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Wednesday, March 26, 2003 |
Rolling and Tumbling
I packed up a bunch of project data and walked to Starbuck's to eat my lunch. I find the bustle of coffeeshops (plus one espresso drink) perfect for concentration, since it's stimulation without meaning. If I close my office door, my attention wanders; if it's open, too much is going on outside that draws my attention because it seems relevant. Coffeeshops for writing are like Ritalin for attention deficit problems; being able to think requires an equilibrium, and understimulation is as destructive to concentration as overstimulation.There was a new person at the counter being trained. Her partner had a cup full of oversized dice, marked on the sides with words like "decaf", "1/2", "no milk", "latte", etc. They'd throw a new drink and then try to properly call it to the barrista. It reminded me of the goofy scene in Steve Martin's L. A. Story, where the lunch guests order ever more absurd drinks from their waiter ("A double decaf soy latte with a half shot of espresso and a twist of lemon, in a cappuchino cup.")
This seemed absurdly cheerful and important this morning, and if they actually sold the dice sets, I'd have been tempted to buy one as a tchotchke for my desk.
And now back to my papers - I came here with a list of security issues for our network, and I hope to leave with an outline of what projects need to be started and who we'll need to do them.
