sisyphean task of enforcing boundaries with an impulse-happy toddler .  Not gonna mention any names.  But the late night and the early morning are now my very best friends.  And it's just an added bonus to have any of this time happen out in public, where I can siphon a little bit of energy off my well-rested fellow adults, even if I'm not talking to or interacting with them.

The GGA Project -- Day #67 "Latte and Some Help Writing my Last Will and Testament, Please"

My last year in college was probably the busiest year ever in my life.  I took 6 & 7 classes in the fall and spring semesters, respectively, worked all week as a tutor in the school's writing center, (wo)manned the desk in the Philosophy Department on Friday mornings, and then worked all weekend at Starbucks.  On top of those obligatory dibs on my time, I also had homework to do (tons of reading as an English major, of course), food to find and consume, and then the more fun task of carving time out to relax or take in a poetry reading here and there.  I write that now and think I must have been on coke!  Or Red Bull at least.  But honestly, it was just naturally exhilarating to have that much going on.  I can say it was one of the fullest and best years I've experienced.

Still, why in the world, in the midst of all that, would I elect to also join the Ethics Bowl, a debate team of sorts that met weekly to prepare for a regional and national tournament, in which we would debate opposing positions on current, highly controversial topics, using philosophical arguments?  Why would I do that?

Basically, I would do that because Ramon Jimenez (now Esquire) persuaded me to, and he's a persuasive individual--which is why he's likely to make an excellent lawyer.  Technically he already is a lawyer, but he hasn't yet spent much time in front of a judge, or any time at all in front of a jury.  And maybe he won't ever.  Not all lawyers get their "You can't handle the truth!" on (just think how many thousands of them are out there carefully crafting the licensing agreements you'll scroll over and agree to without so much as skimming).  For now, he's working part time doing the unglamorous work of collecting debts on behalf of a lumber company, and moonlighting as San Francisco's own in(coffee)-house counsel.

Today's New Activity: An Evening at the Offices of Cafe Lawyer

I reconnected with Ramon a few months back and caught up on what's gone on since we got our asses handed to us at the tournament in North Carolina, since one of our fellow team members (Jeff) happened to marry my best friend Kelsi, and since another of them went to law school and then promptly went back to his MMA, cage fighting ways (as The Hungarian Nightmare).

Turns out Ramon got his law degree from Santa Clara University, passed the Bar Exam last year, and has for the past few months been setting up shop in San Francisco area coffee shops, offering legal advice at the bargain price of $1 per minute.  $1 per minute!

I wish my own lawyer were so generous.

Ramon admits the Cafe Lawyer gig is gimicky.  He knows some people probably think he's a lunatic.  But the idea of offering legal services to the population at large--in a casual setting, and at an unbelievably good rate--was borne in a practical hour.  He has student loan debt after all, and attorneys find their clients almost purely through word of mouth (unless they are paying for spots advertising the chasing of ambulances during episodes of Judge Judy and Cheaters...not exactly appealing).  He hopes to do some good work for people, get repeat and referral business, and ideally be offered full-time employment as in-house counsel for a start up or other small business.  I'd say that in these days of rampant unemployment (especially high among recent law school graduates), it's a pretty sound business plan.

As I type this, I'm overhearing Ramon speak with a client who arranged to meet with him after coming across his website.  I'd feel bad about eavesdropping as these seemingly confidential concerns about photograph copyright are expressed, but hey, it's a freakin' coffee shop!  Obviously this client is okay with the idea of his business being out there in the public air, mixed in with the sounds of milk foaming, the Nas album playing overhead, and the click click clicking of the laptop keys of every single patron in this largish space.

Ramon tells me the couple who he was working with when I arrived this evening were discussing a very personal, highly sensitive matter, right there in the middle of the coffee shop.  I thought this very strange until he reminded me that people talk about such things with friends in the middle of coffee shops all the time.  In fact, I'm sure this approach is very appealing to people who are intimidated by the idea of retaining a lawyer and then having to spend time staring at the bad art on the walls of their offices (or maybe that's just my lawyer...I don't blame her...the senior attorney there picks it out).  And perhaps there's a bit of the idea that near-beggars can't be choosers at work there as well.

I think Ramon's idea is genius.  And I think San Francisco is the best possible place to pull it off.  The approach has a certain community-minded feel to it, as so much of what goes on in The City does.  Really, a LOT of people find themselves in need of legal advice, and my word is it expensive!  This way, he can keep his overheads ridiculously low (needing do no more than purchase a cup of coffee during any given session), learns about all different kinds of legal issues (since obviously he has to take what comes and research the issues in order to really help people), and meets interesting people along the way.  I'd personally much rather work in a coffee shop than pretty much anywhere else I can think of.

On my drive up to San Francisco tonight, I was talking on the phone to Kelsi, who just got her license as a Marriage and Family Therapist.  She asked if Ramon had ever heard of a Cafe Therapist.  We agree there is a market for this service as well.  Just as I've had *quick* legal question I thought could be answered without all the pomp and circumstance of hiring a permanent lawyer, I've also had a concern about my personal life that I'd love to run by a stranger in the interest of gaining new perspective.  I know there are professionals (likely long-established ones) in either of these fields who would be insulted by this approach, thinking it trivializes their work, but I think there's room, as well as a viable market, for all the approaches, and probably plenty of others, too.

Nothing says we have to keep doing things in the same (budget-braking) way, just because that's the way they've always been done.  And I love that so much of the business that comes Ramon's way comes via traffic on his website and Twitter feeds, Foursquare and Facebook check-ins.  These new social media means are helping with the important work of launching revolutions and toppling authoritarian regimes, but they're also helping a hard-working young man get a bite to eat.  I say kudos all the way around.

Hey, here's the Cafe Lawyer now!

If you see him at a coffee shop near you and decide to employ him, be sure to tell him the Cafe Blogger sent you.  Who knows?  You may even get a discount ;)