Corporate Juggernaut.
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: Evil Things
I have surrendered to the corporate juggernaut known as Starbucks Coffee Company. It's true: I glibly toss about words and phrases like venti, frappuccino and no whip, and an almost invariable part of my morning commute is the stop for a venti (that's Starbucksian for large) nonfat cappuccino.

Even on the weekends and away from my standard morning route, I will track down a Starbucks and get my usual. That's not hard to do, given that there appears to be a Southern California zoning ordinance mandating at least two Starbucks stores in each square mile. I'm not really exaggerating -- in Newport Beach, a city of 25 square miles, there are ten Starbucks.

I know. Reprehensible. I don't even care if it does turn out that Starbucks is merely a corporate front for an evil empire bent on world domination. Hey, I'm a registered Republican -- according to some of you, I'm all about that sort of thing anyway, right?

And I must give due credit to Nicole, the girl who mans (womans?) the coffee bar at the Starbucks at Harbor & Adams in Costa Mesa during weekday morning drive time. That chick has a photographic memory and the quickest hands in the business. The moment I walk in the door, she queues up my drink, and it's always ready by the time I hit the cash register. Her personal best is two minutes from the time I shut off my car until the time I start it back up with cappuccino in hand. Nicole is fucking awesome, and I hope the corporate juggernaut is taking good care of her. Hell, for all I care, she's sleeping with Number Two. (Eeee, sounds messy.)

Morning Commute Soundtrack: Show Some Emotion (1977) by Joan Armatrading. Her style was echoed in ensuing years by Tracy Chapman and then Macy Gray, with increasingly limited success. As with most things, nothing can compare to the original.