It's the Intermission
A Creative Coffee Break

I have resisted writing about what the move to Louisville has done to my writer’s routine. It should be obvious that any routine has long such been vanquished since we made the decision to pick up and leave San Francisco. I had a rarely unvaried routine there, writing every weekday morning. The only variance was which coffee shop I made my way to. Part of the joy of San Francisco is a coffee shop every four blocks.

I have resisted writing about routine because I was pondering whether everyday rituals are creative killjoys or necessary components to my creativity. After pondering for a couple of weeks, I realized the lack of coffee houses I could walk to was the source of said ponderance. The furthest is a Starbucks (a little over a mile), and a Highlands Coffee. Closer finds two Heine Brothers, and Day’s Espresso and Coffee. These add up to a mere five coffee hangouts. Well, jeez, my friends, in my last neighborhood I could walk to at least eleven. Okay, it’s not a real problem, and I’m over it. I will say I like the idea of Heine Brothers, as they serve organic, fair trade coffee. I just haven’t enjoyed writing in one yet. I will confess I am in love with Day’s Espresso shop so much that I don’t even mind when the woman behind the counter makes fun of my ordering an iced green tea. She thinks they taste bad. Go figure.

Having embraced that a routine is a necessary component to my creativity, I find my new routine is not much different than my old San Francisco one. Except it’s in Louisville. At fewer coffee houses. I get up, shower, dress, and get coffee’d up over some newspapers, because I don’t actually drink coffee in a coffee house. Then I take my backpack down the street to write at Day’s.

I love the mornings. The play is finding its way to the end.

My writer’s room at home is evolving. I’ve stopped moving the desk around, and I’m likin’ the space more. I made myself a new marker board thingie. Puzzling through the lack of wall space, and, friends, I need to scribble on the wall like I need my morning coffee, I realized I could use the closet door to hang something.  I found a plastics place that would cut a piece of white acrylic to the dimensions I needed. A few mirror mounts, some wet-erase pens, and I’m all set to scribble. (If you use acrylic, dry-erase pens will “ghost” the board. Wet-erase pens fare better. Use a microfiber cloth to clean so that you don’t scratch the plastic. There’s a bit of a glare, as you can see in the photo. It’s workin’ for moi.)

Scribbling is another necessary component of my writing.

Comments are open for anyone with leads on coffee houses in Louisville.

CommentsI’ve gone to Louisville once a year for the Humana Festival for about a decade. I swear by Days Coffee shop, on Bardstown road. I’ve also heard that the Third Street Cafe (I think that’s what it’s called) is good. There’s also a place called Karma Cafe on Bardstown that isn’t a coffee shop, but is open late, has decent food, and free internet access.
Good luck.
Posted by: Slay July 16, 2007 at 11:55 AM