There’s something extraordinarily hot about watching Joseph serving cocktails to extremely beautiful women at the salsa dancing bar he tends, who oftentimes flirt shamelessly with him over their drink orders every chance they get. But it’s not the gorgeous women exactly, what they say, or even how hot he looks pacing up and down the bar on a busy night… when I dig deeper, there’s something undeniably intoxicatingly sexy to me about an unshakably faithful man. A man who appreciates and faithfully adores the woman he has chosen to love and adventure this life with. These men are the rarest of the rare, in this and any day and age, and so wonderful to watch in action, even when they don’t know they are even being watched.
If you are one of these rare men, I hugely admire and applaud you for your integrity and your beautiful spirit. If you are a man or a woman and happen to be with someone who doesn’t appreciate this incredible quality in you, please don’t change! You’re with the wrong person. Be with someone who shares your core values in life. There really is someone out there who would appreciate and adore you for being so incredibly You.
Honourable mention: “Only dead fish go with the flow,” ex-beauty pageant contestant Sarah Palin, from her resignation speech as Alaska governor, July 3, 2009.
Here is a collection of thoughts I’ve found all over the internet since October 2009 and stored away in a happiness folder. It seems silly now not to share them…
“People always think that the most painful thing is losing the one you love in your life. The truth is, the most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much, forgetting that you are special, too.”
After The Rapture Pet Care
Here’s a picture of an adorable kitten that would be left to die after the Rapture –>
(click to view it in full sized cuteness for full effect)
“Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction.”
~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Although I was planning on coming out here to visit Joseph for about a fortnight, I’ve been in Colorado for about 3 weeks already and I’m carefully considering my options from here. more…
My 4 years old laptop is a blustering old mule that runs hot and heavy all the time when its not groaning under the weight of PhotoShop, Outlook and Dreamweaver. I can’t afford a new laptop yet (I’ve been saying this for years) because I spend more time travelling and farting around in the sun than working. Really, I love what I do, especially if it involves socks, and I would do it all for free if I didn’t have to eat… but I also work just enough hours to afford to eat really well and play. But I can afford a stand to allow airflow, and it would be nice to have the screen raised to eye level, its just that they are so bulky…
My new coffee shop friend Gabrielle was sporting an orange set of laptop legs that had me completely intrigued – a friend of hers makes them. So I just bought myself a purple set in celebration of purple and the end of my eternal quest for the lightest portable laptop stand with adjustable height. I held one and it felt like nothing was in my hand. Yay for this ingenious design! And YAY FOR PURPLE!
Valentine’s Day is so unbelievably naff, cheesier than unwashed cheese balls for Christmas under a chintzy synthetic tree from China. I have fondly thought of it as Revival of the Undead Love Day since I was a spring chicken at love. At least its fun watching couples in public awkwardly force-expressing more love than they usually can be bothered to show. Unfortunately I didn’t stumble on this quality website early enough in time to wish you all a Truly Naff Valentines Day, so here is a Truly Belated Naffest of All Valentines Day greeting from me to you.
“Great love affairs start with Champagne and end with tisane.”
~Honoré de Balzac
My love affair with Atlas started just a few posts ago and has blossomed into a chronic habit. I was more than happy to sit by my favourite window seat and people watch the Pearl Street pavement from The Cup, a coffee shop just a few doors down from Atlas. So Joseph, knowing I have a thing for good teas, had to nudge me a few times to give Atlas a try. Once he gave up nudging I realised I might forget, so I found myself here, trying out the frothy rooibos chai and sharing a giant table with a few friendly guys keen to expand the party.
I don’t know if its the huge poster of Craigslist > Atlas Missed Connections posted up on the wall or not but this place has an unmissable sniffable air of being a singles meetup spot for young, often trendy 20- and 30-somethings who I am guessing must be web designers, graphic designers, writers and other types of freelancers who can waffle hours of the day away looking busy. Freelancing is a good life for sure, and even with the unreliable income, no health plan and occasional cash flow crises, I wouldn’t trade what I do now for any amount of money or luxuries. I have a credit card for such emergencies!
