Isn't it strange that something as simple as a small cup of brilliant liquid mixtures can make one feel so much their own person. I write that not as a question but as a statement. Isn't it strange. It boggles the mind how something such as a little bit of espresso brew paired with a bit of milk and then paired once more with a steam bath, the likes of which no waif model has ever experienced to whittle away at her already spindly waist, and then added to a cup, whether ceramic or enviro-friendly cardboard, can make one feel so empowered. Incredibly apt even. Basically, it goes like this: I walk into a cafe, more often than not feeling a bit of a whirling dervish, and make my way to the counter where I order my most favourite menu item - a latte. I feel a rush of something within even just placing my order. The latte magic is brewing. I then have a bit of a sit at a little table somewhere in the cafe, the location of which I have most likely not thought through at all. I take my seat and place my latte on some close but very visible area of my little table. I settle into my meagre area of the cafe, still very obviously not having a clue or surety about life, love or the lack-luster locks I've allowed out my front door but most assuredly thinking my little mug of piping hot deliciousness looks damn good sitting ever so slightly to the left of me. And then, wouldn't you know it, in that brief but fantastic amount of time as I take my tall and sturdy ceramic mug/slash/enviro friendly cardboard cup in hand, complete with frothy goodness, that I feel, quite literally, like I can do anything. ANYTHING. It's almost as if my little cup of latte gives me actual magical powers (also could read makes me feel completely autonomous). I gaze around the room for others who have realized that they now attain the same powers via hot beverage in hand. Looking back at me, I can tell through the confidence of their quick gaze and then the obvious avoid that they feel it too and it's almost too much. You have to look away, of course, you cannot cross the hot beverage magical power streams, it's too dangerous. Alive with confidence, surrounded by other beings now made magically powerful through the portal of the chosen hot beverage chalice, you almost wish Einstein and Freud were sitting in front of you so that you could get their opinion on the matter, knowing that with this self affirming, most enabling genius juice sitting so effectively in the cup in your hands, you could laugh off whatever they might have to offer and keep it keenly in mind for your next dinner party's bit of entertainment (insert a gaudy pompous laugh here, hand gingerly feathering away at the chest). It's a powerful brew, my friends, especially when it's sitting in a mug firmly held in your hands in a room full of people who may also be bidding for a bit of self-sufficiency through hot beverage in quaint cafe setting. I think some of you might just know what I'm talking about..hand to mouth mug magic. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, it's quite alright. For the most part, I'm fairly consistently bonkers anyway and usually completely off my jump.
What I've decided is this: lattes, and other hot beverages of the like, held firmly in hand, are, in fact, autonomy in a cup.
Or perhaps it is just the fact that I can drink it now without shaking all the live long day from the caffeine thus making me feel like a proper adult. That could be it too. Feeling like an adult because I can now purchase and drink a caffeinated beverage whenever I want and that gives me confidence. However, it seems too easy and is far less exciting then gaining actual magical powers through my hot beverage cup.
Long live the latte!!!
Rest assured, I understand that there are likely to be several more productive ways of gaining autonomy. I've tried a few of them, and while I'm sure they work in their own way and are most likely to produce clarity on the notion of self-security, I also think that hot beverage autonomy will prove a more funner* way and will be less costly.
*i think funner should be a legit word in the Merriam Webster...
P.S. I would like to put forward The Duchess Bake Shop & Cafe, Sugarbowl, Transcend Garneau Cafe and Credo Coffee as superb spots in Edmonton to potentially gain some hot beverage autonomy.
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