Thursday, January 27, 2005

striking gold

After TNT tonight, I decided I needed to indulge in my one and only Starbucks drink: Caramel Macchiato. I found out tonight that Jimmy From Scholarships thinks my choice of espresso is a very good choice. He also informed me that it's Starbucks' most popular drink. See, I didn't even know that. I just looked at the names of the selections and said, "Yeah, I want that." And it stuck. Apparently that's what something like 10 million other people have done, too. Maybe. I pick my drinks like I pick my racehorse on Derby day. By the name. In 1991 (sweet mother, I was only a first-grader), I was looking at the names of the horses and saw Strike the Gold. So I chose it. Take note, I was not a betting first-grader. Just sitting at home, arbitrarily looking for a horse to cheer for. And Strike the Gold won the roses that year. Caramel Macchiato and Strike the Gold. It's all in the name. That's what they have in common. And let's not even consider the racehorse/Thoroughbrewed aspect...

So for a while, I did one of the most cliche things I could possibly do. I sat a two-top table by myself, forlornly drinking my espresso and even trying to write in my journal for the sake of the moment. Then I realized how pathetic the whole thing was because I wasn't completely forlorn and I didn't even want to write, which is somewhat uncharacteristic of me, I add. I just wanted my drink. So I packed up my props and went to Springer to peddle my Measure for Measure ticket. That didn't work out so well, but I did get to go to Holly's record-setting short program on conflict management. We took a survey to discover our conflict management style. Before I even answered the questions, I knew that I am a full-blooded conflict avoider. And the numbers didn't lie. Somehow, I imagine I shouldn't be proud of that.

Into the Wardrobe, a website that I lovingly frequent, puts up a C. S. Lewis quote every day. I get very excited when the quotes are from one of the books that I've read. Today's, actually tomorrow's because it's on Greenwich time or something, is from The Great Divorce, which I have read, and it's something that I'm learning, if I'm learning anything at all.

"Human beings can't make one another really happy for long." C. S. Lewis, The Great Divorce

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