#schmizza

- John Henry Hopkins, Jr. 

I am back from the first of what I suspect will be many lengthy hiatuses†, which I took for Personal Reasons, and now, once again in my bastion of safety‡, I am realizing how much this place has changed - and, perhaps, how much it will always change.

Cups are no longer their iconic Crispy Green but instead Bright Red, perhaps to emulate the other half of Christmas’ colors in order to compensate for their majority-of-the-year verdant monopoly. There are at least six new drinks on the menu, as far as I can tell, and maybe even more that I’m neglecting. Was that Cool Lime Açaí drink always there? I don’t think so.

But here’s the trick: If you know me, you know my grasp on chronology is tenuous at best, and this project has become no exception. I actually have 22 drafts saved, apparently, of past Starbucks posts I wrote notes for but just have to “clean up.”§ But here I am now, in the “present,” making grand comeback statements. I am not even geographically veracious - I am in Portland for Other Personal Reasons, which is definitely not Seattle, despite all its intentions.

See, I don’t want to start posting out of order, per se, but I don’t want to hold off on going to Starbucks anymore until I am “caught up,” because A) I am addicted, and 2) just looking around, there is apparently so much in flux already, and I don’t wanna miss a thing. I think I will continue in fake real time, chronologically, as to preserve the “narrative,” so if you see Christmas posts in July, you will know: the person cannot keep their life together, but at least they didn’t ruin the timeline.

The sign on the board ominously reads “The Red Cups are only the beginning. Join us on 11/10 for even MORE of the Holidays.” Considering today is 11/09¶, it looks like I made it just in time for even more drastic change. I’m realizing how evanescent this place’s menu and decorum can be. But with Other Projects out of the way, I can focus on what really matters:

Starbucks, Inc.

Where the Buck?: Portland, OR (Across from Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen, next to a store actually called “Pizza Schmizza.”) Order: Tall Peppermint Mocha Starbucks Count: "13″ Bonusbucks: “2″

† this project being, after all, projected to last a decade or so. This is the long haul, folks! This is destined for ennui!

‡ Any Starbucks 

§ adding footnotes, researching symbols for new footnotes, etc.

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