Today as soon as I came in I started distractedly unpacking my laptop to secure a spot, and one of the owners, the one I got to know on my first day here, came round to my shared table and dropped off a tall frothy glass of Rooibos chai with a warm smile. Without realising what it meant, I don’t think, he was welcoming me to my home from home. Atlas is now officially my favourite work spot in Colorado. Once they are open till 11 I will be in heaven!
Here’s some snaps of my favourite bits to give you a feel for the place:
The reason why we fail to achieve the significant goals and dreams in our lives is not lack of resources… it’s not lack of money, education, time, connections, experience… its lack of resourcefulness.
“… It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things – air, sleep, dreams, the sun, the sky – all things tending toward the eternal or what we imagine of it.”
~ Cesar Pavese
Mmmmn I loved this! Thanks Frank, for the constant reminders.
After the Atlas closed at 9 tonight I went wandering around for a late night wifi hookup to work a bit longer, and found myself drawn into the Laughing Goat by the lively sounds of an Irish band playing in the back and the warm-lit atmosphere. Another chai (not as good as the Atlas) and a huge hearty tomato basil soup later I’m ready for the next session.
“Tormented. I’ve been watching you for weeks, working on your laptop, sipping your latte at Atlas Cafe. And though I try hard to catch your attention all you do is ignore me. I wish I could hold you till we were both dead! I shouldn’t care what you suffered. I care nothing for your sufferings. Why shouldn’t you suffer? I do.”
There’s a bunch of these posted up on the giant free-for-all chalk board wall, blown up huge. I love working from this spot. The tea and bagels are out of this world delicious, and the owners are so friendly. Atlas Purveyors in Boulder Colorado has only been open since November and already has a lovely make yourself at home feel to it. I realised its the only coffee shop I’ve been to where I don’t mind sharing a big table when the smaller ones are taken, though I can’t really tell you why. There are some seriously gorgeous acrylic on wood paintings here I would LOVE to own if I had the type of home that fit something that gigantic, though I’d need to be a lot more settled for that anyway. What I can afford to get in the mean time is a few bags of fresh tea leaves, sample 6 different rooibos flavours and some chais from their tempting wall of teas.
Atlas Purveyors
Twitter: @atlaspurveyors
1505 Pearl St, Boulder, CO 80302-5468
I’ve always secretly loved watching couples kissing. It kept the dream burning on. Its even hotter when a couple is completely oblivious to everything around them, where time stands still.
Oh my God this is INSANELY sexy……………… Why have I never heard this before? Jack’s unbelievably dirty, grinding, raunchy guitar solo at the beginning drives me wild!!! The Blues just pulses and breathes through him. Meg looks freaking hot as always slicing away at the cymbals like the tease she is. The bass in this live performance is luscious. Mmmhmm. Enjoy!
… and especially my oldest friend Bronny. I really just wanted to say thanks for your thoughtful responses of support, whether it be concern or happiness for me. more…
So I’m working from a coffee shop here in Boulder Colorado, minding my own business for the most part. I noticed two unavoidable things. The guys in Boulder are very forward in a fixed-starey way, they make things pretty obvious. I realised early on that my usual response of laughing invites the next step and so I snuffle it, which is hard, because seriously those stares are so unsexy its hilarious. There have also been a few weirdos in the coffee shop today. This one was my favourite:
A guy swaggers in with large loping steps, very expensive European urban styling, his long scarf swooshing as he does a very affected walk. He is speaking very loudly in a booming important voice to himself, as if he is on Bluetooth, every now and then with jazz hands. He sits down for an hour with his coffee and proceeds to talk about every person he sees in the room including myself, in-between very important business-sounding discussions. The point I turned and realised he wasn’t wearing Bluetooth was when he announced, “Oh!! Do you want to see a magic trick? OK!” and proceeded to do the magic trick with jazz hands, to much applause on the other end of the imaginary phone.
I’m not getting much work done, but at least its entertaining.
There’s a bunch of these posted up on the giant free-for-all chalk board wall, blown up huge. I love working from this spot. The tea and bagels are out of this world delicious, and the owners are so friendly. 
