Coffee House Confessions: Falling in Love Over Starbucks

While I would like to say that I do not drink Starbucks, a company that not only represents but leads the way in evil corporate America, I truly have a weakness for grossly overpriced blended coffee drinks. In September of 2005 I began dating my now wife, Ashley. One of her favorite indulgences that I quickly realized was the previously mentioned international-mega-enterprise. Frequently we began going to our local Starbucks, a routine that only furthered my liking blended coffee drinks.

While I may have spent more money than anyone ever should at the coffee chain, I was also making another kind of investment. I made an investment of my time. Some of the greatest moments of my life, to date, happened while sipping a Starbucks drink. The result of that investment was more than a relationship. I fell in love over Starbucks.

It was the time we spent at a table inside, or in the car waiting in the drive through that I fell in love with her. It was the surprise Frappuccino in the afternoon and the smile on her face. It is the giddy look, that she still gets when Starbucks is mentioned. But most of all it was that we enjoyed our drinks together that made me fall in love with her. It was over Starbucks that I really learned who Ashley was. We still go to Starbucks. At times I still think I spend to much money, but I am also getting to know my wife more and more and that, to me, is priceless.

Drink of Choice: Grande Green Tea Frappuccino® Blended Crème double blended

Coffee House Confessions: The Leaf & Rummy

One of my favorite coffee shops is The Leaf. It is a cigar/coffee shop in Abilene. The atmosphere is one that is laid back, comfortable, and usually a little smoky. While the store's focus of sales revolves around cigars and other tobacco products they also have a very enjoyable coffee selection.

The time I spent at The Leaf was usually spent with brothers from my fraternity, ΚΦΩ. Long afternoons and late nights were spent enjoying brotherhood coffee and cigars at the small business in downtown Abilene. With free wi-fi offered we did everything from watch LOST, to debate theology. No matter what the conversation led to there was most always one constant, Rummy.

The card game has many different ways to play. Most anyone who has played a rummy game has had different rules in playing it. Ours was no different. Accommodating game play from two up to five people there was almost always a game started soon after walking in the door. With trash talk and competitive natures flying the games were always interesting, even if just to watch. I once even lost everything I owned to Jay Patterson (he graciously gave it all back). The memorable thing about Rummy at the leaf wasn't winning or losing. It wasn't about a game, cigars, or coffee. What was memorable was that we lived life together. We grew in our bonds of brotherhood. When we walked out the door we soon forgot the score of the card game but our friendships are something that will never be forgotten.

Drink of Choice: Dr. Pepper

Its funny because it could happen

The funniest thing about this video is that I know people who this could actually happen to. In the realm that exsists below intellegent thought there is a place reserved men who, in the spirit of competition, slip under the line of existing and into a paradoxical universe where retardation is awarded as the highest honors. It may not be a pretty sight to see. It may discourage many from procrating. But, it sure is funny.

Manwich Has Made My Life Better

It is true, Manwich has made my life better. Not because I have recently sampled the messy meaty meal but because of their new commercial and a random chain of events that I will enclose in this blog. While sitting and watching TV with my Frat brothers Nick Williamson and Ryan Eberst at their house on Friday night a commercial came on advertising Manwich. It was a commercial that I had not previously seen. It was a short add picturing a happy family eating Manwich Sloppy Joes. While the commercial played a jingel was sung in the background,

You don't have to be a man to love Manwich, you you don't have to be a witch either, its true. You just have to love a fun, tasty dinner, and wearing some of that dinner on you.

After seeing the commercial there was no reaction in the room. It wasn't until halfway through the next commercial that the laughter broke out. We agreeably decided that it was the stupidest commercial we had ever seen. The funniest thing about the commercial was that someone was actually paid money to write the jingle. In hopes that we would see the commercial again we quickly began searching the internet as to see it again and laugh once more. The commercial has not yet dawned the infinite portal of internet videos that is youtube but in our search for a laugh the manwich humor gods released to us another meaty morsel of goodness.


Gasping for air we simultaneously attempted to quote and reload the commercial as to see the shroude of manwich once again. It is still debatable if the commercial was real or ever aired on television but it was certain that manwich had brought us yet another side splitting moment.

Wanting not to give up on seeing the first commercial again we went back to our computers in search. Still not finding it we stumbled into a commentary on the song and the greatest blog that I have read to date. The blog is called Dispatches from Fort Awesome. It is written by a New York law student named Julia. Her post over the manwich commercial was so hilarious I will re-post it:

A Logical Analysis of the Manwich Commercial Song:


You don’t have to be a man to love Manwich

Accepted: Men’s palates have not been demonstrated to be different from all other palates (see A Logical Analysis of the argument ‘Real men don’t eat quiche’)

You don’t have to be a witch either – it’s true

Accepted on multiple grounds:

1. The ‘Wich argument: It is not a Man-witch, it is a Manwich, presumably a play on Sandwich, which is based on the Earl of Sandwich who was so dissolute in his gambling ways that he did not want to leave the gambling table to eat at a different table, so he ordered that a meal of meat be placed betwixt two slices of bread so that he could continue to squander his money on a fuller stomach.
2. The Witch argument: Presumably if witches were the sole market for Manwich, the market would be small indeed as most witches are fictional or definitely don’t want to be advertizing the fact lest Sarah Palin’s minister hunt them down.

You just have to love a hot tasty dinner

Disregarding the foodstuff itself, a very inclusive statement: excludes only people who live in hot climates and prefer not to eat hot (temperature-wise) foods, people who don’t eat dinner, and perhaps people with general food aversion (tasty means delicious – who doesn’t like delicious – people with general food aversion). This leaves a large pool of people.

And getting some of that dinner on you.

With this statement, Manwich loses most of the civilized audience. A love of slovenliness is a necessity for love of the Manwich? The analyst is disgusted.

We then continued reading her blog and social commentary. After an hour of blog reading, laughing, and Ryan confessing his love for the girl whom authors Dispatches from Fort Awesome we had laughed ourselves into exhaustion and went to bed. Thank you Manwich, you may taste like crap but you offer one heck of a laugh.