findmehere

guess where this coffee shop is? this place was really cramped but most of the food (i only tried a mozzarella, tomato, pesto on ciabatta) and pastries are supplied locally. great for brunch and late afternoon tea/coffee break. (88 orchard) 

63 delancey. not crowded, generous and quiet place to work, talk and enjoy a cup of coffee. the name of this cafe is a bit annoying but sure berkli parc :)

according to the ny times, the only other “best” coffee place in queens besides sweetleaf is espresso 77. come on queens!

35-57 77th st.  we couldn’t find seats at first (more coffee shops in queens) but luckily a couple left soon after we ordered our drinks. too many drink options on their boards. frapps were really popular. sad that they ran out of banana guava danishes. 

sweatleaf lic. 10-93 jackson ave. photo from emily.  ample space. delicious carrot cake. great wintry scene drawing on the latte. 

unfortunately no pictures for ithaca bakery and manndible. ithaca bakery stretches the “coffee shop” definition because they sell an overwhelmingly large selection of breads, pastries and sandwiches. manndible is just fun. 

since the beginning of the new year, visiting coffee shops became a staple activity in my daily routine. i decided to hit up as many “best-rated” new york coffee shops as possible. so here is the coffee shop series. 

kaffee 1668. 275 greenwich. the dim lighting takes some getting use to but the coffee is seriously great. 

rob bell’s parting epistle to mars hill “grace+ peace”

who’s afraid of ai weiwei?

“well you know you can’t just say the system is flawed. you have to work through the system and show it in all of its detail and that’s the only way you can ultimately make a critique.” 
-ai weiwei

From Jesse Rice via Donald Miller’s Blog. 

Dear Fear-Of-What-Others-Think,

I am sick of you and it’s time we broke up. I know we’ve broken up and gotten back together about a bazillion times, but seriously, Fear-Of-What-Others-Think (or FOWOT, for short), this is it. We’re breaking up.

Because I’m tired of over-thinking my status updates on Facebook, trying to sound more clever, funny, important. And I’m tired of wondering which Tweets might drive the most traffic to my blog, as though my value as a human being were truly numerical.

I’m tired of wondering which picture to post online so that my in-danger-of-over-expanding gut doesn’t hang out too much and cause others to think I’m a normal late 30-something male, God forbid. Or that I vacation not in Hawaii or Paris or rural Vietnam, but in central Oregon, if I can afford to go on vacation at all.

I’m sick of feeling anxious about what I say or do in public, especially around people I don’t know that well, all in the hope that they’ll like me, accept me, praise me. Those who already like me, accept me, and even praise me; those are the ones I’m constantly trying to keep happy. I run around all day feeling like a freaking Golden Retriever with a full bladder. Like me! Like me! Like me!

And I’m SO tired of feeling bad about myself all the time. Bad about how I look. Bad about my job. Bad about my net worth (which is currently quite RED in color). Bad about my 12-year-old car and my one-fashion-season-behind clothes. Bad about my prospects for wealth and fame and Nobel Prize-winning ideas. Bad about my community, or lack thereof.

Because of you, I go through my day with a cloud of shame hanging over my head, blocking the sun, keeping my throat sore and my nose consistently runny and my eyes all squinty like a newborn. And I HATE that.

Because when I’m afraid of what others think, I never stop acting. The spotlight’s always on and I’m center stage and I’d better keep dancing, posturing, mugging, or else the spotlight will move and I’ll dissolve into a little meaningless puddle on the ground, just like that witch in The Wizard of Oz. I can never live up to the expectations of my imaginary audience, the one that lives only in my head but whose collective voice is louder than any other voice in the universe.

And since I know I’m acting and since I know the spotlight’s always moving and since I know that in the bigger picture none of this matters a rat’s patootie, I’m never content to simply be myself.

And all of this is especially horrible, terrible, evil because if I really stop and think about it, and let things go quiet and listen patiently for the voice of the God who made me and delights in me, it turns out I’m actually – profoundly – precious, lovable, worthy, valuable, and even just a little ghetto-fabulous.

When I listen to that voice then your voice starts to sound ridiculous again. You turn back into the tiny, yapping little dog that you are.

So eat it, Fear-Of-What-Others-Think. You and I are done. And no, I’m not interested in “talking it through.” I’m running, jumping, laughing you out of my life, once and for all. Or at least, that’s what I really, really want, God help me.

Sincerely, Jesse (Joyce)

god i hate how they tricked me

i was googling for another “kate harris” but this remarkable women appeared first in the search instead. what an awesome person to stumble upon because this year, kate harris is biking the silk road! check out the amount of gear she strapped on her bike.

it seems like she has biked in every climate condition including the South Caucasus region where mountains are blanketed with snow.

i am thoroughly envious of her life because all she is currently doing is biking, exploring and writing :)