Not All Who Wander Are Lost

''Stok: it's like Jolt, but for coffee''

I never know how to count coffee consumption. It takes two mugs and a thermos to drop the liquid level from six to one; I know, because for most of my teaching life, it's been two mugs to get me into the car, and a tall metal sippy cup to get from there to the end of first period. Is this five cups, or three? And more importantly, is it enough?

I have a hard history with caffeine. Jolt -- "all the sugar and twice the caffeine of regular cola" -- got me through high school AP exams; those No-Doz were a lifesaver in college, at least the first time around. And coffee? I chewed espresso beans to get through my graduate program; drank a twenty ounce every Monday for a seven year stint at my latenight radio show, deep in the bowels of the now-dark classroom buildings, and on a school night, yet.

Once, then, I would have jumped at a testrun of Stok, these new coffee shots in creamer tubs, recently boingboinged via their new gadgetblog. That they come in both black and sweet would create a conundrum of delivery like nothing since the day I discovered there were other dark roasts besides French. The idea of adding an extra minishot to every cup would be worth serious consideration, at least.

Not this year, however. Because this year, in an attempt to find a cure to the as-yet-undiagnosed syndrome of yesteryear, and also because I finally noticed the uncanny coincidence of summer mellowmode and the halved ration of coffee that gets me to and through it, I've been drinking a cup less in the morning.

I still have energy in school -- still sing "Won't You Be My Neighbor" at the top of my lungs as the kids stream down the hallway from the bus, waving my coffee mug like a mug of grog. I still get there, ready to go; in fact, I've been getting there earlier. But I'm a little more focused, a little less anxious, and a lot more happy. I'm also falling asleep early, which is a mixed blessing.

As an added bonus, it takes less nicotene gum to get me through the day.

Maybe I'm on to something, here.

Comments:

That, my friend, is a lot of coffee! I'm glad you're taking some steps in the weening direction, it sounds like it's good for you!

I'm back in the studio these days and pondering your request for a pendant for Cassia. If you're still considering it I've got some thoughts.

Shoot me an e-mail some time at Amandiar [at] gmail [dot] com.

Hope all is well!

Robin Marie

# posted by

Robin Marie : 12:16 PM, September 13, 2007

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# posted by

Sophie Grace : 9:52 PM, November 14, 2019